Presented by Craig Sicilia and Penny Condoll
BISGN Coaches
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Penny Condoll
Project Manager and Founder, BEST
BISGN Coach
Brain Injury Support Group Facilitator in Tacoma and
Puyallup
Craig Sicilia
Director, TBI Support Network
BISGN Coach
Brain Injury Support Group Facilitator in Spokane
Janet Novinger: BISGN Training Coordinator

• Understand the roles, skills and characteristics of a great facilitator
• How to find a co-facilitator
• Setting the stage for a successful relationship
• Defining strengths and interests
• Learn tips for Before, During and After the
Meeting
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A facilitator is someone who helps a group of people understand their common objectives and assists them to plan to achieve them without taking a particular position in the discussion.
Wikipedia
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(and Co-Facilitator)
Facilitators provide the process to help a group:
Discuss an issue
Make a decision
Solve a problem
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 listens and observes
 asks probing questions
 thinks quickly
 paraphrases and summarizes
 resolves conflict
 uses visual aids effectively
 acknowledges & responds to emotions
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 designs or chooses appropriate group discussion techniques
 understands people and groups
 energizes group
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Uses humor successfully
 knows a variety of techniques for group discussions, including problemsolving and decision-making

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Flexible
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Honest
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Behavior management
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Patience and respect
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Able to inspire
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Positive attitude
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Effective communicator
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Leadership & confidence
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Energy
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Empathetic
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Self-regulation and/or ability
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Dependable to not intantly react
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• Evaluate the strengths and interests of your group members
• Tell group your looking for help
• Explain the benefits of being a facilitator
• Let people try out a task before agreeing
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 Schedule ample time for planning
 Take some time to get to know each other and discuss each other’s style of planning and facilitating
 Avoid making assumptions about one another
 Take time to discuss your views about topics, especially examine areas of disagreement
 Discuss any concerns about potential challenges that participants may present
 Agree on common goals
 Review each other’s triggers
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Find out whether and when it is okay to interrupt
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Decide how to keep track of time
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Strategize about how to stick to the original outline and how to switch gears
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Plan ways to give signals to one another
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Divide facilitation of activities fairly
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Share responsibility equally in preparing and bringing workshop materials and resources
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Agree to arrive in time to set up and check-in before the meeting begins
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Schedule time afterwards to debrief

 Remember to keep a professional demeanor at all times
 Keep communicating with each other throughout the meeting
 Support and validate one another
 During activities that don’t require constant attention, check-in with one another
 Include your co-facilitator even when you are leading an exercise or discussion, by asking, for example: “Do you have anything to add?”
 Use lots of eye contact
 Assert yourself if your co-facilitator is talking too much
 Remember that it is okay to make mistakes
 Take the initiative to step in if your co-facilitator misses an opportunity to address a myth 11

 If you can’t meet right after the meeting, schedule a time to debrief before you leave
 Listen carefully to one another’s self-evaluation before giving feedback
 Discuss what worked well and examine what did not work
 Brainstorm what could have been done differently
 Use written evaluations as a reference point to talk and assess your effectiveness as co-facilitators
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 Name particular behaviors, for example: “When you kept interrupting me, I felt undermined and frustrated”, or “I got the impression that some participants were bored”, instead of
“You always interrupt me” or “You were very controlling during the workshop.”
 Realize the importance and potential difficulty of debriefing a challenging meeting
 Make sure to share any clean-up or return of resource materials

Thank you for all you do