Recipe for Success in Large Scale Facilitation

I have explored and honed a set of tools that make the design and delivery of large scale events successful and rewarding and I’d like to share what I've learned. This is not a complete list, nor does it give justice to details involved, but if you pay attention to these aspects of the work at minimum, you should find the process goes smoothly. The surprises that results should be not those of disappointment, but those of significant forward motion.

be intentional about design: develop a design plan with a clear purpose (more on this later) and learning outcomes, specified work products if appropriate, and key design elements such as maintaining momentum and flow, participant experience, and the use and integration of technologies

use a planning team: start early by informing the team of the design and establishing roles through the process; key roles could include coordinators, designers for learning and other processes, facilitators, logisticians, and budgeting

develop a facilitation guide: this document may include important scheduling details, learning and work product outcomes, materials and special materials, key participant lists, and session by session facilitation details with times, speakers, and roles of the key participants; typically the facilitation guide is less detailed and far more flexible than a formal script

establish a compelling challenge and an attractive invitation: be conscious of enticement and engagement of participants as they are considering whether or not to attend the event, express the experience through invitations that represent well what they may experience

intentionally arrange space: large events require extended logistics related to transportation, way finding, comfort, facilities for food and breaks, seating, and group interactions; consider professional meeting planning support when available

be obsessive about materials: develop detailed lists, a budget, procurement times and details, and disposal and reuse guidelines

use multiple facilitators: a single key facilitator should be assigned to coordinate and train support facilitators and pay attention to group energy, flow, activity, and output; specific assignments for support facilitation can include subgroup management, navigation, stimulation, turbulence, recording, and any detail that cannot be overseen by the lead facilitator

distribute participation: it is easy for a large group to shift behavior towards that of an audience; it is easy for speakers in large groups to treat the crowd as an audience; facilitators should find opportunities early the session to discuss with the group how this will be different and create micro group engagements; small group activities should be arranged with considered phases of input-process-output stages where output can be cycled in some way to large groups and capture the appropriate stage of development; the experience of the individual participant can be mapped through the large event system as an experience journey

configure groups: find simple and novel ways to form and adjourn small groups, encourage leadership, record outcomes, and swirl group membership to increase the number of contacts made by each individual participant

design for experiences: shared experience creates a common vocabulary, reflection of emotion among participants, and a connection in long term memories that has lasting impact

chose the right information and conversations for the full group: a general rule of thumb is that the large scale group should be in plenary, whole group format, less than 25% of the entire time they are together

attend to sequencing and time allocation: groups of various sizes process through various stages of development; adult participants need to have certain freedoms for self-direction; people of various personalities and styles have different needs to express and experience; all of these variables create time and sequencing demands, with the overall outcomes in mind, these can be added to the design elements and addressed early the event planning

plan for emergent design to shape activities as the event progresses: it is difficult to predict the nature of the outcomes of the micro and small groups; small variations in the early conditions can cause large ripples in the outcomes later the large group event, because of this facilitators should have options for shifting and pivoting design elements, exercises, and capture techniques as the event unfolds; while experience brings confidence and positive events, it also teaches us to plan for emergence and to add energy to new ideas and forming concepts

harvest and record: large groups can produce a high volume of interesting ideas during generative processes and quickly build consensus during evaluative processes, both the specific content of the ideas and points of consensus should be captured as well as the rules and conditions by which these outcomes and artifacts were produced; there are myriad options for recording; analog is often better than digital, and simple is often better than complex; and video, if allowed and agreed upon ahead of time, can serve as a full record to go back to and reconstruct outcomes later

debrief: reflecting on the experience can (and should) be part of the experience; all stakeholders (clients, facilitators, participants) need reflective feedback opportunities, some more formal and structured than others; special attention should be given to debrief with the planning team and facilitators on the design and flow of the large event; special attention should also be given to debrief with the facilitators and clients, reflecting on the expected outcomes and actual impacts

synthesis and follow through: is it important to seek meaning and understand the impacts of the experience as well as commemorate special happenings, learnings, images, and impressions that occurred along the way; large scale events have lasting impressions and different aspects of the event’s impact can be observed and assessed over varying lengths of time – immediately after the event you can assess engagement, energy, and specific outputs – two to three months later you can assess ongoing communication, the application of knowledge, and new collaborations – six months to a year later you can assess shifts in discourse, implementation of strategies or innovations, and change in the large context