The #1 Mistake Beginner Facilitators Make

A workshop is an insanely fun and productive way to solve problems together. It creates momentum and makes work genuinely exciting again. And in more concrete terms, a workshop is a structured and fair way to collaborate, accelerate work, and create a clear outcome.

In this video AJ&Smart CEO and workshop facilitator, Jonathan Courtney, talks about a common mistake beginner facilitators make: not allowing enough buffer time in their workshops and meetings. The solution? Make the workshop as empty as possible and schedule breaks so the experience is as stress-free as possible.

#shorts #facilitation #meetings


💬Do you have more questions about facilitation? What other workshop facilitation mistakes have you made? Share your experiences in the comments below.

Thanks for watching!

The #1 Mistake Beginner Facilitators Make

[AJSmart]

Have you ever packed a workshop so tight that you and your participants were completely wiped out at the end of it? What other rookie mistakes have you made while facilitating workshops? Share your experiences in the comments👇

[DavidMathew]

Totally agree. I think the purpose of most workshops is to be more engaging and exploratory. If you pack too much in you not only risk stressing everyone out with the pace but you also create a need to prematurely converge or to leave an exploration unfinished, both of which I think defeat the point of having the workshop in the first place.

My go to stance is to have a learning objective for the session and then pick an activity I think will uncover that learning. Then leave time to pivot to another approach if what you start with isn’t getting the traction you thought it would.

[AhmetEfeoglu]

This advice can also be extended to other tasks even project management where you need to think of buffer time. Things might take twice as long or even in your best case scenario you will be an anxious robot(like Marvin in Hitchiker's Guide to Galaxy) .