No one on Planet Earth is perfect. In the area of facilitation the opportunities to make mistakes are comparable to the minutes of the gathering. Mistakes can scuttle the best-laid plans. Some mistakes you will recognize immediately, because you’ve seen so many facilitators use them, others may come as quite the surprise. Let’s take a look at three solutions.
Challenge 1. Repeatedly calling on—or allowing—the same people to speak.
Solutions:
• Scan and walk the room to direct questions to table groups or people who have not participated much or at all. Make sure that the question is not challenging. Ask something that is “right” for them in their experience: e.g., “Joe, what has been our experience or opinion about this?”
•Rotate group leaders and the people who record group decisions.
Challenge 2. Facilitating or presenting during distractions.
Solutions:
• Stop the show. Ask the group to stand to take a stretch or engage in a physical activity.
• Divert the attraction. Lead the group in singing a rousing gospel song or chorus that most people would know.
• Move the stage. Move away from the distracters to divert the eyes and attention—and probably the posture of the group will swivel, turn, or whatever to get their eyes back on you. Or if the distraction is, for example, a noise outside the window, move the group to the hall or send them to refresh themselves while you address the problem with the person in charge of maintaining the facility—a deacon, the Sabbath School coordinator/superinten­dent, or the workshop assistant assigned to you by the event coordinator.
Challenge 3. Refusing to defuse the tension in the room.
Solutions:
• Address the situation. Tell the group that you would be doing them a disservice if you ignored the tension.
• Remind them that sometimes tension can be a good way to move people out of their comfort zones.
• Ask for their input about how they would like you to address the tension, possibly dividing the group into small teams to discuss and record their solutions.
• If the tension centers on the content of the lesson, assure them that your lesson objectives will address those concerns.
• Share a story about a time when tension occurring early in a session helped lead to a sensational session.
• Thank the group for their participation in resolving the tension.