The answer to becoming a high-performing forum….
How an intentional facilitator can make you money and improve all areas of your life
There’s a misconception in EO and YPO about just what a facilitator can do for your forum. I often hear that people think a facilitator is only about learning. I truly believe the best retreats happen when a facilitator is not just focused on teaching, but someone focused on curating a wholesome experience and transformation. A good facilitator will bring activities that add connection, create an intentional flow for each day and incorporate a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Gone are the days where a facilitator comes in for a ½ day presentation, an intentional facilitator will integrate themselves throughout the entire 3-4 transformation.
Retreats hold the potential to transform your life radically when facilitated with Intentionality. You or someone in your forum may have the skills to do this, but I strongly encourage you to hire a retreat facilitator. This decision can be especially powerful if you want to break through your usual group dynamics and ensure everyone is able to participate fully, without the responsibility of organizing sessions and leading discussions falling on one or two people.
Keep reading to discover what a facilitator is, how a facilitator can help and when you might need one (I say ALWAYS!).
The origin of the word facilitator comes from the latin word facillis, which means “to render less difficult or to make easy”.
A facilitator paves the way for open conversation and vulnerable sharing. They make participants feel safe and seen. As a result, participants have more than a retreat experience - they get a life-changing transformation too.
A good facilitator will be able to work with diverse groups of people and will have the ability to keep things structured while also being able to go with the flow. This will ensure everyone gets what they need from the retreat and that the flow organically aligns with the group energy. A key point to remember is that facilitators don't come up with the answers; they help you to see your own answers.
During retreat, the way a group meshes together has a significant impact on the overall success. The more people can let go, open up and tap into their courage to do the deeper, more vulnerable work, the better the results that everyone will come away with.
In practice, here are some things you can expect your retreat facilitator to do before, during, and after the event.
BEFORE:
It may surprise you to know that a good facilitator doesn’t need a lot of prior information. All they need are clear objectives, an understanding of the group intentions, and knowing what success looks like for the group.
As part of the planning and preparation process, a good facilitator will help you:
Lay out what success looks like for your event - clearly define expectations for the group AND the facilitator.
Create a custom structure and agenda for the retreat to maximize the experience.
Challenge the group’s comfort level by pushing them with new activities/experiences while also making sure everyone feels safe and knows they will be going deeper than they have before.
DURING:
A big reason why facilitation can be so powerful is that we instinctively look at events and situations through our own filters and lens, which interferes with our ability to see things in new and eye-opening ways. We also have our stories, trauma and memories from which we are emotionally connected to the past. If participants can’t move beyond this perspective, it impacts the group’s energy and affects what individuals take away.
A good facilitator won’t have an emotional response to what any one person is saying. In turn, the facilitator becomes a translator. Like two scorpions attacking one another, we need space between the tails. A facilitator can identify when one person is triggered, dominating or shutting down. Because they have no vested interest in the result, they can navigate the event to ensure a beneficial outcome for all parties (what I call avoiding the ‘scorpion sting’)
15 Traits of a Good Facilitator
Lead activities and reflection exercises.
Maintain the pace.
Observe and manage the energy, knowing when it’s time for a break or to bring the group back together in a cohesive way
Ensure hierarchy doesn’t limit the group’s experience.
Guide conversations - this includes what is being said as well as what isn’t.
Connect the dots that participants can’t see because they are too emotionally attached.
Encourage full participation - creating space for everyone to get what they need.
Maintain a balance between control and flow.
Lead interventions and guide breakthrough moments.
Hold space for event participants - ensuring everyone walks away feeling seen and heard.
Create talking points, draw out contributions, ensure everyone feels as though they belong and are valued within the group.
Take on a leadership and coordination role so everything at the retreat can participate fully.
Bring the flexibility to shift direction and adapt the agenda if the retreat calls for it.
Mediate challenging conversations while remaining impartial.
Create clear next steps and help people pin down the deadlines needed to achieve them.
AFTER:
The retreat doesn’t end when the schedule says so, a facilitator will make the learnings a life-altering transformation and will be invested in hearing how the group continues to grow. A good facilitator is an investment in your group wellbeing and they will always get the best out of you. As part of the followup process, a good facilitator will help you:
Guide an after-event reflection to pull out learnings.
Be available to group members for follow-up questions and group or individual check-ins.
Provide resources and tools that were used in the retreat for ongoing use.
Retreats are a powerful way to bring together a group of people in a shared experience that paves the way for a quantum leap forward in business, relationships and overall well-being. A good retreat sets you up for a really great year and to get the most value out of your forum experience. Consider retreats an investment that you get an ongoing return on. I often hear that people see a facilitator as an unnecessary expense and don't want to allocate budget for that, however I argue that this comes from a scarcity mindset. If you invest and back yourself in your retreat being the key to a great forum, the whole rest of the year will be 10X’s better and you will have a system in place to set you up for ongoing success. I make it risk-free by offering forums a money back guarantee because I am so confident in the value of the intentional transformation I bring to the groups I work with.
A good facilitator will do more than manage the retreat; they create an intentional space, keep the structure in a good flow and navigate the group energy to make it easy for participants to feel connected and be fully open and vulnerable. A facilitator is a no brainer investment that can help you create exponential results in a short period of time. So now that you know the answer to a high-performing forum, will you make the investment?!
