The Facilitator Wheel — Your Roadmap to Growth

After a few years of multiple experiences of many lessons learned, and two seasons of my podcast: “Superpoderes de facilitación podcast”, I was able to fulfill one of my dreams: Contributing to the world of facilitation by creating a tool to take action to be an effective facilitator in this magical world of facilitating conversations.

The Facilitator Wheel is a tool that I developed with the purpose of supporting your growth, but also it is a tool that you can use to support or coach others growth.

The Facilitator’s Wheel suggests starting with a self-assessment, exploring the facilitation skills to be effective, to then creating a visual map that will help you to make better-informed decisions. It’s your new map, it’s going to give you a direction.

You will wonder how to improve them. Simple, refining your skills through training, practice, and feedback from your fellow facilitators, and workshop participants.

The self-assessment as well as the wheel, both focus on twelve pillars organized into three levels of expertise, starting from level one, which focuses on the basic skills to facilitate effectively, going through level two, which seeks to focus on understanding the group dynamics, mastering the different facilitation techniques available, as well as adapting them to our needs, and reaching level three of ability, which promises the effective management of our emotional intelligence and conflict resolution techniques, among others.

Also, note that The Facilitator Wheel has a heart in the center. It symbolizes one of the most important superpowers when it comes to facilitating effectively: empathy, the fundamental value, the superpower that makes us more human, and makes us value others opinions. The Facilitator Wheel suggests that empathy is where it all comes together, and is implicit in all three skill levels.

The Facilitator Wheel also states that once you have completed your self-assessment, then you draw your score on the wheel, producing a visual and actionable graph. Why is it important to also bring your self-assessment score to the wheel? To have a visual map. It is widely studied that human beings expand our assimilation by being visual, and this type of stimuli acts effectively and immediately in the brain.

Let’s do it! XD

Step 1 — Complete the self-assessment

You will find three levels of expertise. Within each level, you will see four pillars with two questions each. For example, for Level 1 of expertise, you will find the pillar: Active listening, which is made up of two questions.
Both questions have a score to self-assign from 1 to 5, with 1 being no-experienced to 5 being highly experienced. You give these two questions a score and sum them up, this is the total score for the pillar, for example:

1. Active listening _(7)_:
a. I am able to listen attentively and fully concentrate on the speaker. < 1–2 — (3) — 4–5 >
b. I can summarize and paraphrase what others say to ensure understanding. < 1–2–3 — (4) — 5 >

The example shows the assignment of 3 points to question a, and 4 points to question b. The sum of both is 7, and it is the value assigned to the pillar, that is Active listening = 7.

Let’s complete our self-assessment:

Expertise level 1:

1. Active listening ___:
   a. I am able to listen attentively and fully concentrate on the speaker. < 1–2–3–4–5 >
   b. I can summarize and paraphrase what others say to ensure understanding. < 1–2–3–4–5 >
2. Effective communication ___:
   a. I can express ideas clearly and concisely. < 1–2–3–4–5 >
   b. I actively seek feedback to improve my communication skills. < 1–2–3–4–5 >
3. Time management ___:
   a. I can keep sessions on time and manage time effectively. < 1–2–3–4–5 >
   b. I can prioritize activities and allocate the appropriate time for each one. < 1–2–3–4–5 >
4. Flexibility ___:
   a. I can adapt to unexpected changes or challenges during facilitation. < 1–2–3–4–5 >
   b. I am open to new ideas and willing to adjust plans accordingly. < 1–2–3–4–5 >

Expertise level 2:

1. Group dynamics ___:
   a. I can observe and understand group dynamics and individual behaviors. < 1–2–3–4–5 >
   b. I can intervene appropriately to manage conflicts or facilitate collaboration. < 1–2–3–4–5 >
2. Facilitation techniques ___:
   a. I am familiar with a variety of facilitation techniques and can choose the most appropriate ones for different situations. < 1–2–3–4–5 >
   b. I can effectively facilitate discussions, brainstorming and decision-making processes. < 1–2–3–4–5 >
3. Presentation Skills ___:
   a. I have the ability to maintain interest and generate participation during my presentations. < 1–2–3–4–5 >
   b. I communicate clearly and effectively during my presentations. < 1–2–3–4–5 >
4. Comments and evaluation ___:
   a. I provide constructive feedback to participants to help them grow and improve. < 1–2–3–4–5 >
   b. I can evaluate the effectiveness of the facilitation sessions and make any necessary adjustments. < 1–2–3–4–5 >

Level 3 expertise — Advanced:

1. Emotional intelligence ___:
   a. I am aware of my own emotions and can manage them effectively during facilitation. < 1–2–3–4–5 >
   b. I can empathize with the participants and create a supportive and inclusive environment. < 1–2–3–4–5 >
2. Conflict Resolution ___:
   to. I am skilled in managing and resolving conflicts that may arise during sessions. < 1–2–3–4–5 >
   b. I can facilitate constructive dialogue and help the parties reach a mutually beneficial resolution. < 1–2–3–4–5 >
3. Design of workshops ___:
   a. I can design and plan facilitation sessions tailored to specific goals and objectives. < 1–2–3–4–5 >
   b. I incorporate several interactive activities and methodologies (physical and mental), to engage the participants effectively. < 1–2–3–4–5 >
4. Systems thinking ___:
   a. I can see the big picture and understand the interconnectedness of different elements within an organization or group. < 1–2–3–4–5 >
   b. I use systems thinking to design interventions that address underlying problems and promote sustainable change. < 1–2–3–4–5 >

Step 2 — Draw your facilitator wheel

After having added the points obtained for each question within each pillar, we are going to place them as points on the wheel. Once all the points are located, we proceed to draw straight lines joining all the points.

As the example shown below:

I hope the Facilitator Wheel helps you boost your facilitation superpowers, and growth, and make you an even more effective conversation facilitator.

See you soon!

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