VSP audience in a facilitated training session

This past week, I participated in a VSP training course on how to be an effective facilitator. At the start of the class, we quickly reviewed some ground rules for participants. The rules are designed to aid facilitation, to ensure that everyone is equally heard, to make wise decisions with our time, and ensure we all get the most benefit from the course.

1. Allow and encourage others to contribute.
2. Appreciate the other person’s point of view.
3. Enter into the discussion enthusiastically.
4. Feel free to ask questions.
5. Follow established timeframes.
6. Give freely of your experience.
7. Keep confidences and assume others will.
8. Listen attentively.
9. Practice learned skills.
10. Provide constructive feedback and receive it willingly.

These groundrules aren’t rocket science. The rules are common courtesy, just gentle reminders of social graces.

I couldn’t help but notice how similar these rules are to the rules we give preschoolers. All right, they’re worded differently, for us grownups. But they are preschool rules nonetheless.

It’s refreshing to be reminded, as adults, of the things we first learned as kids.

So, with a tip of my hat to all those preschool teachers and parents, here are VSP’s ten ground rules for training participants, grouped under the three rules for preschoolers.

“Share.”

• Give freely of your experience.
• Allow and encourage others to contribute.
• Feel free to ask questions.

“Play nicely.”

• Appreciate the other person’s point of view.
• Provide constructive feedback and receive it willingly.
• Keep confidences and assume others will.

“Do what I say.”

• Practice learned skills.
• Follow established timeframes.
• Enter into the discussion enthusiastically.
• Listen attentively.

Hm, now that I see these ten rules in this new light, maybe we should just use these three?