FocusU’s Approach to Facilitation

In our industry, seamless facilitation is often credited to the facilitator’s skill. However, beneath the surface lies a foundation of philosophies, beliefs, and practices that define the unique FocusU facilitation experience. Here’s how these pillars shape the “FocusU Way”.

Philosophies: The Foundation of Our Approach

Here are a few philosophies that form the theoretical backbone of our work and guide our approach to facilitation:

1. Experiential Learning:

We embrace Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle — experience, reflection, conceptualization, and application. As Confucius wisely said, “I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.” We believe that how we play reflects how we work, making experiential activities a powerful tool to surface workplace behaviors naturally and effectively. However, the activity itself is not the hero. We go beyond being ‘game masters’ and focus on crafting impactful debriefs that spark a-ha moments, driving meaningful shifts in perceptions and behaviors.

2. SPACE Competencies:

The quality of any learning intervention is directly proportional to the quality of the Facilitator running it. Each session that our Facilitators run is underpinned by our SPACE Competencies — Safety, Preparedness, Attunement, Conversational Flow, and Energy.

i) Safety:

Creating a psychologically and physically safe environment for learners. This is the bedrock for any learning to happen.

ii) Preparation:

Every workshop demands it be prepared for, no matter how many times we have conducted it.

iii) Attunement:

Ability to fine tune and adapt flows on the go, being situationally aware, being sensitive to the needs of the learners, hanging loose and displaying competence to take decisions in the face of unplanned circumstances.

iv) Conversational:

The ability to build easy conversations with learners in the context of the workshop, regardless of their varied profiles.

v) Energy:

Creating the right balance between high energy and intensity, depending on the context of the workshop and learner profiles.

These form our foundational philosophy on what facilitation is all about and how learning experiences should ideally be delivered.

3. Learning Through Laughter:

We are strong believers in what Walt Disney expounded: “Laughter is no enemy to learning.” Our learning sessions are often punctuated with laughter and smiles of our participants. We believe it enhances engagement, fosters a positive environment, and deepens retention.

Beliefs: Personal Convictions that Drive Our Style

The beliefs we carry as Facilitators naturally colour the way our sessions are run. Here are a few such strong beliefs that you would see play out in a FocusU session:

1. CHOPS Values:

i) Care for clients, learners, and our team.

Hear from a FocusU Facilitator: “Before a workshop, I noticed five participants had missed lunch due to a communication lapse. Discretely, I arranged cookies for them. The participants were appreciative and were able to focus fully on the session.”

ii) Humility in everything we do.

Hear from a FocusU Facilitator: “In a workshop setting, as a facilitator, it is not about you. It is about the participants, always. Hence even while facilitating, as much as possible, we try to stay invisible. One of the biggest compliments I have received was when one of the leaders at the end of a workshop actually noticed and said this, “The best part of this workshop was that we felt it was run by ourselves. Whereas the truth is that the FocusU team was gently playing the role of the sutradhaars.”

iii) Ownership from planning to execution.

We never back out of a commitment once made and are there to support clients even in last-minute situations.
Hear from a FocusU Facilitator: “Once, when the venue was short-staffed, we cleaned the conference room, arranged the chairs, and even helped serve tea. We put our hand to any work that needs doing for our workshops and we do it happily as a team.”

iv) Passion for delivering customer delight.

Hear from a FocusU Facilitator: “We try and see how we can go the extra mile to personalize things for participants. In a workshop we ran for Indigo many moons ago, we arranged the chairs in the form of an airplane. We played the Indigo anthem somewhere through the workshop and concluded the workshop by saying, “Being on time is a nice thing. It is Indigo Standard Time 1730hrs. Our flight has landed. Wish you all a happy evening in New Delhi.”

v) Safety, prioritizing well-being (physical & emotional) in all activities.

Hear from a FocusU Facilitator:  “All our facilitators are first aid certified. In one of our workshops in Pune, one of our participants fainted due to the heat. Our Facilitator was able to immediately give a short break and attend to her without waiting for the local doctor to come in. Similarly in another workshop when we spotted a heavily pregnant lady, without letting the client know we kept the number of a nearby doctor handy and ensured the hotel had a car available at short notice if needed.”

2. Learner at the Center:

Our facilitators will subtly ensure that they are speaking only for a third of the time during a workshop – the learner is given center stage. The FocusU facilitator does not dictate – they direct; they are only there to facilitate the existing learner conversations in the direction of new learning and insights, not take over it completely! They know that what is relevant, is remembered and make a conscious effort to create an environment most conducive to learning by making the learner the star, by asking more than telling, and ensuring that conversations are relevant, engaging, and constructive.

3. Challenge by Choice:

In a FocusU workshop, learners are engaged through fun but also through challenges and difficult conversations that lead to a-ha moments. However, while adult learners value a challenge, they may resent forceful direction. Therefore, our learners are ‘challenged by choice’ through activities and interactive, reflective discussions – our facilitators pull them out of their comfort zones into a stretch zone, but are careful to not pull them too far into a panic zone. The stretch zone is where learning and perspective shifts are made possible.

4. Happy or Free:

This is our unconditional guarantee to all our clients. We strongly believe that if a client is not happy at the end of a workshop, we do not deserve to charge them for it and hence we offer it free. Truth be told, in the last 14 odd years and after thousands of workshops, this offer has been availed 5 times – and the clients who availed this have continued to work with us.

Practices: Bringing Philosophies and Beliefs to Life

Our practices translate our philosophies and beliefs into daily practices:

1. Comprehensive Pre-Workshop Preparation:

i) Contextualization:

We seek a deep understanding of the entire context of the workshop – through conversations with our client SPOC – which helps to contextualize the workshop, use relevant examples and scenario discussions, and a powerful, on-point debrief.

ii) Material & Setup Readiness:

We coordinate with internal and external teams to ensure that all workshop materials are of the highest quality, from activity props to tech setup.

iii) Machine-Like Team Coordination:

The entire facilitation team will arrive at the venue at least two hours before the start of the workshop (in cases of virtual workshops, they will log in at least an hour before). This is to ensure the venue is set up, the environment is free from obstructions to ensure a safe activity space. The materials will be checked. The flow will be discussed. The technology will be tested. Everything will be set up and ready to go by the time the first learner arrives!

2. Workshop Processes:

i) CHECK-IN & CHECK-OUT:

The facilitation team will have a CHECK-IN and CHECK-OUT process before and after the workshop, respectively. The CHECK-IN process ensures that the team is on the same page about the expectations and intentions for the workshop before beginning, and the CHECK-OUT process ensures that there is open and honest communication between the team members about what could have been done differently at the end of the workshop to ensure our quality only gets better and better!

ii) Post-Workshop Follow-Up:

After the program is over, the lead facilitator will fill out the Program Update Form to inform the internal team and FocusU SPOC for the client about how the workshop went, what was covered, and whether client expectations were met.

3. Creating Seamless Experiences:

i) Invisible Presence:

The best facilitator isn’t the one who steals the show with their own brilliance, but the one who makes participants feel like they’re the stars. If they walk away feeling like they’ve done the talking, had those “aha” moments, and had a blast with each other—while the clock ticked by—then the facilitator has nailed it!

In fact, this invisible presence is demonstrated even literally: A FocusU co-facilitator will know exactly when to step in and capture moments intended by the lead facilitator – BUT you will never see a FocusU facilitator in any of the pictures or videos. The lead facilitator will move in sync with the co-facilitator to ensure this. This is not a coincidence – this coordination has been designed in advance to ensure the learners and client stakeholders are in focus and are the stars of the day! After all, the customer experience lies in the details!

Hear it from someone who’s seen it!

Our unique approach blends structure and flexibility, integrating process-oriented planning with creative, on-the-spot facilitation adjustments to address specific learner needs. This combination of planning, passion, and participant focus ensures that each workshop is memorable, engaging, and impactful.

As one of our clients, Pooja Malhotra, Head HR at British Council Management Services Pvt Ltd, shares:

“Working with FocusU has been a pleasure. We have realized that there is a ‘FocusU’ way of working and one ends up experiencing Fun, Professionalism, Learning, Action, Achievement while achieving the outcomes of the workshop. The Facilitators helped us build our strategy for this year using Lego Serious Play which the participants thoroughly enjoyed. We could see that the facilitators had complete command over the facilitation technique and were even able to tailor it to suit our unique requirements. They were flexible, accommodating, understood the problem at hand and offered solutions proactively. On the ground, the workshop experience was exhilarating for all participants, where some quoted that the time flew as they worked and had fun, we achieved the outcome and felt motivated. Above all a great team which has a lot to offer. All the best!”

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