FACILITATION GLOSSARY

A–Z

THE TERMS, DEFINED SIMPLY.

Facilitation

Running a group process so the group reaches an outcome together. The facilitator owns how the session works; the content and the decision stay with the room. Facilitation skills explained.

Facilitation Foundations

On this site, the training part of our work: the five components of the Facilitation Alive Standard taught and practised deliberately rather than discussed. Facilitation training.

Facilitator

The person accountable for the group getting somewhere, and deliberately neutral about where that is. Distinct from a presenter, a trainer or a chair. What makes a good facilitator.

In-house training

Development delivered for one organisation's own people, on-site or virtually, rather than as a public course with mixed attendees. Usually a cohort going through it together. In-house facilitation training.

Neutral facilitation

Facilitating without a stake in the outcome. It matters when the person who would normally run the session is also a stakeholder — neutrality changes what people are willing to say. Internal vs external facilitation.

Practice Lab

On this site, the coached practice part of our work: people deliver their own real sessions, get watched, get specific feedback, and go again. How we work.

Retention (in the training sense)

Whether anything survives the room. Retention is designed in — application while people are still there, specific commitments, and reinforcement afterwards — not bolted on at the end. How to make training stick.

Session design

Deciding the outcome, the arc and the participation before building any materials. Most of a session's success or failure is settled here, before anyone enters the room. How to design an effective workshop.

Train the trainer

Developing people who deliver training — typically internal trainers or subject-matter experts who know their content but need the delivery craft to teach it well. Train the trainer for organisations.

Workshop

A working session where the group produces something — options, a decision, a plan — rather than receiving information. If nobody in the room does any work, it's a presentation. How to facilitate a workshop.