Dealing with tricky situations/id

15. Menangani keadaan yang sulit

Kehabisan waktu? Bagaimana cara menghemat waktu

Fasilitator sebaiknya belajar untuk bersikap fleksibel dan responsif terhadap setiap kelompok yang ia tangani. Jika anda melakukan fasilitasi untuk pelatihan yang sama hingga 10 kali, anda akan mengetahui bahwa masing-masing dari fasilitasi tersebut berbeda sebab anda menangani kelompok yang berbeda. Peserta akan memiliki ketertarikan yang beragam, kekuatan dan kelemahan yang berbeda. Komposisi perbedaan atau tantangan bagi keutuhan kelompok akan sangat mempengaruhi cara kelompok merespon materi yang anda bawakan.

Sebuah pelatihan dapat dengan mudah keluar dari jalur, dari segi waktu dan fokus. Beberapa bagian biasanya berlangsung lebih lama dari yang direncanakan. Anda juga dapat memilih untuk melewatkan bagian tertentu karena sejumlah alasan. Fasilitator dan pelatih yang berpengalaman telah terbiasa untuk membuat keputusan secara cepat tentang waktu yang dibutuhkan oleh kelompok tertentu. Untuk beberapa orang, hal tersebut terjadi secara alami. Sementara, yang lain memerlukan lebih banyak latihan untuk menjadi terbiasa.

Seiring dengan bertambahnya pengalaman anda sebagai fasilitator, anda akan semakin nyaman dan peka dalam merespon kelompok peserta tertentu. Anda akan meluangkan lebih banyak waktu untuk menyimak dan merespon peserta pelatihan anda. Sebagai hasilnya, anda secara langsung dapat memutuskan apakah anda akan melanjutkan program pelatihan atau memperdalam poin-poin tertentu yang terbukti sangat bermanfaat, penting atau membuka wawasan. Anda akan mampu mengubah dan menyesuaikan kegiatan dan materi pelatihan dengan baik.

Fasilitator yang minim pengalaman seringkali sangat lambat dalam membawakan program dan mereka biasanya akan panik atau nekat memutuskan tentang materi yang akan dilewatkan dan yang tetap dibawakan. Berikut beberapa saran untuk membantu fasilitator melewati saat-saat sulit dimana mereka menyadari bahwa mereka 'tidak akan berhasil' sebab mereka telah kehabisan waktu.

Most importantly

• Look at the training guide and see if there is any specific advice about what is 'less important' or perhaps background material which may be cut.
• Prepare

Discussion activity

• Form more groups with fewer people

Reporting activity

• Form fewer groups with more people – this leads to fewer reports
• Select just the best or key ideas to report on
• Have a list prepared and ask if there are any differences with what the groups thought of

Difficult behaviour? How to deal with it

A training facilitator is keeping a fine balance between ensuring good participation from everyone, maintaining good rapport with the group and keeping good order for the benefit of everyone. A lazy trainer will let difficult behaviours continue until they become real problems and affect the quality of the course. The best way to deal with problems are to deal with them BEFORE they arise (by having the group set some agreed behavioural guidelines, or by explaining from the outset some of the threats to a successful course), or as soon as they occur (by managing activities, group work and room set up discreetly; using good body language; or speaking to the person in the group or in the break)

Too little participation or unresponsive

Possible causes

• Doesn’t want to be in the course
• Doesn’t understand the material
• Worried that he will be judged or tested.
• Learns better by listening rather than contributing
• Knows the material and is bored
• Simply has nothing to say.
• Not culturally appropriate to ask questions of the trainer.

Possible approaches

• Make regular eye contact whilst smiling and looking reassuring
• Asking “and Julie, what do you think about this?”
• Getting people to share the reporting responsibility in a group so that everyone gets a turn.

Too much participation by one person

Possible causes

• Needs to be the centre of attention or show off
• Knows the material and is bored by the pace of the training
• Wants to be seen as the expert and different from the other participants

Possible approaches

• Use subtle body language and eye contact to carefully cut the person out of your line of sight for a while
• Acknowledge their expertise
• Appeal to other participants by saying, “Come on, don’t let Yuli do all the work.”
• Give the person a coaching role or ask them to facilitate a small group discussion.

Challenges to the facilitator

Possible approaches

• Be prepared to back up what you say with evidence but don’t get into an argument
• Say you will check up on the question raised and come back to the class with clear answers
• Agree to disagree and move on
• Speak to the person during the break.

Private conversations

Possible approaches

• manage activities, group work and room set up more carefully but discreetly
• use good body language to gently show displeasure
• speak to the person in the group or in the break

Jokers

Possible approaches

• Focus on the serious points they make
• Smile and probe further (with serious intent)
• Don’t get into a competition which will distract every one
• Give them a role play where possible so that they get the opportunity to ‘perform’

Resentful or disengaged behaviour

Possible approaches

• Treat the person like everyone else and don’t pay any particular attention to the miserable behaviour.
• Avoid giving them an opportunity to talk about their discontent more than once
• Speak to the person in the break and see if you can find out why they are so negative
• Stressing the value of the course and its content, its relevance and importance