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Felicity Smith

HDF413 - Advanced Facilitation and Consulting Skills

12 November 2018

Co-Facilitation Experience

Just two days prior to putting my name down as a facilitator for the Rhody

Ridiculousness Retreat, I had my first shadow experience that honestly gave me more confidence

than I expected. This retreat and the people on it gave me the confidence to jump on board a

retreat that I had no knowledge as to what I’d be doing. Although last minute, my facilitation

experience taught me how to work around a group’s needs based on our agenda, highlighted my

three strengths of restorative, developer, and responsibility, showed me what can go well and not

so well in a retreat, showcased the Tuckman’s Stages of Group Development, and finally, gave

me insight into how I can use this experience as a future facilitator.

Rhody Ridiculousness is small yet very fun and high energy group who wanted to work

on team building. Being as there is only eleven people in their group we had to tailor the retreat

to their needs which can be showcased well through our agenda. First, we did a great job at

staying on time and following our agenda. A few of our energizers didn’t go for as long as

planned but we made up that time with our Full Values Contract and the initiative and ended up

giving Jessi perfect time for the closer, Reach Out and Touch. In addition, the sequencing of our

activities flowed very smoothly and allowed for times with high energy as well as times that

needed to be more serious. Finally, I believe Hog Call and Quick-Witted Compliments were

perfect energizers for this improv group because both got their energy up and put them in their

typical lighthearted element. Overall, I believe our agenda worked perfectly and made the goal of
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team building very clear throughout, especially during initiatives such as Brain Buckets and

Reach Out and Touch.

Throughout my experience facilitating Brain Buckets, I feel as though I was able to

utilize all of my strengths, specifically my strengths of restorative, responsibility, and developer.

Restorative is the ability to figure out what it wrong and act quickly to resolve any issues. During

Brain Buckets, I saw that there were some techniques being used that seemed a bit questionable

in regards to safety. As a precaution, I switched around the rules and implemented certain

consequences to make sure all participants were safe and everyone was being accounted for.

Similarly, responsibility is taking ownership of what you say and do as well as remaining honest

and loyal with yourself and others. I saw my responsibility strength come out strong in Brain

Buckets because I remained ethical and unbiased through the entire initiative and asked my

participants to do the same. Finally, through my developer strength, I am able to bring out the

best in others. This is one of the strengths I resonate most with because I feel myself doing this

every day. Towards the end of Brain Buckets, I timed the group and challenged them to go

through the initiative again but faster. The group hesitated at first but felt confident enough to

follow through. With my strength of developer, I was able to bring out a side of the group that

they didn’t think was possible.

Reflecting on my facilitation experience, I believe there was a plethora of things that

went well. To begin, I believe as a whole we did a great job utilizing the space we had and were

very successful when making a rotation for the shadows and facilitators to enter and leave the

room. With a group as small as Rhody Ridiculousness, it can be hard to balance the amount of

SOLC staff we have in the room at once. Overall, I believe we executed this rotation perfectly

and there was little to no confusion along the way. To add, I feel as though our selection of
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energizers and initiatives fit the group very well, specifically Brain Buckets and Reach Out and

Touch. Brain Buckets was a perfect initiative for Rhody Ridiculousness because it allowed for

creativity, conflict resolution, as well as team building which was their goal coming in. In

regards to our sequencing, Reach Out and Touch was the perfect closer to follow Brain Buckets

because it really hit home for a lot of people. After going through Brain Buckets together and

feeling a bit of tension within the group, it was really impactful for them to see and feel how

much other members appreciated them. On a more personal note, I feel as though my debrief for

Brain Buckets went really well. Reflecting back, I feel as though I was confident in my role as a

facilitator and asked questions that were relevant to their group and group values.

Out of the entire retreat, including all of our shadows and facilitators, I truly believe there

was only one thing that could have gone better, and that was on me. At the beginning of Brain

Buckets, I stumbled on my words so hard even I wasn’t understanding myself. It quite literally

took me three times to get out what I was trying to say until I decided to just completely start

over and take a breath. It wasn’t from nerves, I honestly just forgot how to form sentences for an

entire minute. If I could go back, I would definitely slow down and not rush into the initiative.

I’m grateful the group was very understanding of my mess up but it made the beginning of the

activity a bit more confusing than it should have been.

During this retreat, I saw Rhody Ridiculousness go through Tuckman’s Five Stages of

Group Development. The five stages are forming, storming, norming, performing, and

adjourning. Forming is when the group is establishing relationships and getting to know one

another. Although I am unsure of how close the group was before our retreat, forming was seen

during introductions, Hog Call, and even the Full Values Contract. During storming, roles and

responsibilities become articulated but tends to be a bit chaotic because people are pushing for a
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position of power. This was seen at the beginning of Brain Buckets when the group was

struggling to come to an agreement on who would be doing what. There were a few voices

taking charge and some getting pushed aside but once the group was able to hear everyone’s

opinions, the group moved to norming. Norming is where the group figures out positions and

feedback is well-received. Next is performing which is quite literally when the group performs

and where more trust is established. This was seen mainly through the rest of the initiative.

Finally, adjourning is when the group celebrates and recognizes their accomplishments. This was

best seen through the debrief where we reflected on the group’s performance as a whole (Five

Stages of Group Development).

After going through my first facilitation experience, I know there are many aspects that I

can learn from. First, I have learned that it is okay to make mistakes and start over. Going into

future retreats as a facilitator, I can use this to remind myself that it doesn’t have to be perfect

and if I mess up, I can always take a second to breathe. In addition, I have learned how important

the spacing of facilitators and shadows are. If I am a facilitator on a retreat with a smaller group

of people, I will suggest to my lead to space us out and have us rotate in and out of the room. I

also learned that debriefing isn’t as bad as it seems. Having this experience under my belt will

definitely allow me to be more confident going into future retreats. Finally, I have learned how

impactful being a facilitator can be. Throughout the entire retreat, I truly feel as though Rhody

Ridiculousness got out what they wanted which was team building. By the end of the night they

seemed so happy with one another and couldn’t stop talking about how emotional Reach Out and

Touch was. I’m glad we were able to help them with their goals and bring them closer as a

whole.
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Overall, my facilitation experience has taught me many valuable lessons and given me

insight to many things. From this experience I have seen how we as facilitators can tailor a

retreat to perfectly fit a group’s needs, I have seen how I can use my strengths to benefit the

group I am working with, I now know what works well in a retreat and also what I should work

on, I was able to experience another group go through the Tuckman’s Five Stages of Group

Development, and with my knew knowledge of facilitating I can better future retreats that I take

part in. Looking back, I am so grateful and happy I had the opportunity to hop onto the Rhody

Ridiculousness retreat. My experience as a shadow gave me so much confidence to tackle being

a facilitator and now with this experience under my belt, I can say I’m ready to take on another

retreat.
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Student Organization Leadership Consultants

Rhody Ridiculousness Retreat
November 8, 2018

Group: Rhody Ridiculousness

Group Contact & info: Chris Alves, (774)-265-2730
SOLC Contact: Jessi Florendo
Goal of Retreat: team building
# Participants: 11
Date: 11/8/18
Time: 6:30-8:30 PM
Location: Gallery
Facilitators: Felicity S, Sheaf G, Laura H, Bailey V
Food Requests: none
Special Requests/Needs: none

Retreat Agenda:
Time/ Topic/Activity Facilitator Notes/Supplies needed
location
6:30-6:45 Waivers, Intros, Tone Setting JF
6:45-6:55 Hog Call BV
7-7:30 Full Values “Script” SG Poster board, markers
7:35-7:45 Quick-Witted Compliment LH
7:45-8:20 Brain Buckets FS Plastic cups, Tennis Ball, Ping pong
ball, basketball, tape, blindfold
8:20-8:30 Reach Out and Touch JF :)

Handouts: N/A

General Supplies Checklist: Poster boards, markers, plastic cups, tennis ball, ping pong ball,
basketball, tape, blindfolds
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Works Cited

Five Stages of Group Development. (n.d.). Retrieved November 12, 2018, from

https://med.fsu.edu/uploads/files/FacultyDevelopment_GroupDevelopment.pdf.