How do you reflect on feedback when facilitating large groups?

1 Why feedback matters

Feedback is the information you receive from others about your performance, behavior, or impact. It can come from clients, sponsors, colleagues, participants, observers, or yourself. Feedback can be formal or informal, verbal or written, positive or negative, and solicited or unsolicited. Understanding how others perceive you and your facilitation style is important because it allows you to identify your strengths and areas for improvement. Additionally, feedback helps you recognize and celebrate your achievements as well as learn from mistakes and challenges. Furthermore, it enables you to adjust your approach and strategies to meet the needs and expectations of different groups and contexts. Ultimately, feedback can help you grow your confidence and competence as a facilitator.

2 How to collect feedback

Collecting feedback is an ongoing process that should be done before, during, and after your facilitation. Before beginning, set clear objectives and expectations with your clients and sponsors, as well as ask them how they will measure success. Conduct a pre-assessment or survey with your participants to understand their needs, interests, and preferences. During the facilitation, observe and listen to your participants' reactions, behaviors, and interactions. Utilize check-ins, polls, quizzes, or other tools to gauge engagement, satisfaction, and learning. Invite feedback from your participants at regular intervals or at the end of each session or activity. After completion of the facilitation, conduct a post-assessment or survey with your participants to evaluate their outcomes, achievements, and feedback. Debrief with your clients and sponsors to review the results and feedback. Ask for feedback from your co-facilitators or mentors on your overall performance and impact. Reflect on your own feedback and experience.

3 How to analyze feedback

Analyzing feedback is not just about counting numbers or reading comments, but about finding patterns, insights, and implications. To do this effectively, you should first organize your feedback by source, type, topic, or theme. Visual aids such as charts, graphs, tables, or other visual aids can be used to display and compare your feedback. Then you should review and interpret the feedback from different perspectives and angles. Look for trends, gaps, consistencies, inconsistencies, surprises, or anomalies. Synthesizing the feedback is the next step. Summarize and synthesize your feedback into key findings, conclusions, and recommendations. Highlight your strengths and achievements as well as areas for improvement and development. Finally, identify your best practices and lessons learned as well as any challenges or opportunities.

4 How to act on feedback

Acting on feedback is not just about accepting or rejecting it, but about using it to inform your actions and decisions. To make the most of feedback, you should appreciate it by thanking the provider and expressing your gratitude. Then, evaluate it critically and constructively, filtering out any noise or bias. Respond to your feedback respectfully and explain your perspective or intention. Finally, implement it into your practice by setting SMART goals and action plans with the help of support or resources. Monitor and measure your progress to ensure successful results.

5 How to improve your feedback skills

Improving your feedback skills is not only about receiving feedback, but also giving it. As a facilitator, you need to provide feedback to clients, sponsors, co-facilitators, participants, and others involved in your facilitation. To improve your skills, seek feedback proactively and regularly from different sources. Be open-minded and humble when gathering feedback. When giving feedback, be constructive and respectful. Utilize the sandwich method or SBI model to structure your feedback. Provide specific examples and evidence to support it. Learn from the feedback continuously and intentionally. Incorporate it into your learning and development plan. Sharing your feedback with others is also important. With this powerful tool, facilitators can enhance their skills and outcomes, creating positive experiences for themselves and others.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?