Module 5 quiz | Facilitation Foundations

Question 1 of 8

Of IDOARRT’s seven lines, two get dropped almost every time and they are the two doing the most work. Which two, and what does each prevent?

Intention and Desired outcomes — without them the room does not know why it is there. Rules and Time — without them the session drifts and overruns. Agenda and Time — without them the room cannot pace itself. Open and Roles — scope is what lets you park a tangent without spending your own authority, and saying who decides stops an hour of quiet speculation.

Question 2 of 8

You spend seven minutes building working agreements in the room’s own words rather than bringing your own. Halfway through the morning a senior person talks over a junior colleague for the third time. What did the seven minutes buy you?

Permission to speak to the senior person privately at the break rather than in the room. You point at the flipchart instead of telling a senior person off in front of their team, so it lands as the group intervening rather than you. A record you can refer back to in the write-up if the behaviour continues. Nothing yet — agreements work by prevention, and this one has clearly failed.

Question 3 of 8

You are running a session for a room that includes people well above your level. What is the move?

Avoid the issue by keeping your interventions light and letting the room self-manage. Have the sponsor chair the session and take a supporting role yourself. Borrow the authority out loud in the frame — “Priya’s asked me to run today and to keep us to time, so if I cut anyone off, that’s why” — and use it early on something small. Establish your own authority in the first five minutes by holding a firm timebox on the most senior person present.

Question 4 of 8

The four parts of an instruction, in order, are: what we’re doing, how long you’ve got, alone or together, and what you should have in front of you at the end. Which of these is true?

Context should come first, so people understand why they are being asked. The fourth item tells people when they are finished, and a room that knows what finished looks like works twice as fast. The order is flexible as long as all four are present. The fourth item is optional if the activity is short.

Question 5 of 8

“So, thinking about what we discussed earlier, I’d love us to sort of capture some thoughts on where the friction really is, maybe in pairs, and then we’ll see where we’ve got to.” Which failures are in that sentence?

It gives two instructions at once, which is the main fault. Hedging, no number, no artifact, and the instruction is buried inside other talking. It is too short; the room needs more context to engage with a friction exercise. Only hedging — the rest is recoverable once people start.

Question 6 of 8

For an activity with more than two steps you hold up a completed example instead of explaining it. Why should the example be scruffy?

The example you show is the quality bar whether you meant it to be or not — a neat one makes everyone slow down to match it. It signals informality, which lowers the stakes and makes people more willing to contribute. A rough example is faster to make, so you can produce it during the session. It keeps the focus on the process rather than the artifact.

Question 7 of 8

You have finished explaining an activity. What do you do next?

Say go, then add one reassuring line so nobody feels under pressure. Repeat the instruction once more in different words, so both versions are available. Ask “what’s unclear about that?” or have someone say it back, then say go and stop talking. Ask “does that make sense?”, then say go.

Question 8 of 8

You said go. Two tables are doing the wrong thing and one is looking at you. What is the recovery?

Let it run — some of what they produce will be usable, and stopping the room costs more than it saves. Stop the room and ask the table that got it right to explain it to the others. Go table to table and correct each one quietly, so you do not embarrass anyone. Stop the whole room, take the blame, give the twenty-second version cleanly with the artifact added, and reset the clock.

0 of 8 answered

Opening Strong and Giving Instructions

A letter for facilitators who give a damn.