Global Facilitators Network - Candidate Guidelines

Facilitation is one of the fastest growing professions. Facilitators' services are much sought after and used throughout the whole range of human activity from international negotiations to community developments - from major projects and high tech dynamic systems development through strategic planning and team development to one to one conflict resolution. The use of facilitation is only as large as your imagination. But what is a facilitator - what skills and abilities do they need?

The GlobalFN certification process is based on the Facilitator Accreditation Services Ltd (FAS) process, which has been in use worldwide since 1998. The certification program is designed to help promote and support professional facilitation and provide clients with a clear way of assessing the capability of people offering facilitation services

The programme itself is a competency based assessment process focused on identifying and developing the core facilitation competencies required for facilitating meetings and workshops. For more information on these competencies click here.

The main competency headings are:

Managing the Event

Managing the Process

Managing Groups and Individuals

Managing Your Learning

Managing Yourself

GUIDELINES FOR CANDIDATES

The certification process involves two stages:

A documentary submission to the Certification Co-ordinator
Attendance at a Facilitator Assessment Day

The Documentary Submission

Once a candidate decides to apply for certification they must submit the following documents to certification@globalfn.org

A completed Application Form endorsed by their employer/customer (where possible) clearly showing:
- Their facilitation experience, with dates and duration of workshops they have facilitated
- A copy of Course(s) Attendance Certificate(s) - where applicable
A CV/Resume covering their Career, Educational and Learning experiences etc. For more information on this document click here
A Synopsis describing workshops the candidate has facilitated.

Submission of these documents must be in electronic format (Certificates may be produced at the Assessment Centre at a later date if not available in electronic format). Any person experiencing problems with electronic submission should contact info@globalfn.org so alternative arrangements can be made.

All forms, details of the submission and assessment dates together with the assessment fees, are available from the GlobalFN Web Site. Completion of the Application Form is self-explanatory but for advice concerning completion of the CV/Resume refer to the Career Resume Advice Document.

The Synopsis

The main objective of the synopsis is to provide evidence that the candidate has practically demonstrated the Competencies.

The candidate may choose to describe as many workshops as needed to ensure they provide evidence of all the five competencies.

The synopsis should be presented in the form of a 2000 word (maximum) typed document and include the following:

A brief description of the overall project/task/activity
A description of the facilitation performed
The number (if applicable), length and type of the facilitation session(s)
Details of the preparation undertaken
Agenda of the workshop(s)
A detailed explanation of the approach(s) used & why
Techniques used, with full explanations and the results achieved
Tools used to support these techniques, and how they were applied
Workshop participants, their role in the project / organisation and their role in the workshop
Feedback from the workshop & lessons learned, action taken etc.

Note: Synopses provide useful case studies. If the candidate wishes to make the synopsis anonymous, by not referring to the particular customer or organisation, this is quite acceptable. If the candidate does not wish the synopsis to be used as a case study, please advise us at the time of submission.

Recording and Appointment of Process Manager & Assessors

Once the candidate has submitted the Application Form, CV/Resume and Synopsis the Certification Co-ordinator will record their submission and inform the Process Manager for the relevant Facilitator Assessment day. The Process Manager will then assign 2 independent Assessors to each candidate and forward the documentation to them.

The Process Manager acts as the facilitator for each Assessment Day and is responsible for running the day as well as all logistical aspects of the day as well as performing a Quality Assurance Process for the Process. They should be the candidates' first point of contact re logistics.

Role of Assessors:
The Assessors will review all the documents and establish whether sufficient evidence has been shown to enable the candidate to proceed to the next stage of the process - the Assessment Day.

If the evidence shown in the Application Form, CV/Resume and Synopsis has reached the required standard, the candidate will be invited to an Assessment Day.

If they do not provide sufficient evidence of the Competencies, the candidate will not be invited to attend the Assessment Day but will receive comments on the Synopsis and may resubmit another Synopsis at a later date.

The certification co-ordinator will inform each candidate of the outcome of this first stage of the assessment no later than one week before the designated Assessment Day

At this stage each successful candidate will be provided with:

Contact details of their Assessors and the Process Manager
A topic list for their facilitation Workshop including Guidelines for preparing for, and running the workshop
The name of the Assessor who will is designated as the Sponsor/Client for the Workshop

Workshop Selection and Action

On receipt of the Workshop List the candidate should:

Choose a topic from the list and prepare their workshop accordingly

Contact the Sponsor/Client Assessor before the day to discuss their workshop. Note: Candidates will also have a brief opportunity on the day to further discuss the workshop with their Client Assessor

Workshop Logistics

The workshop will normally consist of a group of about 6-8 participants and will run for exactly 30 minutes. Basic Facilitation equipment will be provided for these workshops e.g. Flipchart Stands, Flipcharts, Pens and Tape/Blu Tack. OHP's, Screens and Dry Wipe Boards are usually available (check with the Certification Co-ordinator if you require these). If additional specific equipment is to be used by the candidate they should provide this themselves e.g. sticky walls, visual aids, audio/visual equipment etc.

The Assessment Day

This section describes the second stage of the assessment process - the Assessment Day.

Documents
Candidates MUST bring with them:

The originals of any Training Certificates or other Documents used in their application - or any additional Certificates or Documents, which they consider, provides evidence to support their application.

A copy of their Workshop Process Notes describing what they intend to do with the group - this should describe the process they will be using in their Workshop Session to address their selected Topic. Note: It will be impractical to ask any participants, fellow candidates or Assessors, to do any pre-reading before the Workshop either on the day or before.

Any Agenda or other documents that they will be using during their Workshop

All the documents brought to the Assessment Centre must be given to their Assessors at their Initial Interview.

Candidate Briefing

The day starts with Candidates and Assessors being briefed on the venue, timetable, logistics etc. by the Process Manager for that Assessment Centre. The candidates will then be introduced to their two assigned Assessors. These Assessors will be the ones who have reviewed all their application documents and will be working with the candidates for all parts of the Assessment Day process.

The Process Manager is responsible for the successful management of the Assessment Centre and will provide the main point of contact for candidates throughout the day.

Initial Interview

The first part of the process is an interview (30 minutes maximum) to establish evidence of the candidate's knowledge and experience in line with the core competencies. They will be asked questions about their practical facilitation experience as well as about the documents submitted for the assessment. Their knowledge of theoretical aspects of facilitation will also be explored in line with the competencies of 'Managing your Learning' & 'Managing Yourself'.

The facilitator certificate is a practical qualification, so the candidate should expect the Assessors to test their practical knowledge of facilitation in the interview. Answers and examples must be related to practical examples whenever possible. Candidates are not allowed to consult manuals, books or notes during the interview.

Tape Recording

All interviews are tape-recorded for the purpose of quality improvement of the process and quality assurance of the assessors as well as providing feedback to candidates.

Down Time

Candidates' work in streams of three candidates so will normally have over an hour to complete their preparation for their facilitation workshop while the other two candidates in their stream are being interviewed.

It is also highly recommended that this 'down time' be used for networking and sharing and learning from your fellow candidates.

Facilitation Workshop
Once all candidates have been interviewed, the facilitation workshops will take place. Each candidate will be given ten minutes prior to their Workshop to set up the room, visual aids etc.

The group in the workshop is made up of their fellow candidates and at least two assessors, one of whom will be the candidates' own Client/Sponsor assessor. Their other assessor will act as an observer to the workshop. Role-play may be used by the participant assessors to test specific competencies not covered in the process so far. Other candidates will not role-play but participate as themselves in the workshop.

Before starting the workshop Candidates should provide a 2-minute (maximum) 'Scene Setting' introduction putting the workshop in context. Then they should start their workshop, which will last a maximum of 30 minutes.

Once all candidates have completed their facilitation workshop, the assessors will review all the candidates and identify areas for inclusion in the final interview.

Final Interview

The final interview is key to the whole process as it brings together all the various stages of the programme. Further questions may be asked in these interviews which go much deeper into the competencies as assessors will now have had the opportunity to see the candidate's practice their craft live. The interview will last a maximum of 30 minutes.

Decision

On completion of the final interview candidates will be asked to leave the room while their assessors discuss their overall performance and make the decision.

Candidates will then be invited back into the Interview Room and be given their result - Pass, Defer or Fail (Fail only if it is their second assessment). They will be given a Candidate Result Form confirming the result and informed of the next stages.

Feedback

Candidates will be offered the opportunity of immediate 'hot' feedback upon their performance on the day. This is in addition to the comprehensive Feedback Report that they will receive subsequent to the Assessment.

Final Debrief

The final part of the Assessment Day is a debrief of the whole day by the Process Manager.

All candidates and Assessors are asked to stay and contribute in the spirit of continuous improvement of the programme.

Feedback on the Process, the venues, the style etc. has proved vital to the ongoing development of the programme and is much appreciated by everyone involved in the Certification Process.

Post Assessment

Candidates will

Receive an email confirming the result and providing more comprehensive written feedback on their performance. (10 working Days)

Be issued with their formal Certificate confirming their status as a Certified Facilitator. (28 working days)

Have their names placed on the Register of Certified Facilitators held centrally by GlobalFN.

Be offered the opportunity of having their names and a brief description of their services displayed for potential clients on GlobalFN.org

The Appeals Procedure

The candidate wishing to make an appeal should send a letter to the Certification Co-ordinator, stating the grounds for the appeal, within 2 weeks of the Assessment. The appeal process fee is £600, however this fee is refunded if the appeal is successful.

All forms, letters and the synopsis will be forwarded to the Chair of the Appeals Panel for consideration by an Appeals Panel.

The Appeals Panel will be made up of a Chair who will be an Advanced Certified Facilitator and Accredited Assessor plus two other Accredited Assessors who were not involved at all in the Assessment Process involving the candidate appealing. Part of the Appeals Process may include interviews with the Candidate and/or the Assessors responsible for failing or deferring them.

The Appellant, the Assessors involved and the Certification Co-ordinator will be notified by the Chair of the Panel on the outcome of the Appeal within 4 weeks. The panel's decision is final.

If you have any queries in regards to the certification process please email the Certification Co-ordinator or Telephone +44 (0)1233 500113

PDF of the Guidelines

Application Form

Resume Preparation

Certification Dates

Certification Costs

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