Need a Facilitator?

The Associate Master Facilitator

Summary

q       Experience: 30 facilitated sessions, 3 different organizations, 5 different sponsors

q       Knowledge: Written responses to 32 questions related to sub-competencies

q       Performance: Videotape of a mock facilitated session

q       Client References: 5 reference letters and 3 client interviews

q       Assessment: Score 4.0 or higher in five of the six competency areas

Explanation

A candidate for the Associate Master Facilitator designation must achieve the following:

1.      Experience - Meet the Associate Masters experience requirement by documenting the facilitation of a minimum of 30 “distinct” facilitated sessions with a minimum of 3 different “organizations” and 5 different “project sponsors” completed over the three-year period immediately preceding the date of the application. (See the Glossary of Terms for a definition of terms in quotation marks.) 

NIFAC will review the documentation to ensure all experience requirements are met.  NIFAC will do a verification check on a random sample of the sessions to ensure the accuracy of the documentation.  A minimum of 90% of the sample must pass verification.

2.      Knowledge - Meet the Associate Masters knowledge requirement by completing a written submission responding to each of the master facilitator competencies and subcompetencies.  The NIFAC assessors will score each response on a five-point scale.

3.      Performance - Meet the Associate Masters performance requirement by submitting a videotape of a mock facilitated session lasting 30 minutes or longer based on a specific topic and a set of participant guidelines provided by NIFAC. The NIFAC assessors will review the videotape and score your performance in the relevant sub-competencies on a five-point scale.

4.      Feedback - Meet the Associate Masters feedback requirement by providing letters of recommendation from five different “project sponsors” from five different “organizations” for facilitations completed within three years of the date of application.   NIFAC will interview three of the client references by telephone and the NIFAC assessors will score the feedback received against the relevant sub-competencies on a five-point scale.

5.      Competency – Meet the Associate Masters competency requirement by achieving a “weighted average rating” of 4.0 (out of 5) or higher on five of the six master facilitator competencies based on the scoring of NIFAC assessors for the performance, knowledge and feedback in each relevant sub-competency. 

Glossary of Terms

1.      Distinct Facilitated Session 

An effort has been made to provide parameters to consistently define whether an activity should qualify as one session or multiple sessions. Though the parameters may appear somewhat arbitrary, an attempt has been made to establish criteria that in the typical case would define “distinct” sessions.

q       A distinct facilitated session must (1) last at least two hours, (2) include a minimum of five participants, not counting the facilitator, (3) result in a shared deliverable (e.g., action list, decision, priorities, next steps) created by participants through interaction, (4) involve the participants speaking at least 2/3rds of the time, (5) involve the facilitator leading the session by guiding participants through each agenda item.

-         For example, a session with three people or a session lasting one hour would not be considered “distinct” facilitated sessions for the purposes of this definition.

-         The typical presentation or training class would NOT be consider a distinct facilitated session because the participants generally speak less than 2/3rds of the time and the participants generally don’t create a shared product as a result of the session.

q       A session with essentially the same participants over multiple days would be considered a single session, unless there is at least a 24-hour break between the end of one session and the start of another. 

-         For example, a session from 8:30 to 5:30, three days in a row would be considered one “distinct” facilitated session.  A session every Monday 8:30 to 5:30 for 3 weeks would be considered three “distinct” sessions.

q       Multiple sessions on the same day – with similar or different agendas - would be considered a single session unless the new attendees in the subsequent session made up at least 50% of the audience. 

-         For example, a session in the morning with 7 managers, followed by a session in the afternoon which included the 7 managers and 3 employees (30% new) would be considered one distinct session.  However, if the second session had the 7 managers and 13 employees (65% new) the second session would be considered a second distinct session.

2.      Organization

q       An organization is defined as a distinct legal entity.  For example, three sessions with three different departments or divisions of the same corporation would count as only one organization.  At the federal government level, each agency can be considered a distinct legal entity.

3.      Project Sponsor

q       A project sponsor is defined as the person of highest authority responsible for the outcome of the session.  To achieve 10 different project sponsors, you must count only one sponsor per session.

4.      Weighted Average Rating

q       The weighted average rating for a competency is computed based on taking a weighted average of all sub-competencies scores for all assessed areas that fall under the competency, using the following weights for the individual scores in each assessed area: videotape weight-4, written submission weight-2, client feedback weight-1.