Facilitation and Roles Prep for a Large Online Training

Topic

Language

English

Type

Training Tool

Training large groups online requires facilitators to ‘shift gears’ compared to leading smaller groups. Imagine training in-person:

What’s different when you go from a small group – picture a dozen or so participants in a room with markers and post-it notes on the wall… to training a large group – imagine hundreds of people in rows of seats all looking at you on a stage?

We consider a training “large group” when the group is so big you can no longer track all the individual participants. This means a “large” group online may be smaller for you than a “large” group in person.

When training with a large group, by this definition, these things may be true:

You can’t keep track of who all has attended or for how long
You can’t keep track of who all has participated
You can’t answer every question or hear every comment that comes up
You can engage people
You can get a general vibe or feel for the group
You can notice when the energy goes up and down

Remember: Just like how in an auditorium full of people you can’t give everyone a chance to speak at the microphone and end on time, in a large online training, as a trainer you can’t read every chat that comes in and stay on time!

Because your energy and attention is more limited per person, it’s helpful to find the appropriate “gear.” Delegate some roles you might perform yourself with a small group. To have your online training team work as well as possible in your large online training, try to let go of the things that aren’t in your role.

Here is the way we split the roles for large trainings we have led on our team. When leading large online trainings, we prepare ourselves not only to do the things in our box, but to NOT do the things in other people’s boxes unless someone asks for backup. This goes for all the roles!

Co-facilitators – ONLY

Hold the space
Welcome the group out loud
Light tracking of the group including who is on camera / body language
Lead the activities
Answer questions out loud, as asked out loud or lifted up by chat mod
Ask chat moderator to summarize out loud or reflect back what’s happening in the chat when desired
Manage the time, including deciding when to move on from questions/discussion
Scribe on slides

Chat Moderator – ONLY

Communicate with the waiting room before the training starts
Welcome people in the chat
Read and reply to questions and comments in the chat box
Get the overall vibe from the chat box
Paste prompts in the chat box
Track what questions haven’t been answered
Lift up to co-facilitators questions or issues that the chat mod thinks should be addressed
Coordinate with captioners and SL interpreters through private chat as needed
Export chat transcript at the end

Tech Support – ONLY

Assign Zoom roles like host, captioner
Manage slide permissions, copying
Close the waiting room
Manage the recording
Screen sharing, audio sharing
Spotlight speakers or Sign Language interpreters if needed
Run the polls
Run breakouts
Manage annotation
Answer tech problems IF asked by chat moderator or facilitator to do so or rec’d in private chat
Watch out for and deal with security or A/V issues such as zoom bombing or muting people with background noise
Tech wrap up at the end

ROLE SUMMARIES

Chat Moderator Role

During online trainings, our chat box is a key tool for connecting participants with each other, helping to set a welcoming tone, inviting the experience and wisdom of the group, and helping trainers read the impact the training is having. It’s an important tool for making our trainings as accessible as possible as well, across language levels, learning styles, abilities, etc. When groups are large in online trainings (50 or more), it can be hard for a trainer to keep up with everything happening in the chat box. The chat moderator supports trainers and participants in large trainings by keeping up with what’s happening in the chat box, answering side questions, and elevating to trainers what they are hearing from the chat participation. An active chat box allows trainers to track participants’ engagement with the topic and the chat moderator’s role is key in supporting participants to stay present and involved throughout the training.

Tech Support Role

Facilitating online trainings can take a lot of mental load, especially when we are integrating tools like screen sharing, slides, scribing, polls, breakouts, external tools, etc. to increase engagement and impact. When groups are large in online trainings (50 or more), it can be especially hard for a trainer to keep up with running all these tools and managing emerging tech issues while also leading and tracking the group. The tech support role supports trainers and participants in large trainings by keeping up with the technical aspects proactively as well as solving issues that come up, so that participants and trainers can focus on the content and not get overwhelmed. Depending on the size and complexity of your training, more than one person might share this role.