Role of a Consultant:
As a consultant, we have the role as a facilitator, shadow, or lead. It is our job to meet as a facilitation team and create an agenda detailed with activities that will help the organization who requested the retreat to accomplish the goal that they came to a SOLC retreat for. A few examples of a goal or reason an organization will ask SOLC to host a retreat can be getting new members closer to older members, team bonding, conflict resolution, decision making, etc. There are plenty of other reasons why an organization will have a retreat but those were just a few of the examples. When an organization's contact requests a retreat, they will need to include a detailed goal so that the facilitation team can plan accordingly. A consultant has the role and responsibility to be promptly on time, professional, appropriate, positive, relatively quiet and high energy. When I mentioned before about consultants being relatively quiet, I mean that their voices should only be heard when explaining instructions for an activity and when asking questions during a debriefing. Facilitators learn to be comfortable sitting in silence as eventually one of the participants will step up and answer the question. In the Agenda meeting, which occurs at least one week prior to the retreat, everyone gets together to map out a plan of which activities including energizers, initiatives, a full values contract, and name games should be facilitated in order to meet the goal of the participating organization. Along with which activities to do, we plan an approximate amount of time for each activity, leaving time for debriefings when necessary. Finally, we decide who will be facilitating which activity and what materials are needed for the retreat. As a lead, there is a Lead Packet that must be completed prior to the retreat as well as a report recapping how the retreat went. After the agenda is made, the Lead of the retreat reviews it with Executive Board members and any necessary changes are made. After every retreat, participants are asked to fill out evaluations so we can reflect on what we did well and what we could improve on and then we discuss their answers in our own debriefing after the retreat. Another important aspect of SOLC is safety which is why before every retreat, we print out waivers for every participant even though we ask them to have them prepared and filled out in advance. Whether you're a facilitator, shadow or lead, being a consultant has many benefits such as expanding skills including Interpersonal skills, communication skills, working alongside a peer (in cases where one co-facilitates an activity), time management, agenda planning, teamwork, working with individuals who come from diverse backgrounds, and many many more. With each retreat you facilitate, your skills get strengthened making the next retreat even better. The role of a consultant is to facilitate activities, lead debriefings, and assist organizations on campus in their development of their mission, goals, values, and strengths.
Activity Write-ups
Shadowing Experience
Co-Facilitation Experience
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Reflection:
After taking part in the Student Organization Leadership Consultants as a class member along with being a member of the organization, I have gained more confidence in myself and my facilitating & debriefing skills and abilities, I learned new activities, many more Leadership models and theories, and so much more. I was able to get an even deeper understanding of who I am as a leader and how my strengths come out as a Consultant. As mentioned on my HDF413 introduction tab, I explained how I used my strengths. Aside from using my strengths, I also learned how to properly plan a retreat agenda and choosing the right activities and when to schedule them using the GRABBSS sequencing. GRABBSS stands for Goals, Readiness, Affect, Behavior, Body, Stage, Setting. Starting with Goals, when deciding on an activity, you need to ask questions about how this activity will help the participants achieve their goal. For Readiness, you need to know what functioning level the group is (high functioning, low functioning, etc) so that proper activities can be chosen that will challenge them to be in their growth zone without putting them into their panic zone or keeping them in their comfort zone. Also, it's important to think of safety during Readiness, which could be done by asking yourself and the facilitation team questions like, "Can this group handle this activity? and will it put anyone in a situation where they will endanger themselves or others?" Next comes Affect, where you should focus on the feelings, empathy levels, caring levels, etc. of the group. Then we think about Behavior, where we analyze how the group is acting, questions to ask ourselves include, "Are they really engaging or just doing the bare minimum? Are they working well together? Is there any conflict arising that needs to be dealt with?" Once we figure this out, we assess the Body, which is the assessment of how they are. A question to ask ourselves is, "Are they physically- tired, intoxicated, sick?" We also think of how their self-image is, "How is their self-esteem?" Next comes Stage, where we think of which of Tuckman's Stage of Development they are in. Are they all in the same stage or individually in different stages? Finally, we end our activity decision making with Setting, which is where we assess the learning environment with its limitations and opportunities such as the space in which the retreat is being hosted, we see if there are any cultural factors affecting the group, and we see how they would react to activities because of their different backgrounds and views.
Another very important concept and model I learned in HDF413 is Kolb's Model of Experiential Learning. I discuss it great detail on the Introduction tab but it is really useful when debriefing initiatives with groups. It starts with the Concrete Experience, then talks about the Reflective Observation, next is the Abstract Conceptualization, and ending with the Active Experimentation. So to debrief using this model, you would first talk about the Concrete Experience or the actual activity. What did you do? What was the activity like? Questions that are very surface level about what they just did a few minutes ago. Next, we move onto the Reflective Observation or the "What?" where questions would consist of, "What went well? What could you improve on? How would you do it differently if given another chance?" After they answer those questions, it would lead into the Abstract Conceptualization or the "So what" where questions would try to get participants to address and explain the importance of the activity. "What lesson did they just learn and why is it important?" Finally, we would end the debriefing with the Active Experimentation or the "Now what" where questions would challenge the participants to apply what they learned to real life whether in their organization, their own lives, or the world in general.
More very useful debriefing methods I learned that are relatively quicker are the "Thumb-mometer" and "A One Word Whip". The "Thumb-mometer" is a quick show of mood and feelings through the use of only a thumbs up (I'm feeling great), a thumb sideways (I'm okay) or a thumbs down (I am not doing so well right now). If time allows, you could ask a few participants to explain why they chose the position they did. For the "One Word Whip", this is another quick debrief check in to see how everyone is feeling either about the activity they just did or just in general. Without an explanation, going around the circle, ask everyone to say only one word for how they are feeling. If words are being repeated, the facilitator can and should challenge the group to not repeat words. If time allows, a few participants can explain further why they chose their word. These were just a few examples of the many, many things I learned in HDF413. I cannot wait to keep up with the organization and facilitate more retreats in the future. I would even love the opportunity to potentially lead a retreat in the future.
For GRABBSS:
Schoel, J., Prouty, D., & Radcliffe, P. (1988). Islands of healing: A guide to adventure based counseling. Hamilton, MA: Project Adventure.
For Kolb's Model of Experiential Learning:
Komives, S. R., Lucas, N., & McMahon, T. R. (2013). Exploring leadership: For college students who want to make a difference (3rd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Another very important concept and model I learned in HDF413 is Kolb's Model of Experiential Learning. I discuss it great detail on the Introduction tab but it is really useful when debriefing initiatives with groups. It starts with the Concrete Experience, then talks about the Reflective Observation, next is the Abstract Conceptualization, and ending with the Active Experimentation. So to debrief using this model, you would first talk about the Concrete Experience or the actual activity. What did you do? What was the activity like? Questions that are very surface level about what they just did a few minutes ago. Next, we move onto the Reflective Observation or the "What?" where questions would consist of, "What went well? What could you improve on? How would you do it differently if given another chance?" After they answer those questions, it would lead into the Abstract Conceptualization or the "So what" where questions would try to get participants to address and explain the importance of the activity. "What lesson did they just learn and why is it important?" Finally, we would end the debriefing with the Active Experimentation or the "Now what" where questions would challenge the participants to apply what they learned to real life whether in their organization, their own lives, or the world in general.
More very useful debriefing methods I learned that are relatively quicker are the "Thumb-mometer" and "A One Word Whip". The "Thumb-mometer" is a quick show of mood and feelings through the use of only a thumbs up (I'm feeling great), a thumb sideways (I'm okay) or a thumbs down (I am not doing so well right now). If time allows, you could ask a few participants to explain why they chose the position they did. For the "One Word Whip", this is another quick debrief check in to see how everyone is feeling either about the activity they just did or just in general. Without an explanation, going around the circle, ask everyone to say only one word for how they are feeling. If words are being repeated, the facilitator can and should challenge the group to not repeat words. If time allows, a few participants can explain further why they chose their word. These were just a few examples of the many, many things I learned in HDF413. I cannot wait to keep up with the organization and facilitate more retreats in the future. I would even love the opportunity to potentially lead a retreat in the future.
For GRABBSS:
Schoel, J., Prouty, D., & Radcliffe, P. (1988). Islands of healing: A guide to adventure based counseling. Hamilton, MA: Project Adventure.
For Kolb's Model of Experiential Learning:
Komives, S. R., Lucas, N., & McMahon, T. R. (2013). Exploring leadership: For college students who want to make a difference (3rd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.