DIGITAL FACILITATION IN

SYNCHRONOUS EVENTS
COACHING ON MODALITIES, SKILLS, AND METHODS

Personal Handbook

The ETUI is financially supported

by the European Union
 ABOUT THIS PERSONAL
HANDBOOK
This is your Personal Handbook and will be a personal resource that can
remain with you and is designed to give you the opportunity to reflect and
consolidate your learning during the course and beyond.

It functions as a personal learning journal and is not visible to others. Use

the questions we offer you to stimulate your reflection on a weekly basis.

Please make sure to save it on your desktop, have access to this Personal
Handbook for each of our virtual sessions and create at least one entry as
you move on the course modules.

By using it on a weekly basis, you will track records of your learning

takeaways so that you will be able to submit it during the last week of the
course.

We wish you an excellent course experience and hope by the end of

the journey you feel it worthwhile, that it was possible to learn, you had
insights and guidance to get yourself started and opportunities to practice.

ALESSIA MESSUTI
LEARNING INNOVATION PROGRAMME OFFICER
INTERNATIONAL TRAINING CENTRE OF THE ILO

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PRE-ENGAGEMENT: GOAL SETTING
WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS FOR THE COURSE?
As an initial reflection, what are 2-3 goals that you have for yourself for this course?
Write them below:

01

02

03

DIGITAL FACILITATION IN SYNCHRONOUS EVENTS 3

 WEEK 1 ACTIVITIES
GET STARTED: DIMENSIONS OF VIRTUAL FACILITATION
This module provides an overview on virtual facilitation: the need,
evolving landscape, and new opportunities. You will meet your tutors
and peers. We encourage you to collaborate with fellow learners on
familiarizing with the program and e-platform.
In addition to this, you will explore the three dimensions of virtual
facilitation.
Finally, you have the opportunity to reflect on your challenges in your
own virtual facilitation context.

01 What were the most important take-aways from this module (new
learnings) from this module?

02 What learning from this module can I apply immediately in my

work?

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WEEK 2 ACTIVITIES
ORIENTATION: TYPES OF ONLINE EVENTS
Human interactions have taken diverse forms and various other factors
such as locations, props, resources, have catered to this diversity.
Online events and platforms are fast catching up – no more is it a one-
way between the host and the audience via a camera.
In this module, you will explore the different types of online events, their
formats, and characteristics. You will also explore pioneering examples
from around the globe on various events that have moved online.

01 What were the most important take-aways from this module (new
learnings) from this module?

02 What in this module can I apply immediately in my work?

DIGITAL FACILITATION IN SYNCHRONOUS EVENTS 5

 WEEK 3 ACTIVITIES
ORIENTATION: SKILLS USEFUL WHEN ONLINE
Being able to choose an appropriate format for your event among diverse
modalities is a great start towards online facilitation. But that’s not all!
In this module you will acquaint yourself with the skills that are needed
to facilitate an online event. You’ll get into the shoes of a movie or TV
show director to understand the various elements of overseeing and
facilitating an event.

01 What were the most important take-aways from this module (new
learnings) from this module?

02 What in this module can I apply immediately in my work?

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WEEK 4 ACTIVITIES
ORIENTATION: TYPES OF METHODS AND SKILLS NEEDED
RIGHT PLATFORM

SKILLS
With these, you have laid a solid groundwork for your online event!
Now to deal with the crux of the event: knowledge building and
information exchange—all the while keeping your audience engaged
and with high interest levels!
We shall deconstruct a typical online event into five-stages and provide
examples of methods and tools that you can use in each of these stages
to fulfill the agenda of the event that you are hosting. We shall explore
great content design and delivery using commercials and examples.

01 What were the most important take-aways from this module (new
learnings) from this module?

02 What in this module can I apply immediately in my work?

DIGITAL FACILITATION IN SYNCHRONOUS EVENTS 7

 WEEK 5 ACTIVITIES
GROUP WORK
This week you will work in groups to prepare your session plan and
prototype an online facilitated segment of your session.
Use the table below to guide work with your peers and take note of your
session plan.

a) Overview: fill in the table below with general information regarding

your session. Discuss with your peer(s) and agree on the below
items before planning the session in details.

Title of Session:

Team members:

Expected number of
participants:

Learning objectives:

Duration:

Language:

Webinar, conference, workshop, Townhall, Debate, Live

Streaming…
Type of Online
Learning Event:

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b) Brainstorming: use the questions below to start thinking about
the design of the session, share your prior online facilitation
experiences and/or insights from the online learning course.

Pain points: what

might be challenging?
How can it be mitigated?

Ideas: what facilitation

techniques would help you
reach the objectives?

Skills: what online skills

are necessary to carry out
the session?

Tools: what technologies

might be useful to reach
the objectives?

c) Plan: fill in the table below (or feel free to use a word document if
you need more space) to script the plan of the session. Start listing
the learning activities or methodologies foreseen, their duration,
the tasks carried out by the online facilitator and useful links,
resources or tools that will need to be used.

Activity Facilitator Responsible Useful links/

Minutes
description Notes person tools

DIGITAL FACILITATION IN SYNCHRONOUS EVENTS 9

 WEEK 6 ACTIVITIES
SIMULATION: SIMULATION OF ONLINE EVENTS
This week, you will simulate a virtual facilitation moment. You’ll go hands
on designing and facilitating your event. And not just that! You will also
evaluate online strategies adopted by your peers for the scenarios they
simulate.
You will also reflect on personal learning takeaways from this course
receiving feedback from your tutors/ peers.

01 What were the most important take-aways from this module (new
learnings) from this module?

02 What in this module can I apply immediately in my work?

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Copyright © International Training Centre of the International Labour Organization, 2022. All rights reserved. Cover image © Isotta Dell’Orto