The VTMH team undertook a two day training workshop in August 2024, with Group Works Center. The workshop was focused on group facilitation skills. This training was to strengthen and build on facilitation skills and practice for VTMH staff.
As a statewide training organisation VTMH has a remit to bring professionals together for group learning and sharing knowledge and practice. Hence, it is critically important for VTMH staff to continue developing their group facilitation skills and collaborative learning practices.
The two-day training helped us examine our approach to group learning under ‘Values’, ‘Practical Principles’, ‘Self Awareness’, ‘Workplace Micro Skills’ and ‘Collaborative Processes’.
We learned both by understanding the theory and by practising skills via role play with each other. We gained valuable understanding on the concept of ‘Community of Selves’ that facilitators bring to sessions that they co facilitate and/or lead.
Following the two-day training, we plan to review and revisit our learnings in 2025. Some of the next steps include: creating co-facilitation conversations within the teams (for example, ‘what does safety in co-facilitation look like’); discussing how ‘power’ is shared by facilitators; what micro-skills are being used? Which of the community of Selves is being employed?
Group Facilitation calls on personal and professional resources and skills. VTMH is committed to strengthening their staff emotional resilience, reflective awareness and practical skills in this area.