A2.9 Appendix 1 Facilitation Competencies

This file sets out the companion appendix that sits at the end of the Instructor / Examiner Competency and Performance Framework. The competencies specified below are those supporting the effective application of the facilitation training style. Facilitation is particularly important for the proper conduct of LOFT debriefings; however, they may be applied during any training or checking event when their use is appropriate to the situation.

The five Facilitation Competencies are not a Unit of the main framework: they are an annexe used in conjunction with it when the training event is specifically a LOFT debriefing. Unit 4 Element C Desirable Behaviour g of the main framework is the explicit cross-reference into this appendix ("Demonstrates effective application of the LOS Facilitator behaviours: refer to Appendix 1").

#The two main goals of LOFT Debriefing

As far as the LOFT Debriefing is concerned, the two main goals are:

1. Get the crew to perform an in-depth analysis of the situation that confronted them, how they understood and managed the situation, the outcome, and ways to improve.
2. Get the crew to participate in a proactive, rather than reactive, manner in which they initiate discussion and elaborate beyond the minimal.

These goals are based on the assumption that active participation by the crew will result in a higher level of learning and increased likelihood of transfer to the line.

The framework identifies five Facilitation Competencies that must be demonstrated by instructors conducting a LOFT Debriefing.

#1. Performs a Proper Introduction

Purpose. The purpose of the introduction is to let the trainees know that participation and self-evaluation are expected of them, and why it is important.

#Behaviours

• Makes clear that his role is guide / facilitator and that the trainees should do most of the talking.
• Clearly conveys that trainees should take an active role, initiating discussion rather than just responding to him.
• Clearly conveys that he wants trainees to dig deep, critically analyzing the situations encountered in the LOFT, and their own performance.
• Gives a persuasive rationale for the trainees to participate actively and make their own analysis.

#2. Uses Questions Effectively

Purpose. The purpose of asking questions is to get the trainees to participate, focus the discussion on important topics, and get the trainees to discuss the topics in depth.

#Behaviours

• Asks an appropriate number of questions to get trainees talking and guide them to important issues.
• Avoids answering for the trainees when they do not respond immediately or correctly, and uses a pattern of questioning that keeps the focus on the trainees.
• Uses probing and follow-up questions to get trainees to analyze in depth and to go beyond yes / no and brief factual answers.
• Uses questioning techniques to encourage interaction and sharing of perspectives among trainees.

The four behaviours decompose questioning into the quantity of questions asked (the first behaviour: appropriate number, neither too few to provoke participation nor so many they overwhelm), the discipline of waiting through a non-immediate response (the second behaviour, which protects the silence-and-pause technique that the FSF / NASA upstream develops in depth at A1.4 Facilitation Techniques), the depth of follow-up (the third behaviour: probing and follow-up questions that go past yes / no), and the cross-trainee dynamic (the fourth behaviour: questioning that gets trainees talking with each other, not only with the instructor).

#3. Demonstrates Encouragement

Purpose. Encouragement refers to the degree to which the instructor encourages and enables the trainees to actively and deeply participate in the debriefing.

#Behaviours

• Conveys sense of interest in trainee opinions and views, and works to get them to do most of the talking.
• Encourages continued discussion through active listening, strategic pauses, avoiding disruptive interruptions, and / or following up on trainee-initiated topics.
• Encourages all trainees to participate fully, drawing out quiet members if necessary.
• Refrains from giving long speeches, or giving his own analysis, before the trainees have completed their own analysis of the situation and their performance.

The four behaviours work together: showing interest (first behaviour) and active listening (second behaviour) signal to the trainees that their participation is welcomed; drawing out the quiet members (third behaviour) prevents the louder trainees from dominating to the exclusion of the quieter ones; and the prohibition on premature instructor speeches (fourth behaviour) protects the analytical space that the first three behaviours opened.

#4. Focuses on Trainee Analysis and Evaluation

Purpose. The goal of the debriefing session is to get the trainees to evaluate and analyze their own CRM performance so they will learn more deeply and can gain practice in debriefing themselves, a skill they can then begin to use on the line.

#Behaviours

• Encourages trainees to analyze the situation that confronted them using the Risk Management Model, and to describe what they did to manage the situation, and why they did it that way.
• Encourages trainees to evaluate their CRM (non-technical) performance and / or ways they might improve.
• Encourages trainees to explore CRM issues, and how they specifically affected their performance in the LOFT session.
• Encourages trainees crew to analyze issues, factors, and outcomes in depth, going beyond simply describing what happened and what they did.

The four behaviours decompose the analysis-and-evaluation focus into the what-and-why of trainee actions (first behaviour: analysis of what the trainees did and the reasoning behind it), the non-technical performance that CRM names as its domain (second behaviour: the trainees evaluating their own CRM performance), the causal link between CRM behaviour and observed outcomes (third behaviour: how CRM specifically affected the LOFT performance), and the depth requirement that distinguishes analysis from narrative (fourth behaviour: going beyond describing what happened to analysing why).

#5. Uses Videos Effectively

Purpose. The main purpose of showing videotaped segments of the LOFT is to enable the trainees to see how they performed from an objective viewpoint so they can better evaluate their performance. More realistically, perhaps, the video reminds the trainees of the situation, aiding their memory and providing a focus for discussion.

#Behaviours

• Shows an appropriate number of videos of appropriate duration to illustrate / introduce topics.
• Uses video equipment efficiently: is able to find desired segment without wasting time and pauses the video if substantial talk begins while playing.
• Consistently discusses video segments, using them as a springboard for discussion of specific topics.
• Has a point to make and uses the video to make that point.

The four behaviours decompose video use into the quantity-and-duration discipline (first behaviour: appropriate number, appropriate length), the technical proficiency with the equipment (second behaviour: efficient finding of segments, sensible use of pause), the integration of the video with discussion (third behaviour: every segment is a springboard for a topic), and the intentionality of every segment shown (fourth behaviour: a specific point to be made).

#How the five competencies relate to the main framework

The five Facilitation Competencies sit alongside the seven Units of the main framework, used together when the training event is specifically a LOFT debriefing:

The five competencies are the operational competency set for the LOFT-debriefing-specific facilitation work that the main framework names but does not decompose. The Facilitation Assessment Tool is the rating rubric (5 categories × 4 markers × 5 levels) that grades against these same five competencies, with the four markers under each category corresponding closely to the four behaviours under each competency above.

#Connections

• A2.8 Unit 7 Continuously Improves Performance. The previous file: the closing Unit of the main framework.
• A3.1 Purpose and Directions. The rating rubric that scores against the five competencies above.
• A1.4 Facilitation Techniques. The FSF / NASA upstream of the five competencies, with the depth treatment of questions, silence, active listening, and video.
• A1.3 The C-A-L Debriefing Model. The FSF / NASA debriefing model that organises the analytical work the five competencies above support.
• A2.5 Unit 4 Conduct Training. The Unit whose Element C Desirable Behaviour g is the explicit cross-reference into this appendix.
• A2.6 Unit 5 Perform Trainee Assessment. The Unit whose Element D Desirable Behaviour c also draws on the facilitation discipline reproduced here.
• 5.1 Introduction. The Risk Management Model treatment named in Competency 4's first behaviour.
• 7.5 LOFT Debriefing - Introduction. The LOFT debriefing introduction this appendix is built to support.
• Facilitation. The instructional technique these five competencies operationalise.
• CRM. The non-technical performance domain Competency 4's behaviours focus on.