BEFORE THE TeleClass

• Schedule ample time for designing & planning
• Take some time to get to know each other
• Explore each other's styles of planning and facilitating
• Avoid making assumptions about one another
• Take time to discuss your views about the class topics
  Especially examine areas of disagreement
• Share any concerns about potential challenges that participants may present
• Agree on common goals for class series and individual classes
• Review each other's triggers
• Find out whether, and when, it is okay to interrupt and how best to do this
• Decide how to keep track of time
• Strategize about how to stick to the original outline and how to switch gears
• Plan ways to give signals to one another
• Divide facilitation of activities fairly
• Share responsibility equally in preparing and sharing class materials and resources
• Agree to arrive at the Bridgeline in time to check-in and get connected and centred before the call begins
• Agree on who will welcome callers. Can take turns from week to week
• Schedule time after the call to debrief - as soon after each class as possible
• Schedule time between calls to tweak and customize next TeleClass. Each class will be unique in the context of the participants - they will appreciate you taking their special needs and interests into consideration.

DURING THE TeleClass

• Remember to keep a professional demeanour at all times
• Keep communicating with each other throughout the TeleClass
• Support and validate one another
• When you are leading a segment, include your co-facilitator even when you are leading an exercise or dialogue, by asking, for example: "Do you have anything to add?"
• Assert yourself if your co-facilitator is talking too much (have a prior agreement re a graceful, respectful way of doing this)
• Remember that it is okay to make mistakes
• When you are the 'back-up facilitator, use lots of 'ear contact' to listen to the energy of the 'room' and for subtle questions or comment that the lead might miss.
• Take the initiative to step in if your co-facilitator misses an opportunity to address a question or a 'golden learning opportunity', again with prior agreement as to process. Participants will note all interaction modelled by co-facilitators. It is important to keep harmony high and tension absent from the TeleClass.

AFTER THE TeleClass

• If you can't meet right after the class, schedule a time to debrief before you leave the bridge
• Listen carefully to one another's self-evaluation before giving feedback
• Share what worked well
• Examine what did not work
• Brainstorm /heartstorm what could have been done differently
• Use written evaluations as a reference point to talk about the TeleClass Series, and assess your effectiveness as co-facilitators
• Name particular behaviors, for example: "When you kept interrupting me, I felt undermined and frustrated", or "I got the impression that some participants were bored", instead of "You always interrupt me" or "You were very controlling during the class."
• Realize the importance and potential difficulty of debriefing a challenging TeleClass

  REMEMBER: YOU HAVE MADE A DIFFERENCE AND TOGETHER WE ARE STRONGER -WHERE TWO OR MORE ARE GATHERED THE FUTURE IS CREATED. . .