I can recall standing in front of students and posing questions when I was early in my career, and not getting any responses. Have you encountered this before?

Engagement and participation are common goals facilitators and trainers attempt to achieve in every facilitation, but it is not given that learners will be eager to participate.

In our role as facilitators, we are responsible for creating environments where our students feel comfortable contributing and sharing ideas. To take it a step further, we seek to create environments where all feel valued as contributors. I call this environment “the learning community.”

When building the learning community, we often start at a unique disadvantage in that our students do not know one another well and are not accustomed to communicating, much less sharing, with each other. They may be new to an organization, from different departments, or geographically dispersed.

So how do facilitators and trainers build the learning community when a group of strangers come together? Here are some tips to consider.