Facilitator Passport
The Facilitator Passport is a one-page self-assessment on which a facilitator records their experience, rates their own facilitation knowledge, skills and attitudes, and sets personal learning goals. It is a template and exercise published by Mischief Makers in their Facilipedia collection. It can be filled in alone or used in a group, where each person presents their passport to the others.
Facilitation script
- 1
Introduce the passport template and the knowledge, skills and attitudes model. Make clear that the result belongs to each person.
5 min - 2
Individually fill in name, number of workshops run and specialities.
5 min - 3
Individually complete the self-assessment on knowledge, skills and attitudes and write personal learning goals.
10 min - 4
Presentations: each person shares their passport, followed by clarifying questions. With more than eight people, present in subgroups.
20 min - 5
Group reflection on how the exercise felt and how each person will use the passport to guide their learning.
5 min
Tips
Say clearly at the start that the passport is a self-assessment for the person's own development and will not be collected or compared.
Ask for one piece of evidence behind each rating, such as a recent session where the skill showed or was missing, because ratings without examples drift toward modesty or bravado.
Keep questions after each presentation to clarification; this is not a feedback round.
Common pitfalls
Presenting the passport as an assessment by the trainer: participants inflate or play down their ratings and the learning goals become what they think the trainer wants to hear
Presentations turning into advice from the group: the session overruns and the presenter leaves with other people's goals
Goals written as traits, such as 'be more confident': there is nothing to practise, so the passport is never looked at again
Having thirty people present one after another in plenary: the hour is spent on the first ten and the rest are rushed or skipped
Counting only the number of workshops run: experienced participants dominate and newer facilitators conclude they have nothing to offer
Variations
Used alone, the passport takes about 15 minutes and can be repeated every few months to see how the self-assessment and goals have moved. In a cohort of more than about eight, have people present in groups of three or four so that everyone gets heard within the hour. Online, use a whiteboard template with one copy per participant; the publisher offers a version in a public template gallery. Paired with a peer who has seen the person facilitate, the passport becomes the starting point for a feedback conversation, which is a separate step from the exercise itself.
Where it fits
When to use it
A facilitation training or train-the-trainer course is starting and participants need a baseline to measure their progress against
A community of practice or internal facilitator pool wants to know who brings which experience and specialities
An individual facilitator wants a short, structured prompt for setting their own learning goals
A co-facilitation team is forming and wants to see complementary strengths before dividing roles
A programme is ending and participants revisit the passport they wrote at the start
When not to use it
You want an outside view of someone's facilitation: self-assessment cannot provide it, so use a structured feedback method such as Start, Stop, Continue or the Johari Window
Participants are not facilitators: the template is specific to facilitation practice, and a Personal SWOT fits general professional development better
The results would feed into appraisal or selection: people then rate themselves strategically and the exercise loses its value
The group wants to assess how it works together as a team: use a Team Self-Assessment or Team Health Check instead
Related methods
Frequently asked questions
What is Facilitator Passport?▾
The Facilitator Passport is a one-page self-assessment template and exercise published by Mischief Makers. A facilitator notes their experience and specialities, assesses their own knowledge, skills and attitudes, and writes personal learning goals. In a group, each person then presents their passport and the group reflects on the exercise together.
What does KSA stand for?▾
Knowledge, skills and attitudes. Knowledge covers what a facilitator understands about methods and group processes, skills what they can do in a session, and attitudes the stance they bring to a group. The passport uses these three parts to structure the self-assessment.
How long does the exercise take?▾
30 to 60 minutes in a group. Filling in the passport takes about 15 minutes; the rest depends on how many people present. A single facilitator working alone needs only the 15 minutes.
Is the Facilitator Passport a feedback tool?▾
No. It records how a facilitator sees themselves, and the questions after each presentation are for clarification only. It can prepare a feedback conversation with a colleague who has observed the person, but that is a separate activity.
Do I need the original template?▾
The exercise depends on a template with fields for experience, the three self-assessment areas and goals. Mischief Makers publish theirs; if you build your own, keep it to one page and use your own wording. Either way, credit the source of the idea when you introduce it.
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