Facilitator Development
Facilitation: Relax and Trust the Process
Many of you know my love for the environment and outdoor adventure, and pushing the edges of my physical and psychological limits. In our new Victoria, BC, Canada environment by the sea, I have decided to make the sea my friend and playmate. I am getting to know it as best as I can. Thus,…
Finally – Your Very Own Complete Professional Facilitator Development Library
We did it. We worked for years to make facilitator user-friendly content. Now we hope you will benefit from it in some new ways. This blog shares a bit of a story about my journey (and my collaboration with Eileen) and where I am now. Sorry – not much on technique today. BUT rich on…
The Gift of Being a Facilitator Entrepreneur
Join me for a casual interview with emerging facilitator and entrepreneur, Malia Josephine, from Portland, Oregon. We divided the interview into three parts. In part A, Malia introduces her new business aimed at helping facilitators and clients find each other. She also asks me as a facilitator entrepreneur the following types of questions. What services…
Honouring Black Male Facilitators … and publicly sharing my DEI practices
Once again, February is Black History Month and I’m recalling with great joy and appreciation how I was welcomed to the U.S. and supported while in the U.S. by several black male colleagues in particular. I would like to take a moment to honour each of them even though we haven’t spoken for awhile. These…
Self-Reflection Using the ToP Focused Conversation Method (ORID)
Many of you have been working with the Focused Conversation method or ORID for short. The acronym ORID as you may recall stand for the four levels of thinking that a facilitator can use to help the group track together. By tracking, I mean creating a sense of flow, alignment and focus for a group…
Meeting the Impossible Strategic Planning Request
In this blog, I meet with two esteemed colleagues, Leah Hopton from Vancouver, Canada, and Teck Kwang Loh from Singapore. We discuss the various ways that we’ve approached strategic planning. I introduce the typical ToP Strategic Planning model and talk about where it’s different from most planning frameworks. Part 1: Strategic Planning Introduction …
The Facilitator: Sage on the Stage or Guide on the Side?
In one of our recent public courses to teach facilitation skills, someone used the phrase “sage on the stage or guide on the side”. I think they were having an aha moment about the job of the process facilitator. It is not to be a lecturer or the wise knowledgeable expert, but a person who…
Can you stand the silence? Why it happens in meetings and what to do
A participant in a recent course asked us this question, “How do you handle ‘dead air’ in meetings?” My immediate inner response was, what is ‘dead air’ in meetings? I imagined the person meant that there was not as much participation or engagement by the meeting participants as they had hoped for. The silence felt…
From simple to sophisticated… virtual facilitation tools and tips you must try!
Contributors: Dr. Manal Alnaimi, Saudi Arabia Mireille Beumer, Netherlands Grace Tan, Singapore Today’s blog is going to have a lot of links. My purpose is to inspire you to get outside of your comfort zone and try new things. If you are “stuck” in this in-between world of in-person and virtual, perhaps you need some…
The Sustainable Facilitator: Ensuring Planet-Friendly Work and Life
This may seem like an odd topic and you may be tempted to dismiss it. But I assure you it will have some great tips no matter where you are in your facilitation practice and your relationship with the planet and its care. For over a year we’ve been posting a sustainability and wellness tip…
