Facilitator Development
Six Ways to Use ToP Facilitation Methods in Training
Recently, I had the pleasure of participating in a training workshop for Indigenous community leaders. They were learning new ways to lead in climate change resilience. A key component of this was to navigate land transfers that would help them deal with severe coastal erosion and permafrost thaw. I was invited to facilitate a few…
Facilitator dilemma and opportunity: How much effort is needed?
All my life, I have watched how the level of effort varies in my life and work practices. “How much energy, time and effort do I have to devote to this task?” I would wonder. “Oh dear, this client job is taking a lot more energy that I had not planned for“; “oops, I put…
Facilitating Resilience and Conflict – Conference Highlights
Last week we had over 150 people in San Diego, CA attending the IAF Conference of the Americas for the first time in 5 years! Every workshop I attended was provocative, insightful, and timely in terms of what the world needs now to change rapidly and strategically. There were speakers and participants from 22 different…
Using Insight Dialogue Method to Facilitate Difficult Topics (Such as the Israel-Hamas War)
Recently I had the honour of facilitating using the Insight Dialogue method on the topic of the Israel-Hamas war. We were a group of peer facilitators who had worked together for many years. It was a profound experience and gratifying to see how well we did as a group. This blog is to help you…
How to Facilitate a Community River Clean-up (when you are not a facilitator)
In our 2023 year end blog, we look at how a leader without facilitation training can help a community do an important sustainability project. I admit it would be easier and likely more efficient, if you can get a facilitator to help you do this. But imagine, you are a leader who uses your skills…
The Power of Generosity in Facilitation
What does it mean to be generous? This short blog offers ways to practice generosity both in your personal life and as a group process facilitator. First, let’s just think about the concept generally. Most of us try to be generous yet there are so many nuanced ways of being generous that we may not…
What’s the Buzz with AI?
Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming quickly recognized by our field of facilitation. Some of my colleagues have been using one form of AI, ChatGPT to get good answers to facilitation design questions. They are also using it to learn how to apply different facilitation tools. Many are using to summarize meeting minute notes. There are…
The Power of Self Reflection
This month’s blog is super short. Let me share with you what our gifts to you are this month. I had the honour of presenting to IAF Indonesia Chapter. Lidia Rusvita, (she just completed her Endorsed Facilitator IAF designation – congratulations Lidia!) took the lead on this and is a member of our Gold Academy…
Are you respecting your sacred facilitation tools?
I’ve had several conversations with colleagues about how and when to share various facilitation frameworks, techniques and tools. I was deeply moved also by the care and respect that I witnessed recently from an indigenous group of their own tools. For example, they were very intentional about ensuring they were emotionally and mentally aligned with…
Deepening Your Facilitation with Metaphors
As many of you know, I love to use metaphors in my facilitation events, workshops and social media. Recently, I was invited as a guest facilitator to present a workshop with Jorie Wu and Jackie Chang with the CP Yen Foundation, Taiwan on the power of metaphors in facilitation. They summarized nicely the key points…
