Facilitator Development

The Ultimate Equation for Deciding on a Facilitation Job

Last week I attended the IAF Asia 2016 conference and it was, as usual, mind blowing! The feel of the Asian conferences is a little indescribable. I would have to say that there is so much energy and enthusiasm because people are in someways just discovering this amazing profession and all it has to offer….

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Four Ways to Introduce Yourself and Your Work as a Facilitator

Often people struggle with best ways to describe what they do as a process facilitator or how to market facilitation as a service to both internal and external clients. Sorry, there are really no easy ways to synthesize the complexity of what you do in the typical elevator speech format. However, let me give you…

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Ten Tried-and-True Team Building and Trust Building Techniques

The point of having a good synergistic team is so that when times are tough, the team really pulls together and are able to pull themselves out of tremendous challenging situations. Other reasons for having team and trust building activities as a regular part of your meetings and or organizational culture initiatives include: – People…

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Neutralize Whining and Complaining Behaviors in Groups!

Why am I talking about the topic of whining and complaining behavior in groups? I realize that many people adopt whining or complaining behavior as a normal course of their day. I do this myself sometimes when I am tired and discouraged. You may have someone at work, in your family or circle of friends…

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No tools, techniques or theory! Just facilitation theology

You may not know that I was once the director of religious education for a church in the 1980s. I have always been quite fascinated with religion and theology. I do not profess to be a scholar of religion. I have been brought up in, practiced and studied several. But I do know of all…

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Tips from Trini – What I Learned From an Astrophysicist and More

I know everybody does not get to attend facilitator conferences. Last week I got home from the Trinidad Tobago International Association of Facilitators North America (IAFNA) conference and honestly, my memories are still very soft, precious and almost indescribably delicious. I feel compelled to give you a brief overview of some sessions I attended and…

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Get a Group “Inside” a 100+ Page Document in 12+ Minutes

How is that possible you ask? I do this regularly both in my facilitation and training events. I adapted the idea for this technique from an organization called Learning Strategies in Minneapolis. About 18 years ago, they called it “photo-reading”. I added in my own touches based on good facilitator protocols I learned from ICA’s…

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Human Rights Show Up in Every Meeting – Are You Honoring Them?

I want to talk to you about a very special place I visited when I was in Winnipeg, Canada last week. See the bottom of this blog for more information about this museum.  This place touched my heart so deeply as I think human rights is at the forefront of our work as facilitators, mediators and…

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Four Facilitator Lessons From Dancing Under the Moon!

I am giving you permission to NOT read this blog because after all I am just going to share about one of the most powerful experiences of my life and how it makes me understand even more deeply the power of facilitation….  And how we might best offer our essential and urgent services to the…

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How to Find Out if You Have Enough Tools

At every course I teach, I hear participants say, “I want more tools for my facilitation toolkit or meetings.” Even if you are an experienced facilitator, you may be surprised at what you learn in this article. Do you know what type of tools you need? Do you have enough of each type of tool?…

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