Facilitator Development
Bringing Our Whole Selves to the Group – Reflections from Banff IAF
In my last newsletter, I was raving about the location and the people I encountered at IAF North America in Banff, Alberta, Canada. I’d like to share some of the key learning highlights for me. They range from sessions I co-facilitated related to virtual facilitation and reflective/spiritual practices to organizational culture change to looking at…
Choose the BEST EVER Professional Development Plan – For You!
Thousands of dollars. Hundreds of thousands of miles. Weeks and weeks of my time. What could possibly justify this level of investment? Why do I go to the IAF (International Association of Facilitators) conference at least once, if not twice a year? Why do I make it a good part of my professional development (PD)…
Take My Advice After 20 Years… Just Fly!
Next week is my exact 20th anniversary for starting my business. I officially started it on April 15, 1995. With this blog, I reminisce about how it is to start a business, what are the stages you go through, where I have been, where I am now, and where I would like to go. Here’s my story…
Leverage Your Tools – Turning One Method Into MANY
How many of us have a smartphone that we rarely use just as a phone? It was originally designed to be a phone but now we also use it for a GPS, an audio recorder, a camera and video recorder, alarm clock, newspaper, MP3 player, social media, email, restaurant and movie finder, TV, blogger, etc….
This is Why You Shouldn’t Give Up on Virtual Meetings
So here’s what happened… I had what felt like a major failure with my free webinar last week. We had practiced everything. All the layouts were perfect – well not exactly perfect but good enough. But the technology surprised us to say the least. Close to the beginning, we were in the middle of conducting…
My Secret Recipe for More Time, More Money and More Fun
Ever wonder what goes on behind the scenes in a facilitator’s office? Ever had the experience working in a remarkable, high performing team? In this blog we share 3 principles for having a great collaborative partnership that allows you to be the best facilitator you can be. Whether you are an internal or external organizational…
“Please Do Not Ask Me to Be Creative!”
Participants will often express this sentiment, “Please do not ask me to do anything “touchy, feely”, creative, or silly (these are often all lumped together as similar by your participants) . Thus, when we as facilitators suggest something creative, we are often met with resistance, sighs, and “deer in the headlights” (i.e., scared) looks. Interestingly,…
No Regrets! 5 Lessons for Contracting with Clients
Whether we are in-house or external facilitators, we all have a client group. This group is depending on you to help them transform how they do business in the future. How you establish and meet your client’s expectations is critical to your and their success. I am just finishing up at our annual gathering of Technology…
Nervous Before the Big Gig? Five Ways to DeStress
Feeling stressed about anything at all but especially before you start a gig or facilitated event? Take JUST five minutes of your time today — Here are my five “fav” destress before the big “gig” techniques demonstrated in this short video. Each one takes two minutes or less. Result: You are grounded, feeling present, able…
Things Go Better With Planning – Three Proven Processes
For many of us, sometime over the next few months, we begin to think about how we want our next year to be (i.e., plan!). If you are working with your own team, it’s likely that you will make planning for your upcoming year a high priority. Some of you will be doing a simple…
