Group Participation, Facilitator tools, meeting dynamics,

Values Drive Behavior, So Shouldn’t You Know What They Are?

Values.  We use the word all the time, Brene Brown says in her new online course called, Daring Greatly.  We says things like: “That’s great value. How much do you value this? What value would you place on this? How dare he not value me. I feel like I’ve been devalued. Our currency just lost…

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Mistrust: It Doesn’t Get Any Worse Than This – But You CAN Change It

This blog is about trust. How to build it with the groups you are leading and how to help others regain trust when all seems hopeless.  Trust is a word we toss around lightly.  Joe Cocker, Billy Joel, Amanda Marshall all wrote songs about trust.  Most of their titles were like, “Trust Me”, yet it…

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The Motherload (Ultimate) of All Interview Techniques

Last week, I co-faciltiated a large group event where I did not use any of my usual tools. We designed something that was completely different from anything I’ve done in my last 20 years. It was so much fun. I think it is a good practice every once in a while to challenge yourself to try different…

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Mind Mapping Made Easy

During a recent conference session, all my fellow participants wanted to take photos of my mind mapping notes! I did not think I was doing anything unusual since I have been using this technique regularly to take notes, design sessions, and to think about a specific topic for almost two decades. With groups, I occasionally use…

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Raise the Bar on Meeting Participation – The Art of Visuals

No one remembers what went on in your meeting. No one knows what to do. People look blank when you ask them a question in your meeting. People repeat themselves over and over in the same meeting or from meeting to meeting. People are literally falling asleep in the meeting. These may be signs that…

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Creating Group Guidelines for Terrific Teamwork

Getting teamwork off to a solid start is critical to the success of the project and to the team. Here are some tips for how to set customized team guidelines (also known as ground rules) as well as offer them typical guidelines from which they could pick and choose.  Both activities take from 15 to…

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Wake Them Up! Raising Energy in Meetings

Low energy, boring, waste of time. What do these 3 words conjure up for you? Likely most of you answered – meetings! What if we could get all of our meetings off to a positive, high-energy, anything but boring start? Today, we’ll focus on the benefits of perking your group up right from the start…

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“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,…

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When Things Heat Up – What Expert Larry Dressler Does

Over the last year we have featured a number of facilitators asking them the same questions.  This month we have the wonderful treat from hearing from a well known facilitator and author, Larry Dressler.  Larry wrote “Standing In The Fire” and has just had his book translated into Japanese!  I met Larry for the first…

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Just Say “Yes” to Small Groups

I heard some birds chirping outside my window while I was meditating the other morning. I am supposed to just notice the chirping and then go back to my breath. But instead I took a moment to really enjoy those sounds. Unfortunately, I digressed even further because it reminded me of my childhood. I used…

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