Guiding Groups
5 Big Differences Between Training and Facilitation
Why this topic? The reason I’m addressing the topic is that many of us think that training done interactively is very close to or even the same as facilitation. It can feel like that but there is an essential and critical difference. This blog will cover those differences, talk about the benefits and when to…
Are Your Phone Meeting Participants Lost in the Wilderness?
Sometimes, ok let’s be real, almost always, having to be the one on the phone call when everyone else is in the F2F (Face to Face) meeting, is challenging , boring and even a waste of your time ! This blog talks about how to change that if you are frequently running integrated meetings where…
Warning – Your Approach Is NOT Working!
Sometimes a situation gets SO bad, you just want to opt out of it. This applies to almost anything in life but what I am talking about today – a need for radical change – is about working with groups you lead. Given the current situation in the USA, some feel like opting out now…
The 5 Things That Mess Organizations Up
We looked back at archives from the last 22 years of doing strategic planning for different groups. Whew! The results are quite startling. In each case they came up with the same basic five things that really stop organizations or teams in their tracks (regardless of sector, type of team or organization; size, mission, length…
If you love your client, you will…
Recently, I’ve been realizing that I really love my clients. How do I show this? There may be a couple of things that you are already doing but I’ve decided I want to be more conscious about what I do and will share that with you now. I’m going to talk about the top 5…
The Power of Presence and the Theory U Framework
In our recent preconference co-facilitated with Jackie Chang, at IAF Asia in Taiwan September 2016, we introduced five facilitation frameworks which use the concept of presencing implicitly or explicitly as part of their value system. In this blog, we share the one that most explicitly incorporates it. It is called Theory U. But first let’s…
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…
Avoid Team Gridlock! Move Forward Using Consensus
Today, I am co-training one of my favorite two-day courses called ToP Facilitation methods with my incredibly talented colleagues Judy Weddle and Teresa Lingafelter. We have 23 people from 18 different organizations. And, last week I was teaching this course in Wisconsin with my wonderful colleague, Bev Scow at her workplace, Wise Women Gathering Place….
Groups Want Safety – A Facilitator’s Guide to Creating Safe Space
With a recent event in the US around a mass shooting in a nightclub in Orlando, I grieve once again for the fact that safety is not apparent or a given for many people around the world. I was born and spent most of my life in a country, Canada, where we have not had…
Are You “Dropping In” or “Dropping On” Your Group?
I recently passed my 21st anniversary in business and I wanted to share something I’ve been thinking about a long time. This is a concept of dropping in vs. dropping on your client group. This is what I mean by each term: “Dropping on” is the process of creating an agenda and moving from item…
