Guiding Groups
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…
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…
Tools to Become Less Afraid of Conflict and Manage It
Recently I have had a number of people download our free webinar recording on conflict. Thanks for doing that. Given this interest, I decided to write about conflict this week. These are the four things we will tackle briefly in today’s every second Tuesday blog: Why is conflict scary? Why should you NOT be afraid…
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…
Stop Wasting Everything You’ve Learned About Facilitation
I pulled a book off my shelf today by Susan Jeffers, “Embracing Uncertainty: Breakthrough Methods for Achieving Peace of Mind When Facing the Unknown”. The title is totally relevant to what I call facilitation design. (Ms. Jeffers also wrote “Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway”). In this blog, I’m going to talk about a model…
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…
An Amazing Journey – Triumph in Hong Kong
It is important to know our stories as facilitators, coaches, mentors and facilitation trainers. What are the diverse pathways we take? Our confidence and spirits are boosted by hearing about how others’ triumph over challenges and the pathways they take to have profound impact in the world. A few months ago, we featured three Three…
Just Say “No” to Icebreakers
Over the last few months, I’ve had many opportunities to work with a variety of teams and I’m beginning to get a sense of some overarching “things to do” to ensure a stronger unified team. In the past, I’ve been well aware of the need to create comfort for the group early in the game. …
Top 12 Suite of Tools for the Competent Facilitator
In my 24+ years of running a facilitator business, I feel there are 12 top skills you require as a facilitator to meet the needs of your clients. When you develop these skills, you grow in your own ability to connect with people from all walks of life. Below I offer my brief thoughts of…
Brown Bears, Rice Krispie Treats and Co-facilitation!
What has playful brown bears from Alaska, a healthy and yummy rice krispie treat recipe and co-facilitation have to do with each other? Only I could probably make all three work 🙂 but read this blog to find out the relationship between these three things. And yes, I do provide you with the Rice Krispie…
