Stage 7: Practitioner
Facilitator dilemma and opportunity: How much effort is needed?
All my life, I have watched how the level of effort varies in my life and work practices. “How much energy, time and effort do I have to devote to this task?” I would wonder. “Oh dear, this client job is taking a lot more energy that I had not planned for“; “oops, I put…
Using Insight Dialogue Method to Facilitate Difficult Topics (Such as the Israel-Hamas War)
Recently I had the honour of facilitating using the Insight Dialogue method on the topic of the Israel-Hamas war. We were a group of peer facilitators who had worked together for many years. It was a profound experience and gratifying to see how well we did as a group. This blog is to help you…
How Do You Decide to Take That Facilitation Job?
Quite a few years ago, I presented a paper at a conference called “When to Take the Job”. I was trying to be more discerning about which client work to take on. This is true more than ever now. I have been passing on almost all the jobs that I have been asked to do…
The Power of Self Reflection
This month’s blog is super short. Let me share with you what our gifts to you are this month. I had the honour of presenting to IAF Indonesia Chapter. Lidia Rusvita, (she just completed her Endorsed Facilitator IAF designation – congratulations Lidia!) took the lead on this and is a member of our Gold Academy…
“Baby, you’re worth it!” Assessing Your Rate to Honour the Field
There is an old song by Fifth Harmony with the lyrics, “baby you’re worth it”. You can find it here. I like the opening lines (not sure of the rest of the song’s lyrics which are pretty suggestive). The title however sums up what I want to talk about today. I think most of us…
When the Stakes Are High – Facilitating Through Important Decision Making
Today’s blog comes from a question that somebody asked us in our Gold Academy membership cohort: What are ways to facilitate groups when the stakes feel high? Let’s define what we mean by this question. When stakes are high, the group has a lot to lose if things are not resolved. Harm could occur to…
Are you respecting your sacred facilitation tools?
I’ve had several conversations with colleagues about how and when to share various facilitation frameworks, techniques and tools. I was deeply moved also by the care and respect that I witnessed recently from an indigenous group of their own tools. For example, they were very intentional about ensuring they were emotionally and mentally aligned with…
Deepening Your Facilitation with Metaphors
As many of you know, I love to use metaphors in my facilitation events, workshops and social media. Recently, I was invited as a guest facilitator to present a workshop with Jorie Wu and Jackie Chang with the CP Yen Foundation, Taiwan on the power of metaphors in facilitation. They summarized nicely the key points…
Facilitation: Relax and Trust the Process
Many of you know my love for the environment and outdoor adventure, and pushing the edges of my physical and psychological limits. In our new Victoria, BC, Canada environment by the sea, I have decided to make the sea my friend and playmate. I am getting to know it as best as I can. Thus,…
The Art of Mixing and Matching Techniques – What to Do and Not Do
In a recent facilitation, my colleague, Rangineh Azimzadeh Tehrani of Solh Resolutions International and I discussed the design of something fairly complex in a short amount of time. It was a job for Mercy Corps and members temporarily called “Women’s Philanthropy Group”. We had several lofty objectives! In this blog, we talk about what makes a…
