My recent Glorious Disaster I walked into a leadership team workout for a Fortune 100 company this week and was absolutely shocked with the mindset of the people in the room. I knew that these were very smart people in a successful company with each of them responsible for departments with budgets into the tens […]
My recent Glorious Disaster I walked into a leadership team workout for a Fortune 100 company this week and was absolutely shocked with the mindset of the people in the room. I knew that these were very smart people in a successful company with each of them responsible for departments with budgets into the tens […]
Yesterday I wrote about a nightmarish workshop setup I walked into and had to improvise on the spot. You can read about it here if you missed it! Making lemonade from lemons… I quickly popped in an Altoid, just in case, for the people in front of me, took a deep breath and got […]
Anyone who leads workshops or provides training will relate to this recent nightmare of mine. I literally had a dream about it last night and just had to share it… Last November I had the opportunity to provide our Mindset of a Legend training to 25 HR executives from GE. This is, quite frankly, the […]
Preparing the group for a great experience takes some planning and preparation. They will be walking into the room with all kinds of baggage: Will we have to role-play? How many phone calls am I going to miss? Is this going to be boring? Traffic is going to be hell going home tonight! When are […]
Front-loading an experience is making clear the purpose of an activity, session, workshop, retreat or meeting prior to actually doing it. If participants clearly understand the purpose or lesson upfront, that topic will repeatedly show itself during the action component and potentially make it easier to identify during dialogue or discussion. Front-loading can include a […]
Following up on your session is incredibly important to helping participants. See Raising the Collective Bar about why. Below are some ideas: Follow up with them with recent articles and personal notes to keep them motivated. Send them the new ground rules established in the workshop, if applicable. If your group is geographically close, […]
Take a moment and think of a large spider web.A spider web is very similar to organizations. If you are looking directly at it, you will see many different strands connected together in a concentric circle – see left. Now, turn the top edge of the spider web toward you 90 degrees so the […]
What you will see: A gripe session Arguing or fighting Discussion moving off the topic Side bar discussions Likely Causes: Poor questioning from the facilitator Unresolved team issues How to Prevent it: Be careful of using activities when therapy is a more useful and honest solution. Do not use activities when you are seeking to […]
What you will See: One person answering most of the questions One person talking excessively. Most participants remaining silent. Likely Causes: The person wanted to show that he or she has the correct answers. Other participants are afraid to differ with the dominant person. The person may dominate the work environment and this is […]
What you will see: Lack of eye contact with you, especially after you ask a question. Minimal one-word responses to your questions Shoulders shrugging Silence Likely Causes: They did not understand your question You haven’t given them enough time to formulate an answer. They fear embarrassment of a ‘wrong’ answer in front of you […]
What you will See: Taking the activity too seriously. Bending the rules or cheating. Extreme efforts to win or do better than others. Overly discussing the activity afterward with a focus on strategies and missed opportunities rather than on learning opportunities. Likely Causes: A naturally competitive environment in the workplace like a sales force. […]
What you will see: Rolling eyes: Lack of eye contact with you, or used negative body language Negative comments about the activity or the experience Direct comments they do not want to participate Likely causes: Past experiences that were unproductive or unpleasant Not understanding the purpose or value of what you are doing How […]
Used by our staff with great results for years and is based upon 10 years of research of legendary people. This debriefing model reflects the process that leads to a legendary life. This is incredible simplistic and easy to remember. We hope you find this valuable. Awareness, The question – “What Do We Know?” or […]
Since facilitation is about the process, not content, you had better understand the process. The closure, or debrief, is the process by which we reflect on experiences and discover how they link to different aspects of our lives. This is when real learning takes place. Closure is not simply asking random questions. The questions you […]
Of all the elements in experiential learning, the facilitator has the greatest impact upon the ultimate success or failure of the program. You’re Facilitative vs. Directive. Good facilitators know that they’re not here to “fix” anyone. They understand that they don’t always need to have all the answers. As a facilitator, you see your job […]
The facilitation techniques included in this membership site will help you in all three critical areas below: The Single Greatest Responsibility of a Great Facilitator: Creating a safe and comfortable space for self and group discovery. Learn how to set up an environment and deal with difficult people to fulfill your greatest responsibility. [hr] The […]
There are literally hundreds of qualities that are useful, both as a facilitator and as a human being. For example, being a good, active listener! Just because something is not mentioned below does not mean we do not need to remember the other powerful human skills we possess. Leader FOCUS Provide a focus for the […]
Strictly speaking, a facilitator makes a process easier. A facilitator does not add or subtract from the process, but helps bring about an outcome by providing guidance and assistance. “How” something happens is just as important, if not more important, than “what” happens. The process of communication, team building, leadership, etc. can change the outcome, so […]
For a SUPER simple method, and perfect for beginners, check out the ‘What’ Method. The questioning strategy could not be more simple: What? So What? Now What? What? Get full description and discussion around the experience. “What happened during the activity? “ “What did you / the group do?” “What were your reactions?” So What? […]
As a facilitator, how do you intentionally select between the two First, we need to understand the difference between them. Below are two, of many, views on dialogue and discussion. What do I Know? What is Dialogue? David Bohm wrote in his book, On Dialogue, dialogue “will make possible a flow of meaning…out of which […]
This may seem like a no-brainer, but I want to take nothing for granted! There are two core skills that will help you become an effective facilitator, in ANY setting. First, be a good active listener and observer. Next become skilled in the art of asking the right questions in the right way at the […]
What is probing? Probing is asking follow-up questions in order to gain more understanding, such as: Can you explain further? Could you put it in another way? Can you please tell me more about that? But why, how, who, when, where? Anything else? Probing is rather like peeling away the layers of an onion The […]
What is paraphrasing? Paraphrasing is repeating what somebody has said, using your own words. Why use paraphrasing? Benefits for the facilitator The technique forces you to listen very carefully, because when the person has finished speaking, you know that you will need to repeat what was said. In addition, you have the opportunity to […]
There are several debrief methods to choose from and DIGA is one we used while training hundreds of facilitators to be more effective because of the simplicity of the questioning that could lead to marvelous discovery. DIGA was first introduced in 1975 by University Associates as a simple method to focus a debrief: Describe Interpret […]
The key to a good facilitation is to let the group discover the lesson that is appropriate. As the facilitator, do not manipulate or guide the discussion with leading questions to get the group to discover what YOU feel is important. Introduction: One thing to always remember as a facilitator: the quality of your closure […]
Facilitative behaviors used during a discussion to help people get back on track: Throw-Back: Team Member: “It is not possible get through this obstacle!” Facilitator: “If it was possible, what would need to happen?” [hr] Share Observations: Facilitator: “It is very quiet. What does the silence mean?” [hr] Review Group Agreements: Facilitator: “Remember the […]
Almost every one of us has a graduate degree from/in MSU – Making Stuff Up! I typically poke fun at myself and say, “I am not sure how many of you know, but I have a Ph.D. in MSU! Did you know that? Yeah, MSU – Making Stuff Up!“ We constantly make stuff up. With […]
A fun way to keep the debrief light is to start getting people to notice how often we use the non-specific noun ‘We’, which we all do frequently when really we mean ‘I’. It is one particular way to spread around the responsibility and not take accountability for our own actions, opinions, failures and successes. […]
Facilitators use these techniques to reflect verbiage back to participants. Do not judge their words, simply be a mirror for them to judge their own words. Be careful not to ‘throw’ the responses in their face and always be polite, saying “Excuse me” if you need to interrupt. [threecol_one][/threecol_one] [threecol_one]Person Uses:[/threecol_one] [threecol_one_last]Facilitator Responds:[/threecol_one_last] [threecol_one]Universals[/threecol_one] [threecol_one]All […]
