Use Writing Easels or Whiteboards When Facilitating Meetings and Workshops
The National Speakers' Association stated that the most important change speakers could make to be more effective would be to be more facilitative. By that, they meant the use of interaction, solicitation, and capture of participants' ideas....
Empower Your Meeting Participants to Become Better Listeners
The effective facilitator helps meeting participants become better listeners. Dr. Ralph Nichols, “Father of the Field of Listening”, notes three behaviors that perfectly align with the roles of facilitator, and your hope to be more effective, that...
Three Questions You Need to Answer Before Your Meeting Begins
You must consider these three questions before you take on the role of session leader for any meeting or workshop. Prompted by “Three (Incredibly Simple) Questions The Most Successful People Use To Change The World,” Forbes contributor Mike Maddock...
Facilitators vs. Dictators: Facilitators are More Popular
Comparing facilitators vs dictators we surprisingly discover that the term ‘facilitator’ becomes more popular. As measured by frequency of use, the trend for facilitator rises since 1995. The message is clear. If you want to be more popular, be a...
Facilitating Crucial Conversations and the Dialogue Model
Numerous alumni have asked if we have read Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High, and so we did. Most of us do not take the time to read everything on our “Book List”. Therefore, please find our takeaways from Crucial...
A3 Project Questions and A3 Project Guide for Facilitation Activities
Here are some sequentially listed A3 project questions, modified from an A3 project approach. These questions serve as a litmus test for determining the overall health of a project. After the questions, you will find an A3 Project Facilitation...
Information is Physical — a brief review of James Gleick’s “The Information”
Information is physical. “To do anything requires energy. To specify what is done requires information.” -Seth Lloyd (2006) c/o James Gleick “The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood” released by First Vintage Books in March 2012, and written...
What is the Difference Between Mission and Vision?
Most people are confused about the difference between a mission and a vision. An MBA grad from a prestigious east-coast USA school told us that he "learned more about strategic planning in the past two hours than during my entire MBA curriculum."...
Remaining Neutral — Take Only Photographs, Leave Only Bubbles
Remaining neutral describes the single most important trait of an effective facilitator. As a YMCA-certified SCUBA diver, we heard "take only photographs and leave only bubbles." Likewise, an effective facilitator should take only participant...
Crashing Through Toward Improved Facilitation
The book "Crashing Through" by New York Times bestselling author Robert Kurson includes innumerable reflections about struggle, collaboration, and victory that also apply to the sphere of facilitation. Most importantly, the book emphasizes the...
Rhetorical Precision and Clear Communications — Stress Substance Over Style
Rhetorical precision suggests that words reflect meaning, much like illustrations, symbols, and numbers. Challenging the fixed meaning of words, our languages reflect dynamic qualities and change constantly. For example, today there are more than...
How to Facilitate Requirements Gathering and Prevent Omissions
When products or projects are accused of poor requirements gathering, the accusation is normally false. The requirements gathered are usually solid, but risk increases with additional costs because some of the requirements are missing....
Mastering Active Listening: 4 Essential Steps and 10 Tips for Interactive Communication
Active listening is a crucial skill for effective facilitation, coaching, and servant leadership. Highly skilled active listeners not only reflect and restate what the participant has shared, but more importantly, they also highlight why the...
Both Facilitator and Meeting Designer: Role of Session Leader
The Role of Session Leader You have a multitude of tasks to perform during the workshop. The success of the facilitator’s effort is dependent upon your skill, knowledge, and abilities as a session leader. The role of session leader includes both...
Promising Meetings Will Fail: Four Causes of Meeting Failures
Sometimes meetings that look promising before they begin, fail unexpectedly. Four primary causes of meeting failures deserve your attention. They sneak up on groups, ill-prepared to anticipate or mitigate them. Participants need your awareness...
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