FacilitatorU.com » Facilitation

Transformation Through CareFrontation

davissm — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 01:54:42 +0000

Giving others feedback on behaviors that make us uncomfortable can be really tough. In this week’s article Transformation Through CareFrontation, we share a simple method of delivering constructive, compassionate feedback to individuals or to an entire group, to expose ineffective behavior and to explore alternatives to that behavior. Click here to read the full article.

How to Use Talking Circles for Deep Communication

davissm — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 03:24:37 +0000

Long, long before group facilitation came on the scene, Native American cultures used Talking Circles to gather group wisdom for consensus decisions. In this week’s article, How to Use Talking Circles for Deep Communication, we discuss the essence of this tradition and how you can implement talking circles in your work with groups of all varieties. As always, I look forward to your comments.

Do You Have Imposter Syndrome?

davissm — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 01:48:42 +0000

One of our readers, Valerie Gillies, shared an interesting response to one of my past articles, Facilitateaphobia that dealt with fear faced by new facilitators. She shared information around something called the “Imposter Syndrome” put forward by an educational author Stephen Brookfield, in his book, “Skillful Teacher,” where he made observations about his doctoral students. I think there are some significant messages here to explore for anyone in a position of leadership. Thank you Valerie for your input and for inspiring this week’s article, Do You Have Imposter Syndrome? As always, I look forward to your comments.

Don’t be an Allopathic Facilitator

davissm — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 02:20:13 +0000

Often we are called in to facilitate organizational interventions by organizations that are “sick,” meaning that their dysfunction has become so untenable that something simply must be done about it…”Our organization is broken and we need to fix it!” Pressured for a quick fix, we are often challenged to stand by approaches we know to be effective. In this week’s article, Don’t be an Allopathic Facilitator, we explore strategies to maintain a holistic approach to your interventions

Know the challenges of leading leaders

davissm — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 21:57:27 +0000

Have you ever facilitated a group of facilitators? In my experience, this can be a challenging thing to do. Some of my most frustrating experiences with groups have occurred when working within groups of my peers. In this week’s article, Facilitating Facilitators, I reflect on these experiences and made some observations that may help us see facilitation a bit more clearly. I look forward to hearing about your experiences and specific comments on this matter.

What Are You Projecting?

davissm — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 22:37:07 +0000

This past week I had the opportunity to co-facilitate another Journey of Facilitation and Collaboration Workshop in the University of Wisconsin in Madison. As always, it was a pleasure to watch this new group of facilitators unfold as a high-functioning team. While many beautiful insights and opportunities emerged, there is one I want to speak about in this issue as I believe it’s a topic that deserves discussion. That is, the concept of psychological projection, which we explore in this week’s article, What Are You Projecting?

Planning a Change

davissm — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 23:47:35 +0000

This week’s article, Planning a Change comes courtesy of Michael Cardus, founder of Create-Learning.com. When planning for a change you need to be both reflective and purposeful. Michael offers a great model for finding and filling the holes in both professional and personal change initiatives that if missing, could sabatage your efforts. Let us know what you think. Click here to read the complete article.

Process Paralysis: Don’t Let Your Facilitation Strengths Get in Your Way

davissm — Mon, 31 May 2010 21:25:18 +0000

As facilitators, we are keenly aware of group process and expert at facilitating it. However, is it possible that there are times when our process-oriented strengths hold us back? In this week’s article, Process Paralysis, we explore how inordinate attention on process might be an impediment to group progress. I realize this article may be a bit controversial, and being a closet radical, part of me hopes it is. So I welcome your comments, disagreements, or any other thoughts you’d be willing to share on this topic or anything that it might trigger for you. I look forward to hearing from you.

OIVEY, the Lost Secrets of Intervention

davissm — Mon, 24 May 2010 19:42:30 +0000

This week, I want to keep it light and playful, and as always, practical. Harry Webne-Behrman is a close friend and co-leader of the JOFC workshop in Madison and an expert on conflict resolution. Harry loves trying to teach me Yiddish phrases and loves it even more when I try to use them. Last week while working on an Intervention model, I discovered that the keys to intervention actually lie in an ancient and rather commonly used yiddish phrase. I share these ancient secrets with you in this week’s article, OIVEY, the Lost Secrets of Intervention. Please click here to read the whole article.

Lessons for a Dictator

davissm — Mon, 17 May 2010 22:15:40 +0000

Well Survivor did it to me again! Yes, I’m talking about the Survivor TV Series that appears on CBS every Thursday night. Each of the players this season had played the game at least once before and were dubbed either a hero or a villain based on their past performance on the show. The finale was last Sunday night and surely this season’s “Heros versus Villains” was without a doubt the most entertaining and intriguing one on record.

You may not be surprised to hear that I tend to watch this show with an eye on the fascinating group dynamics displayed each week. And this season, there were some deep lessons that I just have to relate to you as group leaders and change agents. So please have a look at this week’s article Lessons for a Dictator and tell me what you think.