I often marvel at the vast intelligence, energy, and resources we collectively squander by undermining each other’s efforts. We see this happening everywhere–in business, politics, government, education, etc. One group springs up simply to oppose the goals and ideas of another. I often wonder what would happen if we could better align our efforts, focusing [...]
Solving The Cell Phone Dilemma
February 7, 2012 By Leave a Comment
The draw of cell phones and various electronic devices seems to be consuming an increasing amount of our attention. The inappropriate use of these technologies in classrooms, meetings, and working groups is a growing concern among many facilitators and trainers. In this article we offer ideas several facilitators have found useful in dealing with this [...]
Can You Pass the Blackberry Test?
January 30, 2012 By 4 Comments
Available distractions in facilitation and training environments are on the rise with the ubiquitous use of smartphones these days. I consistently hear challenges leaders have getting their participants to focus on the meeting versus being distracted by their laptops, cell phones, blackberries, and other culprits of multitasking. My thinking on this problem was expanded recently [...]
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to My Meeting
January 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment
How often to you hear statements like these: “They can’t be getting any work done over there, they’re always laughing.” “We don’t have time for play right now, we’ve got work to do!” “They’re having just too much fun.” Tell me, how can anyone have too much fun? And personally, I don’t see all that [...]
Recognizing Barriers to Collaboration
December 13, 2011 By 7 Comments
Madness is rare in individuals–but in groups, parties, nations, and ages, it is the rule. —Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil— We hear so much about what it takes to compete, but what does it take to collaborate? And while there’s a growing need for true collaboration in our society, locally and globally, just what [...]
Break Through Barriers
December 5, 2011 By 1 Comment
Help your groups get moving when they get stuck. As facilitators, at one time or another, we will run into a situation where our groups get stuck dead in their tracks. By getting stuck, I mean that the group’s progress seems to have slowed down or stopped, energy is low, participation is spotty, and you get [...]
The Art of Not Doing
November 21, 2011 By 1 Comment
This holiday week I want to continue my heretical body slamming on the culture of doing…the already frenetic pace of which seems to increase this time of year. It’s a common view that if we’re not doing something, we’re failing or lagging behind. Everything in our world is about growing, progress, and production. This movement [...]
Getting to the Bottom of Yourself
November 15, 2011 By 5 Comments
As I’m getting to know Madison, I’ve been meeting quite a few new people. When we meet, many of them ask, “What do you do to stay busy?” I used to be a bit embarrassed to answer this question honestly, but lately I’ve been more frank by responding with something like, “Well, I haven’t been [...]
Facilitate the Voices in Your Head
October 3, 2011 By 5 Comments
I once designed and led a teleclass entitled , “Not Just Another Meeting,” for a group of 10 UN/AIDS workers in Geneva and it didn’t go all that well. I had a difficult time teasing out their issues and challenges. I prepared a great guidebook with everything I knew and could find on meeting facilitation. [...]
Earthquake Trumps Kaddafi
September 26, 2011 By 3 Comments
In my experience, the more thoroughly I prepare for a group engagement, the smoother it usually goes. But in some arenas and job roles, we don’t have the luxury of extended preparation. Sometimes, we are called to be emergency facilitators, or at the very least, we are challenged to grapple with unexpected surprises. This week’s [...]
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