Facilitator U: Facilitation Training, Tools, and Resources for Group Facilitators.

You are here: Home / Archives for Facilitation

Revisit Your Roots

by 4 Comments

As life long learners, our field can get pretty complicated with all the models, strategies, philosophies, and approaches within which we tend to immerse ourselves. Considering this, it’s probably a good idea once in awhile to reflect on those core attitudes, skills, and perspectives that form the foundation of all the strategies and interventions we […]

Fine Points of Sushi Preparation and Consumption

by 1 Comment

Facilitating a group with strong egos is a lot like eating sushi. In some cases, strong egos form a healthy basis for a meeting, giving you the right nutrients for building the group and the organization. In other cases, you question the safety of these raw elements on everyone involved. Will you get a parasite […]

Care and Feeding of the Master Facilitator

by 8 Comments

Facilitation is a demanding role that can take its toll on you if you are not prepared at all levels. A master facilitator must have fine-tuned awareness and intuition to sense and act on the nuances of group process. She must stand tall in the face of conflict, willing to walk participants through to its […]

Experiencing the Tenets of Facilitation

by Leave a Comment

The One Word Story is an experiential activity that can be debriefed to illustrate the importance of ground rules or basic teamwork skills. This activity can easily be done virtually as well as face to face. Also note that the activity contains guildlines for each stage of the Kolb Learning Cycle. Activity: One Word Story—Ground rules/teamwork […]

Are you a Facilitation Fundamentalist?

by 7 Comments

Once we become something, like a facilitator, coach, teacher, consultant, trainer, counselor, therapist, minister, or a member of any number of the helping professions, I believe that something very good and something not so good begins to happen. As we delve into our new field, our understanding and expertise deepen, but at the same time, […]

Your Presence is Your Present to Your Group

by 3 Comments

Be a Model of Presence One of the attractive aspects of facilitation is that you don’t have to do the work for your group. Though sometimes, what you do have to do is a lot harder. One of those things, which I see as the hallmark of an advanced facilitator, is our ability to be […]

What is Facilitation?

by 4 Comments

Facilitation as a discipline has been around since the 60’s and 70’s It is used by organizational development consultants, facilitators, trainers, business coaches, project managers, meeting leaders, clergy, and other group leaders. Still, it’s not well known by the majority of people who meet every day in groups. Even among its practitioners, a clear definition […]

Facilitation Aikido: Part II

by Leave a Comment

This week we explore Facilitation Aikido: Part II, extracted from Barry Shapiro’s book, Casting Call in the Theatre of Corporate America…the role of the extraordinary facilitator. Barry’s Facilitation Aikido model offers simple laser strategies for intervening on the five most challenging behaviors we typically encounter in groups. He takes a fresh perspective that views energy […]

Facilitation Aikido: Part I

by 1 Comment

This week’s article Facilitation Aikido: Part I, is extracted from Barry Shapiro’s book, Casting Call in the Theatre of Corporate America…the role of the extraordinary facilitator. This book serves as a practical guide to assess, measure and develop facilitators to ensure that their extraordinary impact in the classroom translates to extraordinary outcomes at work, the […]

The Actors’ Vow

by 4 Comments

In my mind, one of the most powerful gifts a facilitator brings to a group is his/her willingness to be transparent about what they see and feel going on in their group. This, and a willingness to make mistakes with the good intention of helping everyone move forward together. In this spirit I offer you […]