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 […]
Chris Argyris (1990) describes the progressive process of making observations, gathering information, making assumptions, and deciding action as being similar to climbing up on a “ladder of inference.” This concept was later used by Peter Senge in The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization. Starting at the bottom of the […]
The ‘Fimage Factor’ is Fear of IMAGE. If we were to summarize in a word why people wear masks, it would be FIMAGE. People spend thousands of dollars and hours every year to cultivate their personal image. This image defines them. People begin to develop this image in early adolescence and by the time they […]
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 […]
This a powerful technique to check in with people and help them make better decisions. Join or Judge is similar to Help or Hinder, but is *just* different enough to merit providing this for you and this is better used by pulling a person aside for a moment. Many people would rather sit back and […]
Created by Don Miguel Ruiz, if you commit to living these agreements, it WILL change your life. It is also a great set of agreements for a group to agree to at the beginning of the day. You can use this as part of your Full Value Contract or as a standalone set of agreements. […]
Start-Up Techniques are facilitative behaviors that create, continue or re-start a safe environment for learning. In the beginning: Get agreement on the collective focus of the group/team. By saying, “What would this group like to create today?” [hr] Inform the group that they are responsible for how well the workshop goes. By saying, “Ask yourself and give yourself […]
This is a great parable to help participants make a conscious decision to actively participate. An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. “It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, […]
Questions During the Debrief The debrief is the most difficult aspect for non-facilitators because it feels SCARY! Look at FIMAGE and honestly assess yourself. But in truth, the debrief is the best part of the activity and what leads to a learning opportunity versus playing a silly game. Below is some basic information about […]
There are thousands of leadership quotes. These are among our favorites. “Experiential learning takes place when a person involved in an activity looks back and evaluates it, determines what was useful or important to remember, and uses this information to perform another activity.” John Dewey “The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher […]
This is quite possibly the easiest method of participant buy-in you have in your arsenal. In front of the group simply ask: “Who feels they cannot improve <insert topic, i.e. communication> 10%?” 99.9% of the time, everyone will raise their hand. (This is not saying that the same people are not trying as hard as […]
Helping or Hindering what? The answer to this question is something that you need to answer in every area of your life. Once you have determined what it is you would like to create, you can then begin to see how what you are doing is contributing to or taking away from that dream. This […]
Key learnings for participants: It is important to be aware of assumptions, and recognize one is making them, though sometimes it will be necessary to make assumptions (due to urgency of decisions, lacking complete information) Dynamic tension between speed of decisions and cost of gathering complete information (it is not practical to have all facts before making decisions; assumptions are […]
A great video to show the Ripple Effect of seemingly harmless actions. Every action we take creates a ripple effect and most of the time we are unaware of what that impact looks like. Below is a simple example of one action: Be very careful of your actions, consider them and be mindful of […]
Here is a recent request from a person on our website looking for the right tool to collect, rate and assess problems: “James, in a nutshell, we know some issues exist and we know some have not yet been identified. Essentially, if everyone came prepared to discuss their perception of what issues exist, and we […]
By James Carter In this article, James discusses team building and some activities that are outside the norm. First there are a few examples of what we provide to create meaning in team building. Secondly, there are a couple of DIY activities you can do to create meaningful team building. Finally, James provides some thoughts […]
By James Carter There are many reasons why a team building activity will fail. Meaning it sucked. Let’s be honest, there are many that are really terrible. We have run a few of them ourselves that utterly failed. It is embarrassing to admit and it is almost always because we committed one of the 5 […]
Actually, I am not even sure you could call this ‘Facilitation’ but many people are put into a facilitator role without considering what the role requires. I am talking about the facilitator being the ‘Sage on the Stage’. Being a facilitator means you have quasi leadership in the group. Inexperienced facilitators take this opportunities to […]
Running a new activity can be terrifying. We know as we are trying new activities all the time and sometimes they don’t work the way I thought they would. DO NOT FEAR! We are here to help you pick and execute the perfect activity for your group that is guaranteed to be awesome. Selecting an […]
Combine all of the portable activities into a single portable kit. This kit has everything and will help your group experience all facets of being a team – leadership, teamwork, communication, conflict, trust, collaboration, problem solving, decision making and more!
Downloads for the Communication Team Building Kit
