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Greetings!
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 People doing more with less has become the standard in today's tough economic times. While we all enjoy it when the economy is growing and is robust, as a society we tend to go overboard, we work too many hours, we over spend, over consume, over pollute, etc. Economic contractions can help us to re-evaluate our priorities. This is a great time to get in touch with your values and choose which are most important to keep when the economy heats back up. Most families have found themselves spending more time at home and eating in; employers are finding more cost-effective and meaningful ways to let employees or teams know how much they are appreciated. We tend to learn the most when times are challenging not when times are really good. Look at the positive opportunities these current challenging times offer us and use them to lay the foundation for conscious choices when the economy become more robust. _______________________________________________________This is a prime opportunity for providing professional development for yourself or your staff. Consider facilitation skills. So much gets done in meetings today, are your meetings as effective as they could be? Herding Cats Facilitation Workshop is being offered in Loveland November 5-6. _______________________________________________________Enjoy our regular columns this month which include: - Technology Tools and Tips where you will learn about the new teleconferencing tool Maestro Conference
- The DiSC Corner focuses on how each DiSC style responds to conflict.
- Facilitators Toolkit shares a technique using pictures to delve into touchy issues, for brainstorming or icebreakers.
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Facilitator Highlight
This months Facilitator highlight is on Rita Schweitz.  When it's
time to have an important conversation about where your organization is going
or find consensus on accomplishing a goal, Rita
Schweitz can involve all players in designing change that will have
enduring results. She's been at the
forefront of facilitating large group events for more than 20 years -- locally,
nationally and internationally. Her aim
is to establish a safe and open environment, one that's based on mutual respect
and honest inquiry. She encourages enthusiasm among participants so that they
"own" the meetings - and more important, will be invested in implementing the
agreed-on plans and directions.
Rita once helped
a litigious group of stakeholders find common ground around the management of
water in the headwaters of the Colorado River ; 18 years later, they're still working together. As a professional
Facilitator, she has helped non-profit and environmental organizations,
governmental agencies, the United Nations, Native American Tribes, educational systems,
communities, business and industry. Rita
has a Master's in counseling and has authored numerous journal articles and
book chapters. |
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Facilitative Leadership - Leading the Way |
Facilitative leadership is a process where goal
achievement is realized through effective relationship building.
The Leader's Role:
The success of facilitative leadership is in direct proportion to the
effectiveness of the leader. Your relationship with your supervisor or
manager is the most important determinant of employee productivity.
Like most employees, you want your supervisor to do the following: give
clear expectations, value your special skills and offer to be a coach
or mentor to you so that you can advance your career opportunities.
The
efficient leader will understand how to improve group dynamics. This is
demonstrated by keeping group discussion focused and productive.
Tangents are just a time waster. The group leader will clearly define
expectations to you and the rest of your team. You will be asked to
become involved in critical decision making issues. The leader will
head meetings when opposing viewpoints are presented and respectfully
acknowledge both sides.
Fair Process:
Another component of facilitative leadership is fair process. Fair
process is concerned with fairness as it relates to the way a company
makes and implements decisions. Leaders should request your opinions
in decisions that will directly affect you. This allows you to bring up
any problems that changing a process might bring. Sometimes, the
management is not aware of the particulars of a given task. For
example, if management changes a report deadline without consulting
with the actual employees doing the task, they may run into barriers.
Some of the information listed on the report is not available from
Corporate until 2 days after the new deadline. The current deadline
takes into account the minimum amount of time in order to compile all
the necessary information and to submit the report. Fair process
allows manager to solicit you and other team members for your input and
recommendations. It creates an atmosphere of a partnership where you
feel valued. This is certain to raise morale and increase
productivity.
Dynamics of Interaction: The dynamics of
interaction also plays a critical role in facilitative leadership. In
all group discussions, there is content, process and emotion. The
content is the actual subject matter or issue that is being discussed.
The process is how you work with others and how you are talking about
the subject matter. Emotion is what you express about work and each
other. Active listening and queries greatly assist the dynamics of
interaction. For example, there are techniques and skills that help the
dynamics. Open-ended questions, instead of questions that require a yes
or no answer, encourage more in-depth replies. Questions such as how,
what or why will elicit a more detailed and informative response.
Other techniques include: paraphrase, summarize, reframing and body
language.
Reaching Consensus: Once
the process has moved beyond information gathering and advanced
discussions, the leader will attempt to finalize a decision. Consensus
is the way in which a solution or proposal acceptable to all members is
negotiated. The leaders gets the group to agree on the consensus, set a
time limit for making the decision, have an alternate decision in place
and have the members vote.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/goal-setting-articles/facilitative-leadership-leading-the-way-1012223.html
About the Author:
Victor
Ghebre is the editor of Settinggoals101.com where you get practical
tips and information on goal setting, motivation, leadership and more
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The DiSC Corner
Are You DiSC Savvy?
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We all experience conflict in our lives. It may be conflict with our manager, team members, direct reports, or other important people in our lives. Understanding how each DiSC style responds to conflict can help you keep from becoming defensive or offended and help you limit unnecessary conflicts before they escalate.
Each style responds differently to conflict however, in general, D''s and I's tend to become more assertive and S's and C's tend to suppress their response.
In conflict:
- D's want to win at all costs and tend to become more aggressive and autocratic. They may overpower others or use force and refuse to bend.
- I's want acknowledgement and to be heard. They may openly verbalize their feelings and verbally attack others.
- S's want to avoid conflict and aggression at all costs. They try to accommodate others and save relationships, however their feelings may simmer below the surface.
- C's may become defensive and resist passive aggressively. They may try to overpower others with logic and facts.
Understanding how each style responds to conflict helps you recognize your own response and the response of others.
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Herding Cats
Early Bird Registration
Savings |
Register and pay for any Herding Cats Facilitation Workshop at least one month in advance of the course date for a $50.00 discount.
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Herding Cats Basic Facilitation - Public Workshops
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Are your meetings like Herding Cats?"
How much time do you spend in meetings? Ineffective
meetings may be costing you time and money? If you
want your meetings to be engaging, focused, purposeful and to produce the
results you want this workshop is for you.
2009 - 2010 Dates:
Loveland, CO
November 5-6, 2009
November 18-19, 2010
Denver, CO
February 25-26, 2010
May 6-7, 2010
September 16-17, 2009
For more information click here
To register online click here
or call 303-380-2550
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| ToP Group Facilitation Methods Workshop
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 Advanced Facilitation Skills
Learn three specific methods:
1. Focused Conversation
2. Consensus Workshop
3. Action Planning
December 2-3, 2009 in Denver - Sponsored by ICA Denver
$645.00, Public Sector Discounts available
For more information click here |
| Facilitator's Toolkit |
You've got a complex issue to discuss and people don't feel comfortable opening up and talking about it. Use pictures to the get the conversation going. A PICTURE SPARKS 1000 WORDS AND IDEASParticipants view random, colorful, visual images and let ideas emerge through free association. Use in place of thought provoking questions to inspire creative brain-storming or open up a topic.
Steps:
1. Bring a stack of ads and photos taken from old magazines. Also provide a flip chart, markers, paper and pens.
2. Introduce the exercise by commenting on how a single image is worth 1000 words and can evoke 1000 words in response. Some words may be internal dialogs others offer discussions that would never have been spawned without the visual stimuli.
3. Write on the flip chart a meeting issue for which creative thinking is needed.
4. Ask participants to take the photos and flip through them, glancing at the meeting issue from time to time as they view the pictures. Have them record quickly in phrases, not sentences whatever half-formed ideas randomly jump out at them as possible directions to take on the issue at hand.
5. After 3-5 minutes, call on each person to share one possibility prompted by the photos.
Be creative pictures can be used as an icebreaker, to solve problems, build trust and think creatively. |
Technology Tools & Tips Corner
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Tired of boring unengaging teleconferences where you know most of the people on the call are multi-tasking and not paying attention? Most people love to interact and contribute, but even with compelling
speakers, full of valuable ideas, your listeners, who want to be
engaged, become passive consumers without the ability to engage or
participate. They aren't engaged because they can't interact in the typical teleconferencing format.
Your message and your effort are lost, along with the ability to
inspire active learning and information sharing.
MaestroConference is different it allows you to create a dynamic environment
combining the convenience of traditional conference calls, with the
interactivity of a live work- shop.
It's simple to create dynamic Breakout Groups that allow your
callers to talk in independent private groups, that are a snap to lead
or join. With the press of a key pad, callers have the ability to raise
their hands to express opinions, vote or ask questions in an orderly
manner.
With Maestro Conference, hosts can conduct truly interactive teleconferences. Want to add visuals - consider using Maestro Conference with a webconferencing service. |
Quotes to Ponder:
"Conflict resolution is rarely about honesty or
establishing truth-it is more about unifying perceptions."
Author unknown
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