Design and Facilitation of Learning Processes

You are organizing a learning event.

I support you before, during and after your learning event through:

  • Advice for designing the process and making it an engaging, conversational and a rich learning experience;
  • Visual methods that help your group think jointly and reach a common understanding;
  • Creative facilitation that focuses on the need of the group and supports joint reflection and co-creation.
Great books that inspired my facilitation work:

Marvin Ross Weisbord and Sandra Janoff (2007): Don’t Just Do Something, Stand There! – Ten Principles for Leading Meetings That Matter. San Francisco: Berret Köhler. http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Just-Something-Stand-There/dp/1576754251

This little book is a real treasure about the role and work of a facilitator. The big work done by a facilitator is before the meeting takes place, during the preparation and design phase.

Steinlin, Marc and Widrig Jenkins, Catherine (2010): Knowledge Sharing for Change – Designing and Facilitating Learning Processes with a Transformative Impact, Facilitation Handbook. Cape Town and Zurich: Ingenious People Knowledge. Knowledge Sharing for Change – Designing and Facilitating Learning Processes with a Transformative Impact

This excellent facilitation handbook provides the basics for the successful design of a learning event. It helps understanding and working with groups as living systems.

Johnnie Moore and Vic (2015): Creative Facilitation. Bringing Meetings to Life.
 Connecting People and Ideas. http://www.creativefacilitation.com/free-books/

This ebook about the art of facilitation. The book is an invitation to reflect our role and our understanding as facilitators. It is not a book about techniques; it is a book about BEING the facilitator.

Sam Kaner with Lenny Lind, Catherine Toldi, Sarah Fisk, and Duane Berger (2014). Facilitator’s Guide to Participatory Decision-Making. This book is a classic among the many facilitation books on the market; it provides fundamental insights backed with examples and practical tips of how groups think and manage to create a shared framework of understanding as basis for taking joint decisions.

Keeping the fundamentals of group thinking and collaboration processes in mind leads to better designed workshops; and helps the facilitators deal with challenging situations. Furthermore, it gives advice on how facilitators can support groups to manage themselves and build a participatory culture of collaboration.

GATHER, the art and science of effective convenings. Published by the Rockefeller Foundation jointly with the Monitor Institute and Monitor Deloitte. https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/report/gather-the-art-and-science-of-effective-convening/

Gather is a great resource for preparing your next workshop. It provides a clear process of important points to clarify. The simple and powerful questions and how-to guides inspire and guide the preparation process.

The Theory U by Otto Scharmer provides basic insights and inspiration how to work with groups for change to happen. https://www.presencing.com/theoryu 

In the community of Art of Hosting the facilitator is the host opening and framing the space with and for a group to have meaningful conversation. http://www.artofhosting.org/what-is-aoh/methods/

The KS toolkit almost any methods are described. http://www.kstoolkit.org/KS+Methods

With the structures and methods of Liberating Structure groups are immediately engaged. http://www.liberatingstructures.com

The SDC Learning & Networking Shareweb is profound source of inspiration. https://www.shareweb.ch/site/Learning-and-Networking

Advise for Networked Learning

You are setting up a Community of Practice or knowledge network; or you look for inspiration to make the networked exchange more engaging and dynamic.

I support your community of practice or your network through:

  • Introduction in network thinking: understanding networks, how information is flowing and how knowledge is exchanged and co-created.
  • Advice and support how to make network interactions relevant, dynamic and purposeful
  • Integration of storytelling for sharing and learning and for making the networks value visible
Great books that influenced networked thinking:

Anklam, Patti (2011): Net Work: A Practical Guide to Creating and Sustaining Networks at Work and in the World. http://www.pattianklam.com/net-work/

This guide provides the network basics and a language to describe and understand networks. Patti Anklam puts a lot of emphasis on the purpose and value of networks; on social weaving of networks and shared leadership.

Harold Jarche’s blogs frequently about networked thinking, networked mindset and personal knowledge mastery. http://jarche.com

Social Reporting and (digital) storytelling

You are looking for solutions how to produce a workshop report that is light and dynamic and at the same time meaningful and relevant; you want to make it participatory and reach out to a wider audience.

You want to develop stories.

I offer you:

  • Advice and coordination for joint reporting (offline or online using social media) and facilitating knowledge transfer to practice by adding an additional layer of reflection
  • Facilitation and advice for story harvesting and oral and digital storytelling,
  • Introduction to blogging and use of social media for sharing and learning.

Inspiring sources for more storytelling and visual thinking, for more creativity and playfulness at work:

Kelley, Tom and David (2013). Creative Confidence. Unleashing the creative potential within all of us. New York Crown Business. http://www.creativeconfidence.com

The Kelley brothers, founders of IDEO, wrote a book telling us that human beings are creative creatures and that we just have to leap forward and DO it.

I am inspired by Dave Grave (his squiggle birds and visual thinking school), the Tweets of @evalottchen, and the stories by Darcy Alexandra. And by many many more!