Meetings and presentations are a necessary part of doing business; too often they are dry, boring, unfocused, or simply unproductive. Gain a strategic edge by sharing your vision and creatively engaging your audience using visual facilitation tools. Why rely on words and text for so much of our group work and communication when 75 percent […]
Tag Archives: Communication
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Some interesting research indicates that our body posture and movement affects our behavior. For example, expansive body postures – like standing tall with with hands on your hips – increases confidence and assertiveness. One study showed that people who hunched over a smart phone or tablet exhibited less assertive behavior immediately afterward than those who […]
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I continue to think about the definition and use of this word safety, which we facilitators are charged with creating and maintaining. (See previous post here.) A family camping trip this past weekend gave me opportunities to consider the issue in a different context. We camped in the woods near a large lake; swimming, fishing […]
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In a recent post I wrote about the role of discomfort in group dynamics. Trying something new is generally not comfortable. Trying to communicate in a different way is not comfortable. Finally digging in and dealing with hard stuff that you’ve been avoiding is not comfortable. A certain level of discomfort can be necessary for […]
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At last week’s HR West conference, I had the pleasure of graphically recording a keynote by trainer and consultant Shari Harley. Her company name is Candid Culture, and she talked about the need to choose candor over comfort in our communications. People can’t meet our expectations or needs if we don’t tell them what they […]
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When training new facilitators, a concept I want them to “get” early on is the difference between content and process. Folks who are drawn to become facilitators and mediators tend to be interested in the underlying dynamics of group process. It’s easy, when learning a new facilitation technique or meeting structure, to want to use […]
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Human beings are hard-wired to read faces – our babies figure it out way before they can talk or walk. While there are facilitators out there who help groups in virtual meetings, I am not one of them. I find it hard to connect with people when our interaction is mediated by a screen – […]
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A common complaint that I hear from my intentional community clients as we prepare to work on a vexing issue is, “We talked about this same issue LAST year!” There is a great desire to be DONE with it already, to set it to rest, to come up with a final solution or policy that […]
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Since communication and conflict resolution are what I do for a living, I am expected to excel at both…even when I am officially “off duty.” Some days I consider this an advantage; I am continually pushed to improve myself. Other days I find it exhausting, as my natural state of being is somewhat cranky and […]
Recently, I spent a weekend camping near the coastal town of Mendocino with my sea kayaking club. This event is very loosely organized. Each morning, folks wander from campsite to campsite, coffee in hand, trying to organize their daily paddling itinerary. Eventually, cars start departing as groups head out to local launching points, windows down […]