The Art Of Facilitation

World renowned facilitation, group and meetings dynamics guru explains how to run great meetings. Dr Dale Hunter's classic guide includes all the latest findings and research on facilitation. Written by an international expert, it's the go-to sourcebook for people involved in human resources, management, mediation, team leadership, performance management and individual and team coaching. If you're someone who is responsible for effective group and inter-personal dynamics, this is the Bible. "Interpersonal dynamics can unravel the best of managerial intentions. Worse still, a little knowledge in untrained hands can lead to managers manufacturing consent and manipulating people to agree to management goals. Hunter’s book is a sobering reminder of how many managers, directors and business leaders are stumbling about in the dark with very few skills when it comes to unlocking individual and group potential. ... The Art of Facilitation will sit comfortably on the bookshelf of anyone wanting to learn more about harnessing group energy to attain a common goal." Ruth le Pla, Management Magazine, May 2007

Co-published with How can I apply learning and social justice theory to become a better facilitator?Should I prepare differently for workshops around specific identities?How do I effectively respond when things aren’t going as planned?This book is intended for the increasing number of faculty and student affairs administrators – at whatever their level of experience -- who are being are asked to become social justice educators to prepare students to live successfully within, and contribute to, an equitable multicultural society.It will enable facilitators to create programs that go beyond superficial discussion of the issues to fundamentally address the structural and cultural causes of inequity, and provide students with the knowledge and skills to work for a more just society. Beyond theory, design, techniques and advice on practice, the book concludes with a section on supporting student social action.The authors illuminate the art and complexity of facilitation, describe multiple approaches, and discuss the necessary and ongoing reflection process. What sets this book apart is how the authors illustrate these practices through personal narratives of challenges encountered, and by admitting to their struggles and mistakes.They emphasize the need to prepare by taking into account such considerations as the developmental readiness of the participants, and the particular issues and historical context of the campus, before designing and facilitating a social justice training or selecting specific exercises. They pay particular attention to the struggle to teach the goals of social justice education in a language that can be embraced by the general public, and to connect its structural and contextual analyses to real issues inside and outside the classroom. The book is informed by the recognition that “the magic is almost never in the exercise or the handout but, instead, is in the facilitation”; and by the authors’ commitment to help educators identify and analyze dehumanizing processes on their campuses and in society at large, reflect on their own socialization, and engage in proactive strategies to dismantle oppression.

Dr. Dale Hunter's classic guide includes all the latest findings and research on facilitation. It's the go - to sourcebook for people involved in human resources, management, mediation, team leadership, performance management and individual and team coaching. If you're someone who is responsible for effective group and inter - personal dynamics, this is the Bible. ''Interpersonal dynamics can unravel the best of managerial intentions. Worse still, a little knowledge in untrained hands can lead to managers manufacturing consent and manipulating people to agree to management goals. Hunter's book is a sobering reminder of how many managers, directors and business leaders are stumbling about in the dark with very few skills when it comes to unlocking individual and group potential.... The Art of Facilitation will sit comfortably on the bookshelf of anyone wanting to learn more about harnessing group energy to attain a common goal.'' Ruth le Pla, Management Magazine, May 2007.

The Secrets of Facilitation delivers a clear vision of facilitation excellence and reveals the specific techniques effective facilitators use to produce consistent, repeatable results with groups. Author Michael Wilkinson has trained thousands of managers, mediators, analysts, and consultants around the world to apply the power of SMART (Structured Meeting And Relating Techniques) facilitation to achieve amazing results with teams and task forces. He shows how anyone can use these proven group techniques in conflict resolution, consulting, managing, presenting, teaching, planning, selling, and other professional as well as personal situations.

With business and organisations moving at an ever-faster pace and facing evermore demanding challenges, the need for efficient, succinct and productive interaction between individuals of those businesses and organisations is more important than ever. With the bounds of communication restrictions abandoned through technological advances (we can now see and hear anyone across any manner of virtual platforms anywhere around the globe) and with a greater understanding of the underlying dynamics of human interaction, unprecedented pressure has been thrust upon the individual or individuals who, often, enable these dynamic interactions: the facilitator. Many of us have, at one time or other, been responsible for a meeting – whether between a small number of individuals or an entire organisation of hundreds, or possibly thousands, of businessmen and women. Or, perhaps, we’ve had to be the mediator in a family dispute closer to home or managed a discussion between two feuding friends or colleagues. One way or another, chances are, all of us have been a facilitator at some point in our lives. With the ever-growing demands placed on facilitators, this book delivers a methodical and structured approach to facilitation. This book is the definitive guide to instruct and assist facilitators – both new and experienced – with a set of guidelines and underlying theory that will benefit any facilitator, whether as a mediator between two individuals, single-handedly facilitating a group of 100 or working as part of a facilitation team in a multinational corporation. The first part of the book develops the core basic skills of those new to the art of facilitating. There are many examples and exercises to show the reader how to apply them in different situations. The second part of the book is for more experienced facilitators as it focuses on more advanced skills and tackling difficult situations. Specific tools and techniques are illustrated for the reader. Essentially, this book is aimed at developing and mastering the art of facilitation. Facilitation is the art of getting the best out of groups of people to brainstorm, solve problems and gain consensus. Based on 30 years’ experience of the author and running multiple facilitation training courses across the globe, this book is aimed at upskilling people, managers and leaders to drive change and consensus with groups through running workshops and meetings.

"Hosts of all kinds, this is a must-read!" --Chris Anderson, owner and curator of TED From the host of the New York Times podcast Together Apart, an exciting new approach to how we gather that will transform the ways we spend our time together—at home, at work, in our communities, and beyond. In The Art of Gathering, Priya Parker argues that the gatherings in our lives are lackluster and unproductive--which they don't have to be. We rely too much on routine and the conventions of gatherings when we should focus on distinctiveness and the people involved. At a time when coming together is more important than ever, Parker sets forth a human-centered approach to gathering that will help everyone create meaningful, memorable experiences, large and small, for work and for play. Drawing on her expertise as a facilitator of high-powered gatherings around the world, Parker takes us inside events of all kinds to show what works, what doesn't, and why. She investigates a wide array of gatherings--conferences, meetings, a courtroom, a flash-mob party, an Arab-Israeli summer camp--and explains how simple, specific changes can invigorate any group experience. The result is a book that's both journey and guide, full of exciting ideas with real-world applications. The Art of Gathering will forever alter the way you look at your next meeting, industry conference, dinner party, and backyard barbecue--and how you host and attend them.