Art Of Facilitation


Book Description

How to get groups to work with one another within any business organization.




The Art of Gathering


Book Description

"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.




The Secrets of Facilitation


Book Description

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.




The Power of Facilitation


Book Description

Today, maybe more than any point in our history, facilitation--the philosophy, the skill, the process and the profession--is critical to our continued evolution as individuals, as groups, as organizations and as societies. To survive and thrive, we need to harness the power of facilitation to help us hold the authentic and intentional conversations that will help us understand ourselves, each other and the world around us. Thinking together is the only way we will be able to grow through the chaos and disruption and end up in a better place. 2020 has been an extraordinary year! A global pandemic, economic upheaval, leadership changes and system level changes that rival those not seen since the First and Second World Wars. But whether we think back on this as a time of growth, chaos or disruption, it is what we do next that will define the outcomes. Our collective purpose of writing this book was to inspire you, the reader, to discover and unleash the power of facilitation in yourself and in others. All solutions start with a conversation. This book is intended to help you begin your own very interesting conversations and our hope is that this book will act as the catalyst to help you do that. We also hope that you will be inspired to weave facilitation and facilitative principles throughout your life, your interactions, your thinking, your decision-making and your actions. But most of all we hope that you will take the ideas, examples and concepts described in the following chapters and apply them in your groups, organizations and communities.




The Art of Facilitation


Book Description

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




Arts of Power


Book Description

In this comprehensive treatment, distinguished diplomat Chas Freeman describes the fundamental principles of the art of statecraft and the craft of diplomacy. The book draws on the author's years of experience as a practicing diplomat but also his extensive reading of the histories of ancient India, China, Greece, Rome, Byzantium, and the Islamic world as well as modern Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Among numerous other subjects, the book addresses the role of intelligence, political actions, cultural influence, economic measures, and military power, as well as diplomatic strategy and tactics, negotiation, and the tasks and skills of diplomacy.







Facilitating Group Learning


Book Description

Praise for Facilitating Group Learning "In this engaging and accessible book, George Lakey draws on a lifetime's experience to provide a highly practical resource to anyone seeking to understand and respond to the complexities of group work. The book will be invaluable to anyone trying to effect social change through groups while striving to stay simultaneously sane and employed." Stephen D. Brookfield, Distinguished University Professor, University of St. Thomas "I've been working with forms of direct education for many decades, and I found new ideas and inspirations in every chapter. For anyone involved in teaching, training, sharing skills, or leading groups, this book is an invaluable resource!" Starhawk, author, The Earth Path, Dreaming the Dark, and Webs of Power "George Lakey has inspired our union to engage in education in a way that challenges us to redefine social justice and equality in new and exciting ways. This book helps us to continue our journey to touch the souls of union members." Denis Lemelin, national president, Canadian Union of Postal Workers "Facilitating Group Learning will ease the way of all who venture into the white waters of facilitation. George clarifies the most basic, complex, and nagging challenges of facilitation, while honoring the realities of individual and social power dynamics and providing real-life examples from the path of continued growth and mastery. A rare gift!" Niyonu D. Spann, founding president, TRV Consulting and Beyond Diversity 101 "This book is a must-read for people who teach adults of any age, no matter what the subject, and care about doing it in ways that yield deep and abiding learning. Wonderfully well-written and rich with psychological and spiritual insights as well as practical strategies, it represents the fruits of a lifetime of transformational teaching and learning by one of the foremost adult educators of our time." Parker J. Palmer, author, The Courage to Teach, Let Your Life Speak, and The Heart of Higher Education




Cheng Hsin T'ui Shou


Book Description

This book provided this beginning tai-chi student with a rich, methodical philosophical "grounding" on some concepts that that are at the core of Eastern martial arts. Ralston helps the reader develop an awareness, quite literally "from the ground up".




Facilitating Breakthrough


Book Description

Making progress on complex, problematic situations requires a new approach to working together: transformative facilitation, a structured and creative process for removing the obstacles to fluid forward movement. It is becoming less straightforward for people to move forward together. They face increasing complexity and decreasing control. They need to work with more people from across more divides. In such situations, the most common ways of advancing—some people telling others what to do, or everyone just doing what they think they need to—aren't adequate. One better way is through facilitating. But the most common approaches to facilitating—bossy vertical directing from above or collegial horizontal accompanying from alongside—aren't adequate. They often leave the participants frustrated and yearning for breakthrough. This book describes a new approach: transformative facilitation. It doesn't choose either the bossy vertical or the collegial horizontal approach: it cycles back and forth between them. Rather than forcing or cajoling, the facilitator removes the obstacles that stand in the way of people contributing and connecting equitably. It enables people to bring their whole selves to the process. This book is for anyone who helps people work together to transform their situation, be it a professional facilitator, manager, consultant, coach, chairperson, organizer, mediator, stakeholder, or friend. It offers a broad and bold vision of the contribution that facilitation can make to helping people collaborate to make progress.