Library of facilitation techniques

Purpose: Participants both individually reflect on their lived experience and share with others to connect with their own stories in a different way and connect more deeply with each other.

Activity Overview: Participants individually create a "life map" that represents the people, places, and experiences that have led them to where they are today. Life maps can be drawn however someone chooses - there is no right way to depict a person's individual journey. After individual work time, in small groups participants take turns sharing some components of their life maps with each other, with a focus on active and open listening. The facilitator wraps up with a group check-in/debrief on how they felt about the activity and what they learned from it.

• Who traveled the farthest to get here today?
• Our journeys are more than just literally how we got here in this room today - they include all the places where we've spent time, the people we've known or been influenced by, and the experiences we've had.
• Now is our chance to each create our own "life map" - a visual that shares your journey to where you are today. There's no "right way" to do this, so you might want to make a map, or a timeline, or a completely different visual way to represent it, but the idea is to include the things that have contributed to who and where you are now.
• We know this could include some negative experiences as well, and we'll also each be sharing our maps with the group, so if there's anything you don't feel comfortable putting on your map for others to see, it's ok to leave it off.
• Your first step will be to grab a piece of paper for your map and add your sticky notes to it. The aim is to include those sticky notes in some way in your map. You can literally leave them on the paper, or you can take them off and add the words or draw something to depict them -- any of those is ok.
• (Check in at the 5, 10, 15-minute marks -- when folks are "done enough" transition them to sitting in a circle with their maps, away from the tables, so they can all see each other.)
• Everyone will now have (3) minutes to share some aspects of your life map out loud with the group. You don't need to share everything, but please tell us some key pieces that you think have helped make you who you are today. (Adjust sharing time as needed)
• While someone is sharing, the rest of us will practice our active listening skills - part of showing up for each other is really listening when someone else is talking, especially when they're sharing something personal.
• (After everyone shares, conduct debrief discussion - start with everyone sharing responses with a partner first before sharing with full group to get them warmed up if needed)

Écouter les consignes du facilitateur et ce n'est pas facile si elle semble contradictoire.
Les consignes sont données en plusieurs phases (chaque phase 30s/60s) puis sont inversées et de nouvelles consignes sont ajoutées et elles sont aussi inversées.

Inspiré par Walk/Stop the Humour That Works

Would the team be a computer, it would need circuits (meaning information) and processors (meaning routines) to operate their activities.

This sequence allows the team to set up or revisit their information flow and team routines.

Information is power. If you want to empower your team, you need to give them the possibility to get the right information at the right time to operate their activities, but also to develop and grow as a team.

For small groups to get to know each other better

Dixit Braamcamp. Turning a boardgame into a co-design tool for citizen participation in local development

Reading: Please ensure that you have read the following:

1. The Advantage: Why Organisational Health Trumps Everything Else in Business
2. Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High

Reflection: Think about a challenging conversation that you could/should have at work:

1. What is the challenging conversation (who is it with and what is the issue)?
2. What are the fears around having the conversation? What do you think could go wrong? Why?
3. What are the consequences of doing nothing?
4. What are the benefits of taking action?
5. Where are your strengths in having crucial conversations?
6. What is your learning edge? What would you like to improve?