Library of facilitation techniques

The Iceberg Model is a diagnostic tool that is used to analyze systemic structures and identify blind spots that cause a team/organization/society to collectively reproduce results that no one wants.

Use picture cards in topics as described below.

To work effectively together team members need to build relations, show trust, and be open with each other. This method supports those things through a process of structured storytelling. Team members answer questions related to their childhood, young adulthood, and now; then weave them into a story to share with the rest of their team.

Here's another jolt that explores one of our favorite themes: You have to unlearn something old in order to learn something new. A nice thing about this brief activity is that you don't need any supplies or equipment.

The Portrait Gallery is an energetic and fun icebreaker game that gets participants interacting by having the group collaboratively draw portraits of each member. The activity builds a sense of group because it results with each participant having a portrait drawn of him/herself by the other members of the group together. It also has a very colourful visual outcome: the set of portraits which can be posted in the space.

A collective witnessing practice where participants anonymously name truths they are carrying and then the group then takes turns physically and verbally “holding” one another’s truths, building shared understanding, acceptance, empathy, and surfacing patterns in the group.

This session is for members of a team to learn from their experiences on a project, to support each other to improve, and to bring closure to the team. They start by drawing out the high and low points of the project, and use these to move into a discussion about what they have learned. They define some actions that they are going to take into future projects, and support each other by giving feedback to improve their practice.

• Frame: Famously utilized by AirB&B to get at the heart of some of their culture issues. The idea is that there are three things that move the needle on psychological safety and team effectiveness:

• • Elephants - The "elephants in the room" or things people are avoiding and not talking about. These tend to create a sense of ambiguity and helplessness. Elephants must die.
  • Dead Fish - These are the "old tapes" that people refuse to let go of. They've been around so long that they're beginning to stink up the place. These tend to sour people on each other by undermining trust and creating fictions. Dead Fish must disappear.
  • Vomit - This is our ability to speak freely, directly, and openly with another person without fear of reprisal. If we're not listened to in this way, it can build up over time and bad things can happen. Vomit has to happen.

• Outcomes: Creates more honesty and psychological safety; Surfaces crucial issues on the team
  

• Demo: Leader shares an example of an old tape or story they've been carrying around and are ready to let go of
• Process/Steps:
• Facilitator introduces the framework by drawing three columns on a flipchart (or a flipchart for each)
• Facilitator asks the group for an example of either an Elephant or a Dead Fish
• Team members affirm, clarify, or provide additional context
• Group decides how to appropriately address or let go of the issue (usually by naming some hard, next steps)
• Facilitator captures on flipchart
• Group is invited to add to the flipcharts over the course of the day
• Facilitator reviews additions at the end of the day

Images have the ability to spark insights and to create new associations and possible connections. That is why pictures help generate new ideas, which is exactly the point of this exercise.

justification game to expand context

This activity opens up the conversation and makes visible the need to gain a broader perspective of issues in order to effectively explore and address them. What we individually know and experience is important, what we can’t see is just as important in understanding a complex issue.