Library of facilitation techniques

This is a very quick and impactful check-in for groups.

In order to understand influencing, we have to better understand how organisations and ‘change’ really works. Otherwise we may be influencing for the wrong outcomes.

In the Understanding Chain game, a group shifts from a content focus to an audience focus, and draws out a meaningful, linear structure for communication.

Future workshop is a method that aims to have stakeholders design their desired future, avoiding constraints imposed by experts or organizations.

To be used when ideas need to be developed outside of the design team.

The lotus blossom method is a creativity exercise. It is a framework for idea generation, starting from one central theme. Eight conceptual themes grow out from the main theme and each of them are used as central theme to generate 8 more themes. Explore!

Help people to share their individual way of navigating an activity - such as doing their work, or attending an event - by combining the revealing power of metaphor with a series of simple interactions.

When people are hesitant to engage with each other, for example at the beginning of an event, you can help them to actively feel heard, and create a space where discovering and sharing rarely-noticed personal talents and insights becomes straightforward.

Once participants feel heard and have begun to share, they will be more inclined to trust, to work together, and to take interpersonal risks. And each person will have created an enduring personal image to carry with them and to share with others.

I've been using this for years as a Clean Language introduction, and recently submitted it as a candidate Liberating Structure because I'd love to see loads of other people trying it out.

Works in person or online, with six to 600+ people.

Notice threads in the present that if tugged on might unravel a more attractive future. Identify how the hints of a more ideal future are present, just not widely distributed yet. Participants can notice small changes, support structures, and local success patterns that have the potential to be scaled up to a global transformation. This includes surfacing strategies to overcome resistance and methods to spread early successes. Future~Present does not produce a plan to be implemented but rather builds momentum, imagination, social proof, and confidence in subtle or incremental signals. This builds capacity to actively shape next steps and pounce on opportunities.

The partnership canvas is a tool that enables visualization of current and/or future partnerships. It can also be used for early testing of the value creating potential of a partnership between two partnership candidates.

Mad Tea quickly provokes a deeper set of reflections and strategic insights among group members. The questions focus attention and produce a fresh understanding of strategic options and next steps. Participants form two circles, one inside the other.

Each person faces one other person and completes an open-ended sentence in less than 30 seconds. When time is up, participants are invited to move to their right so that they are in front of someone else to complete the next sentence, and so on. In a seriously fun way, the unfinished sentences focus attention on every individual and the group answering tough questions together (e.g., If we do nothing, the worst thing that can happen for us is…).