Library of facilitation techniques

In pairs, one person describes a modern appliance to someone from 500 years ago

You can help a large group of people identify obstacles and opportunities for spreading ideas or innovations at many levels. Panarchy enables people to visualize how systems are embedded in systems and helps them understand how these interdependencies influence the spread of change. Participants become more alert to small changes that can help spread ideas up to other system levels; they learn how shifts at larger or lower system levels may release resources to assist them at another level. With better appreciation of the Ecocycle dynamics at play, the group creates “opportunity windows” for innovations to spread among levels and across boundaries.

Here's a closer that encourages participants to recall what happened in the session and to come up with second thoughts about how they could have benefited more. It also creates useful materials for an interesting icebreaker.

As a group is developing ideas in a brainstorming session, it may be useful to do a quick “reality check” on proposed ideas. In the NUF Test, participants rate an idea on three criteria: to what degree is it New, Useful, and Feasible?

We live in fast changing world and we need to think and react quickly and decisively. This gamification tool encourages people to think rapidly and creatively. Remove the mental barriers that prevent people from overthinking and blocking in branstormings.

This game has been designed to help set the right culture in a group of people and help build mutual trust. It will empower all participants to act upon the results of this game.

Instead of talking about values that are underlying of the organizations' employees are encouraged to show these values as pictures from magazines. This way it is easier to show, tell and understand perceptions.

A polling process for any workshop where a decision between several alternatives is hard to reach

This activity could work between sessions as an energiser or an icebreaker. It builds on participants' memory and communication.

An engaging variation on a feedback activity that focuses on future changes and positive action, rather than dwelling on what went wrong.