Library of facilitation techniques

find the right tool for your next session

Featured Author – International Association of Facilitators

IAF is a worldwide community of facilitators promoting excellence in the use of professional group process facilitation to create engagement and impact.

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Magnus Nord

Connect the Dots

A timed estimation game that reveals why accurate estimation is so hard, and why asking the right questions matters.

Players are asked to estimate how many iterations they need to connect a given number of dots.

The task looks trivially simple, but there is hidden complexity: Time pressure, total number of dots, lines obscuring numbers. This makes it harder than anyone expects. The gap between "this is ieasy" and "it was actually hard" is the lesson.

Use it when stakeholders wonder why forecasts keep missing, or when you want to shift the conversation from "why can't you estimate better?" to "how can we change the way we work to make more accurate forecasts?"

🌐 Online A ready-to-run digital version of this game is available at https://facilitatorkit.co/connect-the-dots-online. The facilitator creates a session and shares a link — participants join in their browser and play on their own device. The game generates burndown charts automatically after each round.

Understanding YOUR CHALLENGE

🔍The Canvas of Collaboration and Clarity

BIG PICTURE is more than just a facilitation tool; it's a gateway to enhanced team collaboration and a deeper understanding of your business environment. Envisioned as a dynamic canvas, it encompasses essential business areas like Purpose, Marketing, Sales, Operations, Customer Care, Suppliers, and Partners, all interwoven with the intricate journey of your Customers. Through this innovative platform, Teams use Symbols—Team, Customer, Technology, Measure, Money, Process, Challenge, Opportunity—to visually express ideas, identify challenges, and share insights.

A Narrative of Business Ecosystem

In the landscape of complex business dynamics, BIG PICTURE stands as a unifying force. It's not just about symbol placement; it's about storytelling and connection. As team members engage with this tool, they unravel the interconnected nature of their roles and the broader business context. It's an exploration that reveals hidden connections, spurs creative solutions to challenges, and shines a light on new opportunities. BIG PICTURE is the catalyst for developing a shared language that transcends departmental boundaries, fostering a more cohesive and strategic team dialogue.

Integrating BIG PICTURE into your facilitation approach transforms session planning into a dynamic and interactive experience, enriching your toolkit with a visual dimension that simplifies complex concepts and enhances participant engagement.

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Liberating Structures

1-2-4-All

With this facilitation technique you can immediately include everyone regardless of how large the group is. You can generate better ideas and more of them faster than ever before. You can tap the know-how and imagination that is distributed widely in places not known in advance.

Open, generative conversation unfolds. Ideas and solutions are sifted in rapid fashion. Most importantly, participants own the ideas, so follow-up and implementation is simplified. No buy-in strategies needed! Simple and elegant!

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