Facilitate Proceedings » Leadership http://facilitate.com/blog Sat, 11 Jun 2011 00:56:16 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.5 Kick off the New Year by creating a facilitator culture http://facilitate.com/blog/index.php/2011/01/kick-off-the-new-year-by-creating-a-facilitator-culture/ http://facilitate.com/blog/index.php/2011/01/kick-off-the-new-year-by-creating-a-facilitator-culture/#comments Thu, 27 Jan 2011 00:20:35 +0000 Nancy Settle-Murphy http://facilitate.com/blog/?p=1736 Up until a few years ago, those of us who are professional facilitators were considered to be a breed apart. People turned to us for special ways of extracting the best ideas from a group, weaving together a stimulating conversation (even when people had wildly different perspectives), or helping people reach consensus on difficult decisions. Fortunately for us, our clients still value our ability to plan and guide productive conversations when the outcomes matter most. And yet---I see more and more employees and managers recognizing the need to act as facilitators themselves, especially among geographically dispersed groups. Why?]]> Up until a few years ago, those of us who are professional facilitators were considered to be a breed apart. People turned to us for special ways of extracting the best ideas from a group, weaving together a stimulating conversation (even when people had wildly different perspectives), or helping people reach consensus on difficult decisions. Fortunately for us, our clients still value our ability to plan and guide productive conversations when the outcomes matter most.
And yet—I see more and more employees and managers recognizing the need to act as facilitators themselves, especially among geographically dispersed groups. Why?

]]> http://facilitate.com/blog/index.php/2011/01/kick-off-the-new-year-by-creating-a-facilitator-culture/feed/ 0 Why BP and Virtual Teams Need Clear Operating Principles http://facilitate.com/blog/index.php/2010/07/why-bp-and-virtual-teams-need-clear-operating-principles/ http://facilitate.com/blog/index.php/2010/07/why-bp-and-virtual-teams-need-clear-operating-principles/#comments Thu, 15 Jul 2010 01:46:09 +0000 Nancy Settle-Murphy http://facilitate.com/blog/?p=1541 We may never know what sequence of events set off the greatest environmental catastrophe of our time. What we do know is that there seemed to be a difference of opinion among decision-makers when it came to making a crucial trade-off between safety and profit. Add to that, it seemed unclear as to who, precisely, had the authority to make the decision to stop the drilling when a concerned staffer alerted management of the impending danger.

Having agreed-upon operating principles up front might have helped the drilling team avert this unnecessary disaster, just as they can help any kind of team make well-informed decisions quickly.

]]> http://facilitate.com/blog/index.php/2010/07/why-bp-and-virtual-teams-need-clear-operating-principles/feed/ 0 Six Management Practices That Don’t Cut It in a Virtual World http://facilitate.com/blog/index.php/2009/08/six-management-practices-that-dont-cut-it-in-a-virtual-world/ http://facilitate.com/blog/index.php/2009/08/six-management-practices-that-dont-cut-it-in-a-virtual-world/#comments Tue, 04 Aug 2009 07:19:52 +0000 Nancy Settle-Murphy http://facilitate.com/blog/?p=752 Do you think that just because you’re a successful manager of traditional teams that you’ll automatically be a hotshot manager in the virtual world? Maybe not. In fact, it’s often those managers who assume their leadership skills are eminently transportable to a virtual team are those who struggle the most. Why? They haven’t taken the time to understand how vastly different virtual team dynamics can be for both leaders and team members, and thus, are less likely to find ways to accommodate those differences.

In this issue, I explore some of the “traditional” management tenets that are most likely to backfire in a virtual world, and offer some alternatives that will yield better results when leading teams who work remotely.

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