Facilitate Proceedings » Innovation

Get the Point Across… Without PowerPoint

Julia Young — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 16:38:08 +0000

I recently came across this super example of a different type of presentation. The topic is “Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us.” Not only is the message clearly articulated, it is beautifully drawn so that we are captivated as we listen. Enjoy!

So, you want to solve problems and generate quality ideas in your meeting?

Donna McAlister Kizzier — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 17:29:37 +0000

If solving problems or generating high quality ideas are among your primary meeting goals, which of the many meeting venues available to facilitators should you select? Face to face? Teleconferencing? Audio and video conferencing? Text messaging? Asynchronous or synchronous? With or without collaborative systems? Does it make a difference which meeting tools you select or the time frame you select? This month’s Research Brief addresses these questions, with a clear winner emerging.

As a reminder, each Research Brief refers readers to the full published article. Click on the link to read today’s full Research Brief. These Briefs are intended to communicate the results of my already published research to practitioners in the field. I appreciate and encourage your feedback; you are the best qualified to judge the relevant application of my research in the workplace.

Walking the Talk: Innovating Conference Design to Build Community

Julia Young — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:39:42 +0000

I recently returned from the Exploring Innovation Conference in Community Development 2009 Conference in St Louis (www.exploringinnovation.org) sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis. I was engaged by the conference organizers to help design a conference that demonstrates creativity and best practices and this community building event exceeded my expectations.

The design was shaped by a couple of key objectives:

To create an ongoing dialogue where input from conference participants shapes the conference content
To facilitate learning for conference participants through a variety of methods that accommodate diverse learning styles
To serve as a catalyst for future dialogues around topics of significant importance to community development

These objectives required a design that promotes creative thinking, interaction and community building in a large group conference setting. I’ve written a case study describing the methods and collaborative tools we used. I invite you to read the in-depth report on the conference design and download facilitation method sheets.

Does Facilitation Have a Role in the High School Classroom?

Julia Young — Fri, 01 May 2009 10:35:58 +0000

Exploring facilitation techniques at a high school was fun and engaging but then one teacher asked – What is the relevance of this to me and the way I can help my students learn? This challenged us to think about how a facilitation would shift the way we teach.

Thinking Outside the Box When Business is Slow

Julia Young — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 19:33:58 +0000

I recently joined an international group of facilitators wrapping up a project that involved the development of new innovations labs or i-Labs in the United Kingdom, Turkey, Poland and Romania. As we celebrated the successful completion of these wonderfully creative high-end meeting facilities (read more about i-Labs) the conversation turned to “What next?”. In an era of budget cuts, travel bans and elimination of non-essential activities, each of the participants lamented, how can we attract businesses to a high-end meeting facility?

The conversation started with discussion of cutting costs, reducing fees and eliminating services. However, I challenged the group to practice their own medicine, think out-of-the-box and look at the problem differently.

Exploring Innovation – A Conference on Community Development

Julia Young — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 00:40:04 +0000

Changing economic conditions are presenting unique challenges to those in the community development field. The 2009 Exploring Innovation conference will focus on resiliency, sustainability and innovations that will help your organization or community survive—and, more importantly, thrive—during these unprecedented times.