Facilitate Proceedings » Leadership Development

Kick off the New Year by creating a facilitator culture

Nancy Settle-Murphy — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 00:20:35 +0000

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?

Discerning the Essential Skills for Leading Virtual Teams

Nancy Settle-Murphy — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 00:22:31 +0000

My friend and colleague Julia Young and I are collaborating closely –from 3,000 miles away–to create a blended (virtual, asynchronous and face to face) training program, Leading Virtual Teams, for a new client. As we interviewed a representative set of senior managers to better understand their challenges, we asked each one: Which is more critical for people to learn, how to plan and run more productive virtual meetings or how to lead successful virtual teams?

Make Virtual Meetings Worth Your Time – Join Us!

Danuta McCall — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 22:13:08 +0000

Over the past year we have been offering a free webinar series entitled “Designing Interactive Virtual Meetings and Webinars that Keep Participants Engaged”. Every webinar has been unique, as each group molds its session from the participants’ collective experience, creative thinking and interests. Two upcoming events cause us to reflect on how our thinking has evolved from running these dynamic, highly participatory open sessions. The first event is our next webinar, scheduled for next week on Thursday September 23 at 8 am PDT, 11am EDT, 3 PM UTC (register). This webinar is a warm-up for Julia Young’s interactive session “Getting Great Results from Virtual Meetings” at the upcoming OD Network Conference in New Orleans

We know that every successful meeting relies on a well-thought out objective, outcomes and agenda. And, good facilitation that engages participants in open, thoughtful thinking and learning But there are some especially gnarly challenges associated with meeting and collaborating remotely. We’ve created a conceptual structure to frame them for discussion called The Six Critical Success Factors.

Come join the evolving conversation! You will experience an interactive virtual event and help build solutions to one of the biggest challenges facing virtual teams today. Register here.

Why Professional Certification Is So Worth It

Susan Peryam — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:59:17 +0000

To certify or not, that is the question.
I’ve been asked the question “…why would I want to certify anyways, I’ve been in the profession for years.” My answer is simple…it is a matter of personal choice. I made that choice three times. During my first career I became a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), years into my second career I became a Certified Quality Manager (CQM), and at the beginning of my third and current career I became a Certified Professional Facilitator.

As I reflect on the reasons I chose to become certified, I realize that my motivations changed over time. I sense that is a reflection of my personal growth.

Tips To Jumpstart Your New Virtual Team

Nancy Settle-Murphy — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 19:58:03 +0000

One of my clients was just anointed as the project lead for a new virtual team of a very visible project. She confessed that she has very little experience as a manager of virtual teams, though she does know what it’s like being part of a poorly run team, and she does not want to replicate this experience for her new team members.

Here are a few tips I shared with her to help her get her new team off to a fast start:

1. Choose the right people.

When you can choose your team members, look for people with diverse perspectives with a blending of skills, knowledge and experience. Important competencies include tolerance for ambiguity; sensitivity to cultural differences; willingness to work independently; ability and openness to communicate using a variety of methods; and keen listening skills.

Can you select a CEO by telephone?

Julia Young — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 19:23:41 +0000

I recently had the pleasure of working with a selection task group from the Girl Scouts of the Central Coast of California as they conducted a series of interviews of CEO candidates. Sheila Dundon, HR/OD consultant and founder of the Priority Leadership Group lead the selection team and we collaborated on how we might support nine committee members from up and down the coast of California in coming to consensus and documenting their decision making.

By necessity the first round of interviews was done by phone. Candidates had already gone through several screening steps so this was to be a high powered interview. The aim was select four of seven candidates who will go on to face-to-face interviews and then two who will spend a half day on-site.
Sheila and I looked for ways in which online collaboration software (in this case FacilitatePro) could transform a rather awkward phone conversation with a candidate and nine interviewers to an engaging and efficient interaction.

Collaborative Learning in the Virtual Workplace

Julia Young — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 07:30:50 +0000

Recently I have been thinking a lot about distance learning and virtual instructor-led training. This prompted me to write an article, published in this month’s Chief Learning Officer Magazine, how to make virtual learning more interactive and effective. I suggest four virtual learning strategies drawn from experience facilitating collaborative virtual meetings. These strategies particularly apply to leadership development, professional skills building and other types of learning that would traditionally be conducted in collaborative face-to-face workshop environment. This type of management training is rapidly transitioning to a blended or totally virtual learning experience and trainers will need to keep it highly interactive and collaborative.

Here’s a summary of the four virtual learning strategies. I invite your comments on the full article available online at CLO Magazine August 2009 Feature Article.