Facilitate Proceedings » Organization Development

Are meetings still relevant?

Nancy Settle-Murphy — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 21:06:20 +0000

In a webinar earlier this year sponsored by NewWOW (New Ways of Working), David Coleman posed a provocative question: “In the world of enterprise social collaboration, has the social construct of “meetings” become anachronistic? In other words, are meetings obsolete?”

I’ve had a few weeks to ruminate his question. My initial reply: Of course! To have a real conversation, people really have to be talking together, at the same time, in pretty much the same way. Otherwise, we’re just pushing out (or pulling in) a bunch of potentially disconnected thoughts that often cross paths somewhere in the clouds. That’s not the stuff authentic conversations are made of, IMHO.

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?

Unbeatable duo: New Orleans and the OD Network Conference

Editor — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 21:15:52 +0000

This is just a quick reminder to all HR and OD professionals in our community. The OD Network Conference 2010 is taking place October 17-20 in New Orleans. Check out this quick video to get a taste of what’s in store: OD Network Conference video.

An essential part of the event experience is interacting with the OD community that develops there. We want to help create that community by passing along this $100 discount. Use discount code DSGEN10 when you register on the Conference 2010 web site.

Synergy or Oxymoron? Reflections on Asynchronous Facilitation

Gurpreet Gil — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:54:10 +0000

In this research brief I will share some of the experience of Synergy, a project exploring the use of collaborative meeting software to facilitate asynchronous group activities.

Most staff developers see themselves as facilitators of the learning process – knowledge is distributed throughout the organisation and the learning process happens when people successfully collaborate with others. The role of the facilitator is to encourage this process by providing a clear framework for discussion, creating opportunities for dialogue to occur across different groups and communities of practice. Sounds great doesn’t it? If only it were that easy!

In reality, availability of the right people at the right time is often a major issue and what appears to be a successful outcome for the group who attended can subsequently be undermined by the absence of key individuals. This is where collaborative meeting software comes in, by offering a solution that enables people to be involved in a facilitated meeting, irrespective of their geographical location and existing diary commitments.

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.

Uncovering Covert Barriers To Change

Nancy Settle-Murphy — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 17:31:58 +0000

I recently attended an excellent session at the Cape Cod Institute by Bob Marshak, who explored tips and techniques for overcoming the many covert barriers to organizational change. The examples used throughout the session were geared primarily to groups who worked side by side, when it’s tough enough to identify those hidden landmines and unspoken issues.

When Virtual Learning Is Better Than Face To Face

Danuta McCall — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 02:44:16 +0000

Is it possible that virtual learning can be more effective and not just a compromise when budgets get cut? When might virtual learning actually be advantageous? Here’s a list of potential winners – opportunities to accomplish more in a virtual setting than in the traditional classroom.
When you look at it through this lens, transitioning from traditional learning methods to ones that work in the virtual world looks less like a necessary evil and more like an exciting opportunity.

We have just published a white paper entitled Designing Interactive Webinars to add to our webinar and article series on collaborative learning in the virtual workplace.

IAF: A Key Facilitator Resource in Challenging Times

Danuta McCall — Wed, 13 May 2009 22:18:42 +0000

Just wanted our community to know that the International Association of Facilitators Europe Conference will be held in the United Kingdom September 18-20 2009. If you are looking for a reason to visit the beautiful and historic city of Oxford (and partake of conference events in the hallowed Keble College, one of England’s most historic seats ...

Mob Rule or Collective Intelligence?

Danuta McCall — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 17:25:31 +0000

One of my favorite blogs asks the question: how do Web 2.0 tools like Digg ultimately affect the core process of management decision-making? Traditional decision-making is typically top-down. What if there were a “digital rebellion” on the part of the employee population, a democratic up swelling of sorts, powered by these ground-swelling web tools? Mike Gotta points out that the collective intelligence within networks of people who are close to the problem might be valuable and on the mark. How do you pay attention to the “voice of the crowd” without inviting chaos?