New Certified Professional Facilitators (CPFs) in Adelaide

Earlier this week I process managed a CPF event in Adelaide. I had a diverse team of assessors from Australia, Malaysia and Singapore. The candidates were from New Zealand and Australia with a mix of backgrounds in large organisations and as independent consultants. I'm pleased to say that all candidates passed, which is not guaranteed as there is a current pass rate of around 80%.
I take part in these events once or twice a year as process manager or assessor and they are rewarding in so many ways; I get to think about my own facilitation techniques and practice, I get to see the candidates demonstrate their skills and learn from them, I get to work with a multi-national group and I witness the candidates' pleasure and relief when they hear they've passed.
It was another rich experience which will enhance my own skills as a professional facilitator. You can find out more about the CPF programme at www.iaf-world.org.

Testimonial for work carried out facilitating workshops to determine an Information Systems strategy for Tasman District Council

Dave Rees, 3rd Eye Facilitation was contracted to facilitate a series of workshops as part of the updating of the Tasman District Council Information Services Strategy in October 2012. This involved the design, organisation and running of two rounds of workshops involving Council staff from all areas of the organisation, including the CEO and senior management team. The first round required staff to review the current environment at Council while the second round looked to develop a strategic vision for future service delivery.

Dave ensured the workshops were organised with a pre-arranged set of deliverables to ensure effective outcomes. He assisted the Information Services Manager to develop a series of activities to drive discussion and produce visual confirmation for trends, directions and priorities. Dave also ensured that workshops stayed on track, stayed on time, and that all groups got a chance to actively participate in the discussion.

Having Dave facilitating the workshops freed me up to participate and be solely devoted to the discussion and messages coming from the groups. Much positive feedback was received from the attendees and a great, positive outcome was attained.

Dave provided a cost-effective solution that allowed us to move forward quickly, I would happily use his services for similar review and strategy sessions requiring positive but focussed group discussion and outcomes in the future.

Peter Darlington

Information Services Manager

Tasman District Council

Facilitation vs Mediation

The skills are similar for both so what's the difference? I think that if there was more facilitation in the world there'd be less need for mediation. Facilitation is all about getting to a point of agreement whereas mediation is about building bridges when attempts at agreement have failed.

Assessing Certified Professional Facilitators in Shenzhen, China

I was recently one of five assessors who spent three days assessing professional facilitators from around the Asian region. The candidates were from China, South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and Malaysia. The assessors were from the UK, Australia, the USA, Malaysia and New Zealand. How international is that!

The candidates were a great cross section from the worlds of banking, insurance, technology, consultancy and information management and all presented their unique take on facilitation. This gave everyone, including the assessors, the chance to learn something new as well as playing their part in a rigorous peer assessment process.

The assessment was held under the auspices of the International Association of Facilitators - www.iaf-world.org.

3rd Eye and Coaching

I (that’s Dave) did the Zenergy ‘Coaching for Outstanding Results’ course in Auckland last week. See www.zenergyglobal.com It was a great experience and was a good fit with the skills needed by a  professional facilitator, those I’d used in the past in a voluntary counselling role and those I’d used as a mentor.

I’m now reading ‘The Tao of Coaching’ by Max Landsberg http://www.profilebooks.co.uk/title.php?titleissue_id=124 which is a fantastic guide to practical coaching techniques.

I’ve been pulled to the idea of doing formal coaching for a while and I now feel I’ve got some basic skills that I can build on. One day I’ll feel justified in taking payment for coaching but that time isn’t yet so the next stage of my journey is to offer it pro bono to all and sundry while I gain sufficient experience and knowledge.

So, if you read this and you would like some free coaching, whether work or personal coaching, then please get in touch. If we’re not in close geographic proximity that doesn’t rule it out. I’d like to explore coaching using Skype video.

Nelson, New Zealand IAF/AFN Conference

At the end of November I attended a facilitation conference in Nelson, New Zealand hosted by the Australian Facilitators Network and the International Association of Facilitators. It was held, in part, on a Maori marae (meeting place) where we were welcomed and sent off in traditional Maori fashion. It was a fantastic insight into the Maori community. One aspect which was very apparent is the collaborative way in which they conduct their affairs and this made it a very appropriate place to hold a conference of facilitators whose profession is all about oiling the wheels of collaboration within and between groups.

Apart from being a fantastic networking opportunity with facilitators from all over the world it was a chance to see how facilitation is being used by consultants and by large organisations in the public, private and non-profit sectors.

Group Sense

We say that individuals have 5 senses, sight,  hearing, touch, smell and touch. Sometimes we talk about a 6th sense. Another way of connecting with others. In conversation the other day a group of us were talking about group synergy and the oft-repeated phrase that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The conversation turned to the science of Collective Intelligence. That made me think of pilot fish that swim alongside sharks, turning as the shark turns. Then I remembered seeing film of huge flocks of birds in their millions who fly fast and turn as one huge mass simultaneously. Do they all tweet ‘turn left – pass it on’ or is there something else happening there? Perhaps there is some kind of Group Sense going on here. Somehow they just know exactly when and how far to turn. Could it be that groups of people who have worked together well for a long time develop the same kind of Group Sense when making decisions? How can facilitators nurture this?