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Groupwork Centre Blog articles by Ed McKinley

A Snag In Collaborative Decision Making

Posted by Ed McKinley on March 11, 2022 in Facilitation, Facilitation resources, Management Gems, Working well with others,

At its best, Collaborative Decision Making is so 3D. It’s about pooling ALL inputs and then together figuring out what’s best to do. Yet a snag we can hit is precedent. People’s contribution to Collaborative Decision Making can be held back because of precedent, that we should continue as we have been OR, if we […]

How to deal with side-tracking in your group (without shaming!)

Posted by Ed McKinley on January 23, 2020 in Working as an independent facilitator,

Massive and ancient Australian redgum tree surrounded by water and other trees. Person off to the right looks very small by comparison

Show leadership without shaming side-trackers to keep your meeting focused

Want a qual that’s good for you as well as your work?

Posted by Ed McKinley on October 23, 2019 in Facilitation, Working as an independent facilitator, Working well with others,

Simple image of two hands cupped around a single upright buttercup flower

Like a lot of people who choose (or are forced!) to work with groups, Ash Alluri arrived at the need to work on a deeper level in collaboration. He wasn’t interested in anything piecemeal; he was hungry for something in-depth, so he could really immerse himself. Before enrolling in our Advanced Diploma of Group Facilitation, Ash had a […]

History of facilitation in Australia

Posted by Ed McKinley on September 26, 2019 in Working as an independent facilitator,

Five adults (women and men) in casual professional work clothes seated as part of a circle looking at one of the people speaking. They are in a workshop setting with paper circles with notes on the floor in front of them

An overview of the many influences that have contributed to what we know as the craft of facilitation today.

7 skills you need to lead … and avoid burnout

Posted by Ed McKinley on June 20, 2019 in Management Gems, Working well with others,

1 woman and 2 men in informal business clothes, seated in a circular curve, smilling, in an office environment

If you have consistent patterns of tension or under-performance, you could be part of the problem. Avoid wasting time and emotional energy with effective leadership.

Commonground News

Posted by Ed McKinley on May 21, 2019 in Working as an independent facilitator,

Notice about Election Recovery weekend at Commonground on 30 May 2019

Here’s a message from the Groupwork Centre’s sister organisation: Hello extended Commonground community We wanted to update you with some of the recent happenings at Commonground and share information about a special post-election offering for all our hard working campaigning friends out there. 2019 Easter Gathering – a very productive affair! We had over […]

Hearable Messages

Posted by Ed McKinley on January 24, 2019 in Management Gems, Working as an independent facilitator, Working well with others,

Aerial view of 9 pots in three rows with dark, rich soil and small green plants growing in them

Too often people default to being overly gentle and indirect when giving critical feedback. Then if that doesn’t work, they can flip over into being bossy. We suggest you try giving a hearable message instead with these key steps.

How collaborating literally changed lives for the better

Posted by Ed McKinley on August 2, 2018 in Working as an independent facilitator,

Four young girls in a garden, happily playing with flower petals

Five years ago, the Department of Human Services was seeking tenders for a new approach to service delivery to young and pregnant mums who were a part of the Out of Home Care system. Their research found that a very high percentage of the next generation end up in the same situation. So they developed […]

Why I love supervision

Posted by Ed McKinley on July 4, 2018 in Working as an independent facilitator,

Text: What are some of the things we need to do or not do to make this go well? On inviting people to form agreements about their work together. Glen Ochre, Groupwork Institute Blue sky and top of tree background

Here’s a beaut story from Andrea Curran-Bennett, a manager in the disability arena. This is her take on the challenges of leading others and (beware: plug for us ahead) why she likes our training in supervising skills: “I stepped into a leadership role six years ago. Part of that was supporting and managing people; I knew […]

Who’s afraid of supervising? 4 Questions to ask yourself

Posted by Ed McKinley on June 1, 2018 in Management Gems, Working well with others,

Black-faced sheep looking directly at you between two wooden fence palings

You don’t need to treat your staff like sheep. Use structured time and a process to reflect on their practice, take on feedback, test out ideas and work through issues.

From desire to go deeper to benchmark facilitation training

Posted by Ed McKinley on December 13, 2017 in Facilitation, Working as an independent facilitator,

Woman Glen Ochre with hands gesturing and face alight facilitating a workshop

How our Advanced Groupwork Facilitation Course came to be Our co-founder Glen Ochre long harboured a passion for working with people at a deeper level, over an extended period of time. Glen was a great cook; she would take recipe books and magazines to bed and conjure up meals that looked nothing like the originals, but were specco. […]

6 Tips for scribing: A key facilitation skill

Posted by Ed McKinley on November 29, 2017 in Working as an independent facilitator,

Person writing a list of values on a whiteboard

It’s powerful for people to have their input written up for all to see. Visually sharing input in a meeting helps you sort priorities, include everyone and create an accurate record of the process.

Giving a hearable message after an ‘incident’

Posted by Ed McKinley on November 9, 2017 in Facilitation, Management Gems, Working well with others,

Do you ever reflect on the effectiveness of your communication? Looking back on what happened can help you with a way forward. We ask participants of our Advanced Diploma of Group Facilitation to log reflections on their facilitation and collaboration experiences. It’s a simple yet effective way to crystallise your learnings and gain a greater […]

What do you say to them? Our top 5 tips to starting with a new group

Posted by Ed McKinley on September 27, 2017 in Facilitation, Working as an independent facilitator, Working well with others,

You’ve been asked to facilitate a group. How do you make an engaging start? The way you begin can put people off participating before you have even got to your intro activity. You want people to be actively present, contribute with confidence and to listen to understand others in this group, but how? No pressure, […]

3 Deeper traps to avoid at your next meeting

Posted by Ed McKinley on June 21, 2017 in Facilitation, Working as an independent facilitator, Working well with others,

There’s a lot of benefit to be gained in digging a bit deeper into why you may be finding your meetings frustrating. People instantly get it when we encourage structure around meetings by emphasising the importance of Beginning, Middle, End and allowing enough time. But we’re often met with some surprise at our emphasis on […]

Standing Tall

Posted by Ed McKinley on March 2, 2017 in Management Gems, Working well with others,

Given events swirling around us, we feel the need to stand taller, become bolder and act with greater compassion than ever before… I was particularly moved by a message I received from Simon Clough, an old mate from northern NSW. Here is what he shared with me: Very concerning is the emergence of the “post […]

Supervision: How you can find out what’s really going on for your staff

Posted by Ed McKinley on December 14, 2016 in Management Gems,

We’d like to share a story with you. We think it shows how you can undertake supervision with real trust and clear agreement on expectations of priorities and timelines. Jenny Boulton, a senior manager at Melbourne City Mission, shares this: “I’ve been using the Groupwork Supervision model ever since I first did the Supervision course in […]

Contracting Controversial Facilitation Work

Posted by Ed McKinley on July 25, 2016 in Working as an independent facilitator,

Being asked to come in and help around a controversial issue, takes us to the deep end of facilitation. It can be exciting to be invited to provide facilitation for such work, and it is very rewarding to see it through to successful and sustainable outcomes.
However, we are regularly gathering stories of how such controversial work can be de-railed… and we have our own experiences to add to the mix!