We've just completed the third module in our Advanced Facilitation Course, and what a journey it's been. The setting for this immersive experience was the earthy CERES in Melbourne, a backdrop that perfectly complemented the deep explorations we undertook during these three days together.

When a lone piper pierced the cloying summer air outside the venue where my colleague Sarah Norton and I were facilitating the other week, my microclimate rose instantly from warm to hot and bothered.

Facilitated workshops and meetings unfold in a similar way to a great story. They get off to a good start by creating connection, build to a crescendo of activity and land well.

The days are coming to an end where people need to be controlled, managed and watched as a standard practice thought to improve productivity. Not surprisingly, a self-fulfilling prophecy plays out when management is run in this way. When we expect that people are going to do the wrong thing, why are we surprised when people fail?

When we’re discussing providing facilitation services with new clients there can sometimes be push back about the time we devote to setting up the activity, to establishing the group.

We all have our own understanding of what creates good teamwork and good relationships at work, but sometimes we can get stuck when others don’t think the same way!

Liz Bishop