Talk to yourself! It might be the best
conversation you ever had. Talking to
yourself takes on a whole new dimension when facilitating. How many internal conversations do you have going
on within your head when you are facilitating? I have learned to value these conversations
and intentionally listen to them. When I
start to feel the buzz in my brain that may indicate a variety of emotions: anxiety,
excitement, nervousness, passion – I now pause and think about what is going
on.
I use two excellent sources for this self-reflection. I learned the Focussed Conversation Method
from the Institute of Cultural Affairs Canada (http://ica-associates.ca/). This method, called an ORID, guides an individual
or a group through a flow of Objective, Reflective, Interpretive, and Decisional
perspectives. When I am facilitating with a group and feel that something is happening
that needs to be examined, I initially use an ORID in my head to assess the
situation. I ask myself: O - What do I hear and see? R - How do I feel about it? I - What do I think the group participants
are feeling and thinking? D – Do I need
to share my observations with the group?
The second source is the Mutual Learning Cycle
from The Skilled Facilitator by Roger
Schwarz (http://www.schwarzassociates.com/). With this method, I talk to myself by Observing
– What do I see and hear?, then Making Meaning of what I think it means, and then
Choosing whether it is worthwhile to say something to the group.
Knowing and using both of these methods helps
me stay calm when facilitating; which in turn, hopefully, helps the group
achieve better discussions and decisions.
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