SessionLab

🚀 Are you a manager, trainer, consultant, or educator using facilitation skills at work? We want to hear from you! Share how you're leading workshops, designing sessions, or creating participatory training in 2024. Join our survey and shape the future of facilitation! https://lnkd.in/ewFrp3Kz

In preparing the State of Facilitation 2024 survey we partnered up with Alexandre Eisenchteter✨ and the AI Tinkerers’ Club to make sure you are asked relevant, informative questions about AI use and facilitation. Here is a sneak peek of early findings: 🤖 60% of respondents have used OpenAI’s ChatGPT to plan and design sessions 🙅 but only 19% use AI on a regular basis in facilitation Top 3 uses of AI in facilitation are: (1) Preparing sessions, especially generating ideas and brainstorming (2) Wrapping up and post-workshop activities, mainly summarizing information (3) Marketing and creating materials for participants So what are facilitators thinking about using AI in our profession? As a respondent succinctly put it “I'm still skeptic... but I want to explore it more!” Much more data and insights will be neatly packaged into the forthcoming State of Facilitation report, out (and free to read) in early 2025. Contribute your thoughts and learn more by answering the State of Facilitation survey!

In last week’s episode of Nathy Ravez’ There's a Workshop for That! podcast, #StateofFacilitation project editor Deborah Rim Moiso gave 4 great reasons to go fill out the State of #Facilitation survey. ☝️ Vote for your favorite communities, resources, podcasts, and books! Each year, top 10 lists are compiled based on your responses. 🤔 Reflect on your past year by answering open questions about your learnings and challenges in 2024 🔧 Discover how others are using AI and software tools for facilitation by exploring curated lists, generated from previous years' #survey responses. 🌎 Most importantly: the report is only representative if people facilitating worldwide contribute their experience and views! ”Done, thanks. It was a cathartic experience. Deeply reflective too. I had to put on my thinking cap and reflect a lot before rocking those multiple choices and answering open ended questions.” - Ramana CV ”This is very informative, especially on the different online tools, it really challenged me to want to know more as I was answering the question.” - Anonymous pollster Have you answered this year’s State of Facilitation survey yet? How was the process for you? Let us know in the comments!

Huge thanks to Annalise Koltai , PCC, CPCC, MA for putting together such an insightful and well-crafted agenda that we can all benefit from! If you’re looking for your own offsite or team retreat, take a look at this agenda and planning guidelines from Annalise 💚

Are you looking for more facilitation books to add to your shelf? 👀 Una McAlinden has shared her selection to help people build their facilitation skills 📚

Are you looking for a good read? One that can bolster your professional development? We’ve gathered 10 books that have inspired the respondents of the State of Facilitation Report 2024. The #1 voted choice among facilitators who want to transform ordinary gatherings into memorable experiences is The Art of Gathering! Priya Parker emphasizes the importance of intentional and meaningful gatherings, whether for business or with family and friends. This book offers practical and anecdotal advice on how to create purposeful get-togethers. Gamestorming by Dave Gray provides a collection of innovative activities designed to boost creativity and collaboration in meetings. These methods are ideal for breaking down barriers, sparking ideas and solving problems! Sam Kaner's book, A Facilitator’s Guide Participatory Decision-Making, is an excellent handbook for facilitators aiming to enhance collaboration, ensure diverse participation and achieve consensus, making it a staple in facilitation literature. The Surprising Power of Liberating Structures by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless introduces a set powerful methods to enhance group dynamics. A top choice on facilitators’ bookshelves for its versatile framework that transforms how people collaborate, leading to more productive outcomes. Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown is an inspiring read for anyone wanting to explore and understand social movements and power dynamics. Emergent Strategy provides guidance on how to be adaptive in complexity, and makes a convincing case on why building relationships is key to social change. ”Moving forward together is becoming less straightforward,” says author Adam Kahane, sharing his experiences in facilitating breakthroughs in difficult situations. His book, Facilitating Breakthrough, is a rich collection of stories on navigating conflicts, big and small, including in the arena of international diplomacy. The Secrets of Facilitation by Michael Wilkinson reveals key techniques and SMART principles. His book is favored for its actionable tips and frameworks that help facilitators guide groups to successful outcomes, whether in meetings, workshops or team collaborations. You’ll find “65 ways to step aside and let then learn” inside Sharon L. Bowman’s classic book Training from the Back of the Room. It provides brain-based learning techniques for trainers and facilitators to make ensure participants retain and apply what they learn. Dale Hunter’s The Art of Facilitation is appreciated for its in-depth exploration of facilitation skills, techniques and the underlying principles that make group work effective and harmonious. Otto Scharmer’s Theory U presents a framework for leading change through deep listening and co-creation. Facilitators value its insights into transformative leadership and practical methods for guiding groups through complex change processes. Have you read any of these choices? What were your thoughts?

We’ve just made it easier to tailor and share your session plans! You can now export your customized view from SessionLab’s SessionPlanner to PDF, with the exact columns you’ve chosen to display. Here’s how it helps with planning: 🤝 Give your clients exactly what they need Want to share the essential information only? Now you can export the Timing, Title and Short Description for clients, giving them a high-level overview of your #workshop or #training session. 💼 Communicate more effectively with your logistics team Give your logistics team and co-facilitators all the details they need to make the magic happen. ✨ Share Materials, Timing, and any Additional Information to ensure your session runs smoothly. ⏳ Speed up your workflow No more fiddling with columns or reformatting documents. Customize your session layout, hit export and you’re done! The time you save can go right back into delivering impactful sessions. 🙌 Have all the details at hand Create a separate PDF or printout with all the information you personally need so you can focus on participants rather than on remembering the flow. 🎨 Look professional, every time Sending well-organized, polished documents doesn’t just save time – it shows you’ve got everything under control. With custom exports, you’ll always look professional (and save yourself a few headaches, too). 😉 Try it out and let us know what you think! https://lnkd.in/e6KWZsTi

What do you need to study to become a facilitator? What kind of person do you need to be? There is no common background, nor any common style, to facilitators. So what do facilitators have in common and how can you tell if you might want to join the club? Here are some indicators we’ve come up with. 💙 You like to work with people. This does not mean that you are a social butterfly or the life of the party, but certainly as a facilitator you will be working with people, their particular quirks and qualities, most of the time. ❓You find yourself saying “it depends” quite a lot. If you have a natural tendency to take different points of view, this will help you facilitate workshops. 🗑️ You hate waste. If time and energy wasted in futile discussions or confusing meetings drive you up the walls, this is also a great indicator that you have the motivation to drive change through facilitation. Help us out in the comments: what is your story? how did you find out you could be a facilitator?

Our team is excited and energised after our latest team retreat to build SessionLab further and spread the culture of #facilitation 🚀

💡 Something I learn time and time again about facilitators is how generous they can be. Generous with their time, attention, resources and spirit. 📢 Hosting the wonderful Romy Alexandra in the SessionLab community for an event on experiential learning was an incredible treat and we heard from so many participants about how useful and engaging her session was. 🗓 But Romy didn't stop there. She ALSO created an incredible toolbox of experiential learning techniques in the form of a SessionLab template which you'll find here: https://lnkd.in/eVy5-Acv Building on the work of David Kolb and Chad Littlefield and her own experiences as a learning design and facilitator, you'll find everything you need to easily design and run an engaging experiential online session for free. Thanks, Romy! 🙌 It's been such a joy to collaborate with you on this, and we're so excited to see and hear how people use this template in their practice. 💚