Terra L. Fletcher presented “Enhance Your Facilitation Skills” to the Department of Natural Resources of Wisconsin’s Leadership Academy on January 12, 2023, at the Jefferson Street Inn in Wausau, Wisconsin.
The Leadership Academy is working on auditing its environmental impact to ensure they are “walking the talk.” The large and small group discussions were fantastic with lots of interaction. It was great to see people who are passionate about reducing their personal and professional carbon imprint.
Leadership Academy participants started the session with an assessment of their current facilitation skills, learned techniques of facilitation, and practiced their skills, applying them to their current projects. They practiced three-minute theses, planned meetings, and learned to build accountability. By the end of the session, they had developed their group’s theme, decided on team leaders, and planned when they would meet again. One group stayed well past the end of the session time to keep working. A few participants approached me individually to discuss specific workplace challenges. Many purchased “Flex Your Communication” to continue their learning and development. Of course, I was happy to stick around and sign copies of my book.
Group activities included sharing feedback, practicing opt-in and opt-out questions, and consensus building. One of my favorite consensus-building techniques was demonstrated by a group that voted on where they would eat dinner. During the day, the newly appointed DNR Secretary, Adam Payne introduced himself and shared his top seven qualities that leaders need. Everyone seemed excited to meet him.
I look forward to working with this group again soon.
For custom training, contact Terra directly. Call 715-584-6773 or email terra(at)fletcherconsulting(dot)com.
Program Abstract
Can you effectively harness the diversity of thought at your workplace without missing out on any ideas, even those from introverted teammates? Can you build consensus and guide conversations to help people collaborate? Rather than doing all the talking, an effective facilitator guides a group to action by creating a culture of accountability and a safe place for voicing ideas and opinions.
Participants will work with people to understand each other’s views, learn to harness the best ideas, and channel thoughts productively with leading questions. We’ll learn to stay on topic and facilitate efficiently. Then we’ll see how to move projects forward by building consensus. We’ll work through emotional topics, manage conflict, and redirect difficult participants. You’ll practice facilitation techniques in this interactive session and get peer feedback. We’ll role-play real-life scenarios and highlight the best tools and structure to achieve optimum results at every meeting.
