World Café

The Mechanism to Obtain Wisdom from the Crowd

Recently, I have the opportunity to organise another World Café for a group of trainers, and I like to share this process with you.

Setting the Context

A meeting was conducted a few weeks before the World Café event. In the discussion, my clients and I addressed the following matters:

• What wisdom do we want to obtain from the crowd?
  
• Who might have to the wisdom?
  
• How much of time do we want to assign to the session?

Create a Hospitable Space

To create comfort for and relatedness between the members in the crowd, a few activities were introduced prior to the World Café segment. These were:

• Participants were invited to turn up early
  
• Food and drinks were provided to energise participants
  
• Organisers mingled and introduced participants to each other
  
• Organisers also explained the purpose of the session
  
• Participant were invited to gather in a circle in the centre of the event hall
  
• Opening circle was conducted to secure the presence of mind amongst participants

Explore Questions that Matters

Knowledge will emerge and be created when the right questions are presented to the crowd.

The crowd has the capacity to find questions that are relevant to their real-life concerns and a facilitator needs to enable this capacity. In this World Café session, I had asked the crowd to write down the things that concerned them as trainers and to construct these concerns into session questions.

The stem for such questions will begin with ‘In what ways might I ……….?’ and here is an example of a complete question presented at the World Café.

It is the crowd who will have the wisdom to determine the questions that are most useful to them. I helped them make this determination by asking them to present their questions to the floor and invited each participant to view and mark those questions which they were also keen to know the answers or which they think they had answers to contribute.

Here is a video clip showing this segment of the World Café.

Encouraging Everyone’s Contribution

People will engage in deep conversation with each other when they feel that they are contributing in enlarging the knowledge and wisdom in the crowd. I have organised many World Café events and I have yet to observe a session where there were no conversation at all.

Let the members of the crowd break into their individual special interest groups and let nature take its course.

Connect Diverse Perspectives

It is important to record the knowledge and wisdom emerging ‘in the middle of the group’. A ‘shared visual space’ is created as the recording tablet for the group. Members from one group are free to ‘float’ to another group to cross-pollinate the ideas. This way, they will bring to the new table threads from the last round and interweave them with those they just joined. People who arrived with fixed positions often find that they are more open to new and different ideas when new members joined them.

Listen Together and Notice Patterns

Listeners are as important as speakers. They should listen for where the speaker is coming from, and to appreciate that their perspective, regardless for their divergence, is equally valid and they represent a part of the wisdom in the crowd.

Here are some tips about listening:

• The need to think of how to response to what was being said actually prevents one’s capacity to listen authentically
  
• Respect and treat each participant as truly wise
  
• Listen with an openness to be influenced by the speaker
  
• Listen for supporting questions, patterns, insights and emerging perspectives
  
• Listen to build on the ideas of others
  
• Listen for what is not being spoken

Share Collective Discoveries

Ask the groups to spend a few minutes to consider what has emerged in their conversation and which is most meaningful to them. Focus their attention at distilling these insights, patterns, themes and deeper questions, and provide a way to get them out to the whole room so that all members are given the opportunity to learn from this wisdom collectively.

After all insights have been shared in the room, the whole group is encouraged to take a few minutes of silent reflection to consider:

• What new things have emerged from the conversations?
  
• Do they notice patterns arising from these conversations? What are these and what do they suggest?
  
• If there was a single theme emerging from these conversations, how do we describe this theme?
  
• What do we now learnt and see as a result of these conversations?
  
• What new questions are arising as a result of these conversations?

This article was written by Anthony Mok on 25 Nov 2008.

Copyright 2008. Anthony Mok. All Rights Reserved.

Dynamic Facilitation Workshop

WORKSHOP DETAILS

Date: 23 Jun 09 (Tue) to 25 Jun 09 (Thu)

Time: 8.30am-5.30pm

Venue: Orchid Country Club, Singapore

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

Facilitators, Teachers, Trainers, Supervisors, Managers, HRD & OD Professionals, Coaches, Consultants, Instructors, Mediators, Therapists, Community Leaders, Change Agents, Practitioners, Scholars, Activists, or Entrepreneurs looking to use the most advanced approaches for thinking together creatively and collaboratively and achieve win/win results.

WHY SHOULD YOU ATTEND?

Participants will learn how to help people to:

• achieve breakthroughs on difficult, emotional or "impossible" issues


• arrive at unanimous results and decisions


• empower people to new levels of capability


• build trust, respect, and the spirit of community in a group


• grow in personal creativity and capability

Dynamic Facilitation provides a transformational experience!

WHAT PEOPLE IN THE KNOW ARE SAYING

"I found a way to facilitate for monumental change. It took me to a place I never knew existed and made me wonder why I had not already been there."
Glenn Floyd, Champion International

"This is the next level of facilitation...The seminar teaches you to use your whole brain."

Barry Lubart, IBM

"A mind-expanding experience of an alternative approach to group discussion and problem-solving."

Carol Chetkovich, Professor at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government

WHO IS THE WORKSHOP FACILITATOR?

Jim Rough is a consultant, author, speaker and social innovator. He originated Dynamic Facilitation Skills and has been presenting public and private seminars on Dynamic Facilitation since 1990. Jim also originated the Wisdom Council, a new approach to transforming large systems of people.

For over twenty years he has been a faculty member of the Creative Problem Solving Institute in Buffalo, N.Y. He is the author of the book, "Society's Breakthrough!: Releasing the Essential Wisdom and Virtue of All the People."

WORKSHOP INVESTMENT

Early Bird Registration (by 31 Jan 09)

IAF Members S$1,290**
Non Members S$1,590

After Early Bird Deadline (after 31 Jan 09 and by 15 May 09)
S$1,790

*Overseas registrants paying by bank draft or TT, please add S$30 for bank charges in Singapore

** IAF membership is US$85/year for developing countries and US$175 for developed countries. Register for membership @ http://www.iaf-world.org/

REGISTRATION PROCESS

Online @ http://www.fns.sg

Getting them awake!

How to Keep Your Participants Attentive……..

During a Method of Instruction course that I have conducted recently, a number of participants had asked me for the approaches and ways to keep their trainees awake and attentive in the classes they conducted.

I am aware that we do not usually conduct pure form facilitation in Singapore. The more popular facilitated training, which juxtaposes the art and science of facilitation into the training process, is more popular. Trainees tend to be more interactive in class as they experience an assortment of techniques that lead them to learn in different ways.

There are several approaches facilitative trainers use to maintain the level of attention amongst trainees. The one that I am most comfortable with is the EAD approach.

Usually, I will divide the whole training programme into modules and I go on to sub-divide each module into three sections. These are:

Expound – Here, the background, definitions, concepts and principles of an idea is presented and explained

Activity – An activity or exercise is introduced to help trainees obtain a deeper appreciation of the presented idea.

Debrief – At the end of the activity, trainees are encouraged to engage in an interaction to share with each other the experiences and insights they gained from the activity, and the lessons, which are relevant to the idea, they learnt. This also serves as a way to conclude the module and creates the opener for the next module.

When the EAD approach is applied in class, trainees are unlikely to ‘switch off’ too long because they are engaged in various forms of activity that force them to stay active at various points of the training course.

I like to share with you six types of activity or exercise that you could use to achieve this objective:

Personal Bingo

Prepare the bingo card in advance of the training course and duplicate the card for all the trainees. Instruct the trainees to mingle to identify the person who knows or owns the item described in each square.

Once this person is identified, he is invited to sign off in the corresponding square. Keep moving among the trainees until all squares are filled.

Rule: First person who fills all the squares with signatures wins a prize.

Usually, I will reproduce key words to be covered or already covered in the module in the squares. I could find out the amount of knowledge out there prior to covering the module or to uncover the level of understanding of the module just covered.

Putting the Puzzle Together

Electronically cut and paste a picture on paper. Stretch it to fit a A4 size paper. Print and cut it up into smaller triangles. Place these cut outs into an envelope.

Many copies of the puzzle could be produced. Trainees, either individually or in groups, piece these puzzles together.

Rule: First person or group which completes the puzzle wins a prize.

Normally, I will extract an important page from my Powerpoint slide and cut it up to create the puzzle. You need not have to introduce the same page to all the trainees. I prefer to use several pages to give the activity its variations. I use this activity to promote recall and sharing or to prepare trainees for the next module.

I Answer You Mark

To carry out this activity, the facilitative trainer needs to develop an answer sheet that allows the trainees to record their answers to a question posed by the trainer. Trainees are to exchange and mark each other’s answer sheet.

In the above diagram, each trainee is asked to colour the section of the feet that represent a certain organ in the body. After completing the exercise, he is to exchange his answer sheet with someone else and mark it for accuracy.

Rule: The person who get all the answers right wins a prize.

Periodically, I will use this activity to introduce a module. This way, the awareness of not knowing promotes learning amongst the trainees for the concepts and principles to be covered in the module.

I Hide and You Seek

For this activity to work, preparations need to be carried out before the start of the programme on the day of the course.

Because we want to hide the items in the training venue, no trainees should be around in the training venue when we do the hiding. Things could be hidden under the table or chair. We want the trainees to find these items. So, we should not make them too difficult to find. At a certain point of time, the trainees are invited to locate these hidden items.

Rule: The last person to find the hidden item has to complete a forfeit.

I usually design an activity for a module to be taught just after the lunch break. This is a more productive way to keep the heart pumping than stretching. I will hide questions written on small slips of paper that request trainees who had retrieved them to complete some tasks that are relevant to the modules covered before lunch. This is good way to encourage recall. I use this to restart the thinking engine for modules that are broken up into two parts because of the lunch break in between.

Stand by Stations

Stand by Stations is an activity that makes trainees stand in groups by the flip chart that mark the location of the station.

Behind the ‘Station Cover Sheet’ (‘Station Four’ in the example on the right), the Facilitative Trainer places the question he wants the trainees to discuss and work on as a group. Space should be provided on this flip chart so that the trainees can record their ideas on this paper.

Rule: The groups are given a certain amount of time to complete the activity. The last group to complete is to present their ideas first.

This is a good alternative to letting the group complete the activity at their table. Trainees are forced to stand up when they interact with each other. I normally use this activity to promote debate in class over the pros and cons of using a particular concept or principle already covered in the module.

Anagram to Success

An anagram is a pair of words, phrases or sentences that are spelled with the same set of letters. For example, the following two words are spelled with the same letters: "tan" and "ant." Much more complicated anagrams are possible, and the most interesting are when the two are relevant to each other.

You need not have to crack your brain coming up with the anagrams. There are anagram finders in the Internet and I regularly use http://wordsmith.org/anagram/ to look for my anagrams. Do attempt to give clues for solving the more complicated anagrams. You could provide the first and second character for each word in the anagram.

Rule: The person who get all the answers right wins a prize.

I would use key terms, jargons, phrases, and paired words used in the module to create the anagrams. However, instead of asking trainees to create the anagram for ‘Self-Esteem’ for a motivation training course I conduct for them, I would prefer to give the trainees ‘Sets Me Feel’ and have them work out its anagram as ‘Self-Esteem’. This way, I get them to think about the words covered in the module. I usually do not present all the anagrams on a sheet of paper to the trainees. I usually introduce one anagram at a time on Powerpoint slides and they are used as opener to a module or to finish it off.

Sticky Thoughts

I learnt this energiser from Ms Agnes Chong, a colleague of mine, and she is gracious enough to agree to allow me to share this with everyone here.

To make this activity work for you, you need, in advance, to get some coloured stickers and A4 size plastic sheets for the participants. Have these distributed to them just before the activity. Next, instruct them to tape a plastic sheet behind their backs. Get their buddies to help them. Then, ask each participant to write on a coloured sticker what he or she knows about him or herself and put it one side. Encourage them to write something that is really positive. Finally, direct the participants to use the rest of the coloured stickers to write something positive about the rest of the participants in the class. When they have completed, encourage them to stick the completed stickers on the back of each participant.

Rule: Participants could share what they have uncovered which are unknown to them.

This is a good way to feel affilitated and related with the rest of the class as well as to know more about oneself, especially aspects of oneself that are known to others but unknown to him or her. This activity is best conducted with participants who are familar with each other or who have already established a rapport with each other during the duration of the training programme.

Do give these a try at your workshops.

Of course, the ultimate solution to the attention problem could only be found at the source.

That is to encourage your trainees to have a good night rest before attending the training course the next day.

This article was written by Anthony Mok on 13 Nov 2008 and 8 May 2009.
Copyright 2008 & 2009. Anthony Mok. All Rights Reserved.

Ice Breakers and Energisers

The Right and Wrong Ways of Using Ice Breakers and Energisers

I have attended many training courses, workshops, seminars and conferences in the course of my life, and ice-breakers and energisers never fail to appear in their programmes. Most of these were entertaining but many had fallen short of expectations because they were used for the wrong reasons.

Ice-breakers and energisers must be used intentionally. They cannot be relegated to filling up the programme, creating relatedness amongst participants, or injecting energy into a group of tired trainees.

Experienced facilitators deploy ice-breakers and energisers for more advanced purposes. They use them to:

• Collect information on the type and amount of prior knowledge already possessed by the participants,
• Create opportunities for the expansion of wisdom in the group, and
• Check for the level of learning so far attained by the participants.

This means, we should not copy ice-breakers and energisers from elsewhere and use them indiscriminately at our facilitated events. Their design and use have to meet some preset objectives, and here are 6 different types of activities facilitators could use to create outcomes that meet these higher objectives.

Jargon Game

Participants are divided into 2 groups – Group A and B. Each participant in Group A is to hold up a placard showing the definition or description of a jargon to be covered at the event. Each member in Group B is given a jargon and he is to identify and match the meaning held up by a particular member from Group A and engage in a conversation with him on the jargon and its definition.

Guess My Line

Participants are grouped into pairs. One in the pair will have a jargon pasted on his back. It is the responsibility of the other in the pair to communicate the definition and description of the jargon to him without naming the jargon itself until his partner names the jargon.

Toilet Roll Exercise

A roll of toilet paper is circulated amongst the participants at the event. They are told that this is the last roll available and each is to pull a length of paper he thinks he need for the day. When all the participants collected their paper, they are asked to use the paper to write on a topic they wish to learn or have learnt at the event. It is a requirement that they fill up the paper with words.

Throwing the Ball

Participants are seated in a circle and a ball is circulated by passing it to the sides or throwing it across. The participant holding the ball is to say what he wishes to learn or has learnt at the event. He is to pass or throw the ball to the next person. The next person has to repeat what was wished or learnt by the previous person before sharing his, and the process is repeated until all has shared.

Lining All Together

Participants are again seated in a circle. A ball of knitting thread is circulated by passing it to the sides or throwing it across. The participant holding the ball is to ask a question about the topics covered at the event which he likes answered, and he is to pass this ball to another participant who he think knows the answer. At the end of the activity, the participants are chained together by the thread.

Call My Bluff

The participants are grouped into 4’s. Each team is to create 3 multi-choice questions, each with 4 possible answers of which 1 of these is the correct answer. In rotation, each team is to present their questions to other teams. The respondent has to justify why their choice is correct. If they are, the winning team can pass one of their questions to the team asking the questions.

This article was written by Anthony Mok on 9 Nov 2008.

Copyright 2008. Anthony Mok. All Rights Reserved.

Group Dynamics and Facilitation

Using the Knowledge to Design the Facilitation Process

After writing about the Facilitation Star and Facilitation Competency Wheel and putting them onto my blog, several facilitators had asked me about the things they should be mindful of when putting together the facilitation process for a facilitated event.

I had suggested the need of finding out from the participants about their learning profiles. While this is a piece of good information, facilitators need to know more. Our understanding of group dynamics is useful.

What is group dynamics? This is a branch of social psychology that studies the psychodynamics of a social group.

Amongst social scientists who had studied group dynamics, Dr Bruce Tuckman's model of Team Development provides a good framework in helping us comprehend the impact of a team's growth and maturity has on the psyche and psychodynamics of its members.

According to Tuckman, he believes that one of the four stages teams have to go through before delivering high performance is the storming phase.

Watch this video clip and try answering the following questions:

• Who was leading?
• With whom were they aligning themselves with?
• Who was playing the ‘credential’ game?
• Who was competing based on his own personal agenda?
• Who had fought?
• Who had taken flight?

Some teams are stuck in the storming stage for a long time and many never pass it, which eventually cause them to be reconstituted or disbanded. As faciltiators, we must be aware of the stage the team is currently at and apply the most appropriate facilitation process to the participants we are facilitating.

I have create a set of slides on group dynamics and their impact on facilitation.

Group Dynamics and Facilitation

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: design processes)

In these slides, I have introduced a design guide, which facilitators could use to shape their thoughts when they develop their facilitation methodologies. Facilitators must attempt to discourage disruptive behaviours and conflicts brought about during the earlier stages of the team's development and towards the later stages of its growth we must be careful not to let the groupthink gets in the way.

I have also suggested the psyches team members could experience at each stage of their growth. These may be good indicators for detecting and determining the position of the team.

This article was written by Anthony Mok on 9 Nov 2008.
Copyright 2008. Anthony Mok. All Rights Reserved.