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On 1st May 2015, our daughter had an horrific accident at an indoor playground that resulted in emergency surgery on her head, only just saving her life. It took us 4 weeks to confront the responsible people and I’m glad we waited that long. Our initial reaction after the accident…

Facilitation is about organising content. It’s a bit like putting together this Scottish Highland picture: it’s not just about building a wall that should be robust enough to stand the elements, but also about ensuring that the big picture – in this case the mountain – isn’t lost in the process. It’s…

Facilitation is about creating bridges between people.   Those bridges can be semantic and factual; they can be inventive and suggestive; they can involve „translation“ of one participant’s meaning to another’s understanding; they can mean putting up stop signs to protect participants‘ feelings and allow them to hold their heads…

This is a practical tip for facilitators who want to pass on ownership for change to the group. Why? To strengthen responsibility and motivation for the group’s results and increase the likelihood that they’ll be implemented! And also to allow each and every participant to develop and grow through the…

I do lots of work in Germany. And it’s a frequently voiced myth that Germans have no humour. In fact, just to muse for a bit about humour in general, it’s also a frequently voiced myth that the British have all the humour. Be it black (The Young Ones), slapstick…

I’m not a patient person. Really not. In fact, my children, siblings, parents and most people who know me, will vouch for my top exploding more easily than others‘ at apparently small notice and for little reason. As a facilitator I have so much less trouble being patient. OK, I’ve…

I’m not trying to be corny, but this post has been sparked off by our neighbourly red squirrel who’s just tottered passed the kitchen window. I think I’ve inherited my mother’s exasperating way of noticing little things. And loving them. Exasperating, because a drive through the countryside will be full of…

Since writing about working on the floor I’ve been at it for weeks! It’s a completely different way of visualising and steering a dialogue if your participants are encouraged to view the results of their discussions on the floor as opposed to the wall, screen or flipchart. Why? Here are…

I do a lot of facilitation training – for my colleagues and for clients who want to introduce more participation into their teamwork or communication with partners, publics and customers. It’s a real pleasure to teach facilitation: somehow I feel the skills we learn and use make us look at…

The word „tick“ refers to several things: the sound a clock makes (just add „tock“), an uncontrollable spasm (tic without a k) – usually related to a nervous/brain-related disorder, a nasty insect (well, actually, a nasty bloodsucking acarid arachnid) that buries its head in you and sucks your blood, a sort…

I was walking to a restaurant with an amazingly inspiring social entrepreneur from Brazil. And I told him what countless others had also told him on countless occasions: that he was so very inspiring. A nice friendly compliment and meant too. His reaction was extraordinary and taught me a lot…