Hi there! I'm looking for facilitators in the UK (or possibly Germany) that I could shadow and assist for a session. I did Facilitation Fundamentals last year and absolutely loved it! Since then I've run several workshops at my company (I'm Marketing Director there), mostly remotely as my company is based in Germany and I live in the UK. It's amazing to see meetings transform and get real results 😊 and I enjoy it immensely. But as my role is different, I am unfortunately expected to do other things besides running workshops 😐😅. Lately I've been feeling like I want to make a change in my career. I'm turning 50 this year, so what better time than now? Workshop facilitation has a very strong pull on me, so I'd like to explore different styles of facilitation and possibly different industries (I'm generally very drawn to people professions, but I'm also curious to explore other areas). If you're generally interested, we could do a Zoom chat to get to know each other. If anyone has other suggestions as to how I might dip my toes out of my usual facilitation waters, even some conferences or things I could attend, please let me know. I strongly feel that I do not want to go my first steps alone and learn from or with someone else - I'm open to experienced facilitators and fellow newbies who might want support with their first workshops.

A participant of a workshop I am going to run tomorrow and on Tuesday just wrote me a message that they have had some traumatic experience and currently find themselves unable to speak in front of a group 😱. Of course my activities are mostly built around together alone exercises, but since on this occasion 2 teams that don't really know each other come together for the first time, I was planning on doing a quick round of introductions. Now I have 2 ideas and would like to hear what you think of them, your suggestions for modifications or totally other suggestions (I'm new to this facilitation game and don't know as many exercises): >>> Creating business cards - each participant creates their own business card, with picture, fun facts and work related facts and we simply hang them up as a gallery and look at them. For this person, this one would probably be easier than my next idea. Time: 10 minutes to create, 5 minutes to look at >>> Guess what: I write each participants name on a board (we are 7, including me - I am the team leader, but also facilitating a workshop to create a marketing plan for next year). I'd ask everyone to write down the jobs they do on individual post-its. Then I collect all the notes and stick them up randomly OR just hand them the stack of notes. The group then organizes the post-its (chaotically, all together in front of the board) the way they think is right. They are allowed to speak to each other. In this way, the participants really engage with the roles and people, as well as getting to know each other while organizing the board together. My hope is that this doesn't count as "speaking in front of the group". At least the person doesn't have to engage (as much), but also is challenged a little bit. While it is important to me to create space for this situation, this is not a therapy session. Time: 10 minutes to write notes, 15 minutes for me to put up and for them to organize I have to go out for a bit now, but will have a look here later tonight. Thank you! 🙏

I recently finished FF (it took ages, because of health issues) and held my first workshop (hooray). I am so happy and proud. Reading a post by @Jérôme Bertrem about his upcoming first workshop made me think of sharing my first workshop experience and I am also writing this to reflect. Maybe it'll be helpful to other beginners. ✔️🎁✔️My main takeaway (if you don't have time for a novel): Fail and fix. This basic attitude to all communication also applies to workshop facilitation. Yes, I have forgotten to mention things. Yes, I could have been clearer. But I managed to fix it. Would it have been better if I hadn't forgotten? Possibly. But: It doesn't have to be perfect to be better than most meetings. So even as a beginner, I can make a difference. And: workshop facilitation is FUN! ✔️🏁✔️If you are interested in the rest: I am the head of marketing in my company and I want to make meetings better. Mostly for myself 😅, but also the team and the company. It was a cross-departmental workshop and I came out feeling energised and happy. Which was great, as I went in feeling quite stressed because it was also the first time I had used Miro, and I was a bit uncomfortable taking on this different role amongst my colleagues. But all in all it went really well. ✔️👷‍♀️✔️The workshop: The topic was gathering information for a persona project we were starting. We wanted to gather input and questions from all departments so that we could put together a representative catalogue of questions to ask and assumptions to prove or disprove. With 8 participants and the remote location, the group was a bit bigger than I would have liked for my first time. I spent ages thinking about the structure, the topics to cover and preparing the (huge) board (see screenshot), but it was fun and well worth it. I'd set up an agenda, a playground, a workspace for each participant, a space for everyone to put their top 3 sticky notes from each category, an effort/impact matrix and a parking space. The 🎵 playlist I had made during FF came in handy. I had recorded and sent out a Loom beforehand (also a first), showing the basic functions and introducing the Miro playground, as most of the participants were new to Miro.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7hBlSbh4BY&ab_channel=SesameStreet

Hi everybody! I am a new member of this community and I am eager to engage with all of you on the concept that involves integrating the principles of Futures Thinking with conventional workshop methodologies, ultimately fostering more sustainable and impactful workshop outcomes. What are your thoughts on that?