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.

Hi, this question has probably asked already a couple of times. Started as a Software Engineer about 20 years ago, I became a Requirements Engineer about 12 years and then Product Owner and Project Manager or a combination of both. Now it's time for me to get out of the project rat race with all the controlling and processes and help people to improve their daily work by other means. In this role I was involved in a couple of workshops. The last time I've felt so much energy and intrinsic motivation in context of work, was at the beginning of my Product Owner career. Reading facilitation books in bed just before sleep tells me a lot. 😃 So, my plan is to learn more about facilitation in theory (books, podcasts, blogs, communities) but also in practice. My getting practice plan: 1. I've just started a first training, which my company was willing to pay. 2 I will look for facilitation opportunities in my company, so that it recognizes the value of this role beyond paying the training. 3. I will reach out to my private environment and offer my support (e.g. I have contact to a Christian Community, which sometimes does workshops). 4 I've startet to revitalise the Liberating Structures User Group in Hannover (Germany) to get practice. 5 I will try to get in touch with people, who have facilitation experiences and maybe there are options to attend as observer, hospitalize or even co-facilitate (in presence or remote). What do you think about the above ideas? What is your recommendation? What is the best starting point based on your experiences? Regards Stephan