Have you ever found yourself stepping on a dance partner's toes? That's a bit what co-facilitation can feel like without the right rhythm and rapport. Together with Cate Czerwinski and Florentine Versteeg, felllow faculty members from our leadership through facilitation course and peers from the NeverDoneBefore community, we unpack the symphony of co-facilitation, from the powerful duets of mutual support and blending ideas to the occasional missteps of clashing perspectives. It's more than just sharing a stage; it's about creating a performance that uplifts every participant, and in this episode, we share the secrets to that perfect harmony.

Navigating the dynamics between co-facilitators is akin to walking a tightrope, balancing offering support with giving space—no safety net included. We chat about the delicate intricacies of managing both our own and our fellow facilitator's egos, all while keeping a keen eye on the emotional undercurrents of our live sessions. With candid anecdotes and a spotlight on the importance of psychological safety, we share how transparency and self-awareness can make or break the co-facilitation experience. Spoiler alert: It's not always a walk in the park, but the insights we provide might just be your map through the woods.

And what about when clients wear the facilitator hat, too? We delve into the diplomatic dance of respecting their insights without letting them lead the whole show. From setting clear boundaries pre-workshop to managing real-time shifts in the process, we reveal the strategies that keep the facilitator-client relationship in check, ensuring the spotlight remains on collective goals. Wrapping up, we exchange tips on time management and adapting facilitation styles for both in-person and online environments. Join us for an episode that promises to leave you with a playbook for co-facilitating like a pro, ready to choreograph your next workshop with confidence and ease.

Find out about:

• The subtle nuances of co-facilitation dynamics
• Balancing support and autonomy
• Establishing boundaries with clients and co-facilitators
• The art of time management
• Strategies for both online and offline co-facilitation

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Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Learn more about the Facilitation through Leadership course

Connect to GUEST:

Connect to Florentine Versteeg

Connect to Cate Czerwinski

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Gather around my podcast airwaves for a special hour of meaningful moments and messages, as Lindsey Caplan brings us into her world of gathering.

A Hollywood screenwriter for Malcolm in the Middle, a Silicon Valley Organisational Psychologist and an educator for Dreamworks Animation, Lindsey is a miraculous mind with a showstopper of an oeuvre.

Along the way, she’s gathered a collection of learnings in her back pocket from these three disciplines, teaching her the simple power of bringing people together over a purpose. Her company The Gathering Effect takes a fresh approach to organisational change, crafting strategies to meet in effective ways.

Find out about:

• Lindsey’s definition of gathering and why it is a tool for change
• Why we mustn’t over-index on tools without fully understanding how to use them; instead we must first focus on the effect
• Why gatherings should be designed around one of four desired effects: compliance, entertainment, engagement and informing
• The role that environment plays in gatherings
• What we can learn about emotional connection, and therefore entertainment, from comedians and musicians
• The causality of company culture in gatherings: its ability to influence and be influenced in how organisations meet

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

And download the free 1-page summary, so you can always have the key points of this episode to hand.

Connect to Lindsey Caplan:

LinkedIn

Website

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If you're inspired by our podcast and crave similar conversations, consider joining Dr Myriam Hadnes' NeverDoneBefore Facilitation Community.
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A constant, unchoreographed dance of tension and harmony, of structure and emergence, of psychological safety and sincerity, of client and group: facilitation is an artful balancing act.

And my guest this week Dr Jason Fox, is a master of equilibrium. A wise and mercurial keynote speaker and facilitator, he straddles the opposing realms of speaker presence and facilitator invisibility with shapeshifting ability, fusing deep philosophical thinking with meaningful future action.

We ride the facilitation see-saw in episode 266, exploring the alchemic balance of the facilitator, soaring from beautiful philosophies and the ideal conditions for achieving progress, dipping into Vipassana learnings and the potential of a spacious agenda.

Jason fills our conversation with such wisdom, charm and intrigue, I hope an hour with him leaves you feeling as inspired as I was.

Find out about:

• Why the alchemy of cooking is like that of facilitation, both requiring acuity, synthesis, and intuition
• The difference between meaningful progress vs. delusional progress
• Psychological safety: is there such a thing as too much? Can it lead the group into a state of toxic sincerity?
• The importance of seeking healthy conflict from a place of psychological safety
• Striking the balance of imperfection and friction, from the tools we use, to the environment we choose
• Jason’s teachings from meta-modernism, meta-rationality, Vipassana, and Indigenous Australian philosophy

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

And download the free 1-page summary, so you can always have the key points of this episode to hand.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to Jason Fox:
On LinkedIn
https://foxwizard.com
https://drjasonfox.com/

Support the Show.

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If you're inspired by our podcast and crave similar conversations, consider joining Dr Myriam Hadnes' NeverDoneBefore Facilitation Community.
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From free jazz and the musical echelons of piano concerto, to indigenous beats and the didgeridoo, this week’s episode is an invitation into the wondrous world of Music Thinking.

Christof Zürn is the inventor of this mindset; his storied background in musicology, creative direction and service design became the symphony to his brainchild. He now helps organisations to apply the principles of music to their daily lives, offering a new lexicon with which to interpret and understand business, leadership - and of course, facilitation!

Hear all about Christof’s musical mindset, how to apply it, and why it can be an inspiring scoresheet for effective work, collaboration, and productivity. Episode 265 is guaranteed to be music to your ears.

Find out about:

• The power of Music Thinking in helping to navigate organisational dynamics
• What the analogy of music means for business, leadership and facilitation
• Why the workshop is not a performance, but a rehearsal for the real-life production, allowing room for mistakes and exploration
• How music can help us to hear and understand simultaneous perspectives in an organisation
• The notion of ‘Design Thinking Theater’ and why it is a facade to endorse established organisational ideas

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

And download the free 1-page summary, so you can always have the key points of this episode to hand.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to Christof:

Jam Cards

The Power of Music Thinking

Templates download

Epiphany Story 2024

Workshop with Leadership positions

Sonic Meditation / Pauline Oliveros

Support the show:

Make a one-off donation and contribute to the ongoing costs of running the podcast.

Support the Show.

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If you enjoy the show, consider a one-off donation and contribute to the ongoing costs of running the podcast.

It is wonder, curiosity and imagination wrapped up in one. It is both a suspension from reality and way of navigating the world, a problem solver, a flow of creativity, a creative outlet, a language and a state of mind. It is: play!

And true to its nature, we cannot possibly box play into one definition. Lily Higgins, Pauline McNaulty and Jules Gilleland join me in my digital playground this week to unpeel the many layers of play: purposeful play, play without agenda, play as the essence of human connection, and play as a curious and unexpected vehicle for conflict resolution.

Gather around for our special fireside conversation!

Find out about:

• Lily, Pauline and Jules’ multifaceted definitions of play, and why it is simultaneously a mindset, tactic, strategy, and metaphor
• The complexities and contexts of play as a facilitation tool
• How play can be used to navigate conflict, creating a safe space that diffuses risk
• How play can help us challenge our stories, and encourage us to see new perspectives
• The difference between purposeful play, play as the experience itself, and play without agenda

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

And download the free 1-page summary, so you can always have the key points of this episode to hand.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to guests:

Lily Higgins LinkedIn

Pauline McNaulty LinkedIn

Jules Gilleland LinkedIn

Find out more about our Facilitation Academy:

Live online courses with podcast guests

Support the show:
Make a one-off donation and contribute to the ongoing costs of running the podcast.

Support the Show.

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If you're inspired by our podcast and crave similar conversations, consider joining Dr Myriam Hadnes' NeverDoneBefore Facilitation Community.
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We are all made of stars. The elements of our bodies were first forged in celestial matter across the cosmos billions of years ago. As humans, we tend to think of ourselves as separate from nature, but we are of course, nature itself.

So when Life Guide, astrologist and founder of Happiness U, Alice Inoue introduced me to her fascinating psychometric assessment based on the five elements of ancient traditional Chinese medicine - water, wood, fire, earth and metal – I knew this conversation was going to be filled with earthly, enlightening wisdom for both facilitation - and life!

Alice teaches us about finding our natural superpowers in the elemental system, how to foster deeper group harmony, and how to see ourselves and others in a new dimension. Intrigued? Tune in to your element – and this week’s episode!

Find out about:

• Alice’s psychometric assessment Master Your Superpower
• The elemental archetypes, their qualities and challenges, and how each element might interact with another
• How to use the language of elements in the workplace
• What we can learn about facilitation from astrology, Feng Shui and traditional Chinese medicine practices
• The importance of getting comfortable with silence and asking the right questions

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

And download the free 1-page summary, so you can always have the key points of this episode to hand.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to Alice Inoue:

LinkedIn

Website

Master Your Superpower Assessment

Find out more about our Facilitation Academy:

Live online courses with podcast guests

Support the show:

Make a one-off donation and contribute to the ongoing costs of running the podcast.

Support the Show.

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If you enjoy the show, consider a one-off donation and contribute to the ongoing costs of running the podcast.

Earlier this year, SessionLab published the second edition of their State of Facilitation report, surveying the ever-evolving landscape of our profession. 93 countries, 372 hours spent answering the survey and a generous 975 respondents later, and the NeverDoneBefore community joins together with the SessionLab community to put the 2024 report findings under a facilitation magnifying glass in our very first fishbowl conversation!

Together, we dissect three juicy and provocative, yet important questions: Do accreditations, or a lack of, harm or expand our profession? Do facilitators hide behind their tools? And how valuable is community in our world? Episode 262 is a special one, join us!

Find out about:

• Key findings from the State of Facilitation 2024 report
• The presence, weight and validity of accreditations in facilitation - can we learn on the job or do we require a professional certification?
• The role that tools play when facilitating small vs. large groups and how they can help us to navigate conflict
• Whether digitally-assisted facilitation is transforming the face of the profession – for the better or worse
• An exploration into how facilitators continue to learn

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

And download the free 1-page summary, so you can always have the key points of this episode to hand.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

IAF Accreditation process

Connect to:

NeverDoneBefore

SessionLab

State of Facilitation Report 2024

Find out more about our Facilitation Academy:

Live online courses with podcast guests

Support the show:

Make a one-off donation and contribute to the ongoing costs of running the podcast.

Support the Show.

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Click here to navigate through all episodes via this interactive podcast map.
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If you're inspired by our podcast and crave similar conversations, consider joining Dr Myriam Hadnes' NeverDoneBefore Facilitation Community.
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From her debut in episode 53, to episode 261 many years later, my guest this week Tanja Murphy-Ilibasic makes her return to the podcast this week! Tanja is a corporate coach, facilitator and communications specialist - and a master at manifesting potential.

But potential, the capacity for future success, is only possible with the right conditions at play and the energy to propel it forward. We unravel the dynamics of effective facilitation, the necessary conditions and questions we must ask, to design workshops that will outlive the confines of the workshop walls. After all, it is our duty to give the group the wings to make their potential possible – otherwise, we fail not only the group, but our entire profession.

Join us for learnings from workshop failures, the art of the gradually-invisible facilitator, the nuances of equal voice, and the importance of withholding our opinion.

Find out about:

• How to find the right approach for the best outcome and collaboration
• Navigating the client conversations needed for success; from budget availability, to motivations and post-workshop support
• Why you shouldn’t go into a collaboration with assumptions or predefined expectations
• How to physically manoeuvre a space so that the group is given agency
• Why facilitators should rarely disclose their own opinion to avoid being a guiding voice that would anchor the group
• How to acknowledge equal voice in a group, giving recognition to quick and slow thinkers

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

And download the free 1-page summary, so you can always have the key points of this episode to hand.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to Tanja Murphy-Ilibasic:

LinkedIn

Website

Support the show:

Make a one-off donation and contribute to the ongoing costs of running the podcast.

Support the Show.

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Click here to navigate through all episodes via this interactive podcast map.
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If you're inspired by our podcast and crave similar conversations, consider joining Dr Myriam Hadnes' NeverDoneBefore Facilitation Community.
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If you're keen to master the art of facilitation, discover our expert-led live, online Facilitation Courses at the NDB Academy.
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If you enjoy the show, consider a one-off donation and contribute to the ongoing costs of running the podcast.