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Category Archives: Facilitation Stories
Stories about Facilitation and Authentic Participation
Using the Focused Conversation Method with Dots to Prioritize Consensus Workshop Results
I’m not sure when I discovered this process based on the Focused Conversation Method, but it allows thinking through a number of perspectives on priorities at different levels to discover which item is the biggest priority overall. Instead of just … Continue reading →
Posted in Facilitation Stories, ToP Tools, Uncategorized
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Tagged facilitation, participation, ToP methods
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Focused Conversation On Current Events with One or a Few Others (Or with Self)
This conversation was catalyzed by a conversation with a couple of other ToP facilitators in this month’s ToP Community of Practice meeting about how in current times it is challenging to have conversations about anything because people cannot agree on … Continue reading →
Posted in ToP Tools, Uncategorized, Useful Conversations
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Tagged leadership, making a difference, participation, ToP methods
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Facilitating Diversity
(Photo from the front cover of The Art of Focused Conversation, Second Edition) This week in February 2026 marked significant religious events in several different traditions. Lunar New Year, the beginning of Ramadan, and Ash Wednesday all happened within 2 … Continue reading →
My Working Assumptions as a Facilitator
I have recently read reflections by several facilitators on group norms, facilitator neutrality, and “facilitation as manipulation”. I think that this is an important topic, especially in these times. Thirty-two years ago a group of people (I was a part … Continue reading →
Posted in Facilitation Stories, ToP Tools, Uncategorized
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Tagged facilitation, ground rules, leadership, participation, ToP methods
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Focus Group/Plenary Process for Large Group Consensus-Building
The process used in “Large Scale Participatory Process: A Municipal Consultation…” in this blog uses the Consensus Workshop Method at two levels, first using the same focus question in a number of small groups or focus groups to create consensus … Continue reading →
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Tagged facilitation, participation, ToP methods, consensus, large group process
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Large Scale Participatory Process: A Municipal Consultation on Public Engagement
I have been struggling with answering the question of what I can do to help build new patterns in society that address current issues, as our old expectations of how people and nations relate to each other and the structures … Continue reading →
Facilitating Your Family 2: Another story about facilitating one’s family
In 1992, Wayne and I and our 2 sons were living in a small apartment belonging to the organization we worked for, after having lived in many places around the world in our married life. We had already decided to … Continue reading →
Posted in Facilitation Stories, Personal Stories, Uncategorized
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Tagged facilitating family, facilitation, participation, stories
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Facilitating Your Family
A couple of colleagues mentioned in social media posts before the holidays that it is very challenging to facilitate family members – that chaos can erupt very quickly. I was reminded of a story of facilitating my family years ago. … Continue reading →
Posted in Facilitation Stories, Personal Stories, Uncategorized
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Tagged avoiding conflict, facilitating family, informal facilitation, participation
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Reflecting on the Past Created an Aha! that Changed the Future
Our underlying images of ourself and the world have a profound effect on our mental health and our behaviour. Messages that come to us in all kinds of ways can change those images. When those images change, our behaviour changes. … Continue reading →
Posted in Facilitation Stories, ToP Tools, Uncategorized
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Tagged image, image change, ToP methods
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Healing Wounds by Sharing the Journey
(Photo is not of this story, but it is a creative Journey Wall.) Around 30 years ago, two community service organizations were serving a similar niche in an overlapping geographical area. One of these organizations was very large, with a … Continue reading →
Posted in Facilitation Stories, ToP Tools, Uncategorized
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Tagged facilitation, healing resentment, journey wall, participation, ToP methods
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Jofacilitator 