Facilitating Collective Intelligence: A Handbook for Trainers, Coaches, Consultants and Leaders

Chantal Nève-Hanquet and Agathe Crespel provide an accessible and ground-breaking guide to genuinely effective group work, sharing excellent hands-on assistance for coaches and facilitators. Offering a unique selection of guidelines and illustrations for group work, the authors demonstrate the benefits of using creative action methods in practice, helping leaders discover new ways to achieve dynamic group sessions and endowing their work with new vigour, as well as pleasure. Facilitating Collective Intelligence brings together a wealth of knowledge and techniques from psychodrama, Jungian and systemic analysis to inform group facilitation. Throughout the book's four parts, key inner attitudes, questions and action techniques are explored to help facilitators nourish open and flexible forms of communication within groups, stimulate collective intelligence and foster creative approaches to collective problem-solving. With the help of numerous sensitively related case studies, the book guides the reader through the process of achieving more dynamism in group work, fostering creativity, encouraging agility and developing co-construction within groups. It contains more than thirty practical reference sheets which provide an instant aid for implementing the methods and models in the book. Nève-Hanquet and Crespel’s approach advocates the use of actions methods, specifically the ARC model, to encourage 'out of the box' thinking and develop new paths and strategies in working with teams and organizations. Facilitating Collective Intelligence is an invaluable and essential tool in cultivating effective group dynamics for all coaches, coach supervisors and consultants, both experienced and in training. Due to its clear and practical structure, it will also be useful for counsellors, coaching psychologists and other professionals who work with groups, as well as students and academics of coaching and coaching psychology.

Table of Contents:
Foreword by Daniela Simmons; Introduction; Part 1: Key Inner Attitudes to Facilitate Communication; Attitude 1: Becoming 'Safe for Adoption'; Attitude 2: Requesting Permission; Attitude 3: Noticing Connections; Attitude 4: Recognising 'Professional Genius'; Attitude 5: Selecting a Focus; Attitude 6: Identifying the 'Lesser Evil'; Attitude 7: Developing the Art of Questioning; Attitude 8: Embracing Non-expectancy; Attitude 9: Keeping the Door Open; Part 2: Key Questions to Activate Collective Intelligence; Key 1: How am I going to work with the here and now?; Key 2: How can I create a safe frame and context?; Key 3: How will I stimulate cohesion?; Key 4: What can I do to strengthen participants' sense of personal competence?; Key 5: How will I take account for what remains unspoken?; Key 6: How will I enable the group to see a single situation from different angles?; Part 3: Five Key Techniques for Broadening the Field of Possibilities; Instructions for Use of Action Techniques; Technique 1: Doubling; Technique 2: The Empty Chair; Technique 3: The Empathy Circle; Technique 4: Revealing Chairs; Technique 5: Analogical Detours; Part 4: Reference Sheets for Group Facilitation; Glossary; References; Index

About the Author :
Chantal Nève-Hanquet's international career in psychology has encompassed psychodrama, Jungian analysis and family therapy. During fifty years working with groups, she has significantly contributed to the spread of action methods. She is a member of several international associations, including IAGP and EFTA, and a founding member and treasurer of the Belgian-based FEPTO which promotes action methods throughout Europe. Agathe Crespel trained as a psychologist and practitioner of action methods in Belgium and France. Over the past fifteen years she has facilitated groups in various professional settings, making extensive use of action methods for supervision, coaching and the enhancement of creativity. The authors, both members of the Brussels-based Centre for Psychosociological Training and Intervention (CFIP), have extended their practice to Italy, France, Bulgaria, Greece, Switzerland, Sweden, Turkey and the United States through numerous congresses and workshops.

Review :
'Combining insight and practice, this will be an indispensable text for all practitioners in the field.' -Regina Moreno, Co-Founder Bay Area Moreno Institute, Berkeley, California, USA 'An excellent guide filled with practical ideas for facilitators in organizational settings who seek to augment synergy and creativity in groups. The world sorely needs more collective intelligence in all spheres, and action-oriented methods offer a prime way to move in this direction.' - Renée Emunah, Professor at California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS); author of Acting for Real 'The use of action methods for working teams is one example of the inclusion of role playing as a very useful contribution among the various workplace tools.' - Adam Blatner, editor of Action Explorations: Applications of Role Playing Methods 'This is an essential read for everyone involved in any form of group engagement and organisational change management. A very practical, pragmatic and much needed addition to the tool box for a facilitator. You will get plenty of ideas to work with!' - Vinay Kumar, Vice Chair of International Association of Facilitators and Director at C2C Organizational Development