Managing Facilitated Processes: A Guide for Facilitators, Managers, Consultants, Event Planners, Trainers and Educators

Managing Facilitated Processes Managing Facilitated Processes helps people make thoughtful decisions about managing successful gatherings. The book's ten chapters are divided into three parts: From Contact to Contract?building customized agreements; eighteentypes of facilitated processes, their deliverables and unique features Approach and Style?ensuring integrated, customized, and systematic elements; a forget-me-not prompter; effective management styles Management x 5: Participants, Speakers, Logistics, Documents,Feedback?practice guidelines, examples, and time-saving tools Managing Facilitated Processes also includes a companion Web site with handy e-versions of the book's tools and templates. Praise for Managing Facilitated Processes "This book honors the importance of the details and care that every gathering deserves.It should be a standard reference?for people who come together to produce results." ?Peter Block, author of Community: The Structure of Belonging, and consultant and partner, Designed Learning, Ohio, USA "The authors' combined experience of nearly 60 years in process facilitation is generously shared in this clearly written guide." ?Sharon Almerigi, certified professional facilitator (CPF), Barbados International Association of Facilitators, Latin America and the Caribbean "In a world of 'expert-centered' workplaces, Managing Facilitated Processes offers a much-needed focus on the process of creating effective, customized environments for learning and work." ?Marilyn Laiken, professor and chair, Department of Adult Education and Counseling Psychology, The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Canada "A comprehensive and practical guide to making group sessions effective and outcome driven?great insights from cover to cover and a terrific 'go to' reference guide." ?Gabriella Zillmer, senior vice-president, Performance Alignment and Compensation, BMO Financial Group, Canada "A time-saving gem for planning facilitated sessions effectively. It is unique in its thoroughness without being overwhelming. To be pulled off the shelf over and over again." ?Julie Larsen, associate adviser for social policy and development, United Nations Headquarters, New York, USA

Table of Contents:
Examples, Exhibits, and Tables xi Web Contents xiii Acknowledgments xv The Authors xvii Introduction xix About This Book xix A Quick Lookup Resource xxi Part 1 From Contact to Contract 1 1 Initial Contact 3 Completing a Preliminary Screen 5 Coordinates: Date(s) and Location • Purpose, Objectives, and Deliverables • Process Leadership • Eighteen Types of Processes Decision Making After the Screen 11 Communicating a Decision 13 2 Building Agreements That Work 15 Types of Agreements 16 Drafting Agreements 16 Agreements in Action: Four Maxims 18 1. Don’t Start Work Without an Agreement • 2. Bring Fresh Eyes to Your Experience • 3. When in Doubt, Write It Out • 4. Cock-ups Are Collaborative Work Plans and Cost Estimates 21 Developing Work Plans • Dealing with Pricing Perils Acting on Values 24 Part 2 Approach and Style 33 3 Approach 35 Integrated 35 Customized 36 Outcomes • People • Group Development • Ethnocultural Considerations • Literacy • Organizational Culture Systematic 38 Completing a Process Management Prompter • Accountability The Approach in Action: Integrated, Customized, Systematic 45 4 Style 51 High-Tech Teddy 52 Controlling Caroline 53 Loosey-Goosey Lucy 54 Overconsulting Oliver 55 Anxious-to-Please Annie 56 Bureaucratic Bill 57 Optimizing Management Styles 57 Part 3 Management X 5: Participants, Speakers, Logistics, Documents, Feedback 59 5 Participants 61 Clarify the Rationale for Participation 62 Monitor the Mix and Number of Participants 66 Consider Participant Types • Gatekeep Participant Numbers • Maintain a Participant Database Create the Invitations 73 Persuade • Inform • Engage • Determine the Focus • Obtain Input and Feedback • Write the Confirmation Letter 6 Speakers 95 Speaker Management 95 Clarify Requirements • Create Invitations • Confirm Expectations Presentation Guidelines 104 Opening Remarks • Speaker Introductions and Acknowledgments • Presentations by Experts • Presentations by Panels • Closing Remarks 7 Logistics 119 Select and Set Up the Site 120 Venue • Layout • Health, Safety, and Security • Technical and Audiovisual Support Enable Participant Engagement 132 Accommodating Differences • Identification • Accessibility Mobilize Yourself 137 Professional Supplies • Travel Arrangements • Personal Amenities Love those Logistical Letdowns! 140 8 Documents 143 Match the Documents to the Process 144 Produce the Documents 145 Make Documents Easy to Use • Design Attractive Formats • Customize Documents 9 Feedback 151 Review Feedback Approach and Tools 151 Finalize and Produce Feedback Tools 157 Construction • Look, Feel, and Sound Sample Feedback Tools 159 10 Endings and Beginnings 169 For the Session 169 For Yourself 171 References 173

About the Author :
Dorothy Strachan is a partner in Strachan-Tomlinson, a process consulting firm in Ottawa, Canada. She is the author of Making Questions Work and Process Design, both from Jossey-Bass. Marian Pitters is the president of Pitters Associates, a management consulting firm located in Toronto, Canada.?She has authored a number of manuals on facilitation and public adjudication.