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Episode 105

March 24, 2021

105: Facilitation Beyond the Toolbox with Nadia von Holzen

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    Intro

    Structure contains us and sets boundaries, it can’t make space for freedom or creativity… can it?

    Liberating Structures says otherwise – and Nadia von Holzen joins me in this episode to discuss the benefits and practical applications of these methods.

    Nadia is an independent facilitator and advocate for better meetings, collaboration, and creativity. I was taken aback by how many insights and great ideas she left in this episode, speaking with passion and conviction about a huge range of topics.

    We danced from Liberating Structures and digital facilitation to thinking fast and slow and analysing the language we use to describe the people we work with. It was a wonderful conversation that I hope you will enjoy.

    Find out about

    • The importance of process thinking and why COVID has made it more urgent
    • Why Nadia doesn’t like to call people “participants”
    • Identifying a new zeitgeist of workshops, collaboration, and work
    • Why facilitative skills are needed in every area of an organisation
    • Why more content and inputs will rarely make a better meeting
    • How to get started with Liberating Structures
    • Finding the balance between fast and unhurried

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    Feeling inspired by the conversation in this episode? We can have our own – take a seat at my virtual table as part of a Mastermind Group.

    And if the idea of NeverDoneBefore 2021, the festival of facilitation caught your attention; explore it in more detail!

    Questions and Answers

    01:09When did you start calling yourself a facilitator?

    02:58How does facilitation change when you focus on the “how”, not the “why”?

    04:18How do you bring your experience in knowledge management into facilitation?

    07:25How has the pandemic changed the way you prepare and deliver your workshops?

    13:09 Is everyone equally in charge of the process, not just the facilitator?

    14:35How can we strengthen our ‘process muscles’?

    18:12Nobody intends to host a bad meeting, so why do they happen?

    19:14What’s the minimum facilitation skill people should learn that would have the biggest impact?

    22:42Could Liberating Structures be the holy grail for helping organisations have better meetings?

    22:46What is beyond the toolbox?

    27:21Is four the magic number of people to have in a breakout room?

    29:30What makes a workshop fail?

    32:15How do you select a person within an organisation with whom you will co-facilitate?

    37:09Can you share more about speed and pacing?

    44:15How does quality conversation and communication contribute to sense-making?

    46:04Why confidence matters so much – and why it’s a constant work in progress.

    48:21What is the one thing you would like listeners to take away from this episode?

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