Category Archives: Facilitation

Understanding Consensus

by Jane Haskell Last time, in Making Group Decisions – Six Options, we talked about the six decision-making options: spontaneous agreement, one person decides, compromise, multi-voting, majority voting, and consensus building. We know that the facilitator, group leader, or the … Continue reading

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Adventures in Episodic Volunteering

by Jerry Bishop My name is Jerry Bishop and I am modern day volunteer who uses the Internet and social media as the vehicle for my volunteerism. Some call what I do crowdsourcing while others refer to it as micro-volunteering. … Continue reading

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How is your group evolving?

by Jane Haskell If a group is having stellar success or woeful dysfunction, I know it can often be attributed to various process or structural conditions, such as agendas, working agreements, personal leadership balance, or neutrality. I also am aware … Continue reading

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Meeting Agendas: Parts and Pieces

by Jane Haskell If I walk into a meeting and there is no agenda, I shudder. All sorts of assumptions fly into my mind about the upcoming meeting’s effectiveness or efficiency. Most of these assumptions are negative because I am … Continue reading

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Purposeful Innovation

By Anne B. Schink Let’s see. So far our blog posts built upon The Charismatic Organization, the book by Shirley Sagawa and Deb Jospin, we have discussed the importance of being mission-driven, creating a positive organizational culture, and being faithful … Continue reading

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Juggling? Or Balance?

By Jane E Haskell When you are the facilitator (or leader) of a group, it is important to realize how important you are in that process and structure. Let’s think about self-care in relation to facilitation and group leadership. Sometimes … Continue reading

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What makes a healthy meeting? Agendas can help!

By Jane Haskell There are meetings I wish I could be out of in a flash. And then there are meetings that I do not mind being in. It doesn’t matter if they are one or four hours long, because … Continue reading

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A Bit on Leadership

I am a board member of the Maine Women’s Fund, a wonderfully creative and energized organization that seeks to ensure that women and girls in Maine reach their full potential. As part of our mission, we explore and discuss and … Continue reading

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Facilitation and Working Agreements

We all say that we facilitate meetings – but are we truly facilitating? Continue reading

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3 Organizational Communication Trainings that Can Add Value (for your organization and its volunteers!); Part I: Convening Effective Meetings

When we engage in volunteer and staff trainings, we often focus on the broad benefits to our organizations. These are excellent outcomes, but trainings can achieve much more. Continue reading

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