Inside this issue:

Member of the Month

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Member of the Month A View from the Board Method of the Month Global Elec ons Impact Award Editor New CPF Upcoming Events New Members

GERARD W. LEWIS MBA, CPF O awa, Ontario, Canada

How long have you been a member of IAF? Joined February 2012 Tell us a li le about the organiza on you work forWhat is its name? What does it do? Eorts Worthwhile Facilita on & Marke ng oers group facilita on services directly to clients and indirectly through partnerships with management consul ng rms. My role is to support boards of directors, project authori es and leaders, as well as managers and work teams to address issues, assess accomplishments, scope projects, gather business requirements, and conduct strategic planning. The rms mo o When you gather leaders together, make their eorts worthwhile is my call to excellence. I bring to bear my career work experience as a museum educator, a law associa on Director of Marke ng, a health care associa on President and CEO, and a management of change consultant. As an Execu ve MBA graduate from the Telfer School of Management of the University of O awa, my approach is to immerse myself rapidly in my clients case history: vision, mission, values, issues, strengths and ambi ons. Understanding the full breadth of my clients environment enables me to contextualize the facilita on process and act with condence. What are your jobs within the organiza on? As the sole proprietor of Eorts Worthwhile Facilita on & Marke ng, I am fo cused on marke ng and delivering group facilita on services. The marke ng side of my business touches on strategic and crea ve thinking as well as sales promo on. How do you use facilita on in your line of work? My group facilita on accomplishments extend from strategic and opera onal planning to issue analysis, problem solving, project management, and business requirements gathering. The approach I o en use is the ToP Technology of Par cipa on Methods with adapta ons drawn in from Apprecia ve Inquiry.

Interna onal Associa on of Facilitators 14984 Glazier Ave,, Suite 550 St. Paul, MN 55124 oce@iafworld.org + 1 800 281 9984 (toll free, US & Canada) +1 952 891 3541 Fax +1 952 891 1800 Mar n Gilbra th, Chair chair@iafworld.org The Global Flipchart is IAFs monthly newsle er Karyn Dumble, CPF, Editor globalipchart@iafworld.org

NOVEMBER 2012

I deliver the process to create prac cal products such as a lead in calling for a project retreat. strategic plan, a project charter and statement of scope, To be clear from the outset, I convey the same message: business requirements, and policies. On the day we hold the board retreat, I will be in charge A strong sense of social jus ce, combined with entrepre of process and you will own the content. Right now however, you must share with me as much of your under neurial business orienta on a racts me to public good standing of the content as possible. Why? Because I enterprises. One such enterprise is the BIAS FREE rmly believe in the adage that understanding ones Coopera ve Inc. (www.biasfree.org) where I facilitated history is the best way to avoid the mistakes of the past, the development of a twoyear consolida on stage understand the present, and prepare for what is possible business plan to grow the organiza on worldwide. in the future. Generally, my clients include associa ons, government agencies and departments, and nongovernmental My ques ons to the Retreat Steering Commi ee parallel organiza ons. On the private sector side, I have facilitated the business cycle. I begin by engaging them in a dialogue: sales and marke ng mee ngs and events. Where have you (the organiza on) been? Where are you Share a recent facilita on experience what did you do, now? Where do you want to go? Some mes I use the imagery of a horse and cart to probe the governance how did you do it, with whom did you do it? environment of the organiza on. Is the horse hitched to Recently I designed and facilitated Board retreats for the the cart? Where is the horse in rela on to the cart be directors of two very dierent notforprot organiza hind, beside, before? Are they both headed in the same ons, one in the telecommunica ons industry and the direc on? These focussed conversa ons add to my review other in the animal welfare sector. As a former President of any background documenta on and provide me with a and CEO of a faithbased na onal healthcare organiza on, good understanding of the nature of my clients business I know how valuable the annual Board retreat can be to and the sector in which it operates. On this founda on, I the leadership of an organiza on. build a facilita on approach to meet the organiza ons Board retreats vary in nature depending on several needs. Taking the me to understand my clients business factors. Are they at the start, midway through, or in the issues is what my clients appreciate. nal year of a strategic plan? Or is the organiza on in the If possible, two weeks before the retreat I conduct a pri transi onal period between the close of one strategic vate telephone interview with each board member. Using planning cycle and the launch of the next? Is the retreat an interview guide, I carefully collect responses on key designed to nd the next BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) topics. For instance, what values drive them personally? or to consider the organiza ons rela onship to specic What values do they a ribute to the organiza on they cons tuencies? lead? What is their gut ins nct and topofmind Intermi ently, special board retreats are needed to feeling for the organiza ons health? What do they feel consider key issues or a major crisis like impact of the the organiza on does best? These ques ons serve the stock market crashing and the eect this has on the or purpose of ge ng par cipants to begin thinking ahead of ganiza ons endowment funds. Whatever the reason, the mee ng itself. done well, a Board retreat is always a milestone event in The interview is also an opportunity to explain the the evolu on of an organiza on. facilita on technique I will use at the retreat and to ask My background in human history museums, business them if they need to any clarica on of the documenta studies, marke ng, and associa on management shapes on sent ahead of the mee ng. A er 3040 minutes of how I approach the Retreat Steering Commi ee. In dialogue, my rapport with each member has been seeded associa ons, the Board President, the Governance Chair, and each board member is in the loop one to two weeks and the CEO are my direct clients. In projects, the Chair of ahead of their arrival. This approach minimizes the risk of the Project Authority and the Project Manager take the members pu ng o the reading of materials to the day of

NOVEMBER 2012

the ight to where the mee ng is taking place.

Let me share a lesson learned in my career. At one stage I served on the board of the O awa Tourism and Conven Since most retreats occur on weekends, I encourage a on Authority to market Canadas capital as a tourism leisurely Friday evening dinnerworking session to kicko des na on. There I learned how the most ardent of com the retreat. Using ToPstyle index cards, I present a non pe tors within the na onal capital market would team up a ributed prole of their collec ve posi on on ma ers to draw people to our des na on; and how at another such as their values and their views of the organiza ons level, clusters of compe ve des na ons such as O awa, state of performance. Montreal, and Toronto would team up to draw people to The next day, using a ToP thinking wall illustra ng 1015 our region. We can be compe tors at one level and col years before and a er the present me, I get new board laborators at another. Facilitators need to work the same members and elder members to share their understand way. Marke ng of the generic benets of group facilita ing of how the organiza on has evolved. Randomly, I ask on to local audiences is essen al. members to post ToP cards and highlight specic events Recently, an IAFCanada team working out of the O awa chronologically from the me of their arrival on the board Chapter rallied to pull together and implement a mar to the present. By the end of this informal food and food ke ng campaign aimed at holding on to an important forthought session, new members have pieced together market. The campaign aimed at ge ng the Government the wisdom of elder members and absorbed the of Canadas procurement supply arrangements to recog organiza ons oral history. Board members now closer to nize group facilita on as a standalone stream of work. sharing a common understanding and are ready to forge Each of us on the team added our respec ve talents and ahead. together we may have saved group facilita on from The next two days of the retreat are used as needed to disappearing into supply arrangement oblivion (Keep develop a prac cal vision of the future or create a shared sending those le ers of support!). understanding of the progress the organiza on is making To build the profession, the IAF began with the vision of on the current strategic plan. becoming a world wide organiza on and it sank its roots Its always a surprise to see the results of board retreats. into every con nent. To grow the group facilita on Some boards reach the conclusion that formula ng a new market, IAF members need to act from the bo om up, BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) is premature; the priori locally through networks of strong local Chapters and ty is ge ng the horse hitched before the cart. In one case, regional Districts. Although new to the IAF community, I the board reached their decision by noon on the Saturday am convinced that building the IAF upwards from vibrant four hours earlier than planned. Over lunch, I rede local level Chapters to the na onal and interna onal lev signed the a ernoon sessions to move forward on the els is cri cal. Herein lies what I wish to share to my fellow next steps needed to implement their decision. members worldwide: Board retreats are occasions where we see how ones work as a group facilitator posi vely aects the eec ve ness, economy and eciency of organiza ons. Build a vibrant network of local IAF Chapters! Come together and grow the market!

If you could share one thing youve learned with other facilitators around the world, what would it be? One thing Ive learned since joining the Associa on in February is that as members of IAF we must work togeth er to grow the group facilita on market. Con nuing edu ca on is important. So is marke ng the profession. The IAF must be capable of doing both.

NOVEMBER 2012

A View from the Board

By Kimberly Bain, Vice Chair of the Board of Directors
This past month the Board hosted the Annual General Mee ng for our members. The purpose of the mee ng was to: share informa on with members about the work the Board has accomplished in the past year; discuss plans for the future of our Associa on; review the nancial and administra ve status of the IAF; and, solicit input from members on the future direc on in hot topic areas. We chose to pilot a fully virtual AGM this year to make the mee ng as accessible to members as possible. We held a series of virtual sessions across all me zones over a 96 hour period.

The results and the feedback from par cipants was very posi ve. It was exci ng to par cipate in the virtual sessions with people from around the world. We contracted with the Sisters of Virtual Facilita on who did an excellent job of both making the technology accessible and facilita ng the discussions so that everyone had an opportunity to par cipate and engage.

As Board members, we will be taking the informa on and ideas generated during the sessions and using that informa on to help guide our planning and decisionmaking over the coming months. A report and lessons learned document will be produced and published for members as well.

On a personal note, I felt energized and mo vated a er each of the eight sessions I a ended. Members were open and generous with their sugges ons. As a volunteer Board of a global organiza on, it is so easy to feel isolated and 'unconnected' to your colleagues and the membership between conferences. The virtual AGM provided an opportunity for members from dierent regions to connect or reconnect, to share views and perspec ves and to model best prac ces in virtual facilita on. One lesson learned....virtual facilita on tools are not just good for our clients, they are also good for us, to expand and connect our community of prac ce around the world.

Already both Oceania and Canada regions are hos ng regular webinars for members and I am sure there are many other opportuni es for us to expand member services and connec ons through virtual tools. What do you think? What other virtual opportuni es should we be pursuing? Your views are important to us not only at AGM me or membership survey me. Your views are important to us all the me. So please let us know what you think, about virtual opportuni es and all things IAF.

Thanks and I look forward to hearing from you! Kimberly Bain vice.chair@iafworld.org

NOVEMBER 2012

Method of the Month: Problem Trees

Objec ve:
To enable a group to consider and build rela onships among all of the relevant detail when dening a shared problem or challenge

Process:
1. Divide the group into teams which share diverse perspec ves on the issue at hand

2.

Provide ipchart paper and markers. Ask each team to draw a tree in which the trunk represents the problem itself, the roots list the causes of the problem and the branches are the eects of the problem.

3.

When everyone is ready, give the group me to view one anothers trees. You may wish to have teams present their trees.

4. Based on what the group has seen, reect together on the issues, capturing peoples responses:

a.

Lets look rst at the causes. What were causes you saw very frequently in our tree roots? What was a unique cause you saw that you hadnt considered before?

b.

And now the eects: what were eects that you saw repeatedly? What were eects that struck you, although you may not have seen them o en?

c.

How would you dene our problem now? (whats the true name of this tree?) What are we dealing with here?

d.

What would you say are the next steps in our work on this ma er?

Adapted from The Impact Alliance www.impactalliance.com

NOVEMBER 2012

Support the 2012 IAF Global Board Elec ons...PLEASE VOTE!

Dear IAF members, The Nomina ons & Elec ons Commi ee is pleased to report that we have nalized an impressive slate of candidates for the upcoming elec ons to the IAFs Global Board of Directors, and to serve beginning in January of 2013.

The Commi ee is doing our utmost to make this an ecient, easy and eec ve process. You should have received an email with your unique and direct link to the elec ons site. If you are a member in one of the following regions: Africa, Oceania, Europe, or the United States, you will also be vo ng in the elec on of a regional director.

Please take a moment to cast your vote. It really only takes a few minutes of your me, and it enables you to share in the leadership choices of the Associa on. In the last few years, as we have begun to conduct online elec ons processes for the IAF, just over 30 percent of the membership voted. It may not seem necessary to vote, par cularly in the cases where there is but a single candidate for a posi on, but vo ng allows you access to informa on on the candidates, provides insight into the direc ons and goals they intend to pursue for the associa on, and allows you the op on to approve or reject a candidate. We count on you to do your part, so please stay tuned.

Should you have any thoughts and sugges ons regarding the IAFs Global Board elec ons, please do not hesitate to be in touch.

Warmest regards,

Cameron Fraser cameronf@sympa co.ca On behalf of the 2012 Commi ee: Ulla Wycko, Linda Mather, David Wayne, Gary Aus n, Julie Larsen, and Jayna Johnson

NOVEMBER 2012

IAF Facilita on Impact AwardsCall for Submissions Awards

The Interna onal Associa on of Facilitators (IAF) is introducing the inaugural Facilita on Impact Awards (Americas Edi on 2013) at the IAF Conference in Orlando, Florida (USA) in June 2013. The Facilita on Impact Awards are the most pres gious interna onal awards honouring excellence in facilita on and its posi ve, measurable impact on businesses, governments and notforprot organisa ons around the world.

These are noncompe ve awards all submissions earning a given threshold of points will receive an award. Both the facilitator and the organisa on will be recognized. There is no fee to apply. The awards are open to all facilitators worldwide, and organisa ons with a presence in the Americas (North and South America). Facilitators are not required to be IAF members. The IAF embraces diversity and inclusion, so all materials and informa on for the awards are available in the top 4 languages of the Americas (in order of number of speakers: Spanish, English, Portuguese and French). Facilitators can nominate their clients through an automa c email. The deadline to submit completed applica ons is: February 1, 2013. See our yer which you can download, and check out our website for details, including submission forms and rules: www.iafa.org

Premios Impacto de la Facilitacin de la IAF Convocatoria de presentacin de solicitudes La Interna onal Associa on of Facilitators (IAF) (Asociacin Internacional de Facilitadores) presenta los Premios Im pacto de la Facilitacin inaugurales (Edicin de las Amricas 2013) en la Conferencia de la IAF, que se celebrar en Orlando, Florida (EE.UU.) en junio de 2013. Los Premios Impacto de la Facilitacin son los ms pres giosos premios internacionales que rinden homenaje a la excelencia en materia de facilitacin y su impacto posi vo y medible en las empresas, los gobiernos y las organiza ciones sin nes de lucro en todo el mundo.

Se trata de premios no compe vos todas las solicitudes que reciban una determinada can dad de puntos recibirn un premio. Tanto el facilitador como la organizacin sern reconocidos No hay cuota de solicitud Los premios estn abiertos a todos los facilitadores del mundo, y a las organizaciones con presencia en las Amricas (Amrica del Norte, Centroamrica y Amrica del Sur) No es preciso que los facilitadores sean miembros de la IAF La diversidad y la inclusin son claves para la IAF, as que todo el material y la informacin de los premios esta rn disponibles en los cuatro idiomas principales de las Amricas (en orden de nmero de hablantes: espaol, ingls, portugus y francs) Los facilitadores pueden nominar a sus clientes a travs de un correo electrnico autom co La fecha lmite para presentar las solicitudes completas es el 1o de febrero de 2013 Consulte nuestro folleto que puede descargarse, y visite nuestro si o web para obtener detalles, incluidos los formularios de presentacin y las reglas: www.iafa.org

NOVEMBER 2012

From Your FlipChart Editor

We got a great response to our request for reviewers for Gil Brozas book, The Human Side of Agile. Two have been chosen and well have their reviews for you in the coming months. For anyone that has reached out to me via the globalipchart@iafworld.org email address in the past month, chances are good that I didnt receive your email. They went somewhere, just not to my computer or smart phone. So if you submi ed content or comments on Octobers issue, I hope youll try again. The email is once again landing in my inbox. Last month, in Taralee Hammonds View from the Board ar cle, we had an incorrect number stated. The Oceania Region does not have 150 members (yet). That is the target membership number for 2013. Over the past couple of years, Ive heard many conversa ons on the topic of engaging the next genera on in facilita on as a profession. Its been really quite heartening lately because Ive had the opportunity to meet and spend me with a number of 20somethings who ac vely engage in group facilita on. They see it as a way to engage their peers in conversa ons around making broader societal changes in the areas of educa on and of mental health. I get a great deal of energy from these rela onships and it feels like a chance to give back. A er all, many of you were (and con n ue to be) open to sharing your facilita on experiences with me. I learn from you and Im happy to pass that learning along to these younger facilitators. If youre a 20something or 30something facilitator, whats your experience been like in the eld of facilita on so far? If youre a facilitator who has had the opportunity to engage with the next genera on, how have those experiences been for you? Id love to read your thoughts and share them in the December issue. Yours in ink stains,

Karyn Dumble, CPF VirtualMeetingRiskItem Editor (loweringtheprobabilityand/orimpactoftheriskitemhappening) globalipchart@iafworld.org

RiskResponse

Participantshortattentionspan(i.e.,multitaskingduringmeetingsuchasreadingemail,texting,doingotherwork)

I want to stand as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all the kinds of things you cant see from the center. Kurt Vonnegut

NOVEMBER 2012

Welcome to our seventeen new IAF Cer ed Professional Facilitators, cer ed in Kennesaw, Georgia, October 27th and 28th, 2012 Canada
Maureen Douglas, CPF, Mobilize Strategies Inc., Pemberton, Bri sh Columbia John Gelder, CPF Sinapse Strategic Interven ons, O awa, Ontario Sylvie Plante, CPF, Sylvie Plante Enterprise Channeling, Inc., O awa, Ontario

USA
Travis Culp, CPF, PMAlliance, Inc., Groveland, Illinois Bre Davis, CPF, PMAlliance, Inc., Faye eville, Georgia Laura Dwinnell, CPF, TaLentum, Broadlands, Virginia Heather Mayes Gleason, CPF, Azalea City Associates, LLC, Takoma Park, Maryland Laura Has ngs, CPF, Sun va, Falls Church, Virginia Susan J. Hayman, CPF, EnviroIssues, Boise, Idaho Cody Holm, CPF, PMAlliance, Inc., Aliso Viejo, California Jonathan Johnson, CPF, PMAlliance Inc., Columbia, South Carolina Mark Kuczora, PMAlliance, Inc., Aurora, Illinois Deidra M. Lemons, CPF, AARP, Washington, D.C. Bre Locke, CPF, Taylor Technical Services, Pagosa Springs, Colorado Julia Perkins, CPF, MBMD Strategic Consultants LLC, Chicago, Illinois Lorine Spencer, CPF, CDC/ATSDR, Tucker, Georgia Michael Stauer, CPF, PMAlliance, Inc., Locust Grove, Georgia

NOVEMBER 2012

CONFERENCES
IAF JamaicaFebruary 2728, 2013, Kingston, Jamaica

From your Global Flipchart Editor OceaniaMarch 68, 2013, Adelaide, Australia
IAFNAJune 58, 2013, Orlando, Florida On behalf of IAF volunteers who make up the Communica ons Team, I have a request to make of you.

The hardworking (and mildly frustrated) folks who a empt to communicate with you via regular emails and newsle ers have asked me to ask you to please take a moment and sign in to your IAF account and ensure IAF CERTIFIED PROFESSIONAL FACILITATOR CERTIFICATION EVENTS that the email address in your le is the one where you prefer to receive such communica ons. December 13, 2012 The Netherlands at the top right corner of You access your account by clicking on Login which is locatedThis event is held in Dutchthe screen at h p://www.iafworld.org. (I can assure you that the Forgot password link from there works well; I use February, 14, 2013The Netherlands (Dutch) it en rely too o en.) February 2728, 2013Kingston, Jamaica We look forward to reducing the number of email bouncebacks that are received each month. In on update, please accept Australia an cipa on of your account informa March 4, 2013Adelaide,our sincere thanks. May cles that you would like to Sweden As ever, if you have content ideas or ar 2122, 2013Gothenburg,share with the IAF community, please drop me a line at globalipchart@iafworld.org. May 22, 2013The Netherlands (Dutch) Yours in ink stains, Karyn Dumble, MA, CPF Editor June 56, 2013Orlando, Florida, USA November 22, 2013 The Netherlands (Dutch)

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Welcome New IAF Members!

We extend a warm welcome to our colleagues from around the world who joined IAF from October 13th thru November 14th, 2012 (We only list those members who have chosen to be listed in our online membership directory.) If you are concerned about having been included in this list, please contact the office via email at office@iaf-world.org.

Current Membership from 60 countries: 1227+

Australia Graham Miller, Alderley, QLD Canada Jane Bell, Waterloo, Ontario Rolf FosterJorgensen, Canmore, Alberta Denmark Lars Rokkjaer, Hirtshals Japan Akira Nagao, Tokyo Netherlands AnneMarie Bor, Heiloo Margreet Schriemer, Amsterdam Marc van Seters, Den Haag Arjan Wierda, Den Haag Turkey Mehve Demir, Istanbul United Kingdom Helen ColeySmith, Eye Claudia Colvin, London Kusum Sahdev, Aylesbury Richard Vaughan, U oxeter USA Rob Benson, Tulsa, OK Terri Jones, Golden, CO Donna McDowell, Novi, MI Steven Paget, Sea le, WA Eileen Shapiro, Boston, MA

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