feature inside the assessment...
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Conference Feature: • IAF Europe meets in Groningen, Netherlands, Oct. 3‐5, 2008
• Groningen: lively, historic, happy • Thanks, volunteers!
Conference Stories
• ‘Discovering a beautiful city’ • ‘Everyone was eager to share’ • ‘Learning about participant energy’ • “Using games to get ideas across” • World class workshop on bridging culture’ • ‘Leaving with a lot of new ideas’
Inside the Assessment Process • Congratulations to the new CPFs! • ‘Expect the unexpected’: Candidates’ highlights
• Process manager makes things run smoothly
Membership News
• Saluting Jim’s work • Introducing the new IAF Europe team • Your ideas for what IAF Europe should do in 2009
• Welcome new and returning members
• In Print
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Bridging cultures, the conference theme, came to life in Groningen Oct. 3‐5, 2008, as 137 participants from 26 countries came together for 28 workshop sessions in which facilitators freely shared their knowledge. Participants came from Austria, Barbados, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Gambia, Germany, India, Italy, Luxembourg, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, the Philippines, Romania, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, the U.K. and the U.S.A.
Friday afternoon’s opening plenary quickly got everyone engaged with key themes in intercultural competence – bridging differences, team‐building, and communicating creatively. Told a sad, archetypal story of a young woman in love, who had been betrayed by her father, her lover, and a sailor, we were asked who was at fault. Groups lined up behind each of the four possible choices. Then one non‐aligned group said everyone had contributed to the problem – and thus demonstrated a key lesson, that seeing a problem from all sides helps resolve it. Emcees Robert Verheule and Judith de Brujin told us they had carefully sorted us into small groups based on what we had in common. They sent us off to discover what we shared – and then to show it in a banner. It took some time, but being facilitators, we all found something in common. Then we brought our colourful banners back into the atrium, and explained what each meant, to great applause. We ate wonderful Dutch food, talked over dinner, and then went for a tour of downtown Groningen. After a night’s rest, we were ready to
‘Facilitation – profession of bridging cultures’ IAF Europe meets in Groningen, Netherlands, Oct. 3-5, 2008
Emcee Robert Verheule facilitates a resolution to the problem posed by the opening story. (Front cover: Getting ready to make our ‘home group’ posters). Photos by Processphotography ‐ www.impulsraum.eu
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take part in a diverse selection of workshops – everything from peer coaching to serious gaming to a day in the life of an internal Unilever facilitator. Saturday night we sampled a delicious Dutch/Indonesian “Rijsttafel” buffet, danced, listened to music and sang along in a jazz café, showing off an amazing range of vocal talents. Sunday offered another exciting set of workshops, from process photography to using games that teach to working skillfully with group energy and spirit. Picking up our lunch packages, we gathered again in the Atrium for the closing ceremony, which featured a video summation of conference highlights and a well‐deserved round of applause for organizers and student
volunteers. All too soon, it was time to head home, with happy memories and new techniques and ideas to apply in our work.
The conference was held at Hanze University in Groningen, the major urban centre and economic capital of the northern Netherlands, about two hours’ train ride from Amsterdam. Groningen was rated the Netherlands’ safest
Celebrating having found a solution to the problem (left). Carrying the banners into the atrium (right). Photos by Processphotography ‐ www.impulsraum.eu
Groningen: a lively, historic, happy city
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the world’s best bike city in 2002 (57% of all transportation is by bike and the city centre is partly closed to cars), and in 2007, among 75 EU cities, was best liked by its inhabitants. Groningen is considered the country’s second best student city. Of its 185,000 residents, every fifth person is a student, and half the population is younger than 35. But Groningen is also an historic city, dating back to the third century AD. In medieval times, it was an important Northern European trade centre and the city’s Martini Tower was Europe’s highest building. The Netherlands, one of the world’s most densely populated countries, has 16 million people living on 41,000 square kilometers. Part of the country is below sea level, protected by dikes, inspiring a popular saying that God created the world but the Dutch created the Netherlands.
Thanks to all those IAF members who generously shared their conference highlights and pictures with us. ‘Discovering a beautiful city’ Dave Rees, UK “Highlights for me were re‐connecting with old friends from my home country (the UK) and others from across the world, making new
connections, gaining insights from the sessions I attended as well as exploring a beautiful city.” ‘Everyone was eager to share’ Terés Salmi, Sweden This was her first IAF conference, and Terés was immediately struck by “how easy it was to contact other participants and start conversations with them, a family feeling.” “The absence of bombastic presence and the humility that I felt around the whole arrangement (especially appreciated by us from Nordic countries) made it easy to be a newcomer. As Gary Rush said, Every facilitator is eager to share their knowledge. The workshops gave me a lot of inspiration and ideas that I used in some of my own workshops as soon as I got home. Even the taxi drive to the airport with seven of us from different countries, in a ʺLimoʺ‐cab from the
Conference Stories
Christine Wank and Simon Wilson. Photo by Erik Kijne www.pcm‐group.com
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80ʹs with no seatbelts and luggage on our laps, was a time for sharing experience and knowledge. I left Holland feeling empowered and thankful for being a part of this conference and for IAF!” ‘Learning about participant energy’ Crystal Thieringer, Canada “I was nervous. This was my first IAF conference, and I had already traveled 2 hours by bus, 7 hours by plane and almost 3 hours by train to get here. Not only that but I’d needed to make an unexpected return to the hotel in order to get my forgotten wallet. I wasn’t sure where I was going, who I would meet, or what would be expected of me. And I was late. It wasn’t the beginning I had hoped for! I needn’t have worried. The best thing that I did for myself was
to register for a pre‐conference session. From the start, my pre‐conference colleagues were warm and welcoming. We were a small group of 7, and as the days rolled by, several of us commented how wonderful it was to have such a core group. We met later to discuss our various
workshops, and most of us attended the session that David Gibson put on. We intended to show support for a preconference pal, but in truth, his session was the most energetic and inspiring one of all. He demonstrated some wonderful team‐building exercises and showed his sleight‐of‐hand prowess with a purpose. In one exercise regarding participant energy, David had each person choose a word from a list, and then introduce themselves to Ann Epps and Justine Marchant. Photo by Erik Kijne
www.pcm‐group.com
David Gibson leads Top up your Toolbox with 21 New Ideas workshop. Photo by Erik Kijne www.pcm‐group.com
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others using that word. The next day, several participants were still greeting each other with “Hi, I’m incredible!” and “Hi, I’m fabulous”. The effect was amazing; we laughed so much! I do not doubt that I will apply some of his techniques to my next sessions. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the conference but I was certainly impressed with the friendliness and encouragement that people offered to each other. I had been “introduced” to some by email, and they made a point of welcoming me. I learned a great deal—from experiencing a real‐life peer‐counseling situation, to watching some interesting uses of flip charts and sticky walls, to learning a change‐management methodology that I can apply right now to my personal life. I saw many things that I will adapt to my own work,
as well as a few that I will avoid. All in all, it was an amazing five days. My head is still spinning! Or is that the jet lag?” “Using games to share ideas, skills” Alina Tuhutiu‐Crisan, Training Coordinator, Heifer Romania ʺIt was a great experience for me to participate at this conference. I attended some interesting workshops: The Secrets to Consensus Building ‐ Michael Wilkinson. Attending this workshop I understand why people or groups disagree (there are only three reasons) and how to get to a consensus. *First* is lack of information, *second* different values and experiences that result in preferring one alternative to the other; and *third* the disagreement is based on personality, past history with one another, or other factors that have nothing to do with the
Sharing a funny moment during the opening plenary. Photo by Processphotography ‐ www.impulsraum.eu
The Secrets to Consensus Building workshop run by Michael Wilkinson. Photo by Alina Tuhuttiu‐Crisan.
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alternatives. Facilitation as a Key Intervention for Organization Change ‐Marcelino Sanchez: Through this session, I had the opportunity to reframe my facilitation skills and approach, to enable organizations to implement successful change. We worked with the ʺChange Curveʺ and the ʺBehavior Change Continuumʺ. Add variety to your workshop with games and activities that actually teach ‐ David Gibson: Anything we can teach can be taught through a training game or activity, if you knew how. Games and activities are fine, but they are only the vehicle to the debrief (using a simple 4 stage debrief process). Within this session we worked in a team that has designed a game or activity that gets a key idea or skill across to
learners. Additionally I have experienced training games and activities. I am sure that in my further workshops I’ll apply lots of methods and energizers I learned during this conference.ʺ ‘World class workshop on bridging culture’ Sieglinde Hinger, Austria Highlights for me: • meeting people from different countries and
learning how wide the field of facilitation is; • world class workshop ʺbridging culture • dealing with your emotionsʺ (Eva Jordans,
Isabelle Guetta), where I could learn on several levels;
• an interesting new topic ʺProcess Photographyʺ brought in by Markus Püttmann.
Closing ceremony. Photo by Erik Kijne www.pcm‐group.com
Eva Jordans and Isabelle Guetta focused on effective inter‐cultural relationships in “Bridging cultures – dealing with your emotions”. Photo by Erik Kijne www.pcm‐group.com
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‘Leaving with a lot of new ideas’ Carolien de Monchy, IAF Benelux For me the conference started with an informal lunch meeting, the ʹMeet & Greet IAF‐Beneluxʹ. We met with Dutch speaking colleagues, and also one of our colleagues from Germany joined in. We talked about how we could make the IAF‐Benelux association a living and learning association. This was a very interesting meeting for me, lots of ideas on facilitating the self organizing community of IAF‐Benelux. The opening ceremony was just fun, I always like to meet new persons in the home group. It was a pity that later on we did not meet again in the home group, it just did not work out that way. But our start was fine. On Saturday morning I conducted my own session on peer coaching. We had a very good session, it was very interesting to explore how a team of committed persons can
come together to learn with and from each other. And of course we discussed how to facilitate such an event. On Sunday I went to a very interesting workshop on building multi‐stakeholder commitment to social change programmes. I learned a lot about the subject. And what was very interesting: the special method to run this workshop. We talked about the importance of involving all participants in the discussion by literally walking through some viewpoints. Fascinating. On the whole the conference in Groningen was for me very interesting, challenging and a happy experience. It is too much to tell everything what happened. We had wonderful lunches, dinners, coffee breaks. I met a lot of interesting people, we shared knowledge and I learned a lot. As always I leave an IAF‐Conference with a lot of new ideas on methods, books I want to read, experiments I want to do, new ways of approaching clients, and new colleagues to work with.”
Identifying our shared characteristics. Photo by Processphoto‐graphy ‐ www.impulsraum.eu
Working in small groups, participants forged a shared identity for their ‘home groups’. Photo by Processphotography ‐www.impulsraum.eu
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Organizing an IAF Europe conference requires much work by many people. Our thanks to the Groningen Steering Committee ‐ Jenny Nessmar, Didier de Groot, Jeroen Ganzeveld, Jon Jenkins, and Maureen Jenkins. They were aided by: Christian Grambow, Robert Verheule, Judith de Bruijn, Chiquita Welmerink, Linde ten Broek, Monicque van de Walle, Carolien de Monchy, Bart Segers, Tamara Zivadinovic, Suzana Zivkovic, Aurelia Balpe, Carol Sheriff, Marith Ritsema, Birgitte Verheij, Kathrin Boggs, Jan Visser, Jim Campbell, Jakob Zwinderman, Harrie Rutgers, Maarten van Rijn, Reinoud Karssenberg, CapGermini, Jan Lelie, Ann‐Christin Berger, Jill Bolte, Philip Borchert, Eva Gobel, Linda Hallwass, Kirsten Hobbensiefken, Manik Hoffmann, Verena Kappler, Theresa Kettelhack, Hannah Lambeck, Biankea
Merisahu, Jérôme Ortmann, Nicklas Pettersson, Fabian Rehring, Louisa Rengers‐Pleiter, Joep Veldhuis, Lisa Wallpoerster, and Lena Zimpfer. Thanks to you all! Special thanks to the student volunteers from Hanze University who assisted as speaker buddies and at the plenaries.
Congratulations, new CPFs! Nine IAF members successfully completed the IAF peer assessment process held just before the Groningen conference, and gained the right to call themselves Certified Professional Facilitators. Congratu‐lations to Ganeas Dorairaju; Martin Gilbraith; Joy Elise Kuhl; Ingrid Renirie; Mikala Ritzau; Barbara Spronck; Lenneke Van Keulen; Marjolijn Verbeek; and Susan Ward. ‘Expecting the unexpected’: Candidates’ highlights ʺA highlight for me was the teamwork and mutual support among the candidates, as well as the professional rigour of the process as a whole.ʺ ‐ Martin Gilbraith
INSIDE THE ASSESSMENT PROCESS
Processphotography - www.impulsraum.eu
THANKS VOLUNTEERS!
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“I appreciated the thoughtful critique from the industry professionals who were involved in assessment. I left with renewed energy and a desire to try some new techniques with my clients.” ‐ Joy Kuhl “Some highlights of the CPF assessment October this year were the showcases and role‐plays. It is great to see colleagues at work and to be inspired by their way of working, work forms and instruments. The role plays were surprisingly realistic; in some case it was quite hard to switch to the next situation. I brought in quite a heavy multi‐cultural group but wasn’t prepared on the speed they would reach consensus during the case. Facilitation is about expecting the unexpected! One of the great lessons learned for me is to use your natural style and authenticity when working with groups. No artificial work forms but plain and simple instructions. Also constantly consider and re‐consider the choice to intervene or not to intervene in specific situations. Role plays magnify typical behavior in workshops. The interviews were a great exercise in self‐reflection and investigation of my internal drives. Questions like “What is your facilitation style?” pushed me into further development and explicit choices in future workshops. I appreciated the plain and honest feedback on my facilitation skills during the
second interview with my professional assessors; Nel Mostert and Robert Verheule. I use this as an input for my workshops “Facilitation Skills” and “Organizational Challenger”, the facilitators of organizational change. I am more aware on the scale of neutrality in these different roles. To reach the status of Certified Professional Facilitator requires quite some preparation and effort. Nevertheless, I would like to encourage professionals to take this step. It is a fun and valuable experience. I support Facilitation as a profession and I am proud to use the title Certified Professional Facilitator!” ‐ Barbara Spronck
Robert Verheule interviews Guido Neuland during the opening plenary about Neuland’s long relationship with IAF and IAF Europe..Neuland was a conference sponsor. Photo by Processpho‐tography ‐ www.impulsraum.eu
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Peter has much experience as process manager for CPF assessment sessions. He provides us an insight from the point of view of the person who is in charge of making sure everything runs smoothly during a day that is even longer – and possibly even more stressful ‐ for assessors than for candidates: Another assessment to go, this time four candidates. Two candidates had to drop out for different reasons, we will see them back the next assessment. 7:30 breakfast with coffee in beautiful Rossum, the venue where all Dutch assessments take place. A quiet place, beautiful garden, near the river, in an old monument. The Dutch crew for the assessments is a team which has been running several assessments, and starts to perform like a good team. We have some small preliminary discussions about the preparations and about the day. Our task: to allow the candidates within the set boundaries all opportunities to show their competencies.
The candidates arrive, and are welcomed with some coffee. Although everyone tries to be joyful, there is always some tension in the air. People will be assessed about what they feel is core of their work. They know that not all candidates make it. The first presentation and introductory round breaks the tension a bit. The assessors are focused, they have a heavy but rewarding day ahead. We make some small changes to the normal scheme to allow for one of the candidates who needs some extra clarification to make better preparations. We are here, after all, to help. First interviews. Half an hour. I walk in and out of the interviews to see how they go. The teams are co‐operating well. In between the two interviews, some small feedback from me to the assessors to help them perform well and use the time as best they can. Second interviews. We have some extra
The process manager’s job is to make things
run smoothly
By Peter Coesmans
Rossum, from http:www.p2managers.nl
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time in between interviews because the time schedule for four candidates allows us some small breaks. In between checking in on the interviews, I also mingle amongst the candidates to see how they are doing and answer any questions they might have. Still tense. While the candidates set up the room for the first workshop, we have our first assessor conference. How did everyone do, what are the preliminary scores, which competencies do we need to assess better. Some discussions on interpretation of answers and behaviours. What role play will we use? Using the forms, our intuition and our experience, we prepare ourselves. Tension builds Tension builds, the first workshops are close now. The first one will set the standard, it always does. First two minutes setting the scene, the alarm sounds, thirty minutes of workshop to facilitate towards a result. Right before the alarm goes off, the session is finished. Tension starts dropping, people start to enjoy themselves. The two assessors in the workshop have performed well, the two assessors on the side have made many notes. While the candidates start their lunch, the assessors have the first fast debrief. Did the customer feel satisfied, did the participant feel well during the workshop. We go through the notes of the side‐assessors and come up with a new preliminary rating and
some topics for the final interview. Lunch. After lunch three more sessions. As always, in some sessions the tension rises. We have to maintain our concentration levels, and I have to warn the participants that helping a facilitator who is being assessed is really not helping them, since they cannot show us their performance. I always do this the first time I see it happening. The group gets into a flow, into its role play, even when they shouldnʹt. My job is to keep the assessment clean. And also to keep the assessors at their peak. One of them starts to feel ill, I might have to step in. In the end, he makes it through the day. The assessors prepare for the final interviews, then move back to the session room where we get our feedback on the day from the candidates. They are satisfied. There are always points to improve, but their general idea is that this is a very professional assessment. Thanks, we do our best! Getting the last details I warn them, final interviews are about getting the last details, the last pieces of evidence. The final interview they might be cut off, and after the final session they will get their results and some hot feedback. At the end of the day, the assessors start to become a little bit tired. Now is the time they really have to perform. It always drains them, getting this last evidence, sometimes also preparing for the bad news and having to give
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it. Not only concentration has to be high, emotions are high for assessors and candidates alike. This time, both assessor teams face a difficult decision. While I cannot interfere with their decisions, I try to help them make up their mind. In the end, it is always turning back to the competencies, looking at the evidence, and trying to reach a decision. This is not mathematics. Emotions build. In the end, in both cases, the assessors conclude that enough evidence was shown. Candidates are congratulated, but in the two cases they also receive some tough feedback. They take it well. ‘Our energy levels are dropping’ While the candidates are congratulating each other, we have a short debrief of the day. We assess our own performance, and find some small things we can still improve on. Or energy levels are dropping now, it is 6 oʹclock. Final agreements on who will start what feedback, and that we have to make sure to deliver in 10 working days. We end with a glass of wine, looking back at the day. It has been a rewarding day, we have learned, we have worked very hard, all candidates will receive some very valuable feedback. In another couple of months, we will run another one. Satisfied, everyone goes home. I fight off my throat inflammation as I gather my energy to facilitate an evening session for a consultancy company regarding
their strategy. I should have planned better, I should have known my energy level was probably not good enough. As I enter the room full of expectant consultants, welcome them and feel their energy, I am quickly recharged. Showtime!
Saluting Jim Campbell’s work, and choosing a new team By Gary Austin
It is now timely, with the new IAF Europe Team in place, to pass on our huge thanks to Jim Campbell, our previous IAF Europe Regional representative. Jim has been outstanding in this role over the past four years and has taken
the Region forward in so many ways, including enlarged European membership, methods and tools circulated, regular newsletters, chasing up membership renewals, recruiting and supporting IAF Europe Conference Teams, and generally ensuring we have an active and cohesive membership and Region. For all this,
Membership News
Jim Campbell
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we say “Thank you”. If you would like to pass an individual message of thanks to Jim for inclusion in the ʹWith thanksʹ booklet started at the recent IAF Europe conference, please e‐mail your message to me at [email protected] and I will ensure it is included. Choosing the new team I thought it would be useful to outline the process used to recruit the new IAF Europe Team. Following conversations with Jim, we felt that as IAF Europe was now the size it was and had been running for as long as it had, a team based approach was more appropriate to handle the amount of work which had rapidly become too much for just one person. I was tasked with finding this ʹteamʹ. An e‐mail went out to all IAF Europe members, outlining the probable roles and asking for members to self‐nominate. Five people put their names forward ‐ for which we were very grateful! A small team of European members who had been asked to be part of the ʹrecruitingʹ team, including Jim himself, reviewed the names and three were taken forward.. At the Groningen conference, this team met several times, including meeting with IAF Board members in attendance, to flesh out and build on the loosely defined roles and firmly establish an IAF Europe Regional Team to build on the work started by Jim and take us as members and as a region to the next level.
Introducing the new IAF Europe team By Rosemary Cairns, Martin Gilbraith, and Gary Purser While as a team we are responsible for IAF Europe’s management and development, each of us has a specific area of responsibility: communications; IAF Board representation and liaison; and membership, professional development and conferences.
Rosemary Cairns, communications These days, Rosemary regards herself as both a researcher and a virtual global facilitator, an interest that grew out of her recent Master’s studies in human security and peacebuilding. She became interested in how peacebuilding in post‐conflict states could be based on locally driven “islands of achievement”, and maintains Hopebuilding
Rosemary speaking with Mariann Hintz, IAF global board member for communications, and Martin Gilbraith at IAF Europe confer‐ence. Photo by Processphotography ‐ www.impulsraum.eu
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Wiki to share stories of locally‐driven, sustainable development in the ‘developing’ world. She went back to university after working as community mobilization and development specialist on a US funded project to revitalize communities in Western Serbia 2001‐2003. During that time, she used Technology of Participation, Open Space Technology and Participatory Rural Appraisal, working with Bospo, an NGO based in Tuzla, Bosnia, to train many community facilitators in Western Serbia, and with Harrison Owen to hold an Open Space conference in 2002. She was born in Ireland but grew up and was educated in Canada. She lived for 25 years in Northern Canada, working in a variety of fields – journalism, public affairs, election administration, international election observation, land claims ratification and enrolment, and women’s advocacy. For 13 years, she ran her own writing and editing firm. She was active in community groups, and served on administrative tribunals including labour standards, liquor licensing, and health and social services. She has been an international election observer with the UN and OSCE, in South Africa, Bosnia, Ukraine, Georgia, and Serbia. After Bosnia in 1996, she prepared for peacebuilding work by taking training in facilitation (with ICA Canada), mediation, and adult education, and leading the NWT Status of Women Council in forging social change at
home, before moving to Serbia in 2001. She joined IAF in 2000, and became a Certified Professional Facilitator in 2003. She has attended IAF conferences in North America and Europe, and helped to create the IAF Serbia facilitators’ network last year. Martin Gilbraith, IAF Global Board representative and liaison
Martin has worked for ICA:UK (the Institute of Cultural Affairs in the UK) since 1997, leading the organization through a period of major restructuring and growth. He has been associated with ICA in various capacities since 1986, when he worked with ICA India on an integrated village demonstration project near Pune and later on individual and corporate fundraising in Bombay. He served as funding coordinator with ICA Middle East and North Africa in Cairo between 1993 and 1995, and prior to that as coordinator of small loans and small industries programs in Bayad El Arab between 1989 and 1992. He worked with Africa
Photo courtesy of Martin Gilbraith.
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Now, a small charity in London, before that. Martin is a practicing facilitator and facilitation trainer, specialising in ICA’s Technology of Participation methodology, and is proud to have just gained his IAF Certified Professional Facilitator accreditation. He manages ICA:UK’s programme of ToP facilitation and facilitation training, focused on developing capacity for participation and partnership among local public services in the North West of England (particularly local authorities, voluntary & community organisations and multi‐sector partnerships), and providing a national programme of public ToP training courses. ICA:UK works together with a national network of around three dozen freelance Associates to deliver this work, many of them also IAF members. Martin is particularly interested in the interface between facilitation, management and governance and has been active in exploring this with ICA and with many community groups. He has served as company secretary of ICA:UK since its incorporation in 2000, and was involved in board support for its predecessor charity, ICA Development Trust, which wound up in 2003. From 1998, he was Vice‐President for Europe for ICA International, and served as its Treasurer between 2000 and 2006. He established the ICA:UK membership newsletter Network News in 1997, and remains managing editor.
Martin has been a trustee of FOCUS charity, which works with young people and people with disabilities, since 2005, and became a committee member of Quaker Congo Partnership following a visit to Quaker peace and development projects in eastern Congo earlier this year. He was a director of Work for Change, a community workspace cooperative in Manchester, between 2002 and 2005. He recently established www.quakercongo.org.uk, and moderates several internet groups. He holds a Master’s degree in Development Administration and Management with distinction from the Institute of Development Policy and Management at Manchester University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Business studies from Ports‐mouth University. He has taken a wide variety of training and academic courses in management. He still speaks some Arabic, learned in Egypt, and has enjoyed studying a number of languages in‐cluding, Spanish, French, German and Marathi. Martin has been active in IAF for many years, and attended five European conferences since 1997. He has delivered both conference and preconference sessions. Gary Purser, Membership, Professional Development and Conferences Based in the UK, Gary is a practising facilitator and personal and organisational change agent. Active in the IAF for many years, he led the team that created IAF’s peer accreditation scheme and is a Certified Professional Facilitator and Assessor for the program. He is
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founder and a principal consultant with Gary Purser & Associates, recently rebranded as Facilitate 4 Change. Gary brings 20 years’ experience to this role, beginning with the people‐centred Tavistock Centre School of Facilitation and continuing his development through to his latest success of being certified as a Laughter Yoga Facilitator in August of this year. Believing that commitment to facilitation is a commitment to lifelong learning, Gary is ideally suited for the professional development part of the team’s responsibilities. Gary has worked at a national and international level in the public, private and voluntary sectors as an internal and external facilitator. He has designed and led a major organisational and cultural change program in the public sector; and designed and facilitated large planning and change conferences using Future Search and Open Space Technology. He has been involved in planning and facilitating multi‐agency conferences and meaningful partnerships in the delicate field of local, national and international politics. On behalf of the UK’s Foreign Office, he has worked: • In Russia with the government and militia
on democratisation processes following glasnost and perestroika
• With the Polish Government on its application to join the European Union (EU)
• With the UK Permanent Representation to the EU team to prepare for the UK’s EU presidency
• With the United Nations in New York and at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in South Africa
• With facilitators in Slovenia advising the team managing the large group referendum meetings surrounding entry into the EU and NATO
• With the UK Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit developing the emerging approach to violent and alcohol related crime; and
• With the Glencree Foundation for Long term Peace in Northern Ireland, and the Association of Chief Police Officers in IT developments for the 2012 Olympics.
Gary has contributed to many professional publications including Group Facilitation – the Research and Applications Journal of the IAF. He has spoken at conferences in North America and across Europe about facilitation, personal development and change.
Photo courtesy of Gary Purser
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Visioning sessions that allow you to share your ideas of future irections for IAF have been part of many recent IAF regional conferences. Simon Wilson facilitated such a session in Asia earlier this year, and worked with us to hold an informal session for IAF Europe members during the 2008 conference. We focused on two questions: • What would you like to see IAF Europe do over the next year?
• What can you contribute to IAF Europe over the next year?
Our summary includes comments received by email and those provided at the conference. As we have shortened some comments; please let us know if we changed what you meant, so we can correct it. On behalf of our new team, thank you for sharing your ideas. IAF Europe Team • Make a smooth transition to the new
Regional Team • Clarify team roles, responsibilities and
ensure transparent working • Build on Jim Campbellʹs work.
Members Services/IAF Promotion • Maintain services to at least the same
quality (e.g. newsletter, methods, professional development pamphlet)
• Continue membership expansion • Support local affiliation networks and have
contact person responsible to support these networks.
• Support local networks more • Expand more in Central and Eastern
Europe, to promote IAF activities, mission and values so facilitation is clearer as a profession there.
• Spread more in some regions and countries • Link to national contributions about
facilitation and IAF (courses and events) • Negotiated discounts of facilitation material
and/or courses for members. • Facilitation information database
Professional Development • Build up higher education qualifications
through universities • Have a CPF conference and invite potential
CPF “users” • Create incentives for becoming CPF • Continue and develop the Accreditation
scheme • Keep posting facilitation tools monthly, if
possible, or quarterly. • Inform facilitators of conferences, education
opportunities, etc.. • Promote translation of relevant books into
languages other than English.
Your ideas for IAF Europe
in 2009
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• Push initiatives, sharing models among Europe, invite to publish
• A mentoring system for potential CPFs – or at least contact points to discuss suitability/more information.
• More CPF assessment dates. • Possibility to observe/be involved as
participant at CPF assessment event to see if skills are up to standards.
• Less focus on the conference – more balance required e.g. with profession development
Conferences • Run successful IAF Europe Conference • One conference per year only with
everything included, venue self‐contained, so no distractions
• Ensure knowledge re how to run conferences is not lost
• Pass on the conference learning to IAF generally.
• Document IAF conference on the web – pictures; program; list of workshops and participants; short summary‐ for promotion (look, I have been there…it was great).
• Focus on conference advertising
Employment/Contracting • Influence EU institutions on facilitation
procurement in member states. • Lobby EU institutions re CPF as a standard
Communications • More regular communication between
conferences – newsletter quarterly – quick update
• Monthly method • Information about events so people can
support each other. • Interactive map of where people will be
working • “Linked‐in” networks • Improve communications at all levels. • A place on the IAF Europe website where
IAF members can publish open facilitation courses and dates.
• Send messages with links to communities • Look into RSS to notify. • Keywords “facilitation”, “moderation” in
different languages to find the IAF website via Google.
• Promotion: articles, conference announcements in regional “newspapers”, on other conferences, links…main topic could be the IAF conference
What can you contribute to IAF Europe over the next year?
• Volunteer to support each other • “Classified ads” on line about forthcoming
activities • Newsletter articles • Ask people what “facilitation” means in
your language/culture. • Knowledge of online social network or a
blog where everyone could post. • Promote profession and IAF values locally,
with help of IAF Europe.
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• Assist and help in the translation work of selected material and books.
• Willing to contribute at local and European level in marketing and public relations.
• Explore possibility of creating association in Italy, linked to IAF
• Contribute other articles • Improve my practise and studies • Would be glad to help if I knew what was
needed.
We are delighted to welcome the following new members who joined the International Association of Facilitators during October.
• Kees Kranenburg, Netherlands • Helga Hartman‐Wall, Germany • Ragnar Kayser, Norway • Are Sangolt, Norway • Trude Gustavsen, Norway • Inger Lise Angelskaar, Norway • Agathe Bjerknes Dahl, Norway • Anne Eide, Norway • Kari Steinsland, Norway • Ole Astveit, Norway • Yvonne Toft Kvamme Bergum,Norway • Grethe Selland, Norway • Per‐Oivind Andreassen, Norway • Anette Brochmann Skov, Denmark • Christer Kjorsvik, Norway • Hanne Lauridsen Mutze, Denmark • Monica K. Rimestad, Norway • Radu Moraru, Romania • Peter Döring, Germany • Terés Salmi, Sweden • Pippa Hyam, UK • Sandra Macaskill, UK • Julie Davies, UK • Ash Kuloo, UK • Jane O’Byrne, UK • Stephen Mitchell, UK • Heather Williams, UK • Edith MacQuarrie, UK • Catherine Francis, UK • Ewa Skalska, Poland • Cheryl Harvey, UK
We are equally delighted to welcome back IAF members who renewed their
Welcome new and returning members,
October 2008
AN UPDATE: Your ideas were very helpful when the IAF Europe team met in Manchester November 7-9 for a planning session. A detailed report will appear in the December Newsletter. In the mean-time, please note that the new IAF Europe website and blog will be operational soon.
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memberships during October: • Lars Borgmann, Denmark • Viv Collie, UK • Jeremy Wyatt, UK • James Traeger, UK • James Newkirk, Serbia • Cyril Perrier, Belgium • Jeroen Geradts, Netherlands • Hilda Mwathi, Austria • Sarah Clark, Switzerland • Annina van Logtestijn, Netherlands • Susan Ward, United Arab Emirates • Bart Segers, Netherlands • Jimmy Browne, UK • Lain Burgos‐Lovece, UK • Katherine Woods, UK • Wolfgang Schmitz, Vanuatu • Han Verhoeven, Netherlands • Sylvia Maria Erlings, Netherlands • Christine Wank, Germany • Reinhard Kuchenmueller, Italy
Warmest congratulations to Dutch facilitators Jeroen Blijsie, CPF, and Annet Noordik, CPF, on the publication of their book,
Hartelijk Gefaciliteerd, by Kluwer. The book was launched at a celebration held on October 7, 2008. The title cannot really be translated into
English, Jeroen explains. “In Dutch, ‘Hartelijk gefeliciteerd’ means ‘Congratulations’. We have changed this expression into ‘Hartelijk gefaciliteerd’ (pay attention to the slightly different spelling of the second word). ‘Hartelijk’ means literally ‘from the heart’, and that is what we want to express in the title. Real facilitation comes from the heart and is about the heart or core of the organization: the people that work in it.” Jeroen and Annet have made the organization and facilitation of workshops accessible and easier to do. In the six chapters, they address the power of the workshop, workshop techniques, facilitator competencies (based on the IAF standards), group dynamics and describe three extended practical cases. In their workshop approach they distinguish five steps: Orientation, Preparation, Facilitation, Recording of the results and Follow up. For each step, they describe the key
In Print
Jeroen Blijsie and Annet Noordik at the launch of their book October 7, 2008. Photo by Bart de Rijk.
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issues, give tips and address the most important pitfalls for the facilitator. Steps are summarized on a bookmarker checklist. The DVD contains 100 minutes of inspiring
interviews with the authors and their clients, demonstration of workshop techniques and things worth knowing about workshop facilitation. For more details (in Dutch), see the book website. The book and DVD can be ordered from Kluwer. Facilitative Coaching: A Toolkit for Ex‐panding Your Repertoire and Achieving Lasting Results, by Dale Schwarz and Anne Davidson
Offers over 70 exercises, tips and tools for expanding the coachʹs repertoire, and step‐by‐step guidance on how to use them. Based on the Skilled Facilitator model de‐veloped by Roger Schwarz, and published in the USA by Pfeiffer, the book can be pur‐chased in Euros from Wiley.
Experiences of Change Agents UK facilitator Penny Walker presented a paper exploring the experiences of organizational change agents, particularly emotional responses
to the size of the change challenge, at the annual Colloquium of the European Academy of Busi‐ness in Society. Held at Cranfield University Sep‐tember 10‐12, 2008, the Colloquium focused on ʺCorporate Responsibility & Sustainability ‐ Lead‐ership and Organisational Changeʺ. The paper was based on Penny’s original research.
ABOUT THE NEWSLETTER The IAF Europe Newsletter is published monthly by the IAF Europe Regional Team for members of the International Association of Facilitators living within Europe. Editor: Rosemary Cairns Design: Christian Grambow Contributors: Gary Austin, Jeroen Blisjie, Peter Coesmans, Carolien de Monchy, Martin Gilbraith, Sieg‐linde Hinger, Erik Kijne, Joy Kuhl, Gary Purser, Markus Püttmann, Dave Rees, Terés Salmi, Barbara Spronck, Crystal Thieringer, and Alina Tuhutiu‐Crisan. Your contributions to your Newsletter are most welcome. For December’s newsletter, submissions are requested by Nov. 28, 2008, to Newsletter at [email protected]. Our blog will be operational soon so you can post news items between Newsletters.