The Center for Human Systems PRESENTS

The Art of Group Facilitation

A Practice-Based Program Featuring Michael F. Broom, Ph.D.

”Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.“ —Margaret Mead

ACTION ORIENTED, SKILL FOCUSED

High levels of organizational productivity only occur through groups of people working in alignment and cooperation. We call such groups teams. In addition, significant change in organizations only occurs through the collective and aligned action of such teams. Groups—people working together—are the fundamental units of human systems: organizations, families, and communities. Yet, so many teams and groups function at levels well below that which can maintain and sustain significant levels of productivity and that can create significant change. People are needed who can help groups become engines of significant productivity and change as needed. People—leaders, consultants, and facilitators—are needed who are able to focus the intellectual, emotional, physical and energy of groups toward effective and powerful accomplishment. The Art of Group Facilitation focuses on developing such skills.

PRACTICE, PRACTICE, AND MORE PRACTICE!

Intentionality, Connectivity, Ego Management, and Focused Listening are four focal points of the program.

• Intentionality around the task that need to be accomplished at personal, interpersonal, and group levels.
• Connectivity is the essence of teamwork as it is the essence of how skilled leaders, consultants, and facilitators connect with their followers and participants.
• Ego Management so that our neediness and that of others need not interfere with our work.
• Focused Listening so that we will know how and when to be helpful.

The ability to maintain intentionality at all levels, to develop connectivity between and among the group’s members, to manage our egos and theirs, and to listen so that we know what to do is critical to effective team leadership and group facilitation. Doing all four with skill and consistency will be supported through practice, practice, and more practice. With practice participants will be able to turn dysfunction groups into powerful and efficient teams! Academc knowledge of group dynamics is one thing; skill in creating powerful team action is entirely something else. The latter is the focus of the Art of Group Facilitation.

THE PROGRAM

The Art of Group Facilitation focuses on developing your group skills to levels that will dramatically enhance the skills needed to create effective, highly productive teams that are without the waste of power struggles, personality conflicts, and the like. Accordingly, the Meta-Model of Planned Change will be a significant part of the conceptual background of the program. It emphasizes eight disciplines of planned change including conscious use of self, systemic thinking, support systems, infinite power, learning from differences, sound and current data, feedback, empowerment.

In the program you will:

• Learn how to make effective contracts and agreements between and among the team leader and team members.
• Learn how to build responsibility into a team so that the team itself manages accountability for the behavior of its members.
• Develop the skill in seeing a team as a system and make interventions that will impact the team as a whole.
• Learn how to maintain the focus and moderate the pace of groups.
• Work with conflict and differences so that they become sources of learning and synergy rather than sources of adversity and hostility.
• Learn how to identify, surface, and resolve hidden agendas and other “dysfunctional” group behavior.
• Work with emotions effectively—your own and those in the group.
• Develop the skills of listening “deeply” for individual and group concerns.
• Learn how to consciously use one&squo;s self—in contrast to behaving habitually— to move a group toward collaboration and task accomplishment.
• Deepen understanding of the relationship between “process” and task and improve skills around managing both.

THE FORMAT

This NTL-type program uses theory, group discussion, experiential exercises, introspection, meditations, coaching, and practice, practice, practice to enhance team-building and facilitation skills in ways that will be immediately useful.

Although each day has an agenda they are flexible to allow it to be shaped by the needs participants as expressed and as demonstrated.

The participants will meet for three consecutive days each month over three months. See the actual dates below.

One-on-on coaching for each participant will be a core part of the program outside of group sessions.

THE PARTICIPANTS

The program will be limited to only ten participants to assure depth of learning. The program works best with participants interested in intensive learning, self-discipline, introspection, and, of course, improving their group skills. Executives, managers, team leaders, organization development consultants, retreat facilitators will all benefit from this program.

THE PROGRAM DIRECTOR

Michael F. Broom, Ph.D. has been consulting internally and externally for over 30 years with all types of organizations— profit, not–for–profit, and government. He is currently on the Board of the national OD Network and has served on the Board of the NTL Institute and chaired its Transformative Social Change Committee. He has been on the adjunct faculties of Johns Hopkins, Georgetown and American Universities. In 2001, he founded the Center for Human Systems (www.ChumanS.com) which also sponsors the Practitioners Programs in Columbia, Maryland, Philadelphia, and San Francisco as well as the Triple Impact Leadership program in Anchorage, AK. He is the co-author with Don Klein of Power: The Infinite Game and sole author of The Infinite Organization published Sept. 2002.

DETAILS

When: Febuary 18 – 20, March 17 - 19, 2007, and April 28 – 30,

Where: Anchorage, AK

Class Size: maximum 10 participants.

Tuition: $3100.00. Payment plans are available as needed. A few partial scholarships may be available for those needing such support. There will be no tuition refunds.

Deposit: A $500.00 non-refundable deposit should be submitted at the time of application. Any balance must be paid before the beginning of the first session unless other arrangements have been agreed to.

PAYMENT OPTIONS

• Click to Register and pay on-line using our secure process.
• Register and pay by mail. Make checks out and mail to: Center for Human Systems, 10628 High Beam Court, Columbia, Maryland 21044
• Federal Tax ID #52-1624581

CONTACT

Michael Broom, 410 730-1601, michael@chumans.com, with questions and registration materials