storytelling

We forgot the chili. (Everyday lessons for facilitation and strategic planning)

barbara pedersen business, business planning, consulting, Conversation, design, Dialogue, Discussion, facilitation, holidays, in-person facilitation, lessons, Life Work Balance, nature, outdoors, Planning, process, Simplicity, stories, storytelling, strategic planning, summer

My husband and I have camped and hiked for five decades in mountains, prairies, and woodlands. We’ve stayed in backpacking tents, tent trailers, and motorhomes. We consider ourselves experienced campers. Yet a few small mistakes on a recent three-day camping

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“If we hadn’t done that, I couldn’t have done this.”

barbara pedersen business, business planning, collaboration, complexity, consulting, Conversation, Discussion, facilitation, in-person facilitation, Inclusion, lessons, listening, online facilitation, Planning, process, reading, Simplicity, storytelling, strategic planning, team building, team work, Visual facilitation

“That” was a Historical Scan activity; “this” was goal setting during a strategic planning session. The individual who said this pointed to the wall chart showing four decades of their nonprofit organization’s history and said that knowing their history helped

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Oops. A facilitator’s mishap is a good reminder that I can adapt

barbara pedersen business, collaboration, complexity, consulting, Conversation, design, Dialogue, Discussion, Diversity, facilitation, Fun, hybrid sessions, in-person facilitation, Inclusion, listening, nonprofit, online facilitation, Planning, process, Simplicity, storytelling, strategic planning, team building, team work, virtual, virtual facilitation, Visual facilitation

I enjoy successfully facilitating strategic planning, team building, conflict resolution, idea generation, focus groups, and other sessions. To keep things balanced, here’s my recent facilitation blooper and a timely reminder. I arrived at a hotel for a 1½-day, in-person strategic

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barbara pedersen business, business planning, collaboration, community, complexity, consulting, Conversation, design, Dialogue, Discussion, Diversity, facilitation, feedback, fierce conversations, hybrid sessions, in-person facilitation, Inclusion, intersectionality, listening, online facilitation, Planning, process, Simplicity, storytelling, strategic planning, Talking, team building, team work, Trends, virtual facilitation, Visual facilitation

This week, an organization I worked with most recently in 2021 asked me to facilitate a strategic planning process. This opportunity, coming from the success of a project four years ago, made me reflect on my approaches with clients. Here

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