Eventually we’re going to have to figure out how to talk to, deal with, and work with people that we don’t agree with or maybe even don’t like very much. That’s going to require (re)developing a skillset that feels like we’re losing. I’m seeing more being written about the need ...
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Working with the public and facilitating groups, especially oftentimes upset people, isn’t for the faint of heart – it takes courage, and courage requires confidence. For most healthy people, I think confidence can ebb and flow; it isn’t an absolute constant, and sometimes, when confidence is a little low it’s ...
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Good issue and stakeholder assessments are key to planning and executing effective public participation projects. The more we really know about the issues and nuances and the more we learn about the people who will be or think they’ll be affected by some action or plan, the more we’ll understand ...
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Spoiler alert: Although it wasn’t intended to be, I see this next piece of research as a pretty good argument for skillful facilitation. The social dynamics of the groups seem to be the root cause. This only references one study from Virginia Tech, so take it for what it’s worth, ...
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Most people working in public service come to it with advanced degrees. They’ve usually learned a specific way of presenting factual information and arguments. That scientific method works great for scoring good grades but not so much for public presentations and documents. Leading with the main point is important. If ...
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If you’re ‘lucky’ enough to deal with public confrontations and tough meetings in your work, you know that managing your own emotions and reactions is one of the challenges of the facilitation profession. I hope you’ll find the following useful....
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Most meetings and hearings are naturally scheduled evenings when more people are available, which makes perfect sense most of the time. Some time ago it was decided that most government organizations can’t spend taxpayer dollars on even basic refreshments for people who come to these meetings – the ubiquitous cookies ...
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Government agencies are supposed to be the epitome of how a society organizes and authorizes things to be done for the common good, which, although necessary, easily gets out of hand, intimidates constituents, sometimes feels very arrogant and really ticks people off. So one of the dozens of things that ...
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