The “events” that can be transformed through facilitation are not limited to meetings or workshops. In fact, you may notice that as you begin to practice transformative facilitation in one area of your life, it will gradually find its way into other areas. This has certainly be true for me!

As one example, after having facilitated countless workshops and meetings for my work using this method, I joined the board of my son’s school. I quickly realized that our parent meetings would benefit from being less “top heavy,” and began working with the board to figure out how we could bring transformative facilitation into the meetings to improve engagement. I wouldn’t be writing this blog if it didn’t work. My advice? Keep an open mind as you think about where you might apply your transformative facilitation skills.

Action Item:  Here is a list of engagements that can benefit from transformative facilitation. As you read through the list, think about whether you participate in any of these types of gatherings, and put a check by those that you feel might benefit from a shift. Likewise, you can generate your own list of the events that you attend on a regular basis and think about which ones might benefit from this method.

Work- Related:

• One-on-one check-ins
• New hire orientations
• Annual staff evaluations
• Weekly/monthly staff meetings
• Team retreats
• Event planning
• Strategic planning meetings
• Volunteer orientations or trainings
• Board meetings

Personal:

• Parent-teacher conferences
• Family gatherings
• Clubs or hobby group classes or associations
• PTA meetings
• Religious group meetings
• Children’s club meetings (e.g. 4-H, Girl Scouts, Little League, etc.)

If you participate in any of these types of activities and want to increase engagement, positive outcomes, and everyone’s satisfaction while participating, then Transformational Facilitation might just be the ticket! It’s not just for meetings and workshops – it is a way of communicating and being together that works with all kinds of groups doing all kinds of activities. Try out some of the suggestions in this blog, and see for yourself.