Welcome to the Facilitate It blog! (January 2026) If you’re interested in facilitation , process design, capacity building and learning , you’re in the right place.  Our passion is exploring and sharing insights, resources and support in these areas. Why are some meetings, work events and processes so engaging and successful, and some are so tedious and disappointing? Different people have different answers to that question, unique to each experience. WHAT WORKS? In p

Developed over four decades, it ensures purposeful meetings and events, and supports smooth collaboration for sustainable results.   It replaces simpler, linear checklists with a dynamic, organic model designed for engagement, co-facilitation and impact.  Discover how to design and facilitate processes that are as naturally elegant and effective as a nautilus shell.  

Navigating unwritten pressures Photo by Mariola Grobels (UNSPLASH) Introduction:  Your TOR vs your ‘real job’ as an expert facilitator   You may be contracted to design and facilitate an event or process, or be assigned a key role as an internal staff person.  Most parts of facilitation Terms of Reference (TOR) are matched to specific deliverables:  a concept note, an agenda and session plans, an evaluation strategy, facilitation of a process. Through 40+ years of consultanc

Introduction With our planet in trouble and our lives under stress from many sides, finding balance and equilibrium can be a challenge. Sometimes we lose the energy to “kick at the darkness ‘til it bleeds daylight”, as Canadian musician Bruce Cockburn sang.  When that energy flags, I’ve learned to seek sources of thoughtful reflection and good news that reset my perspective.  These help me peek above doom and gloom, like a meerkat.  As a facilitator, this regularly regained p

Photo by Hassaan here on UNSPLASH Introduction A separate post introduces nine client system pressures that can be part of the facilitation landscape, typically in the background although sometimes visible in the foreground as well. Shadow facilitation challenges are often not within your direct control as a facilitator. Client system pressures exist and will show themselves in different ways. Key capacity goals are to anticipate, recognize and prepare as best you can to ma

Introduction to the tactical series on faciltiating nine client system pressures that can weaken a process.

Photo by Johnny Gios on UNSPLASH Introduction A facilitator is often thought of as a moderator or process manager rather than a change agent. But the relationship between facilitation and change raises a more fundamental question: why are you facilitating? If you’re not facilitating to support a change, you may be moving pieces around without a strong purpose—or, in emergencies, helping rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic. This post explores the relationship between fac

Introduction What does it mean to be excellent at facilitation?   Unlike a static skill or single competence, facilitation excellence is dynamic - like a kaleidoscope pattern.   The core dimensions of the role recombine into a unique form for each event, group and purpose.  This means excellence is both context-specific and pattern-based.  Photo by  Malcolm Lightbody  on  Unsplash Purpose is the compass:  results are the lodestar Purpose and goal-level results are at the hear

Photo by Randy Fath on UNSPLASH Introduction   How do you facilitate collaboration among groups with a history of competition and siloed work, faced with a change challenge?   A set of lessons from experience are: get people to work together, rather than talk at each other – minimize passive listening use engaging methods and techniques in a designed logical series of incremental steps focus on results of collective benefit – iteratively review progress towards those results.

Introduction Welcome to the three-series post on aristocracy of the capable in relation to process facilitation. What happens when people assigned to run a process aren’t the ones who can, or should?  The core idea is that facilitation is strongest and supports the most successful processes when it draws on everyone in the room.  Post 1 introduces the approach (below).  Post 2 offers practical methods for extending your co-facilitation team to participants.  Post 3 pulls back

Extending a co-facilitation team to include participants Introduction  A separate post introduces the concept of “an aristocracy of the capable” as it applies to facilitation of events and processes.  (Link to INSIGHTS page of facilitateit.ca .)  This post explores how the approach to facilitation taken by a lead facilitator can open scope to include capable participants.  The goals are to: tap into the widest “aristocracy of the capable” for process management from both the

Introduction We’ve all been in that meeting:  hours spent, tangents taken, silent dissenters, no decisions made, and a sinking feeling of time wasted.    The problem isn’t usually a lack of ideas, commitment or good intentions.  What’s missing is disciplined facilitation.    What can happen without discipline facilitation (AI Image Generator) Looking for the heart of facilitation So, what is facilitation?  Is a facilitator a meeting manager? A mediator? A trainer? The role is

Managing time is a contradiction or oxymoron.  Time doesn’t lend itself to being managed.  We have to manage our plans and ourselves around the time available. Time management is a constant facilitation challenge.

Meeting and event space matters A meeting space must actively support your goals and plans for fully successful facilitation. Sometimes you won’t have options.  But where you do, these tips on what to watch for can help you avoid some of the toughest challenges.

Part 2 of the series: Preparing for power and politics in group dynamics 2.1.A MANAGE UPWARDS as part of facilitation Photo by Marlis Trio Akbar (UNSPLASH) Introduction In our last posts in this series, we named nine shadow pressures from client systems that facilitators face. This blog tackles the two that relate directly to power and hierarchy:  the pressures to agree with the boss (pressure 1) and exempt senior figures (pressure 3).  Topics:  How to use a private briefin

Part 2 of the series: Preparing for power and politics in group dynamics 2.1.B MANAGE OUTWARD - ENSURE EQUITY IN THE ROOM Image by Budha Elemental 3D (UNSPLASH) Introduction Our last posts provided insights and tips on managing upwards to address client system facilitation challenges.  This one focuses on managing outward – ensuring equity in the room. Two client system pressures apply, dividing the blog into two parts:  Accommodate dominant voices:   allow disproportionate a

When Image Outweighs Honesty Introduction This post addresses two shadow pressures where organizational survival instincts clash with process integrity, the need to: make the organization look good; protect the image and emphasize a positive narrative over honest and often messy dialogue (pressure 2 of 9) affirm success to external stakeholders; downplay weaknesses to maintain funding or political support (pressure 7). These pressures often lead to spin over substance, ris

Resist Pressure to Prioritize Applause Over Results Introduction The tactical series on shadow facilitation addresses a range of client system pressures that facilitators and event organizers may need to manage and which typically do not appear in a job description or terms of reference for facilitation support. The focus of this post is resisting pressure to prioritize applause over results, praise over substance. Introduction A common shadow pressure tempts us to confuse a

Introduction The tactical series on shadow facilitation covers nine client system pressures that facilitators may experience outside of their formal job descriptions and TORs. Earlier posts covered managing upwards and outwards, navigating organizational options, and helping groups prioritize results over appluase. This post focuses on some of the challenges of curating contributions in support of purpose and sharing responsibility appropriately for event and process succes