As a facilitator, you are probably dealing with
people and organisations experiencing major and rapid change, over-scheduling
and increased pressure to perform in a volatile, uncertain, complex and
ambiguous environment. This leads to stress, poor decision making, lack of
clarity, anxiety, and other negative impacts.
While the practice of Mindfulness has been
around for centuries, it has surged in popularity in recent years with highly
regarded institutions such as Harvard, Monash and Melbourne Universities
developing clinical studies showing that people who spend more time being
mindful tend to experience clearer, more focused thinking, improved memory
and attention, and heightened performance and achievement.
Mindful Cooking™ is one the most effective ways
to teach us to pay attention by using food as the object of meditation. It’s
not about clearing the mind, but rather learning to gently bring our
attention to the task at hand or the food in front of us. By having a
mind-body experience, participants have better chance to integrate and embody
the teachings they can use in their daily lives, and use every meal as an
opportunity to practice and remind themselves to be in the here and now as
opposed to being distracted, stressed or overwhelmed.
Mindful Cooking™ helps train the mind and
develop a sense of patience and appreciation. It’s also an opportunity to get
back in touch not only with the food you eat but with every action you take
in life.
Although we won’t be cooking at this workshop,
the interaction with the food provided is designed to introduce you to a
mindfulness toolkit that you can use in helping groups become more aware of
the beliefs and preconceptions that color and distort their perception of
reality, by opening them up to the possibility of seeing things and other
people clearly, as they are, without the lens of stories and expectations.
You will walk away feeling calmer and more
relaxed, with ideas about creating quiet and still environments in which
people can observe and reflect on their own thoughts and behaviours,and tips
about how you personally can become more self-aware, less reactive, and develop
a greater ability to focus and enjoy life in general.
About Lina Mbirkou
Lina
Mbirkou is a corporate wellbeing consultant, an intuitive
chef and a certified yoga and meditation teacher, who is blending her
extensive Moroccan culinary experience with proven stress reduction
techniques to provide a taste of what mindfulness is and make it a delicious
part of daily life.
Lina
Mbirkou has an MBA and a Master of Commerce and has pursued a corporate and
academic career in Marketing and Communication before launching “Mindful
Cooking” in 2015 to share her love for creativity, mind-body connection and
good food…
She will
be offering a highly experiential one-day workshop in Sydney on the 26th June. This is an opportunity to deepen and extend your skills in facilitating
mindfulness while learning to cook and enjoy an amazing Moroccan feast!
For more information, please contact Lina on 04
66 322 399, by e-mail on lina@mindfulcooking.com.au
or visit mindfulcooking.com.au
You can
find out more about Lina here and visit her website here
Venue: University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Jones Street, Ultimo corner Thomas Street. Room 5.580 Level 5, Building 10, Take the lift to level 5, cross the atrium footbridge, walk straight ahead to room 580.
Time:
From 5:30pm to 7:30pm sharp | No RSVP - Just turn up | Donation $5
|
Community of Practice | Established 1992
29 April 2016
‘How to be more creative and more centered with Mindful Cooking™’ with Lina Mbirkou | Monday May 9, 2016 | 5.30pm
31 March 2016
Talking about Tough Issues, with the OBREAU Tripod with Don Dunoon | Monday April 11, 2016 | 5.30pm
As a facilitator, you’ll almost certainly
find yourself dealing with tough issues, those that are prickly, messy, perceived
differently by stakeholders, and often with a degree of heat attached. This
workshop is designed to introduce you to a toolkit that you can use in helping
groups and individuals converse about such issues productively. You’ll likely
also find the method helpful in getting ready to talk about issues of concern
to you, personally.
A proposition to be examined is that three
default behaviour patterns tend to get in the way of effective conversations on
tough issues: reacting to new information and experience, judging others
negatively, and “dancing around” (side-stepping, smoothing over) difficult
aspects.
The OBREAU Tripod is a counterweight to
these default behaviours. “OBREAU” refers to three practices:
- Working from OBservation (noticing as far as possible prior to interpreting)
- Attributing REasonableness (allowing that others are reasonable)
- Speakingwith AUthenticity (saying what is true for you while keeping connections with observation and reasonableness).
· The OBREAU Tripod can be applied in a
variety of settings; for example, in supporting large group dialogue, executive
coaching, and in leadership, team and culture development initiatives. The
Tripod can provide a light structure to aid the emergence of greater clarity
and shared meaning with virtually any multi-faceted issue.
In this session, we will apply the OBREAU
Tripod as a large group in considering an issue, possibly a corporate
controversy that has received recent press coverage. As well – and as far as
possible within the limited time available – participants will be able to try
out the OBREAU Tripod in helping them think through a thorny issue that matters
to them personally, and discuss the results with colleagues.
You will walk away with ideas about
enabling and facilitating more productive conversations, about creating safe
environments in which people can speak up, and about how you, personally, can
strengthen your own ability to engage effectively with others on tough issues.
About Don
Dunoon
As an
independent consultant, Don Dunoon has over 20 years’ leadership and
organisational development experience. He is the author of In the Leadership Mode (Trafford, 2008), a book that frames
leadership – as distinct from management – in terms of interventions to build
shared meaning and elicit energy for change with contentious issues. He is the
author of articles in international journals including one with acclaimed
Harvard mindfulness researcher, Dr. Ellen Langer. Don is also developer of the
OBREAU Tripod.
He will
be offering a highly experiential one-day workshop, Facilitating Conversations for Shared Meaning on Tough Issues, in
Sydney on 10th June. This is an opportunity to deepen and extend your skills in
facilitating in contexts where people are dealing with issues they feel
strongly about, particularly in helping groups move toward common
understandings (as distinct from technical solutions) and in fostering group
and individual development.
University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Jones Street, Ultimo corner Thomas Street. Room 5.580 Level 5, Building 10, Take the lift to level 5, cross the atrium footbridge, walk straight ahead to room 580.
Time:
From 5:30pm to 7:30pm sharp | No RSVP - Just turn up | Donation $5
Follow-up from our March session: Output materials
At the end of our March session (which was really good!) our guest facilitators, Maria & Richard Maguire, committed to typing up the output from the session.
Richard & Maria also typed up some comments and insights from the session and also some information if you are curious to learn more about the Technology of Participation (ToP).
1. Most people seemed to be amazed how quickly the group was able to put together their extensive brainstorm into a common picture and discern major directions in which we are working towards a more collaborative, just and sustainable society, already now and in the future. The diagram in the bottom right corner shows that the group had a strong sense that truth and integrity are essential for all that we do, especially at this time, and has centre stage for change in other areas. The two top circles indicate that they saw enabling future vision and action as fundamental for impact. The elements on the bottom of the diagram highlight four major directions for supporting this to happen: Ensuring a safe space and affirming diversity, thinking outside the box, sharing stories and using multiple approaches and sensory experiences.
2. In real situations participants would further discuss their first chart to reveal insights and might make slight adjustments about where to place the individual cards. Conversations might surface intriguing implications for many areas and new ideas in answer to the initial question or topic that could be added to as appropriate. The "Consensus Workshop" process of the Technology of Participation (ToP) is structured as well as fluent to capture ideas and decisions at the time. It supports cooperative thinking and action at any level of personal and group development and is best used on an ongoing basis. Anyone can learn to use it beneficially by themselves or with a group. The facilitator is challenged to trust the people and the method and help the group see connections beyond separate parts and create an integrated picture of the situation they are focusing on (the title of topic of the workshop)
3. We have used this and many other processes of the Technology of Participation (ToP) for several decades in our consulting and training work, for change management tasks, strategic planning, conflict resolution and life directions, often in combination with other tools and techniques and are still offering both training and consulting. You can also learn more from books such as "Winning through Participation" by Laura Spencer, "The Workshop book" or "The Art of Focused Conversations" both by Brian Stanfield or "Transformational Strategy" by Bill Staples (the latter is available as a pdf through
2. In real situations participants would further discuss their first chart to reveal insights and might make slight adjustments about where to place the individual cards. Conversations might surface intriguing implications for many areas and new ideas in answer to the initial question or topic that could be added to as appropriate. The "Consensus Workshop" process of the Technology of Participation (ToP) is structured as well as fluent to capture ideas and decisions at the time. It supports cooperative thinking and action at any level of personal and group development and is best used on an ongoing basis. Anyone can learn to use it beneficially by themselves or with a group. The facilitator is challenged to trust the people and the method and help the group see connections beyond separate parts and create an integrated picture of the situation they are focusing on (the title of topic of the workshop)
3. We have used this and many other processes of the Technology of Participation (ToP) for several decades in our consulting and training work, for change management tasks, strategic planning, conflict resolution and life directions, often in combination with other tools and techniques and are still offering both training and consulting. You can also learn more from books such as "Winning through Participation" by Laura Spencer, "The Workshop book" or "The Art of Focused Conversations" both by Brian Stanfield or "Transformational Strategy" by Bill Staples (the latter is available as a pdf through
Some pieces are on our website, hopefully added to in the near future. For training through us and others or related info please call us on 02 9896 3839 or 9896 3904).
10 March 2016
‘Liberating Facilitation: How our facilitation can contribute to a more participatory, just and sustainable society’ with Maria & Richard Maguire | Monday 14th Mar 2016
The Facilitators Network exists to give opportunities for participants to continually, generously and honestly share experiences, processes and learnings to increase their effectiveness in this growing field of work.
Most of us chose facilitation not primarily for its financial benefit but because it makes sense and is needed in more and more settings. Some of us experience ourselves and notice in others a growing dissatisfaction with aspects of our current social-political and economic systems. As facilitators many of us do not only want to do a great facilitation job on every occasion but also make a difference regarding the big issues of our time, such as economic inequality, social and ideological conflicts and environmental degradation.
Many of us are committed to participation and inclusion and wonder how to grow our effect towards a more just, sustainable and even joyful society.
This highly participatory workshop “Liberating Facilitation” will bring together our individual and collective wisdom on what we are already doing in our facilitation work or have seen others doing that releases change in such direction.
You will go home with a product that affirms what you already do, encourages you to try out additional small or big steps and with a process to successfully use in many situations in your life and work.
You will experience a method of the Technology of Participation (ToP) which you can explore further through books and trainings offered through Unfolding Futures and others. The 300 page book from 2014 by Bill Staples "Transformational Strategy- Facilitation of ToP Participatory Planning" is available as an E-Book for US$3.99 at
About Maria and Richard Maguire
Maria and Richard Maguire are directors of Unfolding Futures, a company focused on facilitation and leadership development in its consultancies and training. They founded the Sydney Facilitators Network as a community of practice in 1992 and guided it for 12 years. For 30 plus years they have worked with many organisations in government, business and community in Australia, and previously in Europe and the USA, with stints in so-called developing nations. They have always understood their work and company as a “social enterprise, a market based venture with social aims” for all involved. After achieving financial independence they increasingly have supported or initiated community organisations to extend their impact and cooperation to create common good and received awards as community leaders.
Venue:
University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Jones Street, Ultimo corner Thomas Street. Room 5.580 Level 5, Building 10, Take the lift to level 5, cross the atrium footbridge, walk straight ahead to room 580.
Most of us chose facilitation not primarily for its financial benefit but because it makes sense and is needed in more and more settings. Some of us experience ourselves and notice in others a growing dissatisfaction with aspects of our current social-political and economic systems. As facilitators many of us do not only want to do a great facilitation job on every occasion but also make a difference regarding the big issues of our time, such as economic inequality, social and ideological conflicts and environmental degradation.
Many of us are committed to participation and inclusion and wonder how to grow our effect towards a more just, sustainable and even joyful society.
This highly participatory workshop “Liberating Facilitation” will bring together our individual and collective wisdom on what we are already doing in our facilitation work or have seen others doing that releases change in such direction.
You will go home with a product that affirms what you already do, encourages you to try out additional small or big steps and with a process to successfully use in many situations in your life and work.
You will experience a method of the Technology of Participation (ToP) which you can explore further through books and trainings offered through Unfolding Futures and others. The 300 page book from 2014 by Bill Staples "Transformational Strategy- Facilitation of ToP Participatory Planning" is available as an E-Book for US$3.99 at
About Maria and Richard Maguire
Maria and Richard Maguire are directors of Unfolding Futures, a company focused on facilitation and leadership development in its consultancies and training. They founded the Sydney Facilitators Network as a community of practice in 1992 and guided it for 12 years. For 30 plus years they have worked with many organisations in government, business and community in Australia, and previously in Europe and the USA, with stints in so-called developing nations. They have always understood their work and company as a “social enterprise, a market based venture with social aims” for all involved. After achieving financial independence they increasingly have supported or initiated community organisations to extend their impact and cooperation to create common good and received awards as community leaders.
Venue:
University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Jones Street, Ultimo corner Thomas Street. Room 5.580 Level 5, Building 10, Take the lift to level 5, cross the atrium footbridge, walk straight ahead to room 580.
Time:
From 5:30pm to 7:30pm sharp | No RSVP - Just turn up | Donation $5
28 January 2016
Facilitating YOU – Self Leadership for greater impact as a change agent with Godwin Vaz | Monday 8th Feb 2016
In this ‘VUCA’
age of constant change, the key to creating transformational change is You
– your awareness, adaptability and your True Self being expressed, supported
and continually expanded. If you have a desire to transform your results,
energy, relationships and/or more profoundly impact the systems you work in,
then this session will resonate.
Come and join in this stimulating,
interactive and thought-provoking session. We will experience and have a
conversation on the following themes:
· 3 core elements of self leadership and how they link to transformative
systems change
· What’s beyond the approaches of ‘happiness’, engineered change and
critical mass
· The importance of feeling lost and positively tapping into uncertainty
and chaos
· How to shift from driven, machine work to more energy and meaningful
success
This session will also be useful for
Senior Leaders, Transformational Change Agents, Senior Consultants, Visionary
Creatives, and Transformational Coaches and Trainers.
About the Facilitator:
Godwin Vaz has been exploring,
researching and working in the Transformational space for over 20 years. He has
worked on projects in 14 countries in the role of consultant, strategy and
culture advisor and executive coach. Some of his clients include Singapore
Airlines, Itau Bank (Brazil), Infosys, ANZ, Federal Express, McKinsey and Co.,
Oracle, Microsoft and many more. He has most recently been working with
senior government officials in Kenya and Ethiopia, developing their capability
in Transformational Leadership, Change Management and Culture Development, to
better achieve their country’s vision.
Godwin will be hosting a program on
transformational self leadership for change makers on 27 February 2016, in Sydney. The ‘Lead Your
Life’ workshop is an opportunity to experience Godwin’s unique and ‘chaordic’
Multidimensional Learning Systems™ (MLS™) methodology for sustaining
transformative change. You can find out more about him here
or visit his site here.
University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Jones Street, Ultimo corner Thomas Street. Room 5.580 Level 5, Building 10, Take the lift to level 5, cross the atrium footbridge, walk straight ahead to room 580.
Time:
From 5:30pm to 7:30pm sharp | No RSVP - Just turn up | Donation $5
3 December 2015
“Innovation Wildcard” | Monday December 14, 2015 | 5.30pm | With end-of-year social
Do you have a new idea to try out with a receptive audience?
Do you have a short process that you want to practice before you do it live with a client?
Have you been considering taking a guest facilitator spot but want to get some experience with the group first?
Do you have a short process that is energizing and fun?
All these and more are what wildcard is for. You can be guest facilitator on the night for between 5 and 20 minutes.
Typically there is time for around 6 short sessions.
Wildcards are for everyone no matter what the experience level. They are unpredictable, engaging and always fun.
Wildcards are a great way to experience a range of ideas and tools from a variety of different experiences.
Wildcard sessions are organized dynamically on the night. Just turn up with your idea.
Xmas Social:
Please join us for networking, conversation and laughter afterwards at the nearby, very economical Pho Mumum Vietnamese Restaurant, No 16 Broadway, Chippendale (opposite the Big UTS Tower). Average meal cost only$10. See review on Trip Advisor
Venue: [Our usual venue]
University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Jones Street, Ultimo corner Thomas Street. Room 5.580 Level 5, Building 10, Take the lift to level 5, cross the atrium footbridge, walk straight ahead to room 580.
Time:
From 5:30pm to 7:30pm sharp | No RSVP - Just turn up | Donation $5
Enquiries | Greg Jenkins; gregjenkins@yahoo.com ; 0418 486 501 | Eoin Higgins eoin.p.higgins@gmail.com ; 0407 411 684
29 October 2015
Listening to words, and imagining meanings with Dr Colin J Harrison | Monday November 09th at 5:30pm
NOTE: change to regular format
For this month's session we will be offering a slightly different format.In addition to our main session, we will offer a shorter session. This will allow greater flexibility to our members to share within the community.
To ensure we allow enough time for our facilitators we will begin a 5:30pm sharp!
Our main session will be:
Listening to words, and imagining meanings, with Dr Colin J Harrison
In this session Colin Harrison will attempt to push the boundaries of the practice of facilitation. Using his experience as a communications specialist, he will use a number of novel techniques to explore the dynamics of group communication. He also believes that it is easier to change ideas through leading behaviour than the other way around: the session will therefore be highly interactive, with theoretical framing left until a short debrief at the end. The session will be unusual, interesting and sensorially stimulating meaning that you will all go home mentally exhausted (and sleep well!)About Colin Harrison
Colin Harrison has worked as a university lecturer for nearly 20 years, predominantly in France. His academic background is in Ron Langacker’s Cognitive Grammar and Sydney Lamb’s Neurocognitive Linguistics (not NLP!) which are both frameworks for the analysis and understanding of human linguistic capacity grounded in perceptual psychology (CG) and connectionist neural networks (NCL).For more on Colin, see his website www.lucid8.com.au or to learn more about one of his upcoming workshops in Sydney CBD on 24th November go to http://ow.ly/TtfFi.
Our short session will be
"What's your voice telling about you?", with Michael Kelly
Why does your voice sound different on audio recording than when you normally speak?
In this short session Michael Kelly will tell you why you hear yourself differently to other people - and what you need to do, to understand what your voice is telling about you.
He will share two, simple powerful speaking techniques you can immediately use to upgrade your speaking impact
About Michael Kelly
Michael Kelly is the founder and director of Kelly
Speech Communication. He is a business pitch consultant, executive personal
communication coach and corporate communication consultant.
Michael is a leading body language and speech expert
and holds a Master of Science degree in speech pathology. He writes a weekly
blog post on all aspects of memorable listening, speaking and presenting.
His clients include iProspect, Commonwealth Bank and
The University of Sydney.
To get a preview of
Michael’s work here is link to his recent popular blog post analyzing the
speaking of PM Malcolm Turnbull.
http://kellyspeech.com.au/m-turnbull-people-will-believe-your-certainty/
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Venue: [Our usual venue]
University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Jones Street, Ultimo corner Thomas Street. Room 5.580 Level 5, Building 10, Take the lift to level 5, cross the atrium footbridge, walk straight ahead to room 580.
Time:
From 5:30pm to 7:30pm sharp | No RSVP - Just turn up |Donation $5
Enquiries | Greg Jenkins; gregjenkins@yahoo.com ; 0418 486 501 | Eoin Higgins eoin.p.higgins@gmail.com ; 0407 411 684
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