Classes in this course are suitable for:Community Newcomers | Community Starters | Community Residents

Course Description

Facilitation is the practice of creating and holding structures and processes within which connection and decision-making can happen effectively. In the Facilitation Skills for Community Decision-Making Course, instructor Karen Gimnig will guide you in balancing the need to make decisions efficiently while still valuing relationship-building and connection. 

This course is an overview of facilitation as used in communities for group process and decision making. These skills will also be relevant to other low-hierarchy groups like coops and nonprofits that make decisions by consensus or sociocracy.  

We’ll start with a deepening understanding of the role of the facilitator. What does a facilitator do, and what should they avoid doing? From there we’ll move into the most common work for intentional community facilitators: the “business meeting”, where many topics need to be covered in one meeting.

Within community, there is also a need for facilitating a single topic over several meetings, which we call “process facilitation”.  We’ll wrap up with a deeper look at conflict as it appears in meetings, including how to prevent it and what to do when it arrives.

This course will include ample time for interactive discussions and breakout room exercises. Optional homework will give participants an opportunity to practice the skills we are introducing within their communities.

Students are strongly recommended to purchase The Cooperative Culture Handbook, which is full of facilitator resources. Throughout the course, the instructor will rely heavily on the book as a reference for exercises and materials.

After registration, course participants will receive a 15% discount on The Cooperative Culture Handbook.

 

Course Syllabus

All Facilitation Skills for Community Decision-Making classes are held on Wednesdays from 10am-12pm Pacific / 11am-1pm Mountain / 12pm-2pm Central / 1pm-3pm Eastern. You can view your local time here.

January 14: Role of a Facilitator

• Using mirroring to listen deeply
• Developing the trust of the community
• Finding your authority as a facilitator
• What power does and when to use it

January 21: Facilitating Business Meetings

• Planning meetings
• Parts of a meeting
• Balancing content and relationship work
• Teamwork in facilitation

January 28: Methods for Gathering Input and Information

• Spectrum
• Individual journaling
• Group Mirror
• Sticky Notes
• Dot Voting
• Bridging Circle

February 11: Facilitating Complex Topics

• Identifying goals and objectives
• Supporting a process
• Separating cognitive and emotional input
• A variety of activities that support a process
• Example of a process used by the instructor in a real community

February 18: Reaching a Decision

• Possible outcomes from a process
• Structuring a meeting to reach a decision
• Activities and approaches for supporting consensus
• Example of a decision meeting used by the instructor in a real community

February 25: Facilitating Conflict During Meetings

• Preparing for contentious topics
• Strategies for working with conflict when it arrives
• What to do when someone gets loud
• Getting more comfortable facilitating conflict

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March 4:Q&A Session

• Ask any additional questions
• Get personalized help
• Networking

The Q&A session is optional and will take place from 10am-11am Pacific / 11am-12pm Mountain / 12pm-1pm Central/ 1pm-2pm Eastern. You must register for the full course to attend the Q&A session. The Q&A session will NOT be recorded.

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