Books by Ingrid Bens
Consultants spend years developing their expertise in their respective fields, but most never learn to how to facilitate. This is a major skill gap when you consider just how much time expert consultants spend in client meetings.
This book aims to close that skill gap by describing the essential facilitation techniques that all expert consultant need to know. This book:
• describes the core practices and tools used by facilitators
• offers guidelines about effective questioning
• provides a bank of the key questions that consultants typically ask
• explains five different methods for helping groups make decisions
• provides a instructions for using seven key conflict resolutions tools
• outlines practical ways to ensure that every meeting is truly effective.
In addition, this book outlines the essential conversations that all expert consultants need to be able to facilitate. Having a clear step-by-step process takes the stress out of large group meetings and makes them look orderly and well planned.
Each of the essential conversations described features step-by-step instruction for structuring the dialogue and arriving at decisions that everyone can live with. These structured conversations include:
Discovery•Environmental Scanning•Project Kickoff Vision and Mission•Work Planning, Roles and Responsibilities Risk Assessment•Stakeholder Analysis•Communication Planning Status Update Meeting•Creative Thinking•Mid-point Check Systematic Problem Solving•Constructive Controversy•Survey Feedback•Interpersonal Issue Resolution Overcoming Resistance•Project Retrospective•Project Adjournment
Facilitating with Ease! is an updated version of the best-selling resource that offers easy-to-follow instructions, techniques, and hands-on tools that team leaders, consultants, supervisors, and managers have used to learn the basics of facilitation. Complete with worksheets on CD-ROM that can be customized to fit your personal needs, it’s a complete facilitation workshop in a take-home format. This user friendly textbook provides additional information about the core concepts described in the facilitation skills e-learning program. It also includes a chapter on process tools and provides ten examples of complete process notes. Facilitating with Ease! shows you how to run productive meetings with skill and authority and includes the information needed to train others in your organization to become confident facilitators as well. The book is filled with dozens of exercises, surveys, and checklists that can be used to transform anyone into an effective facilitator.
Ingrid Bens’ titles are widely read around the world. Her number one best seller, “Facilitating with Ease!” is in it’s third edition and has been translated into multiple languages.
OVERVIEW
While facilitation was originally created as a role for neutral outsiders, more and more leaders are allowing facilitation to inform their leadership style. This book explores how leaders can use facilitation tools and techniques everyday as the cornerstone of their approach to leading. Facilitating to Lead! (Jossey-Bass, 2006)
OVERVIEW
If you have a large group to train or are looking for a handy pocket guide, you may wish to purchase Facilitation at a Glance! also by Ingrid Bens. This handy book covers many of the same core skills materials only at a much smaller price.
OVERVIEW
A handy roadmap on how to handle various types of conflict both at work and at home. It provides practical and effective ways to deal with any conflict that comes up and provides helpful suggestions about ways to react.
OVERVIEW
Advanced Facilitation Strategies provides more in-depth information about decison- making and offers detailed strategies for effectively dealing with the thirty most common group dysfunctions. This book outlines the steps that facilitators follow to conduct their work and provides process maps for the most common process designs.
Facilitation Freebies
Check out these helpful free resources. You can download them, copy them, or share them. If you include them in your publications, please provide a reference to acknowledge the source.