Many board members confuse going to meetings with fulfilling their duties. Alas, attending meetings barely qualifies as work – especially when you consider the typical agenda. A report, a few questions, another report, another question or two, a digression, a discussion about which color to paint the office, and an argument about the … [Read more...]
The most fun way to end a workshop…?
If you’re looking for a fun way to wrap up your next training, here’s a great option from MaryKay O’Donnell, a friend and colleague from the Land Trust Alliance, who learned it from Georgia Peterson at Michigan State University. This exercise engages your participants, gets everyone moving, and reinforces the most important lessons of … [Read more...]
Gnarly Questions (and Answers) About Board Training – Part 2
Last week we ran the first part of Andy’s Q&A with consultant Mazarine Treyz, who posed several challenging questions about building and training effective boards. This week, we’re sharing the rest of their conversation. Enjoy! Finding great board members Mazarine: How can you find good board members? What’s a way to get the BEST … [Read more...]
Gnarly Questions (and Answers) About Board Training – Part 1
Andy recently sat down with Mazarine Treyz, a terrific colleague based in Portland, Oregon. Mazarine asked tough questions about training boards. Andy did his best to answer them. Thanks to Mazarine for sharing this Q&A on her blog. Here’s your chance to eavesdrop on their conversation. The biggest mistake – and how to avoid it … [Read more...]
In Praise of Non-Planning
When it comes to training and facilitation, how much of a planner are you? Do you just show up and wing it? Or do you design every step of every agenda in exquisite detail? As you'd expect, people land along this continuum. When it comes to training (and most anything else in life), you can make any style work. The same principle … [Read more...]
A Simple but Powerful Lesson for Your Next Workshop
Last month in Chicago, I gave a keynote address to group of several hundred people. You can imagine the scene: stage, bright lights, multiple video screens. Because the speaker was the focus of the event, setting up exercises was a bit more challenging. However, I tried to weave in some activities, because sitting and listening is … [Read more...]
The Value of Being Wrong
There I stood, at the front of the room, introducing the workshop. After reviewing the agenda, and asking the group to suggest additions or changes, I offered the following. “If you disagree with my advice, or any content in this workshop, please challenge me. It’s always a good session when somebody picks a fight, so bring it … [Read more...]
Trainer School: Three Takeaways You Can Use Right Now
When was the last time you participated in a really well organized, professionally facilitated training event? No, I’m not talking about the ones you present yourself. Perhaps you’ve sat through some disappointing workshops. I certainly have. So when I experience something really good, I want to do my little happy dance. I’m … [Read more...]
10 Tips to Help You Train Like a Pro
As you know, the heart of any effective training is experiential education – exercises, activities, role plays, small group projects, and so forth. Every successful activity begins with a set of instructions – what you want people to do – and the context for why you want them to do it. You can design a terrific workshop, but unless … [Read more...]
When Bad is Good: How to Facilitate a Great Exercise Based on Bad Behavior
How many times have you heard somebody (probably your mother) say to you, “Learn from your mistakes!” It turns out that your mother was on to something. We can, in fact, learn a lot from our failures, missteps, and missed opportunities. When it comes to training fundraisers to make the all-important face-to-face ask, encouraging … [Read more...]
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