The Power of The Pre-Work – Lisa Heft
Participants : Jochen, Alan, Spark, Jackie, Bhav, Tim L, Jorie, Wong, Eva, Laura, Gail, Lisa, Tim K
- Whatever the facilitation, some people do pre-work and some do not
- Look at whole ecology of the environment, colours, invitation, water, everything – and coach client on it
- The more nutrient rich the container, the better things can go
- OST Pre-Work
o If there are issues in the organising/sponsor group, conflicting views and polar opposites, then there is work to do with them first – using open space, dialogue or some other process
o The initial conversations – your credibility, objectives, tools, fit, potential, who?
o Selection of tool and design
o Preparing the client – sponsor, group, host
o Clarifying assumptions
o Crafting the theme
§ Once you have got the theme? Send each person out to test the theme with 3 other people, if it doesn’t excite them, then what words/theme would
§ Look out for the non-verbal cues to make sure the theme is the right one
o Documentation
o Logistics – room, acoustics, food, size, transport, water, accessibility
o Invitation – outreach, can people really come, have you made it possible and welcoming
§ Who is affected? – “It is not about us without us.”
§ Who else, who else, who else, who cares, who cares, who cares
§ Accessibility – who is not in the room, age, gender, organisational, minority groups
§ Send it how, email, text, live, posters, etc – could be a different style as well depending on the target group
§ How to help the person feel at ease about coming
o Grounding of/for the facilitator – self care
o What next? – Expectation? Action? Follow up? Sustainability?
o Who is the Sponsor Team? – their jobs, responsibilities, before/during/after the event
§ Microcosm of the bigger reality
o News / PR / Info to public
- Create a database of themes, by industry, by style,
