Books

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Managing Facilitated Processes: A Guide for Consultants, Facilitators, Managers, Trainers, Event Planners and Educators

By Dorothy Strachan and Marian Pitters

If your work involves managing facilitated processes, such as meetings, workshops, retreats and conferences, this book is for you.

• Productive meetings are about careful attention to detail. These details need to be handled through an integrated, customized and systematic approach—all in the book.
• Check out the Big Five —participants, speakers, logistics, documents and feedback—and use the guidelines, checklists, sample letters and other templates in the book and on the web that will help you manage a facilitated event efficiently. Just copy and customize at your convenience.

"This book honors the importance of the details and care that every gathering deserves. It should be a standard reference for people who come together to produce results."
Peter Block, author "Community: The Structure of Belonging" and Partner, Designed Learning, Ohio, USA

"Strachan and Pitters leave no detail unexamined in their book, Managing Facilitated Processes. The practical formats, checklists, and examples alone make this book a must have for anyone planning, organizing, or facilitating an event of any kind."
- Ann Epps, International Association of Facilitators Founder and Board Member, Colorado, USA, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

"As a consultant, Marian Pitters demands a lot and delivers a lot. This is clear in Managing Facilitated Processes which is filled with practical
examples from a broad range of fields, and is up-to-date regarding technology and new approaches. Whether you are doing it yourself or hiring an expert, this book is easy to follow and a great investment!"
- Lise R. Talbot, Professeure Titulaire, Université de Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada

"If you've ever participated in a session facilitated by Dorothy Strachan, you have witnessed the effectiveness with which she practices her art. Managing Facilitated Processes captures the essence of this art in a practical, step-by-step fashion that I¹ve used for facilitating management sessions as well  works!"
- George A. Herrera, Vice President, Donor Services, Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation, New Jersey, USA

Check out these excerpts:
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Initial Contact

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Process Design: Making it work
A Practical Guide to What to Do When and How for Facilitators, Consultants, Managers and Coaches

By Dorothy Strachan and Paul Tomlinson

• Got a meeting coming up soon? Concerned about the agenda, who should be there, what types of power are required to ensure action on outcomes? Process Design, Making it Work, is a master class in process design.
• This practical guide outlines what to do when and how, starting with due diligence.
  Chapter One lays out a straightforward, six-step approach to help you put your agenda together. Other chapters explain how to engage and build ownership with stakeholders from the get-go; the risks and benefits of eight types of people power; how to accommodate values differences, how to build evidence-based designs.
• Process Design: Making it Work is a must-have desktop resource for Facilitators, Consultants, Managers, and Coaches who need to design basic meetings as well as complex, multi-phased events.
  

"Reading Strachan and Tomlinson's work has reminded me why I find process design and facilitation so compelling - it's a bottomless well of learning."
- Cresswell Walker, executive coach, Coaching Works Pte. Ltd., Singapore

"This book has the rigor of excellent research and the polish of many years of practical experience."
- Ronnie McEwan, principal, Kinharvie Institute of Facilitation, Glasgow

Check out these excerpts:
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Six Steps

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Making Questions Work: A Guide to What and How to Ask for Facilitators, Consultants, Managers, Coaches, and Educators

By Dorothy Strachan

• Need great questions to drive your meetings and workshops?
• The right questions for the right people at the right time ensure your meetings are productive, focused, and timely. Making Questions Work gives you 1800 tested questions that fit the five most common frameworks for structuring meetings: opening a session, driving toward action, critical thinking, addressing issues, and closing a session. Pick the framework you need and the right questions and you’re good to go!
• This book is an invaluable, time-saving desktop reference for facilitators, consultants, leaders, coaches—anyone who enables constructive group work.

"This book is an invaluable reference for facilitators, leaders, coaches, and anyone who wants to engage in more effective learning and decision-making conversations. It offers over 1700 rich questions that you can borrow or adapt to improve your inquiry skills, and provides clear frameworks that point to where, where, and why particular questions are most useful."
- Anne S. Davidson, consultant, Roger Schwarz & Associates, and coauthor, The Skilled Facilitator Fieldbook

"Everyone who facilitates should have this book on their desk!"
- Ingrid Bens, consultant and author, Facilitating with Ease!

Check out these excerpts:
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Six Steps

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