Large Group Facilitation
Sensing. Facilitating. Transforming.
Hundreds of people in one space: this is the way that large groups can be used as a valuable resource of knowledge, be included in strategy or change processes and be moved to take action together
We are convinced: in many project or change situations, it is advisable to involve as many people as possible.
Classical workshop and group methods are generally useful for up to about 25 people. We find that the activation of participation is the key to transforming passive participant behavior into interaction.
„Being a host“ for your group in a successful manner
We create an „Opportunity Space”, while taking into account the involved groups of participants. Within this space, dialogues, experiences, insights, learning and change take place differently – and we say: better – than in frontal settings. We can look back on countless documented examples of experience, amongst these are events with hundreds of people.
Facilitators have the role of supporting a group in their productivity and creativity. They place the focus on creating optimal conditions for the group (the container). They help the group to take important steps on their way (the process) and create a transition (the transfer).
In this way, a Facilitator is able to create meetings and workshops, which can be characterized in the following ways:
- interaction (a culture of questions, dialogues and conversations),
- participation (everyone is involved),
- responsibility (all participants take on the responsibility for the end results),
- trust (creating an atmosphere of openness and safety)
- and commitment (action-oriented adherence to the next steps).
We call this „Hosting“.
Visualizers take on the roleof supporting interaction between participants and encouraging group intelligence. They do so simultaneously and in real-time. They also „harvest“, alongside with other roles in the process. In addition to visuals, further documentation of the results emerge in the form of texts, stories, websites, photos…
We call this „Harvesting“.
Hosting und Harvesting aus einer Hand:
Wir führen und arbeiten interaktiv mit der Gruppe und „ernten” die Ergebnisse (u.a. visuell). Damit „dienen“ wir der Großgruppe umfassend und schaffen den wichtigen „Möglichkeits-Raum“.
Selbstverständlich stehen wir mittels Visual Facilitation auch für kleinere Konversationen oder Gruppenprozesse zur Verfügung.
Die Prinzipien der Selbstorganisation ...
…the emergence of new directions and solutions for organizations function through globally tried and tested large group moderation formats:
- Art of Hosting
- Large Group Dialogue
- World Café
- open space
- appreciative inquiry
- Circle Structure
- Visual Facilitation
- design thinking
- and integral approaches
Many of these are open-source methods, which are qualitatively assured by a global community and are continuing to be developed. Within our Team there are active contributors, some of whom are also members of the Stewardship Boards of said methods.