In 2010, I want to improve my facilitation skills. Facilitation is a large part of the consulting that I do at work, and I can see how good facilitation creates value. I’m frustrated by the limits of what I know and can do, and I’m looking forward to learning more. I’m particularly interested in three areas:

• facilitating better online discussions (especially asynchronous ones)
• doing visual facilitation and visual recording
• helping people brainstorm wild success stories and worst-case scenarios

My work focuses on brainstorming rather than conflict resolution or other applications of facilitation techniques, although I’m also interested in facilitation of group processes in order to improve collaboration.

If I improve my skills, I can use that foundation to help figure out more effective patterns for virtual facilitation and collaboration.

In order to learn more about facilitation, I plan to:

• proactively take on more responsibility for facilitating discussions at work, including doing the background research and helping prepare the deliverables
• read and reflect on lots of resources about in-person and remote facilitation
• collect templates and processes
• practice visual notetaking and facilitation during meetings, conference calls, and talks
• reflect on and share lessons learned from the workshops and idea labs we do
• shift more of my talks to interactive formats
• build mentoring relationships with people who can help me plan my learning

I plan to share what I’m learning with you through blog posts, sketches, lessons learned, and talks.

Looking forward to the adventure!