Tag Archives: London

Reflecting on another year in freelance facilitation, 2023-24

As last summer, when I reviewed the year to June 2023, I shall share in this longer read some data and reflections on the last year of my professional practice.

In this past year to June 2024 I delivered 16 contracts for 11 clients. That compares with 14 contracts for 12 clients the year before and 19 for 15 the year before that. This past year’s contracts involved just 2 individual online sessions plus 13 wholly in-person and 2 hybrid events. Events were in Birmingham, Brussels, Leeds, London, Madrid, Sevenoaks and Windsor. That compares with 7 online sessions, 10 in-person & 3 hybrid events last year and 76 online and just 2 in-person the year before that to June 2022, still in the midst of the COVID pandemic.

So contracts have risen a little this year while clients have fallen slightly, however both remain considerably fewer than the largely pre-Covid years to June 2019 and to June 2020 which saw 25 contracts each. The continuing decline in online and hybrid events may partly reflect a continuing post-pandemic return to more in-person collaboration where possible. The lower numbers of clients, contracts and events at least in part reflects my own choices – pre-pandemic to work more locally and online, and post-pandemic to work more selectively and less. 

I resolved in January 2020 to restrict my travel mostly to places accessible to London without flying, and to try to travel less and work more online, and happily that is exactly what I have been able to do since then – albeit without working much online this year. Having also begun to spend more time more often in Sitges, near Barcelona, as I had also resolved then, it was fortunate that the invitation to work in Madrid came at a time when I was scheduled to be there. So I have not flown for work since February 2020, and I have not been tempted to do so.

I was sub-contracted by colleagues for two contracts this year, and for two contracts I sub-contracted to colleagues myself. That compares to none & 3 last year and 1 & 9 the year before. So my return to more working in-person and with travel continues to be associated with more working solo and less as part of a team. 

Partners that I have contracted with this past year included ICA:UK colleagues Alan Heckman and IAF colleagues Marie Dubost and Camilla Gordon. 

Clients I have worked with this past year have again included UK and European charities, NGOs, and professional & trade associations and multi-sector partnerships. This year also I have worked again with UK local government, with the health service and with Universities.

Of this past year’s contracts, 9 involved facilitation while 7 involved training and none involved coaching and consulting. That compares to 10 facilitation, 3 training and one coaching & consulting the year before, and 7, 7 and 6 the year before that.  So the proportion of facilitation to training has returned to close to 50/50, while that of coaching and consulting this year has returned to zero. Perhaps that reflects a return to pre-pandemic business as usual.

Crafting a joint commitment on living wages in banana supply chains - workshopFacilitation contracts this past year have ranged in scale from a single half-day workshop to a 3 day retreat, for groups ranging from less than 10 to around 100:

  • with the Royal College of Ophthalmologists and NHS England, design and facilitation of a workshop in London for around 25 stakeholders to build collaboration to improve eye care in England
  • with the Architects Council of Europe design and facilitation of a strategy retreat involving around 15 staff & Board members in Brussels 
  • with Amnesty International, design and facilitation of a 2-day global strategy and team-building retreat for around 55 member Fundraising Directors and Secretariat fundraising staff in London and online
  • with iStandUK, design and facilitation of a strategy away day in London for partners working on data standards in UK public services
  • with Amnesty International, design and facilitation of a pair of tri-lingual, cross-regional online consultation sessions on global governance, involving 2-3 delegates of each of around 70 member entities worldwide
  • with Shelter, design and facilitation of a 2-day ‘Changemakers Summit’ for around 100 staff of the Communications, Policy & Campaigns Directorate and others in London
  • with Amnesty International, design and facilitation of a one day retreat of the Regional Human Rights Impact Directorate of the International Secretariat in Windsor
  • with Amnesty International, design and facilitation of a 3-day team retreat in Sevenoaks for around 30 members of the East Europe & Central Asia Regional Office of the International Secretariat
  • with IDH Trade, design and facilitation of a one day hybrid workshop for around 30 in Madrid and a dozen online, representatives of European partner organisations working to develop joint commitments on living wages in Banana supply chains – case study 

Architects’ Council of Europe (ACE-CAE), wrote on LinkedIn:

“Reflecting on last week’s inspiring #strategy workshop!  The ACE Executive Board came together in #Brussels to #brainstorm and pave the path for the future of the organisation. Strategic workshops are not just about planning for the future; they are about transforming vision into actionable steps, highlighted Ruth Schagemann, ACE President. Over the course of this collaborative and creative day, we engaged in strategic discussions about how to leverage impactful advocacy and the organisation’s agenda for action. Excited for what’s ahead and proud of what we’ve accomplished together!” 

Shelley Heckman, Deputy Director at iNetwork wrote on LinkedIn:

“I’ve never been as inspired and energised about the topic of data standards as I have been today with this fantastic group of people! The iStandUK Executive Board met in London to talk ambitiously about our collective commitment to data standards for public services.” 

Training contracts this past year have involved more or less tailored delivery of three standard ICA:UK ToP facilitation training courses:

During this past year I relaunched my own regular schedule of public ToP facilitation training under license with ICA:UK, in collaboration with the ICA:UK team of ToP Associates and in support of a wider ICA:UK organisational restructure.  As part of that restructure I have taken on a volunteer role supporting ICA:UK with it’s website, mailing list and social media.  

In my new schedule for 2024 I re-established my pre-COVID pattern of offering three pairs of courses per year in London plus occasional courses elsewhere, in partnership or on demand – so far in Birmingham and Bristol. I also re-established my 2013 partnership offer ToP facilitation training at your place – and free places for you!. I am particularly interested to partner to offer public courses in Brussels again, as I did from 2014-2020, and/or in Barcelona. 

Abi Green, Company Director at The Conscious Project, wrote this year:

“I attended [Group Facilitation Methods] a few years ago, and I have been using what I learned ever since! In my experience you are a patient teacher who accurately judges the individual’s need for stretch or reassurance. As a facilitator, you create a space where people can listen to each other and be heard. I’d wholeheartedly recommend both your courses and your practice.” 

Trey Darley, cat herder; bit-flipper; human, wrote this year:

“Martin Gilbraith’s group facilitation training was a terrific investment of three days, the best training of my career hands-down…” 

free facilitation coachingMy coaching and mentoring this past year has all been pro bono. It has included four younger facilitators taking up my offer of free facilitation coaching in support of their work for climate justice, gender equity or anti-racism, six ToP trainees taking up my offer of an hour’s free post-course coaching and my support of another three on their journey to become ICA:UK ToP trainers. 

For IAF I continue to serve as a volunteer mentor in the IAF mentoring programme, working with two mentees of each six-month cohort. I have been in conversation this past year with members of the IAF Board to support a new programme along similar lines, by which incoming new Board members could be supported in their roles by former Board members such as me.

For the Power of Facilitation, I continued to support more than 80 IAF colleagues around the world to work to translate the book into more than a dozen languages. Additional translated editions were launched during the year in Japanese, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian & Spanish

My free facilitation webinars this year were limited to one further session on Feminist Facilitation, for Facilitation Week 2023, following two on the same topic the previous year. This year’s attracted 95 participants.

In my own professional development I have continued to value the professional community and facilitation meetups of IAF England & Wales, and particularly again the in-person conference in Birmingham in April, this year titled Facilitate2024: GrowingTogether.

I have also enjoyed returning to share in the hosting of IAF coffee meetups in London, after taking a break since I hosted such meetups for 5 years until 2020.   

My volunteering with the Gay Outdoor Club has grown to enjoyably absorb more of my time in the past year, as it increasingly provides opportunities to apply my professional experience as well.  

In addition to hosting regular online socials this past year, in my Board role as Website & IT manager I have led a redesign of the GOC website and marketing materials for our 50th anniversary year in 2024, a member engagement process to develop a new strategy for the club and a social media advertising campaign that generated over 400 new members.

Having discovered the great hiking opportunities to be had around Sitges, near Barcelona, now that I am spending more of my time there, I have also applied my professional skills to offer a Midweek Walking “Weekend” in Sitges in October for 35 members at least – like a team retreat or a conference, but sunnier and more fun! 

Thank you for following. If you don’t find me online, or in facilitation, training and consulting, you might find me outdoors or in Sitges!

See also about me, how I work, who I work with and recommendations & case studies, and please contact me about how we might work together.

Crafting a joint commitment on living wages in banana supply chains

Crafting a joint commitment on living wages in banana supply chains - workshop

“Participating retailers all agree on the need, and nearly all of them have expressed a desire to join a sector commitment. The focus of the workshop will be to agree a draft commitment that each company can sign onto.”

Context

IDH is a Foundation that works with businesses, financiers, governments and civil society to realize sustainable trade in global value chains.

In June 2022, Amanda Penn of the IDH UK team had been working with the nine major UK retailers on measuring living wage gaps in their banana supply chains, and on a sector commitment to close those gaps. Following previous online workshops together during the pandemic, she sought a facilitator for a first in-person workshop in London, from around 11am-5pm one day in July, to engage the CSR officers of the nine retailers to agree a draft commitment.

She wrote that “Participating retailers all agree on the need, and nearly all of them have expressed a desire to join a sector commitment. The focus of the workshop will be to agree a draft commitment that each company can sign onto.”

Participants were to number around 15-20 in total, including a few IDH staff. The loft room ‘Nest 2’ had been booked for the day at Wallace Space St. Pancras.  Participants were invited to stay for drinks together after the workshop.

Aims

Following our initial meetings, the aims of the workshop were agreed to be as follows:

  • To reflect and learn together from our partnership building work to date, and each other’s experience of it, to improve process and co-ordination and clarify needs and expectations,
  • To draw on the draft commitment circulated in advance to agree key elements of a commitment that we hope each company can sign on to,
  • To take a transparent and energizing, interactive and co-operative approach that will build mutual trust, confidence and commitment in the way forward together.

Approach

For this assignment, I drew on the following of ICA’s Technology of Participation (ToP) methods in particular:

The Focused Conversation method provides a structured, four-level process for effective communication which ensures that everyone in a group has the opportunity to participate.

The Consensus Workshop method is a five stage process that enables a facilitator to draw out and weave together everybody’s wisdom into a clear and practical consensus.

I arranged with Wallace Space to reserve the ground floor Locker & Rudder room in the same building in St Pancras, as an alternative to the loft room Nest 2 with its sloping walls, in order to allow vertical wall space for use with a ‘sticky wall’.

None of us were very used to meeting in person, due to two years of COVID restrictions, and it was far from clear that the pandemic was over. So I noted the COVID-19 protective measures in place at Wallace Space, and proposed some additional measures to reassure participants and encourage them to attend, and to further mitigate risks of infection.

These formed the basis of my subsequent blog post Mitigating COVID risks for in person and hybrid events.

Agenda & process

An outline agenda was agreed and circulated as follows:

11.00 Arrivals & coffee – breakfast, coffee and informal workspace is available from 8am
11.15 Opening – welcome & overview, introductions & expectations
11.45 Learning from our experience – including accomplishments & challenges to date, and benefits & challenges ahead
12.45 Lunch
1.30 Crafting our commitment – drawing on the circulated draft to articulate “What are key elements of a Living Wage Commitment for Banana Supply Chains that we would like UK retailers to be able to agree?”
3.15 Break
3.30 Next steps – next steps, reflection & close.
-5.00 Drinks – and informal networking

I used the ToP Focused Conversation method to structure the day as a whole, and to design the opening conversation and closing reflection – see Four steps to a universal principle of facilitation and learning.

I used the ToP Consensus Workshop method to articulate “What are key elements of a Living Wage Commitment for Banana Supply Chains that we would like UK retailers to be able to agree?”.

Critically, I invited participants to draw on the circulated draft commitment to identify elements that they would like retailers to be able to agree. For the purpose of consensus-building, I discouraged them from focusing on what they did not or could not agree, or what it would take for them to be able to agree. The former would be an unhelpful distraction, and the latter would be addressed under Next Steps and following the workshop.

To enable them to work most effectively together, I invited them to adopt the following working assumptions:

  • We are curious and open to learn
  • Everyone has wisdom, and we all need everyone’s wisdom for the wisest result
  • So we will listen with care to understand and speak with care to be understood
  • We will strive to ensure that our own participation does not exclude that of others
  • We will have difficult conversations with courage and compassion
  • We will respect each other’s time by being punctual and avoiding distractions
  • We will respect each other’s health by practicing COVID safety

Feedback and impact

Directly after the workshop, Amanda wrote “Anecdotally, everyone really enjoyed the facilitation and found it useful.”  Participants feedback included:

  • Facilitation was very effective
  • The activities were well designed and triggered really useful conversation at table and room level
  • I would say it met our aim to gain mutual trust and agreement on key elements
  • I think the key thing was to get agreement on the content of the commitment and a timeline for the next steps. Also just really helpful to get an idea of where others stand on this – easy to commit on a zoom call but much harder to maintain this face to face. Reassuring to see that everyone clearly wants to make this happen
  • For us personally it was a great way to get our voice heard by other retailers and encourage understanding of each retailer’s unique supply chain.

UK retailers commit to close living wage gaps in international banana supply chainsA year later, in July 2023, Amanda wrote:

“The top 9 UK retailers launched a living wage commitment in March. On numerous occasions the CSR managers who attended the workshop you led credited that day with being a pivotal moment in the process and paving the way for the ultimate result. So, thank you!” 

In the meantime, I had worked with some of Amanda’s colleagues at IDH to design and facilitate a series of three half-day workshops in London and Brussels for around 30 representatives of partner organisations to develop a joint commitment on living wage in Tea supply chains.

Since then, I was pleased to be able to work with Amanda again, and some of  the UK retailers and some of their European counterparts, to design and facilitate a one day hybrid workshop in Madrid. This involved around 30 in person and a dozen online, representatives of a variety of European partner organisations working to develop joint commitments on living wages in Banana supply chains in a number of European countries.

See also about me, how I work, who I work with and recommendations & case studies, and please contact me about how we might work together.

Reflecting on a year in freelance facilitation, 2022-23

As last summer, when I reviewed the year to June 2022, I shall share here in this longer read some data and reflections on the last year of my professional practice, and some insights and implications for my future practice and professional development. It is broadly a four-level ORID reflection again, of course (albeit long on the ‘O’).

In this past year to June 2023 I delivered 14 contracts for 12 clients. That compares with 19 contracts for 15 clients the year before and 32 for 22 the year before that.

This past year’s contracts involved a total of 7 individual online sessions and 10 in-person & 3 hybrid events – in London, Oxford, Belfast, Brussels & Lille. That compares with 76 online and 2 in person last year to June 2022 and more than 100 online sessions and none in-person the year before that to June 2021, in the midst of the COVID pandemic.

So clients, contracts, sessions and events have all been markedly fewer this past year compared to the previous two, and contracts considerably fewer also than the 25 each year to June 2019 and to June 2020. I think that reflects my post-pandemic return to largely in-person events, albeit with a great deal less in-person preparation and follow-up, coupled with my post-pandemic choice to work less and more selectively and locally.

I Declare A Climate Emergency

I resolved in January 2020 to restrict my travel mostly to places accessible to London without flying, and to try to travel less and work more online. While my work has now returned to more in person and with travel, and less online, I have not found myself tempted to fly and I have not found it difficult not to, so I am glad of that.  I am fortunate indeed to be located in London, close and accessible to so many client opportunities.

I was not sub-contracted to colleagues for any contracts this year, but for three contracts I sub-contracted to or licensed one or more colleagues myself. That compares to one & nine last year and 10 & 19 the year before. So my return to more working in-person and with travel has been associated with more working solo again, and less as one of a team, which I do not find surprising. While I was delighted to be able to work more collaboratively when I was working largely online, I have not much missed that this past year of working more in person, so I am glad of that too.

Partners that I have contracted with this past year included again ICA:UK colleagues Megan Evans and Orla Cronin. I have otherwise collaborated also with others of the ICA:UK team and with IAF and other colleagues – some mentioned below.

Clients I have worked with have again included UK charities and international NGOs and devolved government, plus this year both UK and European professional and trade associations and multi-sector partnerships.

Of this past year’s contracts, 10 involved facilitation while 3 involved training and one involved coaching and consulting. That compares to 7 facilitation, 7 training and 6 coaching & consulting the year before, and 11, 18 and 7 the year before that.  So the proportion of facilitation to training, coaching and consulting this year has been significantly higher than in recent years, both mid- and pre-pandemic. Perhaps that reflects the renewed appetite that many groups seem to have had to meet again in person this past year, coupled with the tightened budgets for training and development that many have had to contend with, at least in the UK.

Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance — Embodied Carbon Meeting in Lille France, June 2023 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjlUCNIFIMoFacilitation contracts this past year have ranged in scale from a single half-day or one-day workshop at relatively short notice to 3 days over one or two events, collaboratively designed and prepared over several months:

  • with Amnesty International, design and facilitation of a one day hybrid team retreat for the 6 members of the Campaigns and Education Management Team of the International Secretariat in London
  • with the Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance, design and facilitation of a 3-day in person meeting in Lille for around 30 delegates to support learning and collaboration on Dramatically Reducing Embodied Carbon in Europe’s Built Environment – see video
  • with IDH Trade, design and facilitation of a series of three half-day workshops in London and Brussels for up to around 30 representatives of partner organisations to develop a joint commitment on living wage in Tea supply chains
  • with EFFA, design and facilitation of a one-day Board & Secretariat strategy meeting for 12 in Brussels
  • with the Commonwealth Foundation, design and facilitation of a two-part, 3-day retreat for the staff team of around 25 in London
  • with Girls Not Brides, design and facilitation of a 2-day hybrid Board retreat for Trustees and senior staff in London and online
  • with IDH Trade, design and facilitation of a half-day workshop in London, for around 15 representatives of UK retailers to develop a joint commitment on living wages in Banana supply chains
  • with the Royal Academy of Engineering, design and facilitation of a series of online workshops for around 30, including experts of the NEPC Net Zero working Group plus Policy and Communications staff from the Academy and partner Professional Engineering Institutions, to develop joint messaging on systems approaches to Net Zero
  • with the Northern Ireland Human Rights Partnership, design and facilitation of a half-day reflective partnership workshop for around 20 partner staff and Trustees in Belfast
  • with Amnesty International, design and facilitation of a one day in-person team retreat for members of the global Law & Policy team near Oxford

Amanda Penn, Senior Partnerships Manager at IDH, The Sustainable Trade Initiative

“The top 9 UK retailers launched a living wage commitment in March. On numerous occasions the CSR managers who attended the workshop you led credited that day with being a pivotal moment in the process and paving the way for the ultimate result. So, thank you!” 

#ToPfacilitation training in Belfast, October 2023

Training contracts this past year have ranged in scale from a single introductory session for one group, to multiple sessions for multiple groups:

As in the previous year, I chose to offer no scheduled public ToP facilitation training myself this past year, and instead invited participants to register with ICA:UK or another ICA worldwide.

As ICA:UK undertakes an organisational restructure this summer, and prepares to license Associates to offer UK public ToP training instead of offering them itself, I have been working with Trustees and other Associates to develop this new operating model and to offer my own scheduled public ToP facilitation training again in London – watch this space!

free facilitation coaching

Coaching and consulting contracts this past year comprised just one contract of two online sessions and one in person:

  • with the Ethical Tea Partnership, consulting support for the design and preparation of a hybrid multi-stakeholder dialogue on gender in the global tea sector involving around 70 in London and online.

I also continued to offer free facilitation coaching throughout the year, more or less formally supporting eight mostly young people during the year in their work for climate justice, gender equity or anti-racism.

For IAF, I continued to serve as a volunteer mentor in the IAF mentoring programme, working again with two mentees in parallel this past year.

Siew Onn WanSiew Onn Wan, Mindset Coach

“With the help of mentor Martin, I have made significant progress in facilitation mastery and business development. To my surprise, he helps me to see new possibilities when I hesitate to take action. I also learn much from mentor Martin on inner work as a helping professional. Greatly appreciate my mentor’s questions and nudges in the journey of professional development as a process facilitator. Here are some details on the IAF mentoring program.”

For the Power of Facilitation, I continued to work with fellow contributors to promote the book, including with colleagues of IAF France in their Facilitation Week session in October, LUNCH LAB “the Power of Facilitation”.

#FacPower Lançamento da versão em Português e Espanhol – Lanzamiento de las versiones en portugués y español I also continued throughout the year to support more than 80 IAF colleagues around the world to work to translate the book into more than a dozen languages. The first translated edition was launched in November, simplified Chinese. Another three are preparing to launch during Facilitation Week 2023 next week, Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish.

For SessionLab‘s first comprehensive survey on the state of facilitation, 2023 edition, I was pleased to have the opportunity to share some reflections in the Resources & Communities section on How do (ToP) facilitators keep learning?  It is a comprehensive survey indeed, rich with insight and with much food for thought for all of us who are seeking to promote the power of facilitation worldwide.

My free facilitation webinars this year comprised two sessions, both exploring feminist facilitation. The first in January was part of the ICA:UK Online Focused Conversation Series, and attracted around 30 participants.

The second in May was in partnership with IAF Social Inclusion Facilitators and We Are Feminist Leaders as well as ICA:UK. This session attracted 208 participants to share their experience and insights, and no less than 717 who expressed an interest by registering for the session.  So we were very excited that the topic and the session generated so much interest.

We met several times since May to consider how we might continue to collaborate together on our own learning journeys, and also to challenge and support others to make their facilitation practice more feminist and their feminist practice more facilitative. We have scheduled a further session for Facilitation Week 2023, on Monday 11 September, so do join us then to connect, share & learn.

I expect the questions raised by all of these sessions to remain a key focus for my own professional development this coming year:

“What does feminism bring to facilitation, and what does feminist facilitation look like? How can I ensure that my own practice as a professional facilitator is more effectively and explicitly feminist, anti-racist and anti-oppressive? How can I ensure that my own practice as a professional facilitator is more effectively and explicitly feminist, anti-racist and anti-oppressive?”

Facilitate 2023: Celebrating and sharing the diversity of facilitationIn my own professional development I have continued to value the professional community and facilitation meetups of IAF England & Wales, and particularly this year’s in-person conference in Birmingham in April, titled #Facilitate2023: Celebrating and sharing the diversity of facilitation.

It was a richly diverse group and a richly diverse programme, featuring numerous sessions focusing on aspects of diversity, inclusivity and lived experience including dyslexia & neurodiversity, power dynamics & protected characteristics and language. Having not attended an in-person conference since 2019, and having stood down as chapter Chair in 2020, I was as excited by the number of new faces, and the youth and diversity of many of them, as I was by the programme.

In my volunteering for the Gay Outdoor Club, I stepped up in October from my marketing & social media and Online Group Co-ordinator roles to join the GOC Board as Trustee and Website & IT manager as well.  While I do not regard myself as a specialist in websites & IT any more than in marketing & social media, and I did not join GOC to work on those at my computer screen any more than I did to host online socials, I have enjoyed being able to apply some of my professional skills and experience to a club that I and others have derived so much value from, and to find them valuable and valued.

Being supported by the professional web developer who built the GOC site, my new role is in fact as much if not more about member engagement than it is about the website and IT, and I have approached the role on that basis. A GOC website & IT user feedback survey in January provided invaluable feedback and suggestions for numerous incremental improvements thereafter to the functionality and ease of use of the website, as did a GOC website design refresh & branding survey in July to inform a refreshed GOC branding and design and also a new strategic plan for the club.

Drawing on 5 years of experience of hosting meetups for IAF England & Wales, I have introduced a new GOC Meetup group to attract new members there, and drawing on the IAF England & Wales conference in Birmingham in April, I have been able to recommend consultants to provide training and support as part of GOC’s Inclusion and Diversity strategy.  I was interested to take a Stonewall training workshop with other GOC members as part of that as well, and find that to contribute helpfully to my own professional development. I am looking forward to supporting the club further next year in all of those areas, as we celebrate our 50th anniversary in 2024.

Thank you for following. If you don’t find me online, or in facilitation, training and consulting, you might find me outdoors!

See also about me, how I work, who I work with and recommendations & case studies, and please contact me about how we might work together.

Another year in freelance facilitation, now both online and in-person again, 2021-22

Wallace Space Euston

Scaling up engagement and dialogue the power of facilitation and communications in partnership #FacPower

Last summer as I reviewed the year to June 2021, I wondered when I might finally be tempted to accept any face-to-face work again. As it turned out, after 2 years of the COVID19 pandemic spent working exclusively online, the last quarter of this year to June (and July too) were all about in-person events.

As in previous years, I shall share here in this longer read some data and reflections on the last year of my professional practice, and some insights and implications for my future practice and professional development. It is broadly a four-level ORID reflection again, of course.

In this past year to June 2022 I delivered 19 contracts for 15 clients. That compares with 32 contracts for 22 clients the year before, and 25 for 19 the year before that. I had been so busy in 2020-21 that I had resolved to be more selective this year in my client commitments. Whether that is what resulted in the reduced workload or whether fewer opportunities came my way, the outcome was welcome and I was very pleased to have had the contracts that I did.

This past year’s contracts involved a total 76 individual online sessions and 2 in-person events in Belfast and London. That compares with more than 100 online sessions and none in-person the year before; and before that 14 in-person, one ‘hybrid’ and 16 wholly virtual events (of one or more sessions).

I Declare A Climate Emergency

I resolved in January 2020 to restrict my travel mostly to places accessible to London without flying, and of course to try to travel less and work more online (that worked out well). So it suited me well that my international clients continued largely to request online work and my first two contracts for in-person events were both in the UK and one within walking distance in London. I have been happy to return to working in-person only in the last quarter and to return to hybrid working not at all (yet), and I have been happy to better acquaint myself with rail & ferry routes to Northern Ireland.

For one contract this year I was sub-contracted to a colleague and for nine I sub-contracted to one or more colleagues myself (or in one case licensed a colleague to deliver a training session independently). That compares to 10 & 19 last year and 7 & 4 the year before. So I have returned to working more on my own client contracts, compared to last year. Compared to before the pandemic, however, my work has continued to be more collaborative and involve much more co-facilitation. My contracts have often been larger as well.

Partners that I have contracted with this past year include again ICA:UK colleagues Megan Evans and Orla Cronin, and this year IAF colleagues Marie Dubost, Charo Lanao and Hector Villarreal Lozoya. I have otherwise collaborated also with others of the ICA:UK team and that of Orla Cronin, and with many IAF colleagues – some mentioned below.

Clients I have worked with have again included largely UK charities and international NGOs, although this year also UK devolved government and no European agencies, contractors, associations or NGO networks.

Of this past year’s contracts, 7 involved facilitation while 7 involved training and 6 involved coaching and consulting. That compares to 11 facilitation, 18 training and 7 coaching & consulting the year before, and 7 facilitation & 16 training the year before that. So my facilitation and training work have returned to their previous more or less equal balance, and the proportion of contracts involving coaching and consulting has continued to rise – that too has been welcome.

Facilitation contracts this past year have ranged in scale from a single session of 60-90 minutes at relatively short notice to as many as 17 sessions collaboratively designed and prepared over several months:

  • with Amnesty International, design and lead facilitation of a series of 17 sessions of the online 2021 Global Assembly, involving a multilingual team of 5 facilitators and 3-4 delegates of each of almost 70 member entities worldwide working in English, French and Spanish
  • with Oxford Properties on behalf of Traction Strategy, breakout session facilitation for an online Global Leadership Conference of around 300 delegates
  • with the Portuguese Refugee Council and Amnesty International Ireland, design and facilitation of a second online Best Practice Convening session of around 50 key actors in Community Sponsorship of Refugees across Europe
  • with Amnesty International, design and facilitation of an online team-building session for the International Board, Coalition Leadership Team and Governance Programme staff of the International Secretariat
  • with the Natural History Consortium, design and facilitation of a series of six online conversations bringing together 90 diverse stakeholders at ‘Communicate’, the UK’s conference for environmental communicators
  • with Amnesty International, Europe & Central Asia region, lead design and facilitation of a 5-session online Regional Forum involving over 100 delegates from around 25 member organisations
  • with Global Fishing Watch, design and facilitation of a 3-day retreat of the global Executive Team of 14 in London

Ann Burroughs

Ann Burroughs, Chair of the 2021 Global Assembly and Preparatory Committee, Amnesty International, wrote in a recommendation:

“Martin and his team provided outstanding support during Amnesty International’s 2021 Global Assembly which for the first time was held entirely online. They were integral in the planning of the model which helped to ensure broad participation and access for delegates of almost 70 member entities. Their experience and familiarity with facilitating online spaces were game changing and were critical in helping to build trust in the process and in a new model of digital governance.”

Savita Wilmott

Savita Willmott, CEO, The Natural History Consortium, wrote:

“Martin supported our charity in January 2022 to bring together 90 diverse stakeholders into a series of six online conversations in a single day. We were looking to tackle complex environmental topics, and have strong outputs. His advice and support was invaluable to design an effective programme for the day as well as to expertly facilitate the session alongside another facilitator. We achieved our aim of avoiding a “talking shop” – the outputs of the session are informing our strategic work six months later, and the connections made between organisations are thriving. Martin strikes a brilliant balance between flexibility and attention to detail, and we’d recommend him without hesitation.”

Training contracts this past year have ranged in scale from a single introductory session for one group to a series of multi-session courses for multiple groups:

For the first year since 2014, I offered no scheduled public ToP facilitation training myself this past year. Instead, I have invited participants to register with ICA:UK or another ICA worldwide. I have welcomed the reduced workload and risk that has resulted, and I have no plans at present to resume a paid public training offering.

I have expanded and clarified my offering of in-house facilitation training to include tailored courses that were not previously offered on a public schedule, and to make clearer which courses are now available online or in-person or both.

Coaching and consulting contracts this past year have again ranged in scale from one or two one-hour sessions with a single coachee to providing coaching and consulting support for multiple teams to design and lead a multi-session international event:

  • with Lindsey Green of Frankly Green +Webb, facilitation coaching in support of strategic planning with clients in the museum and arts sector
  • with Nicole Moran of Advisory & Facilitation Services, facilitation coaching in support of online strategic planning and focus group sessions
  • with Action Aid International, facilitation coaching and support for the Convener, Organising Committee and Governance staff of the Global Secretariat in preparation for sessions of the online Annual General Meeting

Nicole Moran, Global Development Advisory & Facilitation Services, wrote in a recommendation:

“Martin is the perfect coach, blending expertise and experience in the finest manner to provide excellent coaching and training support to me. His professional, encouraging and non-judgmental approach helped me venture to use a range of approaches, online platforms and tools – whether for training, review meetings, presenting the results of an evaluation. Since 2020 when Covid redefined our ways of working and relating, my work has shifted almost entirely to the virtual platform. I felt it important to get some expert guidance to ensure that I select the right tools and approaches for online working and continue to remain as efficient and effective as possible with my clients, my team and others. I am grateful for the professional support and guidance of Martin and looking forward to Martin’s continued guidance.”

In my volunteering, I have not (yet) been tempted to take up any new leadership role and have instead enjoyed contributing on a more ad hoc basis to a number of projects, more and less facilitation-related.

I continued my social media support by tweeting for Facilitation Week, as I have since the first #FacWeek in 2013, and by managing the website and social media for the Power of Facilitation book project. Having managed the website and social media for ICA International since I stood down as President in 2016, I was pleased to be able to support the new ICAI Board this year to appoint a new website and social media manager to succeed me (the fabulous Rena Koç) and to see a welcome refresh of the ICAI website.

IAF Facilitation Summit 2021

For Facilitation Week I also co-hosted two sessions of the IAF Facilitation Summit in October – ‘Facilitating Breakthrough: How to Remove Obstacles, Bridge Differences, and Move Forward Together’ with Adam Kahane and ‘Scaling Up Engagement & Dialogue’ with Michael Ambjorn, both drawing on recently released publications.

For the Power of Facilitation I also continued to work with fellow contributors to promote the book, during Facilitation Week and otherwise, and so to use the book to promote the power of facilitation worldwide. As well as supporting and promoting online ‘meet the author’ sessions and articles, book reviews etc, I supported more than 80 IAF colleagues around the world to convene and start to work to translate the book into more than a dozen languages.

For ICA:UK and ICA International, I also continued to participate in the UK ToP Associates network and the ICAI Global ToP Advisory Group, and latterly in the new ICAI Global ToP Community of Practice.

For IAF, I continued to serve as a mentor in the IAF mentoring programme, working again with two mentees in parallel this past year.

Manal Sayid, Facilitator, Consultant and Trainer, wrote:

“Martin has provided everything I could hope for in a mentorship relationship! He was super helpful in his sharing of relevant resources, his guidance in terms of all the questions I had, and I felt like we built great rapport and therefore could share some challenges and vulnerabilities candidly!”

I began to offer free facilitation coaching in November, which enabled me to support six young people during the year in their work for climate justice, gender equity or anti-racism.

Jacob Warn, Activist, Teacher & Consultant, Europe Must Act, wrote:

“What a fabulous [free facilitation coaching] session! Can I just say on behalf of us all how thankful we are – what an ‘espresso-shot’ of insight and wisdom, it’s really so generous of you to support in this open way and just so appreciated. I can’t wait to explore the various links you’ve shared and reflect more on the questions you’ve prompted, and we would really gladly take up your offer to have another session to workshop our upcoming strategy session in 2022!”

Ukraine anti-war protest, 6 March 2022 in London

I have been glad to be able to support Ukrainian colleagues in Ukraine and elsewhere since the Russian invasion in February, not least as part of a loose network of facilitators, trainers and consultants in Ukraine and around the world that has met weekly online led by ICA USA ToP colleagues of the Global Synergy Group.

I have been awed and inspired by much of the resolve, resistance, solidarity and leadership that I have seen in response to the war, and grateful to those colleagues in Kyiv who have challenged me to realise that every show of support is valued, and that support that is unseen and unheard is no support at all – see Facilitator neutrality in the context of war and oppression #StandWithUkraine.

Join our new Online group, Weekly Online Social and scheduled online events!

For the Gay Outdoor Club I stepped up from my social media support role to launch and co-ordinate a new Online group as well, and to host regular online socials – inspired in no small part by my 5 years of hosting free facilitation meetups of IAF England & Wales. Of course I didn’t join GOC to attend online meetings, least of all to lead them! It has turned out, however, that there is a real interest in connecting, meeting and socialising online, even among members of an outdoor club like GOC, as evidenced by responses to a feedback survey in May. I have been glad to be able to apply my professional skills to support the club and fellow members in this way.

Exploring feminist facilitation

My professional development has been focused largely on Exploring feminist facilitation and, more broadly, how I can ensure that my own practice as a professional facilitator is more effectively and explicitly feminist, anti-racist and anti-oppressive.

What was most helpful for me in this was participating this year in the 12-week online feminist leadership development programme of We Are Feminist Leaders. This provided me with a comprehensive framework by which to understand what feminism brings to leadership, and thus to facilitation, and also a powerful demonstration of what feminist, anti-racist and anti-oppressive facilitation can look like in practice.

I have continued to value the professional community and facilitation meetups of IAF England & Wales as a participant, and particularly this year’s hybrid Re-Facilitation Conference which I attended online. I found that an inspiring demonstration of how effective hybrid facilitation can be, even with a minimal budget but at least a collaborative team of experienced facilitators and a lot of good will. It inspired a number of valuable articles and blog posts too, not least from SessionLab the very thorough An honest* guide to planning and facilitating successful hybrid events.

My recent return to in-person working has led me to reflect and draw some initial conclusions on Mitigating COVID risks for in person and hybrid events to inform contracting discussions with future clients and groups.

While for many in the UK the COVID pandemic is effectively over, for others here and elsewhere it clearly isn’t. There are risks to my own work and health to consider as well as those of my clients and groups, and some potential for ethical dilemmas to arise. With a more or less equal mix of online and in-person events in the pipeline for the coming months, I do now feel better prepared to navigate the risks.

I shall certainly take advantage of the autumn booster vaccination promised for over-50s in the UK as soon as that is available. I shall continue to approach opportunities for prospective hybrid events with even greater caution than I did before the pandemic, careful to try to ensure that expectation and ambition are aligned with resources (or vice versa) and that valuable opportunities for asynchronous collaboration are not overlooked in a rush to synchronous hybrid working.

Another rail route that I have been happy to acquaint myself with has been the high-speed line from Paris to Barcelona, after I resolved during something of a sabbatical in Sitges two years ago to try to spend more time there more often. It is a real privilege to be able to work in such a way as to be able to do that, and I am thankful that COVID-related travel disruptions affected our last trip barely at all for the first time since we went back.

Such disruptions did prevent me from taking more than one week of intensive Spanish class while I was there, but I have taken to attending Spanish conversation meetups in London now as well. It was a wet and windy week in the Outer Hebrides this month that distracted me from my daily Duolingo Spanish practice sufficiently to bring and end to more than a year-long streak in the Diamond League – if you are familiar with that little green owl, you may feel my disappointment!

Thank you for following…

See also about me, how I work, who I work with and recommendations & case studies, and please contact me about how we might work together.

Join me for ToP facilitation training in London, Brussels & elsewhere in 2020!

Register now on Eventbrite, and please share these details with friends, colleagues and networks who might be interested.

I am an ICA Certified ToP Facilitator (CTF), and a licensed provider and experienced lead trainer of ICA ToP facilitation training. I offer these courses in partnership with ICA:UK and ICA Associates Inc; in Brussels with Social Platform; and also this year in Moscow with Personal Image, Milan with IAF Italy, Lisbon with IAF Portugal and in Stockholm with the IAF Global Facilitation Summit.  I am excited to extend these partnerships again this year to offer even more public courses for 2020.

Looking for accredited learning? Group Facilitation Methods, Action Planning and Participatory Strategic Planning are accredited by the Institute of Leadership and Management for an ILM Development Award.

IAF endorsed trainingPreparing for CPF certification? Meetings That Work, Group Facilitation Methods and Facilitating Client Collaboration together comprise the new ICA Associates ToP Facilitation Essentials Program that has been endorsed by the International Association of Facilitators for those preparing to become an IAF Certified Professional Facilitator (CPF). These three courses plus Action Planning and Participatory Strategic Planning cover most of the competencies required for Certified ToP Facilitator (CTF) assessment. To learn more, see my February 2018 free facilitation webinar Facilitator certification: what’s it like, and is it worthwhile?

Interested to join IAF? Participants in all these ICA:UK ToP courses are eligible for a 50% discount on their first year’s IAF membership, a requirement for CPF certification.

Most courses are scheduled in pairs to allow 1, 2, 3 or 4 days of training at once.  Follow the links below for further details and to register for each course.

*With regret, courses shown in italics have been cancelled due to Covid-19.  New online courses will be announced soon (April/May 2020).

Group Facilitation Methods – introducing the foundations of the ToP approach, two powerful techniques for structuring effective conversations and building group consensus – 2 days

“I found it really helpful. Martin established a really good group learning process and displayed mastery of his subject. I am very glad I went on it and very glad he ran it!” – Mike Pounsford, Employee engagement, communication and change specialist

“As a diverse, transnational, multilingual membership network, successful meetings are key to our internal and external successes. Many of our staff mentioned Martin’s training as a highlight in their end of year reviews – several said it was the most useful training they had ever attended.” – Eve Geddie, Deputy Director at Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM)

Action Planning – participatory planning for short-term projects and events – 1 day

“Martin is a very inspiring trainer, he is very skilled and knows how to facilitate facilitators in a structured and insightful way. I have been able to succesfully use his personal advice and facilitation techniques straight away!” – Miriam Elst, Facilitator Design Thinking and LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®, Lead UX researcher & strategist, Service designer

Meetings That Work – practical tools to design and lead effective meetings – 2 days

“Meetings That Work ticked all the boxes. It was very interesting to hear the theory and useful to have to put it in practice during the many exercises. I use the templates and ideas from this course on a weekly basis. It improves planning and preparing for our 20 meetings (annually). Feedback on the improved meeting format is excellent.” – Peter Van Roste, General Manager CENTR

Facilitating Client Collaboration – practical tools to design facilitation approaches with your client – 2 days

“I got confidence in how to deal with my clients. I had not expected that this course would boost me up to be more open to the customers and speak with them more freely, but it did. The methods and processes will not only be helpful in my regular work, but also in solving my family, community and society problems.” –  Neha Shrestha

Bill Staples of ICA Associates Inc. CanadaI may be joined for one of these courses again by Bill Staples of ICA Associates Inc as guest trainer. Bill is one of the founders of ICA’s Technology of Participation, a principal partner of ICA Associates Inc. and the main designer of Facilitating Client Collaboration.

Participatory Strategic Planning – bringing people together to create strategies for action – 2 days

“Martin created a good atmosphere in an international group. His presentations were crispy clear, illustrated by carefully chosen, practical examples from his rich facilitator experience. Martin helped me to understand countless details of preparation and running a successful Participatory Strategic Planning session for various customers.” – Marzena Dębska-Matuszak, Experienced Trainer, Facilitator and Coach

For early bird rates, register by 5 January 2020 on Eventbrite.

Register on two or more courses at once to enjoy a 10% discount on each – please contact me to ask for a promotional code for the multiple bookings discount. Enter the code as you register on Eventbrite for your chosen courses to reveal your discounted rates.

Additional discounts are available all year to members of Social Platform and other European NGO networks, and to members of ICA, IAF & IABC. If you have not received a promotional code directly from them, please contact me.

For in-house and tailored training see ToP facilitation training at your place – and free places for you! and please contact me. Please do not delay before contacting me – the earlier I hear from you, the more chance that I will be able to help and the more helpful I may be able to be.

See also about me, how I work, who I work with and recommendations & case studies.