Group Facilitation Journal Announcement LO25126

From: Sandor P Schuman (sschuman@csc.albany.edu)
Date: 08/03/00


Group Facilitation: A Research and Applications Journal
Issue Announcement

Articles in this issue:
======================

* Editorial: Readying Facilitation for the 21st Century
* By Mark A. Fuller

* Facilitator Competencies
* By Virginia Pierce, Dennis Cheesebrow and Linda Mathews Braun

The International Association of Facilitators and the Institute of
Cultural Affairs have explored the question of facilitator competencies
and skills for several years. One of the new insights of progressive
organizations is the value of participatory processes to address new needs
for analysis, decision-making, and action in today's environment of fast,
complex change and global competition. Facilitation is increasingly being
used as a participatory tool for getting results in group dialogue,
analysis, decision-making, and planning. Competency in the design and
delivery of participatory processes is the domain of the facilitation
profession. This article presents six areas of facilitator competencies
and the skills, knowledge, and attitudes necessary to demonstrate those
competencies. It also suggests a number of areas where this model of
facilitator competencies can be applied.

* Comments on Facilitator Competencies
* By Jean-Anne Kirk, Roger M. Schwarz, Marybeth Tahar, and
* Michael Wilkinson

* Best Practices in Facilitating Virtual Meetings:
* Some Notes From Initial Experience
* By Daniel D. Mittleman, Robert O. Briggs and Jay F. Nunamaker, Jr.

Facilitating virtual teams - teams separated by time or distance - is a
practice only recently developed. With new collaboration technologies, it
is now possible to lead projects where team members collaborate using only
technology links for communication. As these technologies are new, little
information exists to guide facilitators as to best practices for
conducting virtual facilitation. This article describes virtual
facilitation environments and reports on lessons learned from one set of
academic studies that investigated the practice of same-time and
different-time virtual facilitation. Best practices are derived from
these lessons and presented here as well.

* Building Trust Among Members of a Work Team:
* One Facilitator's Experiences
* By Stephen B. King

This article describes the experiences of a facilitator who was involved
with a six-person team of employees at Penn State University Library.
Various interactions and experiences the facilitator had with the team are
detailed. Early in the process, interpersonal trust, communication, and
relationship emerged as important issues among team members. Several
questionnaires were used to collect information, provide feedback to the
group, and stimulate discussions. A variety of trust-building
interventions, such as team-building and facilitated discussions, were
implemented to improve the effectiveness of the team. A follow-up survey
showed an improvement in several critical dimensions related to trust.
This article describes the facilitation experience and lessons that were
learned.

* Essay: Process Time for Project Teams
* By Edward S. Ruete

Classics for Group Facilitators:
===============================

* Origins of Group Dynamics
* By Dorwin Cartwright and Alvin Zander

Book Reviews
============

Dialogue: Rediscover the Transforming Power of Conversation
By Linda Ellinor and Glenna Gerard
Reviewed by Cassandra Patrovani-Smith

Handbook of Team Design
By Peter H. Jones
Reviewed by Gerald Kail

The Complete Guide to Facilitation: Enabling Groups to Succeed
By Tom Justice and David Jamison
Reviewed by Lynda Lieberman Baker

For copies and subscription information contact:
International Association of Facilitators <iafoffice@igc.apc.org>

For Call for Papers and Submision Guidelines visit:
http://www.iaf-world.org/journal/

Or contact
Sandor P. Schuman, Editor
Group Facilitation: A Research and Applications Journal
University at Albany
Center for Policy Reesarch S.Schuman@Albany.edu
Albany NY 12222 (518) 442-5889

-- 

Sandor P Schuman <sschuman@csc.albany.edu>

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