Numbers have a whole world of information beneath them. Making decisions on numbers alone can get you into trouble. At a recent meeting to evaluate and adapt the pilot of a six-week online course, my colleague Jeanette Romkema and I shared the numbers about level of...
It just appeared in your calendar – the mysterious 1.5-hour meeting. You are one of eight invitees. The attached agenda has four topics you’ve heard something about around the office. You click “accept” and quietly say goodbye to 90 minutes.
I took the Foundations of Dialogue Education course with Global Learning Partners (GLP) in October 2017. The most powerful take-away for me was to think about what the learners will be doing with the content rather than what I will be saying or presenting. Perhaps it...
At the end of our graduate class “Community Development: The Art of Facilitation and Design” with Jeanette Romkema we reflected on how principles and practices of Dialogue Education could also help ensure more effective and efficient meetings. It was eye-opening! Most...
Increasingly many Boards, committee, working groups, and organizations need to meet in a way that is mixed or hybrid. Often, we have a meeting and want or need to bring in participants from other branch offices, cities or countries. When we do this the people in the...
Recently, a client emailed me a few questions, unrelated to the work we were doing together. She was on a human resources committee and was working to revamp their performance review process. She was wondering, “Does Global Learning Partners have any resources for...
In the past few weeks, organizations around the world have faced the challenge of converting their in-person meetings to virtual ones. Our organization, the International Budget Partnership (IBP) is no exception. Every month, IBP holds an all-staff meeting via Zoom, a...
When my kids were very young, I would take them with me to run errands. They’d say, “Momma, what’s our plan today?” with excitement in their voices. They wondered what our adventure to town would include! I would list things such as stopping at the post office, the...
In mid-March, the Tax Equity team at the International Budget Partnership was faced with a dilemma – continue planning a two-day convening of researchers, staff, and civil society scheduled for May or take it completely online. Like many organizations in the face of...
Much has changed since pre-COVID. And in my view, our monthly all-staff meetings are better now that everyone is on a separate screen.
The Chat box is highly underrated. All meeting spaces have this feature, but it is not often used. And even more rarely, explored. Here are some great reasons to use the Chat box: To invite in all voices Rarely does everyone have a voice in a session (in-person or...
Many people are afraid of sitting in silence with a group in a Zoom room. Don't be afraid. Silence can be extremely helpful and needed if timed well. Here are reasons to design for silence: to give people time to think to make space for off-screen work...