J.D. Solomon
How to Improve Facilitation of Public Workshop and Comment Sessions
Facilitating public workshops and comment sessions are typically conducted by public-sector organizations. These sessions are intended to...
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J.D. Solomon
- Nov 9
Facilitation Lessons Learned: One Board, Four Board Retreats, and Four Formats
Facilitators seldom have the opportunity to use four formats with the same board of directors for four consecutive years. Blame it on...
J.D. Solomon
- Oct 4
Trust Proven Approaches to Produce the Best Facilitated Sessions
The stakes are high. The problem is difficult. We search for the facilitation approach that rises to the level of the problem. Not so...
J.D. Solomon
- Jul 19
Most Facilitators Miss This, And There Is One In Every Group
Greg Padgett and I were chatting four years ago, just before the start of the Beaufort-Jasper Water and Sewer Authority annual board...
The Experts
- Jul 12
Ask the Experts Re-Visited: The Lost Art of Facilitation
Jeff Lineberger and Charles Wingard provided some great insights on all types of facilitation. I sat down with Jeff a few months ago to...
J.D. Solomon
- May 12
These Three Acts Improve Your Ability to Lead Others with Better Facilitation, Communication
Every written or verbal communication needs a structure. The three-act structure stands the test of time because it is a straightforward,...
J.D. Solomon
- Apr 18
Five Ways to More Effectively Facilitate Reliability Assessments
Reliability assessments require all of the previous six facilitation good practices in the "Five Ways to More Effectively Facilitate…"...
J.D. Solomon
- Apr 11
Five Ways to More Effectively Facilitate Business Cases
The foundations of systems thinking and facilitation apply to business cases because the analysis requires a group to establish the...
J.D. Solomon
- Apr 4
Five Ways to More Effectively Facilitate Capital Program Prioritization
The foundations of systems thinking and facilitation apply to capital programs because the analysis requires a group to establish the...
J.D. Solomon
- Mar 28
Five Ways to More Effectively Facilitate Block Diagrams
This article discusses five ways to effectively facilitate block diagrams by conducting pre-session exchanges, asking powerful questions,...
J.D. Solomon
- Mar 21
Five Ways to More Effectively Facilitate Tree Diagrams
This article discusses five ways to effectively facilitate tree diagrams by conducting pre-session exchanges, asking powerful questions,...
J.D. Solomon
- Mar 14
Five Ways to More Effectively Facilitate Failure Modes & Effects Analysis (FMEA)
This article discusses five ways to facilitate failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) more effectively by conducting pre-session...
J.D. Solomon
- Mar 7
Five Ways to More Effectively Facilitate Root Cause Analysis
This article discusses five ways to facilitate root cause analysis (RCA) more effectively through conducting pre-session exchanges,...
J.D. Solomon
- Feb 11
Fabulous Facilitation: Control the Tempo, Control the Ebb and Flow
We had met at the same place, at the same time, and in the same format every month for the past six months. The team still had eight...
J.D. Solomon
- Feb 4
Fabulous Facilitation: Are You Prepared to Work Through Disruption?
I knew not to ask the question. I was almost certain I had heard the exchange correctly. I asked anyway, "Jim, I am not sure I understood...
J.D. Solomon
- Jan 28
Fabulous Facilitation: How Do Engaging Exercises Create Remarkable Results?
Think about the three best-facilitated sessions you have ever attended. I will bet the facilitator used some type of activity that you...
J.D. Solomon
- Jan 21
Fabulous Facilitation: Are You Asking Powerful Questions?
I knew it was going to be a long week when my co-facilitator asked the group, “So, what happens when a submersible pump fails.” Their...
J.D. Solomon
- Jan 14
Fabulous Facilitation: Pre-Session Exchange Is Essential for Meaningful Outcomes
"I really liked the pre-workshop survey," responded an executive team member. "It enabled us to have a fast start and it helped everyone...
J.D. Solomon
- Jan 3
Facilitation, Soft and Hard
There is a lot to unpack in the standard definition of facilitation. "A facilitated session is a highly structured meeting in which the...
J.D. Solomon
- Dec 16, 2021
Communicating with FINESSE: Getting the Boss’s Boss to Understand
The critical issue is a technical professional's inability to communicate to decision makers in the face of complexity and uncertainty. ...