Outline of the mediation process

a quick outline of the mediation process

When conflict happens inside a community mediation can help a lot.  Here at LA Eco-Village we have a group of folks that refer to themselves as the “Conflict Resolution Team” and among other things they offer mediation help.   I was trying to explain a part of the mediation process to a couple of friends and i ended up drawing this quick pictorial guide.   Mediation starts when one party requests mediation help, then the mediator(s) will have a conversation with each of the affected parties and they will agree on a moment to sit down and talk.

This quick drawing shows what happens then: first the mediator(s) will introduce the process and establish some ground rules.  Then one person will explain the nature of the conflict (person A) and the other person (person B) will listen only.  This is followed by person B summarizing without responding what person A stated.

Then the roles are switched, person B will explain and person A will listen.  In this process some requests and new understandings will arise but in the next step there will be some discussion and enunciation of those requests.   They will be written down and everyone will sign a document.

At last there is generally closure in the forms of hugs, handshakes and perhaps celebratory drinks (or ice cream).  I’m clearly oversimplifying the process, there is much more nuance and skill required to make this happen.  There may be other steps involved and this largely depends on the mediator’s style and the mechanics of the process your group might choose to use.   There is also a lot that can be done to improve my drawing but i just wanted to present it as is for it might still be useful. Here is a  printable PDF of the image above if you want to use it.  If you have further ideas or similar images please share in the comments.

Advanced Facilitation Seminar

(photo from a recent meeting Ron facilitated using small groups)

I’m leading another Advanced Facilitation Workshop on Wednesday, September 15^th at the LA Eco-Village (117 Bimini Pl), from 7 to 9pm and invite you to attend. This workshop explores more sophisticated tools and strategies that facilitators use to ensure groups 
effectively reach decisions.  Participants will have the opportunity to practice facilitating challenging 
situations and receive feedback from the instructor and training participants.  Recommended pre-requisite:  Intro to Facilitation or some facilitation experience. Fee:  $35 (sliding scale available)
Reservations required:  crsp@igc.org or 213/738-1254.  For those interested in learning more about facilitation, consider attending Beatrice Brigg’s upcoming “Leading Effective Meetings” training on September 30th through October 2nd.

Introduction to Facilitation Training July 28th

Folks listening to a presentation during the LA Streetsblog fundraiser that the Eco-Village hosted

Every week, different members of the LA Eco-Village facilitate meetings that lead to decisions that impact the community.  To learn how its done and improve the effectiveness of whatever group you meet with, I invite you to attend  an Introduction to Facilitation workshop I’m leading at the LA Eco-Village on Wednesday, July 28th from 7pm to 9pm.

Here’s the summary of the training:

Facilitators play a key role in helping a group make decisions.  They help create a safe environment where everyone feels like their input is valued. In this workshop, you’ll explore the benefits of facilitation, explore the group decision making process, explore various tools a facilitator uses, and have the opportunity to practice facilitating a group (and receive  feedback on your efforts).

Directions

Fee:        $35 (sliding scale available)

Reservations required:  crsp@igc.org or 213/738-1254

For more information about the facilitation services I provide, my background and 10 tips for facilitation, check out this two-page flyer I created.

For those interested in learning more about facilitation over a few days, the International Institute for Facilitation and Change will host a three-day “Leading Effective Meetings” training from Sept. 30th to October 2nd in Los Angeles.

10 Tips for Running Effective Meetings

Photo of a Food Lobby Coop Meeting that occurred at the LA Eco-Village

Tonight (Tuesday, June 15th), from 7pm to 9pm, I’m leading a Running Effective Meetings Workshop at the LA Eco-Village, and I invite you to attend.  To rsvp, contact crsp@igc.org or 213/738-1254.  $35 sliding scale.

Many of us spend much of our times in meetings.  Having attending numerous meetings as a facilitator and participant, I’m happy to share the following 10 quick tips for running effective meetings with you:

1. Designate a Facilitator: Whether it’s a member of the group such or your group decide to bring in an outside facilitator, the facilitator’s role is to help keep the group focused and moving forward.

2. Develop an agenda before the meeting: At the core of a good agenda are items that require the group to make decisions.  Project how much time each item will take and assign the outcome you hope to accomplish.

3. Stick to the agenda during the meeting: Many temptations exist to stray off topic.  Stay focused to get the work done you need to get done and record other ideas brought up at the meeting for future meetings.

4. Record decisions made: Have a notetaker at every meeting to take minutes and have them record each decision, who is responsible for implementing it and if any future actions need to happen.

5. Start and end on time: When groups slide from starting and ending on time, people loose motivation for attending meeting.

6. Set groundrules: Groundrules help ensure civility between members. Some examples:  test assumptions, share all relevant information and focus on interests, not positions.

7. Address conflict when it comes up: Dealing with conflict can be challenging but not dealing with it and letting it fester can potentially be worse.

8. Use graphics: Have someone scribe notes on a dry-erase board or poster paper to visually record people’s thoughts.

9. Evaluate: Occasionally ask what about the meetings work well and what could be improved…experiment with ways to improve meetings.

10. Thank people for attending: If folks feel appreciated and valued, they are more likely to show up at future meetings, especially if they are a volunteer.

If you’re group needs an outside facilitator to make your meetings more effective, please contact me.

Advanced Facilitation Training – June 9

LA Eco-Villager Julio Santizo presenting at a Beverly Vermont Community Land Trust board meeting that Ron Milam facilitated

Tomorrow night (June 9th), Ron Milam will lead an Advanced Facilitation training at the LA Eco-Village. The following week on June 15th, he’ll lead a Running Effective Meetings training.  You are welcome to attend one or both of these trainings.

Here’s more information about the trainings:

Wed, June 9, 2010 from 7 to 9 pm at L.A. Eco-Village directions

Advanced Facilitation

This workshop explores more sophisticated tools and strategies that facilitators use to ensure groups effectively reach decisions.  Participants will have the opportunity to practice facilitating challenging situations and receive feedback from the instructor and training participants.

Recommended pre-requisite: Intro to Facilitation or some facilitation experience.

Fee: $35 (sliding scale available)
Reservations required: crsp@igc.org or 213/738-1254

============================================

Tue, June 15, 2010 from 7 to 9 pm at L.A. Eco-Village    directions

Running Effective Meetings

This workshop explores the key components necessary to ensure meetings are effective and result in decisions that help an organization move forward.  These components include: developing an agenda, knowing people’s roles and responsibilities, having a decision making process, facilitation and good listening skills.

Fee: $35 (sliding scale available)
Reservations required: crsp@igc.org or 213/738-1254

For more information Ron Milam’s work as a facilitator, click here.

Ron will also lead another Introduction to Facilitation training on July 28th from 7pm to 9pm at the LA Eco-Village.

Learn to Facilitate at the LA Eco-Village

Ron Milam facilitating a session at the recent LA Streets Summit (photo taken by Drew Reed)

As a resident of the LA Eco-Village and professional facilitator, I’m pleased to invite you to the following three trainings scheduled to take place at LA Eco-Village over the next few months:

Introduction to Facilitation, April 1, 7pm to 9pm

Facilitators play a key role in helping a group make decisions.  They help create a safe environment where everyone feels like their input is valued.  In this workshop, you’ll explore the benefits of facilitation, explore the group decision making process, explore various tools a facilitator uses, and have the opportunity to practice facilitating a group (and receive feedback on your efforts).

Advanced Facilitation, May 19, 7pm to 9pm

This workshop explores more sophisticated tools and strategies that facilitators use to ensure groups effectively reach decisions.  Participants will have the opportunity to practice facilitating challenging situations and receive feedback on from the instructor and training participants.

Running Effective Meetings, June 15, 7pm to 9pm

This workshop explores the key components necessary to ensure meetings are effective and result in decisions that help an organization move forward.  These components include: developing an agenda, knowing people’s roles and responsibilities, having a decision making process, facilitation and good listening skills.

The fee for each workshop is $35 (with a sliding scale for those that need it).

Reservations are required – To reserve a spot email crsp@igc.org or call (213) 738-1254.

For those that can’t attend the workshop, check out my top 10 tips for facilitation, recently published by the International Institute for Facilitation and Change’s Bonfire Newsletter, another great resource out there for folks wanting to polish their facilitation skills.

An Eco-Villager’s Office (in Griffith Park)

Many of us who live at the LA Eco-Village work for sustainability in various ways professionally – whether it be organizing for environmental justice organizations, installing solar power, restoring the LA River or advocating for better bicycle infrastructure, among many other things.  Many of us are also self-employed and all work in varied environments around town.

As a consultant, I spend much of my time facilitating meetings with various clients around town.  But when I’m not doing that, I often enjoy riding up to beautiful places like Griffith Park and working up there. I made this short video yesterday that gives a tour of one of my many office locations around town. Enjoy!

Top 10 Tips for Facilitating a Meeting

The other day, my rotation came up to co-facilitate one of our weekly meetings here at the Eco-Village, which went really well.  Outside of the Eco-Village, I facilitate a number of meetings for sustainability-oriented organizations as a Consultant and have learned some best-practices over the years that I’d like to share with you.

1. Listen: Listen closely listen to everything that is said and watch people’s body language as well.

2. Develop the Agenda: Before the meeting, create an agenda that has clear items that lead to actual decisions.

3. Serve Everyone: As a facilitator, you are there to serve the entire group, which means you don’t take anyone’s side.

4. Steward the Process: Your job is to ensure the decision making process moves forward – the group’s job is to decide.

5. Conflict is Normal: Expect occasional conflict and work to build areas of agreement with the group.

6. Set Ground Rules: Going over some common ground rules at the start helps enforce bad behavior if it occurs.

7. Decide how to Decide: Every group needs to agree on what their decision making method is before they start making decisions.

8. Pay attention to time: Remind the group how they are doing on time and/or appoint a timekeeper to help ensure things keep moving.

9. Use your toolbox: One example: Use a stack (which creates a list of who will speak next so people don’t interrupt).

10. Practice: We learn facilitation by doing it. We get better at it by reflecting on how we did and constantly learning new ways to do it better.

I wish you the best as you facilitate future meetings!  I also welcome any facilitation tips you would add to this Top 10 list.

One agreement, Twenty-seven Words

i’m pretty happy with this agreement we crafted at a recent meeting.  we wanted to keep it short and simple and someone suggested that we could make it rhyme.  it’s about the use of common spaces like the courtyard, the community room or the community kitchen and it applies to events or just casual use:

Follow the policy to the letter
and leave our spaces as you found them or better.
Do all within your powers
to make this happen in 24 hours.

if you want to read other agreements we have crafted you can check out our wiki page.  the content there and on this blog is released under a creative commons license so feel free to adopt and/or remix these policies if they fit the needs of your group or community.

Facilitator on a bike

Ron, my friend and neighbor, asked me to post this blog entry that he wrote, see the original post here:

A good facilitator brings some important materials to a meeting including an easel, markers, a small clock and most challenging of all to carry on a bicycle, a full sized posterboard to scribe notes to capture everyone’s good thoughts. Up until now, I have always asked clients to bring the posterboard because it was too challenging to secure on my small bike rack.

For a recent peer learning session I led for the Liberty Hill Foundation, one of the leading funders of social change movements in Los Angeles, I decided I would incorporate a little social change in my own lifestyle and bring everything to the training by bicycle.  Knowing I couldn’t fit everyone on my existing bike, I remembered one of my neighbors here at the LA Eco-Village has an XtraCycle I could borrow, which is a bicycle trailer device designed to carry heavy loads.

I’m excited to report that I successfully carried the following items on one bicycle: that big posterboard, an easel, markers, handouts, my laptop computer and three bags of groceries that fed an impressive group of 15 leaders working on social change here in Los Angeles.  I really enjoyed the ride and the discussion that followed it.

Now that I know it can easily be done, I look forward to hauling all of my facilitation tools on bike to future trainings, retreats and meetings. While I can’t confirm it, I just might be able to say I’m the only bicycling facilitator in Los Angeles! If you need a facilitator or want to know more about what a facilitator does, check out my website.

See you on the streets of Los Angeles and remember that you can always carry more stuff on a bicycle than you think you can.

Introducing Ron Milam’s Consulting Business

Ron, my friend, neighbor, fellow bicyclist, bike advocate (and more) asked me to post this blog entry that he wrote:

Eco-Villager and Non-Profit Facilitator and Consultant Ron Milam

I’m pleased to base my consulting business out of the Los Angeles Eco-Village.  Since I work primarily with urban sustainability oriented nonprofit organizations in Los Angeles, living and working at the Los Angeles Eco-Village definitely inspires me and has taught me a lot about sustainability. 
 
Living at the Los Angeles Eco-Village has played a key role in teaching me how to become a good facilitator.  I remember going to retreats that the Eco-Village had several years back led by experienced facilitators and taking detailed notes on how they helped guide us towards making important decisions.  I then had the opportunity to practice these skills facilitating one of our many weekly meetings where we make decisions by consensus. 
 
I now professionally facilitate for local nonprofit organizations, with the most recent retreat being for the Los Angeles Audubon Society (see my recent blog post on Facilitation and Flying for more details).  I’m pleased to offer an upcoming Introduction to Facilitation workshop at the Eco-Village on September 29th, from 6:30pm to 8:30pm and welcome you to attend. More information about this workshop can be found at laecovillage.org.  I also lead a wide variety of trainings to build the capacity of nonprofit organizations and welcome you to attend any of those as well – for information see the calendar page at my website.