Check Out This Awesome, Simple Facilitation Tool

Are you the kind of facilitator who likes to experiment with new facilitation tools?

If you are, I recommend you experiment with this simple, yet powerful, tool: a picture.

I absolutely love to share anything that can help facilitators become an even better facilitator and, in the process, make the experience they create for dads more enjoyable. That’s why when I ran across this post in the blog of the Harvard Business Review (HBR) on the use of pictures to build faster, better connections among team members, I thought, “This is a great tool that can also help facilitators build faster, better connections among the dads they serve!”

 Here’s how in five easy steps:

1. Read the HBR post for details on why pictures can help any team—yes, the dads you serve in a program or a workshop are a team—build faster, better connections.
2. Identify pictures that reflect the topic of your program session or workshop. Use any of the many royalty-free images you can access via the Internet or that you can purchase. (The HBR post provides links to free and for-purchase sources for photos.) If, for example, the focus is on how to co-parent effectively, select a photo of two parents clearly in a struggle to communicate.
3. Convert the photos to a size large enough to hand around a group of dads so that each dad can hold it and deeply examine it—a standard 8 ½ x 11-inch size will do. Laminate them for use time and again.
4. Create some questions (or tie them to questions in the program or workshop curriculum) to generate discussion. Ask open-ended, non-leading questions like:
   • What’s happening between the two parents in this photo?
   • When you saw this photo, what’s the first thought that popped into your mind?
   • Does this photo reflect anything about the relationship you have with the other parent of your child?
5. Show the photo and have the dads hand it around to start your session or workshop. Tell them to look hard at it and notice everything they can about it. Then ask your questions.

And voilà! You’ll be off to a great session or workshop.

Do you experiment with new facilitation tools?

What creative tools have you integrated into your work with dads?