Designing Facilitation: A System for Creating and Leading Exceptional Events // ALD 006 — DT101 E73

Thank you for listening to this Ask Like a Designer episode of the Design Thinking 101 Podcast.

This episode is all about facilitation. You’ll meet Fluid Hive’s Event Design Questions and learn new ways to create effective events everyone will love. In these short Ask Like a Designer episodes on the show, you’ll find new ways to explore the show’s stories and ideas about design-driven innovation. I’ll share methods, templates, and ideas that have worked in my practice in teaching.

This episode is based on this article: ALD006 // Designing Facilitation: Create events, workshops and meetings that solve problems, save money, and protect your reputation. The Thinking Tool download for this Ask Like a Designer article is an event creation workbook based on Fluid Hive’s Event Design Questions.

Photo of Dawan StanfordIn these short Ask Like a Designer episodes on the Design Thinking 101 podcast, you’ll find new ways to explore the show’s stories and ideas about design-driven innovation. I’ll share methods, templates, and ideas that have worked in my practice in teaching.

What did you think of this episode? Please send your questions, suggestions, and guest ideas to Dawan and the Fluid Hive team.

Cheers ~ Dawan
Design Thinking 101 Podcast Host
President, Fluid Hive

Show Highlights

[00:58] What do YOU do when you’re tasked with creating and facilitating an event?
[01:51] A better way to create your event: Fluid Hive’s Event Design questions.
[02:15] Fluid Hive’s definition of an event.
[02:34] What is facilitation?
[02:57] Applying Fluid Hive’s See-Solve-Act design process to event design.
[03:20] Seeing the challenge.
[05:34] Seeing the people.
[05:58] Seeing the participants.
[06:38] Seeing the relationships.
[06:55] Seeing the time.
[07:23] Seeing the place.
[07:55] Solving for success.
[08:10] Solving for outcomes.
[08:26] Solving for interaction.
[08:52] Solving for documenting the event.
[09:17] Solving for the guides participants will need.
[09:55] Solving for the breaks participants will need.
[10:15] Solving for the rules and guidelines to keep the event and participants on track.
[10:41] Acting to create the script.
[11:00] Acting to test the script.
[11:25] Acting to plan for contingencies and backups.
[11:54] Acting to take care of the event facilitator, not just the participants.
[12:12] Acting to walk through the delivery dance.
[13:24] Free Ask Like a Designer tool: facilitation design workbook.
[13:55] Design Thinking 101 Learning courses.
[14:07] The Innovation SmartStart webinar.

Design Thinking 101 Learning — Courses and More

Design Thinking 101 Learning helps people start seeing and solving like a designer. Each training course focuses on a different collection of actions and skills critical to using design thinking effectively and getting the results you seek.

Please join me in the first course, Design Thinking 101 — Framing: Creating Better Solutions by Finding More Valuable Problems to Solve.

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DT101 Episodes You Might Like

Design, and One Question to Rule Them All // ALD 002 — DT101 E63

There Are No Problems Worth Solving — Only Questions Worth Asking // ALD 003 — DT101 E65

Your Good-Life OS: Designing a System for Living Well and Peak Performance // ALD 004 — DT101 E67

The Swiss-Army Lives of How-Might-We Questions // ALD 005 — DT 101 E69

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Cheers ~ Dawan

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The Designing Facilitation Course

Are you ready to design outstanding events that will engage participants and get the outcomes you need?

Fluid Hive's Designing Facilitation Course is a step-by-step design thinking-fueled system for creating and leading events, workshops and meetings that solve problems, save money, and protect your reputation.

Find Better Problems Course

In this self-paced, online course, Find Better Problems: Creating Better Solutions by Framing More Valuable Problems to Solve, you will learn to create more effective solutions by understanding the problem you are trying to solve.

Creating effective solutions begins with finding, defining and refining the problem you're trying to solve. I help you do that and more with step-by-step instruction and practical templates.