This breakthrough guide was written by a recognized leader in the field of facilitation; it provides a no-holds-barred look at organizational change and ways to structure and deliver facilitation engagements for success. Topics include a look at why facilitators often fail, techniques for identifying the real client, structuring the engagement and the contract, creating or choosing a bullet proof methodology, examples from Jack Rahaim's practice, the art of facilitation, how to start and manage meetings, how to keep participants engaged and a number of detailed facilitation approaches. The book is written for facilitators, consultants, managers, group leaders, teachers and therapists.

Not just better meetings, but a better way to collaborate.

For organizations that care about innovation, individual creativity isn't enough anymore -- people need to be in creative, collaborative relationships. But without the knowledge and tools for building these relationships, innovation expert Michael Schrage argues, one will not be successful in the offices of today and even less so in the "virtual" offices of tomorrow. No More Teams gives readers the tools and techniques to go beyond the lazy cliches of "teamwork" to the practical benefits of collaboration. When Schrage studied the world's greatest collaborations -- including Wozniak and Jobs, Picasso and Braque, Watson and Crick -- he found that instead of relying on charisma, they all created "shared spaces" where they could play with their ideas. By effectively using technological tools available in most workplaces -- anything from a felt tip pen and a napkin to specialized computer software - -you can literally map your discussion as it is happening, making it possible to keep all the good ideas, cope with every objection, handle conflicts as they arise, and, ultimately, master the unknown.

No organization made up of human beings is immune from the all-too-common meeting gripes: those that fail to engage, those that inadvertently encourage participants to tune out, and those that blatantly disregard participants' time. In The Surprising Science of Meetings, Steven G. Rogelberg draws from extensive research, analytics and data mining, and survey interviews to share the proven techniques that help managers and employees change the way they run meetings and upgrade the quality of their working hours.