The Power of Facilitation: An online Appreciative Inquiry into the Enabling Practices of its Practitioners

Introduction
In conjunction with International Facilitation Week 2017 (#FacWeek), this online Appreciative Inquiry seeks to expand our consciousness about the field of facilitation and its practitioners, their innate strengths and capacity to bring change to stuck situations.

In particular, we wish to engage in a collaborative inquiry about:

1. How facilitators enable shifts in stuck situations, real or imagined, in the minds of their clients
2. How facilitators enable themselves in this work.

This is with the intent of uncovering more of these enabling practices for deeper inquiry and/or adoption, so that as a field, we can evolve to higher capacities.

This 2.5-hour online session is a collaborative exploration of the Affirmative Topic. Participants need to register to obtain pre-session information, so that they may prepare for the session.

Note to participants:

1. No prior knowledge of Appreciative Inquiry is needed.
2. Participants will need to have downloaded the Zoom application on their laptop or their mobile device prior to the session.

About the Host:
Noel is a Certified Professional Facilitator (CPF) and the current Chair of the International Association of Facilitators (IAF) Global Board (2016-17).

A group process consultant/designer/programme curator/facilitator & mediator since 2000, Noel’s best work is in melding Organisational Systems with the Human Spirit; enabling leaders, their organisations, and communities to thrive in times of Disruption. He believes that key to this transformation is in changing the very way organisations and leaders dialogue about and do change.

Noel’s facilitation promotes mindset shifts about context, capability, and capacity; creating stronger focus on coherence, collaboration and cohesion. His clients range from investment & retail banking (JP Morgan, Standard Chartered Bank, Overseas Chinese Banking Corporation, United Overseas Bank), oil and gas (BP), technology (Fujitsu, ST Microelectronics, Microsoft, SITA Aerospace), healthcare (Agency for Integrated Care, NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Alexandra Hospital), non-profit organisations (SG Enable), different ministries and statutory boards in the Singapore Civil Service (eg. the Ministry of Education, the Housing and Development Board, the Maritime and Port Authority, Singapore Prison Service, Intellectual Property Office of Singapore, Land Transport Authority, Civil Aviation Authority Singapore).

Known for his person-centred facilitation approach within a systems context, Noel enables groups to develop a dialogue culture in order to confront challenging issues together, and for leaders’ transition to ever-wider perspectives to make vital decisions that work for the organisation and its stakeholders. Noel is a member of the Engagement Advisory Panel, convened by the Office of Citizen Engagement, Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, Singapore.

Change technologies that Noel uses includes Action Inquiry, Appreciative Inquiry, Theory U, and Open Space Technology. Noel is a certified facilitator of Barry Oshry Power and Systems’ acclaimed “Organisation Workshop” and “When Cultures Meet” workshop, and Bill Torbert’s Global Leadership Profile. He co-edited the Aug 2013 issue of the Appreciative Inquiry Practitioner on Appreciative Inquiry in Asia and has authored a chapter in the Taos Institute 2014 publication, ‘Exceeding Expectations: An Anthology of Appreciative Inquiry Stories in Education from Around the World’.