by Margaret Taylor | Feb 4, 2019 | Mentoring
Strategic action mentoring offers the opportunity for personal and professional growth through a constructive partnership between a mentor and mentee. Mentoring offers a time and place for reflective conversations that result in exploring practice,...
by Margaret Taylor | Jun 13, 2017 | Facilitation
If we go to a dictionary and look for the original meaning of the word “facilitate” we will find that to facilitate is “to render easier; to promote; to help forward; to lesson the labour of…” As facilitators we work with groups to make...
by Margaret Taylor | Jun 17, 2016 | Project planning
Project management is a structured way of achieving goals for change and innovation. Project management is about managing a one-off endeavour that delivers specific outcomes to a particular standard or quality over a pre-determined period of time using a...
by Margaret Taylor | May 7, 2016 | Strategic planning
It is critical that when we are conducting strategic planning we all have a clear understanding of what the key terms mean. Mission describes core business and broad purpose of the organisation Values are the principles by which the organisation works. Values...
by Margaret Taylor | Apr 7, 2016 | Learning design
Action learning is a term applied to a formal learning process that is derived from the fundamental way humans learn – from experience. A classic example of experiential learning is children learning how to speak. They are immersed in a world of language from...
by Margaret Taylor | Mar 18, 2016 | Project planning
Recently in a post on the Australian Facilitators’ Network discussion forum there was a question about how to create a sense of team identity. I rather liked the response from John Loty who outlined an appreciative enquiry approach. Thanks John! www.johnloty.com...
by Margaret Taylor | Dec 8, 2015 | Strategic planning
Strategic planning is an imaginative process underpinned by practical down-to-earth thinking. It allows us to visualise the possible, confirm what is important for us, and do reality checks on dreams. We bring the real world of data to bear on sometimes fantastical...
by Margaret Taylor | Dec 1, 2015 | Facilitation
Fran Peavey’s chapter on strategic questioning is one of the best descriptions and instructions on the questions and the sequence of questioning facilitators can use to get people to think and act imaginatively and strategically. I think this was written in the...
by Margaret Taylor | Nov 8, 2015 | Project planning
I used to do this activity with some of my coaching clients from time to time. It is certainly something you can do on your own, but also worthwhile adapting this to team planning. Allow one hour for this activity, so read through the...
by Margaret Taylor | Nov 1, 2015 | Reflective practice
There are many ways in which one can engage in reflective practice. A useful and structured process is the ORID method – Objective, Reflective, Interpretive, and Decisional. The ORID method is a structure for effective reflection for individuals or groups with or...
by Margaret Taylor | Oct 22, 2015 | Project planning
Here is a list of questions that will assist you with project planning. I always tell clients to allow for a significant amount of time for planning and yet people still rush into doing without mapping out all the actions and times. I figure 20% of your total project...
by Margaret Taylor | Oct 15, 2015 | Learning design
This framework for engaging learners in scholarly practice developed as part of my work designing Associate Degrees where there are two possible graduate outcomes: employment in a relevant industry or further study usually in Bachelor Degrees. This makes the Associate...
by Margaret Taylor | Aug 15, 2015 | Facilitation
Truly listening means truly and wholeheartedly engaging: leaning in; focussing; responding. Some years ago in my early days of facilitation, I found myself drifting out of focus in a workshop. Yes, one that I was facilitating! This...
by Margaret Taylor | Jul 14, 2015 | Learning design
The principles are predicated on three generally accepted conditions: Learning is a lifelong process Design is always evolving, and Resources are limited. To meet the nation’s needs for the twenty-first century, learning environments should (1) Enhance teaching and...
by Margaret Taylor | Jun 30, 2015 | Reflective practice
This model for critical reflective practice was developed by C. Johns for nursing, but I think it is applicable across many disciplines. Critical reflection has the potential to transform one’s understanding of self and of one’s experience by thorough...
by Margaret Taylor | Jun 24, 2015 | Learning design
The collage process is a tool for transformation – a creative visual process that can open you up to new ideas, provide insight into yourself, your current situation and a possible future, suggest a new way of doing things and a new way of being and shift your...
by Margaret Taylor | Apr 27, 2015 | Learning design
I am in the process of designing a program for a client and have developed 13 principles for learning that will guide the design and delivery of the program. Enable learners to negotiate and customise the learning to suit their individual needs and goals...
by Margaret Taylor | Mar 25, 2015 | Learning design
I have been very interested in the concept of transformative learning (or is it transformational?) for some time, and I am planning to collate all my notes and writings and pull together some piece (an essay, perhaps!) that captures my views and those of...
by Margaret Taylor | Mar 16, 2015 | Reflective practice
In searching for some definitions for reflection and reflective practice I came across these definitions when I did a Google search. I was reminded that reflection is originally a terms from physics. 1. …the throwing back by a body or surface of light, heat or sound...