Providing individuals and groups with methods for deepening reflection and enhancing participation
HISTORY: ICA METHODS DEVELOPMENT & PRACTICE. ICA methods grew out of working with individuals, communities and organizations enabling them to take active roles in making informed decisions and creating effective actions.
REFLECTION: CONVERSATIONS & REFLECTIVE PRACTICES. Methods were created for sharing, understanding, and relating to experiences as a way to broaden and deepen individual and group work.
ACTION: METHODS FOR EFFECTIVE ACTION. Group processes were created to help people work effectively across the cultural, political, economic, and social dynamics of society regardless of the societal level, presumed sophistication, financial status, or education of the individuals involved.
MASTERY: PREPARATION & STYLE. Facilitation as a profession, as a practice, as a discipline, is much more than having a set of effective methods and processes. Excellent facilitation requires mastery on several levels.
RESOURCES: FURTHER EXPLORATIONS. In addition to the resources in this section, additional resources are mentioned throughout the website.
HIGHLIGHTS
THE TECHNOLOGY OF PARTICIPATION METHODS is a video of ToP Conversation and Workshop Methods
“Evolution of ICA’s Facilitation Methods” by Brian Stanfield and AI audio summary
“Affirmative Facilitation” by Jim Troxel, from The IAF Handbook of Group Facilitation (2005) and an AI audio summary of the chapter
ICA International examples of ToP globally HERE
Group Facilitation Methods
The Technology Of Participation (Top)®
Group Facilitation methods and processes are intended to help groups and organizations move from where they are to where they want to be. The Facilitation Collection contains contextual frameworks, procedures and approaches developed by EI/ICA in the field over more than 50 years. For those who would like an in-depth summary—a master source for the foundations and application of these methods—refer to Getting to the Bottom of ToP by Wayne and Jo Nelson. (See iUniverse to order.) Reviews of the book are here.
A facilitator is one who makes it easy for others to perform their tasks. Simply speaking, the facilitator thinks through procedures and formats that enable a group (1) to gather its cumulative insights; (2) to order them; and then (3) to decide on a course of action that has consensus and commitment backing it. John Epps, Master Facilitator