Midwest Facilitation Network
1999 Event Chronology

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1999 Events  (Back to Chronology)
21st Facilitators' Conference
(Fall Conference)
Monday
October 25th
La Salle National Bank
Chicago, IL
"Rapid Strategic Planning”
“Rapid Strategic Planning” explores how to focus a group of people into developing a strategic plan without taking weeks or months of effort.  By building a plan using short sessions that “peel away the layers” of the plan, planning groups can build highly effective plans without losing group energy.
Gary Rush
(MG Rush Systems)
8:30am
“Aspects of Color”
As facilitators, we make conscious and/or unconscious decisions about the selection and layout out of a room for a session, about the lighting of the room, about the clothing we wear, and about the materials that we use such as post-it's, pens, overhead transparencies, flip charts, etc.  How often do we consciously consider our choices of color as a factor in managing group behavior, as in the color preferences of particular audiences, or in the effect a certain color might have on a group’s emotional reaction to an issue? This seminar will explore aspects of color theory such as the complex relationship between color and response and the ways in which color is regularly applied to behavioral management.
Frank Vodvarka
(Loyola University)
10:30am
“Social Identity and Workplace Disputes”
This workshop will combine a negotiation exercise with a discussion of issues surrounding the social identity of minority groups and workplace disputes.  While affirming a minority group's identity, boundaries, and values may be an attractive outcome in a dispute, there may be a reluctance to encourage a group within an organization to identify more with an independent social group and less with the organization as a whole.  This session will also examine when such affirmations can strengthen an organization, by improving intergroup relations and when they can conversely weaken an organization, by leading to infighting.
Judith White
(Kellogg Graduate School of Management)
1:00pm
“Impact Facilitation for Leaders”
Today, employees from all levels of an organization are required to define projects and make decisions.  Leaders envisioning new directions need new tools to energize and enable these employees.  In fact, leaders need the very skills facilitators use professionally to serve clients.  “Impact Facilitation for Leaders” explores three key elements for sharing control: presentation, facilitation, and generative learning.  Participants will spend an engaging afternoon examining the concept of impact facilitation and will have ample opportunities to support and/or refute the premises behind the concept.
Dan Heck
(Management & Employee Training Services)
3:00pm
4th Skills Development  Workshop
(Summer Workshop)
Sunday-Tuesday
August 15th-17th
American Club
Kohler, WI
, Facilitating Organizational Transformations:
Lessons Learned Along the Way
Bob will discuss aspects of his 25 plus years of research and consulting with hi-tech organizations worldwide.  He has a network of 70 plus firms who collaborate with each other on best practices/processes, and systems.  He has been coaching five organizations through two year transformations.  He will share some of his research, coaching methodology (facilitating) and lessons learned over those 25 years.  Workshop participants will receive a copy of Bob’s book, “Transforming the Mature Information Technology Organization”.

Bob Zawacki is Professor Emeritus at the University of Colorado and a former Dean of the Business School there.  He has a research alliance with Technology & Business Integrators as a Distinguished Scholar in Residence to provide them guidance on the organizational & human side of IT. He is the co-developer of the IT metrics package 360 Degree Performance Measurement.  He has authored 16 books and over 200 articles/keynotes on his research and interventions.  Two of his best selling books are:  ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT AND TRANSFORMATION (McGraw-Hill, 1999, 5th. ed.) and TRANSFORMING THE MATURE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ORGANIZATION (Eagle Star Publishing, 1995).

Dr Robert Zawacki 
(Zawacki & Associates)

Monday Morning Session

Facilitated Discussion: “Is an External Facilitator More Effective Than an Internal Facilitator?”
This workshop will center around a facilitated debate on the issues concerning the relative effectiveness of external versus internal facilitators.  What are the risks involved in “going native” (hiring internally) versus “going foreign” (hiring from the outside)?  While internal facilitators may cause or experience discomfort interacting with people with whom they may have working relationships, they may have a better understanding of the participants, the group dynamics, etc.  While external facilitators  may not have as much subject-area expertise or understanding of the political issues, they may have a better perspective from which to operate as a neutral facilitator.  The workshop will also review tools and techniques for managing many of these issues.

Stasia Zwisler creates and implements strategic Organizational Development programs that achieve business objectives using cross-functional assessment, design, development, implementation, and transition.  She has 15 years of experience.  She was previously with GATX Corporation and Computer Sciences Corporation.  Stasia has an MA in International Affairs from George Washington University and an MA in History from the University of Wisconsin.  Ray Grymski helps organizations build effectiveness using principles, tools and techniques of Change Management, Organizational  Development and High-Impact Consulting.  He has 18 years experience and was previously with Ernst & Young and Deloitte & Touche.  Ray has an MBA from Case Western Reserve University in Organizational Behavior &  Management Information Systems.

Stasia Zwisler
(GATX Corporation) &
Ray Grymski

Monday Afternoon Session

Advance Your Facilitation Skills to Higher Levels
In this workshop, you will learn more about your own facilitation style and how to increase your facilitation and listening skills.  Facilitation requires lots of mental energy and focus and it's a skill that challenges us to constantly grow.  It requires mental multi-tasking and accelerated assimilation in order to deal with all of the information we need to absorb.  Skilled facilitators are adept at seeing what others don't see and hearing what others don't hear.  This session will help you advance your facilitation skills by learning, experiencing and practicing: a) simultaneous focus on participants' maintenance, task and self-oriented behaviors; b) six steps to empathic listening; c) listening between the lines; d) “walking in other's shoes," (truly understanding other's feelings and points of view); e) letting go of control in order to produce higher results and f) using your "antennae" and not your "horns".   Workshop participants will receive a copy of Janelle’s book, "Star Team Dynamics: 12 Lessons Learned from Experienced Team Builders". 

Janelle Brittain has twenty-eight years of business experience in communications, training, marketing, sales and management.  She holds an Executive MBA and is a Certified Speaking Professional.  She spent ten years in complex, high-tech sales of computer hardware and software, and telecommunications systems for XEROX and Control Data.  During this time she learned techniques which skyrocketed her to top  performer nationwide with XEROX.  She established the Dynamic Performance Institute to share these techniques with others.  Janelle is the author of four books, including the recently published "Star Team Dynamics: 12 Lessons Learned from Experienced Team Builders", and has produced a training film and a number of audio cassettes.  During her 18 years as an internationally known speaker, facilitator and trainer, she has helped tens of thousands in the following areas: team building, communications, handling change, productivity, customer service, management and leadership.

Janelle Brittain 
(Dynamic Performance Institute)

Tuesday Morning Session

"Facilitating Experientially - Embracing the Change Monster"
This workshop will present a model of facilitating Experience-Based Learning (EBL) for team learning outcomes through participation in group initiatives.  We will explore the art of facilitating these activities as learning tools for networking, enrichment, and interventions for teams.  Explore EBL as a tool for exploring the aspects of Emotional Intelligence as it relates to change processes.  The workshop will be informal, exploratory, and more than likely in keeping with Steve's style, non-linear.  Be prepared to participate, converse and connect at a number of levels. We will utilize the Kohler Team Challenge Course that Steve was instrumental in creating. Workshop participants will receive a copy of Steve’s book, "The Experience-Based Learning Guide".

Steve Proudman is President of the Proudman Group, Inc., a "virtual" organizational development consulting firm.  As a facilitator, coach, consultant and trainer, his expertise is in designing and delivering experiential learning programs for teams and organizations. His consulting work combines the disciplines of interpersonal and group dynamics, leadership, and human impacts of organizational change in an intuitive adult education format. His current projects include True Gravity ™, an experiential golf outing designed for intact teams and/or to replace the traditional corporate golf scramble with a more unique learning experience.  The golf adventure links the game with interpersonal and organizational performance issues.  He is also partnering with InCourage, Inc., based in Canada, as a facilitator of a  multi-media interactive team building experience.  The software program is a simulation of an actual crossing of the Sahara desert designed to address issues of  rganizational change.  Steve has an M.S. in Adult and Continuing Education from the University of Wisconsin and is also an adjunct faculty member of the University of Wisconsin –  Milwaukee Executive MBA program. Greg Koehler, manager of the Kohler Team Challenge Programs since 1996 will assist.  Prior to Kohler, Greg worked for six years as a facilitator for Charter Hospital’s ‘ropes’ course, spending the last three as the Director of Expressive Therapy.  His consulting work blends adventure based and experiential education with interpersonal, group and organizational development disciplines.  Greg is also a certified challenge course technical facilitator by ABEE.  He hold an MS degree in Guidance Counseling Education from UW-Platteville and recently obtained his MBA in Organizational Leadership and Quality from Marion College. Among Greg’s most recent achievements is that he has learned to wear a tie. 

Steve Proudman
(Proudman Group) &
Greg Koehler
(American Club)

Tuesday Afternoon
Session

20th Facilitators' Conference
(Spring Conference)
Friday
May 7th
Motorola University
Schaumburg, IL
“Moving Motorola toward New Horizons as a Learning Organization”
Bill Wiggenhorn, president of Motorola University (MU), will describe the major restructuring of MU to meet the challenges caused by changes in the marketplace and within the corporation.  He will also describe how this initiative was able to take advantage of and incorporate the knowledge acquired during ten years of training within Motorola, its suppliers and its customers. 

Historically, Motorola has been one of the bell-weather firms regarding training so their new strategy is likely to be a benchmark for many US corporate training strategies in the coming years.

Bill Wiggenhorn is the president of Motorola University, which was established in 1981 as the Motorola Training and Education Center (MTEC).  Created as a result of an analysis of Motorola’s training needs, the University was established as a corporate department in the Human Resources function.  As a result of Bill Wiggenhorn’s direction and highly-talented staff, the university has evolved into a world-class corporate training organization which offers a broad range of products and services to Motorola operations, as well as its key suppliers and customers, around the world.  Through training and education, Motorola University has contributed to Motorola’s productivity achievements and quality improvement.  Today, Motorola University is based at 40 sites in 21 countries and has over 80 full-time associates and approximately 800 contractors. 

Motorola University’s mission is to be a catalyst for change and continuous improvement in support of the corporation’s business objectives.  The University will provide our clients the best value in leading-edge training and education solutions and systems to be their preferred partner in developing a Best in Class work force.

Bill Wiggenhorn is a graduate of the University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio, receiving his B.A. in History in 1966 and his M.P.A. (Masters in Public Administration) in 1968.  Mr. Wiggenhorn has done post graduate work at  Indiana University, Ohio State, George Washington University, and Penn State in the area of human resource management.

Bill Wiggenhorn
(Motorola University)

8:45am

“Persuasive Business Proposals”
Tom Sant, author of Persuasive Business Proposals, will share his 20 years of experience in writing thousands of proposals for every conceivable type of prospect. This workshop will help us examine our own thinking about proposals and how we can improve our approach to creating them.   Participants should consider bringing a proposal of any size, shape or color to this workshop.  Proposals will be reviewed and critiqued by the group as time allows.

Almost everyone hates writing proposals.  Most people would rather spend time with clients and prospects than spend hours in front of a computer writing and re-writing a proposal.   Whether your targeted clients are part of an internal organization or an external one, preparing proposals for these clients is a painful reality of doing business.  You or anyone who sells a value-added solution, who positions themselves consultatively or who delivers a product or service that requires implementation, needs to be able to write a convincing proposal.  This session will focus on the power of persuasion by proposal and will include an overview of the four keys to successful persuasion:

  • Establishing credibility
  • Developing a client-centered approach
  • Organizing the material persuasively
  • Preparing a message that has maximum impact on the decision maker(s)
  • Because it’s also important to know how to manage the process of proposal writing, for maximum efficiency and minimum insanity, this session will also demonstrate the process of getting a proposal organized, written and delivered.  The lessons learned here will apply to you whether you are working alone or as part of a proposal development team.  Participants should consider bringing a proposal to this workshop.  Proposals will be reviewed and critiqued by the group as session time permits.

    Tom Sant, is the author of “Persuasive Business Proposals” (AMACOM, 1992) and the president of Sant Corporation of Cincinnati, Ohio. His full-day proposal writing seminar is presented regularly by the American Management Association.  Tom has consulted with companies of all shapes and sizes on proposal development for over 20 years.   The outgrowth of his knowledge and experience was the founding of the Sant Corporation, which specializes in proposal writing, training and automation. 

    Tom Sant
    (The Sant Corporation)

    TRACK A - 9:30am

    “Open Space Technology: The Evolving Model for More of What Works at Work”
    Open Space Technology (OST) is a simple approach to facilitation and organization that has enabled ordinary people, in groups of 5-1000, in all kinds of organizations, working all around the world, to create extraordinary results with powerful regularity.  This session will include an introduction to OST, a number of stories of real organizations, connections to a number of other facilitation methods, a short videotape, and a emonstration that will engage everyone in spirited conversation.

    Open Space Technology is a simple approach to facilitation and organization that has enabled ordinary people, in groups of 5-1000, in all kinds of organizations, working all around the world, to create extraordinary results with powerful regularity.  Open Space allows people to find new solutions and achieve best possible outcomes, especially when the levels of complexity, diversity, time pressure, and/or conflict are high and rising.  As a result, more and more organizations are turning to OST to deal with their toughest issues and most important opportunities.

    This session is about the meetings, the organizations and the possibilities that are unfolding in Open Space.  The agenda for this session will include an introduction to Open Space, a number of stories of real organizations, connections to a number of other facilitation methods, a short videotape, and a demonstration that will engage everyone in spirited conversation around the questions:  "What are the issues and opportunities for creating more of what works at work?  And how can Open Space help?"

    Michael Herman works as an independent manager, mediator, educator and writer.  He has been working in Open Space for eight years, and been a member of the Worldwide Open Space community for four years.  In addition to Open Space Technology, his experience includes financial and project management, experiential teams education, participative work redesign, strategic planning and reorganization, in business, education and community organizations.  Michael also partners with Harrison  Owen, originator of Open Space Technology, to offer an annual OST training workshop in Chicago.

    Michael Herman
    (M Herman Associates)

    TRACK B - 9:30am

    “Facilitating for a Positive Impact”
    This interactive session will be filled with ideas and activities you can incorporate into presentations, workshops, meetings, and training seminars in order to set a positive tone for participation and inclusion and to further encourage interaction, teamwork and laughter.

    To help our clients achieve ambitious goals as quickly as possible, we often get right down to business, only to encounter a barrier that puts a stop to the process. Devoting time up front to clarify expectations, build rapport and enhance feelings of accountability results in a more efficient and effective work flow. This interactive session is full of ideas you can incorporate in presentations, meetings, and training seminars to set a tone for participation and encourage interaction, teamwork and laughter. 

    Kim Moldofsky decided to make a career out of working with people after spending a summer training dolphins.  As president of Positive Impact she designs and facilitates adventure-based team building programs for several of Chicago's largest companies as well as for the U.S. Government.   Kim currently, serves on the advisory board of De Paul University's Ryan Center for Creativity in Business.  She holds a Ducktorate in Management, Disney Style as well as degrees from more traditional institutions of higher learning.

    Kim Modolfsky 
    (Positive Impact)

    1:00pm

    “Enterprise Modeling” or “Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Framework”
    This session will introduce Enterprise Modeling as a key emerging business strategy for organizations and will present it as a simple concept with significant ramifications.  The session will include a review of the basic fundamentals, an examination of various modeling components, examples of modeling techniques, principles for understanding and dealing with political issues and ways to introduce the concept to participants.

    This overview will cover various aspects of Enterprise Modeling.  Enterprise Modeling is one of today’s key emerging business strategies for organizations.  This concept has been discussed for the last 15 years under a variety of names, most notably IRM (Information Resources Management). 

    Whatever name you know it by, Enterprise Modeling is a simple concept with significant ramifications.  This presentation will cover the foundation components needed to perform an enterprise modeling effort, the various modeling components, examples of modeling techniques, principles for recognizing and dealing with political issues and warning signs, and ways to introduce the concept to participants.

    Deborah Garza currently is a Data Administrator at TruServ Corporation, where her responsibilities include design and maintenance of business and enterprise data models.  Prior to this she was a consultant specializing in data modeling and database administration at Inland Steel, Chicago Tribune and Blue Cross Blue Shield of IL.  Deborah's background also includes over 15 years experience in practice management & administrative consulting services in the health care industry.  Bill Modica is currently the Manager, Data Administration of TruServ Corporation with twenty years experience in database, data and enterprise modeling.   In this capacity he is responsible for the management of Enterprise, Business and Logical model of the corporation.  This is focusing on data and process modeling and the completion of the Enterprise Modeling effort.  Previous to TruServ, Bill worked for CAN Risk Management, Unisys ASSIST (Michigan Department of Social Services), Quill Corporation and Sun Electric Corporation.  Throughout these careers, Bill has focused on the understanding and promotion of data and enterprise modeling.  Kathy Sivier has worked within the Information Services industry for 13 years serving in a variety of capacities.  Included in those experiences are programming, project management, analysis and design.  For the last four years, she has concentrated in the area of data administration and facilitation.  Currently she is a data administrator for TruServ Corporation.  Additionally she is completing a Masters in MIS with DePaul University.

    Deborah Garza
    Bill Modica
    Kathy Sivier
    (TruServe Corporation)

    2:45pm

    Closing Remarks Bob Burton
    (Motorola University)

    4:15pm

    19th Facilitators' Conference
    (Winter Conference)
    Friday
    January 22nd
    Summit Executive Centre
    Chicago, IL
    Building Facilitation Environments for the Teaming Masses:  High-Tech Meeting Room Design Daniel Mittleman 
    (De Paul University)
    Distributed Facilitation for the Teaming Masses: 
    The Here and There of Leading Team Process
    Daniel Mittleman 
    (De Paul University)
    Civility in Public Discourse - Is It Possible? Lorenz Aggens 
    (Involve)
    Mastering Virtual Teams: Strategies, Tools, and Techniques that Succeed Deborah Duarte 
    (C.I.S.) &
    Nancy Snyder 
    (Whirlpool Corporation)


    Midwest Facilitation Network
    1999 Event Chronology

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