© Stephen Thorpe

AUC KLAND UNIVERS ITY OF TEC HNOLOGY AUC KLAND UNIVERS ITY OF TEC HNOLOGY TE WANANGA ARONUI O TAMAK I MAKAU RAU TE WANANGA ARONUI O TAMAK I MAKAU RAU

Enhanc e Your Online Fa c ilita tion

w ith S to ryte lling

S tephen Tho rpe- .s e c re ta ry@ia f w o rld o rg

. .www online s to ry ne t

. .www zene rgyg loba l c om

© Stephen Thorpe

Other s es s ions Other s es s ions

The Science and Art of Story-Sharing: Why Story Engages and How to Use It - Denise Withers Session F12 – 1:30-5:00pm today

Virtual Facilitation – Birds-of-a-Feather & Share-a-Method - Thursday 12:00 noon - 1:15 pm

Books and articles

© Stephen Thorpe

RoadmapRoadmap

IntroductionsPresentation of the research projectlessons learned best practices shared

Q&A + participant interactiveIn groups address the burning issues & key questionsExplore technology benefits and drawbacks of different technologies

Participant feedback and discussionClose

© Stephen Thorpe

?The Res ea rc h P roblem ?The Res ea rc h P roblem

Groups with low inter-personal relationships are less effective online

How to go about building these relationships online?Perhaps storytelling could be a catalyst to building

relationship online development?

© Stephen Thorpe

AUC KLAND UNIVERS ITY OF TEC HNOLOGY AUC KLAND UNIVERS ITY OF TEC HNOLOGY TE WANANGA ARONUI O TAMAK I MAKAU RAU TE WANANGA ARONUI O TAMAK I MAKAU RAU

And now a few words from the grandmother…

© Stephen Thorpe

- – 7 – 12 C o res ea rc he rs c ountrie s time zones- – 7 – 12 C o res ea rc he rs c ountrie s time zones

© Stephen Thorpe

- C o opera tive Inquiry Method- C o opera tive Inquiry Method

Adapted the Co-operative Inquiry method developed by John Heron and Peter Reason in 1984.Group-based method where participants are the researchers also – involved in everything. Research with people rather than about people.Aligned well with facilitator values of equal opportunity, collaboration, power sharing, self responsibility and political participation in decisions.

© Stephen Thorpe

S c oping the res ea rc h pro je c t S c oping the res ea rc h pro je c t

© Stephen Thorpe

S oftw are too ls w e looked a t S oftw are too ls w e looked a t

Ema il a nd w eb pro file s

S kype™c onfe renc ing

Te lephone c onfe re nc ing

Inte rne t Re la y C ha t

Web c onfe re nc ing

S tudent Ne t C ha t

Video c onfe renc ing

B logg ing

S e c ond L ife™

© Stephen Thorpe

Ema il introduc tions Ema il introduc tions

Email introductions had a positive impact on bringing people within the group closer, web profiles had little influence.

© Stephen Thorpe

Ema il introduc tions Ema il introduc tions

62% more aspects were identified in story introductions than in reading web profiles.84% more connections were made through story introductions than web profiles.43% more trust aspects were identified through story introductions than in web profiles.

© Stephen Thorpe

Audio c onfe renc ing Audio c onfe renc ing

Skype, Arkadin, and FreeConference.Value found in different cultures and exploring different cultural approaches facilitators could choose when facilitating difficult situations.Using a story to open a session tied to the theme and encouraged others to share stories with the group.Post story reflections and feedback assisted in deepening the experience for both the audience and tellers. Led to revelations, learning and archetypes.

“I was simply surprised that we all had the same challenge or similar experience stories.”

© Stephen Thorpe

Audio c onfe renc ing Audio c onfe renc ing

Teleconferencing - highly effective, very natural and a mode we were used toDownside was its lack of inclusiveness.Led to in-group, out-group phenomenonless ownership of the decisions were less inclined to put them into action or to participate in any following discussions about those decisions afterwards

Feedback could flow quickly between members and the tone of voice, pitch, pause and volume all impacted on the power of stories told

© Stephen Thorpe

C hat too ls C hat too ls

Using a story to open a chat session setup and created a culture of storytelling within the mood of the group.Again post story reflections and feedback assisted in deepening the experience for both the audience and tellers. Participants could pose questions, emoticons and comments by text during the telling of a story and these could be woven into the story by the storyteller.Very effective when combined with Audio channel – dual band!

© Stephen Thorpe

Video c onfe renc ing Video c onfe renc ing

Video conferencing - key benefits - having visual feedback of the team’s emotions and that there was deepened honesty and deeper listening.Interestingly the audio channel was considered the important linkage Helped with perceptions of who people actually were rather than perceived to be – dispelled projections.Things in video background drawn into discussion.

© Stephen Thorpe

B logg ingB logg ing

Themes emergedConsidered fun and less formalConstraining participant choices through process also constrained member’s participation. Tell a funny story about x

Storytelling on the blog challenging for some. Difficult for some to produce a story.

Keep the story choice options open

© Stephen Thorpe

– 3 - S ec ond Life D inte rac tive w orld – 3 - S ec ond Life D inte rac tive w orld

Very strong emotional connections are createdThe virtual camp fire setup.

© Stephen Thorpe

– 3 - S ec ond Life D inte rac tive w orld – 3 - S ec ond Life D inte rac tive w orld

Direct experience with an environment or place.Layers of connections with place, people and story.The virtual campfire added to the metaphor of storytelling and engaged participantsSimulated visual cuesEnvironment stimulates imagination and explorationOverhead in learning curve

Helps to arrive with your avatar’s clothes on!

© Stephen Thorpe

P roc es s es ques tions w e used P roc es s es ques tions w e used

What’s a hot issue, or a burning issue, for you right now in your work and life? Share a round and then debrief.What stories drawn from your childhood sum up a recent situation or challenge? How might the rest of the story be different? Share a personal best and a personal worst story from your practice. Following with a round to discuss collectively the key learnings that can be gained from each story.How did you become a facilitator?What from a previous career do you bring

to your facilitation practice?

© Stephen Thorpe

S tory re fle c tion c yc le S tory re fle c tion c yc le

In small groups one person lead with a storyFeedback (thoughts, feelings, connections) are then shared from the audience members. Storyteller then interviews audience members about aspects of the story that they would like audience perspective or reflection on.

This process often resulted in sparking audience members to share their stories of similar experiences and thus restarted the three-step process.

© Stephen Thorpe

Apprec ia tive s toryte lling Apprec ia tive s toryte lling

Group of three with turns sharing a positive story from practice. After each story is told, audience members take on a Critical Friend role (see Costa & Kallick, 1993).Asked probing questions to gain fresh insights. The goal of using the critical friend approach is to provide an outsider's view of the story, some independent questioning to ensure that the focus was maintained, and to provide an alternative source of information or expertise for the storyteller.

© Stephen Thorpe

More reading More reading

Summary Chapter:

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Next S teps Next S teps

Burning issues & key questions

Design an online storytelling session

Story vs different technologies

Draw the lessons from your own stories of online facilitation

© Stephen Thorpe

Other s es s ions Other s es s ions

The Science and Art of Story-Sharing: Why Story Engages and How to Use It - Denise Withers Session F12 – 1:30-5:00pm today

Virtual Facilitation – Birds-of-a-Feather & Share-a-Method - Thursday 12:00 noon - 1:15 pm

Books and articles

Online Facilitation Programme Flyer