The Beginning

If you glanced at my college transcript, you might assume this story begins in a drafting studio. Residential architecture was my first love. I didn’t have the language then for what drew me in, but I do now: function and purpose layered with an intentional aesthetic experience. A building has to stand, serve, and shape how people feel when they walk through it. That tension—structure plus experience—has been the throughline of my entire career.

I didn’t become an architect. Instead, I pivoted into business and eventually earned a master’s in organizational communication—choices that looked like sharp left turns but ultimately gave me the two languages I still speak every day: how humans organize and make decisions, and how technology actually works. Early in my tech roles, others noticed my ability to translate between deeply technical teams and business leaders before I noticed it in myself. I could sit with network engineers and then walk down the hall to explain the story to a CFO without losing anyone along the way.

My first decade unfolded at a major networking company from 1997 to 2007—routers, data centers, and a brand-new thing called the internet. Then came the telephony shift: voice riding on data networks. Suddenly, I was facilitating peace talks between “the phone people” and “the data people.” Later, I moved into the emerging collaboration space, helping shape the early generation of smart-room and meeting technologies. Across all of it, I played the same role: bridge builder, translator, convener of cross-functional worlds that don’t naturally speak to each other.

But consulting has limits. You can influence, but only from the outside. I craved being part of a healthy culture where transformation could actually take root. In 2015, I joined Progressive Insurance, drawn by its genuinely human-centered approach to collaboration and problem-solving.

A few years later—right before COVID—leaders in the organization asked me to stand up a new enterprise-level forum focused on cross-functional alignment around technology and readiness. They saw something in me I hadn’t fully named yet: the way I convene people and help them see the whole picture. Four weeks later, the world shut down. That forum became a critical space for helping tens of thousands of people transition to remote work, and my role evolved from technologist who can talk to humans into someone who designs environments where people can have real, candid conversations about value, risk, and possibility.

Looking back, I now see the pattern clearly: I grew up professionally on the edges of market disruptions—early internet infrastructure, unified communications, modern collaboration, and now AI. The constant wasn’t the tools. It was facilitating transformation. It was designing temporary worlds—sessions, rhythms, and forums—where function meets experience. Where people can tell the truth, get energized about possibility, and challenge what’s unclear. Those rooms—not me—are where the real intelligence lives.

Finding Myself in “Professional Facilitator”

The moment I thought, “Oh… I’m a facilitator,” happened during the pandemic. I read Priya Parker’s The Art of Gathering, and when she used the phrase “professional facilitator,” something clicked deep in my nervous system. I had been doing this work for years without naming it. Suddenly, the pattern was undeniable: I wasn’t organizing meetings; I was designing human experiences.

Around that time, I helped redesign a complex technology-evaluation process at my company. We needed to make something high-stakes feel human and workable—because governance isn’t exactly everyone’s happy place. I reached out to partners at MURAL and eventually connected with a facilitator from Voltage Control. Together, we built DWG World, a visual journey—a game board—for how innovation moves through a large enterprise. Playful but rigorous. And it changed the way people engaged. The visual space leveled hierarchy, clarified expectations, and made the invisible visible.

That project awakened something in me. I began paying attention to how I opened and closed spaces, the rituals we practiced, and how the “feel” of a room shaped outcomes. The more intentional I became, the more ROI those rooms produced—more candor, better attendance, decisions people could live with, and a reputation for “that meeting felt different.” I knew I wanted to deepen the craft.

The Leap Toward Voltage Control

My manager nudged me: “You haven’t invested in yourself for a while. Take a class. Grow.” That kind of support gave me permission to pursue something that had been tugging at me for years.

Voltage Control immediately stood out. In tech, you learn quickly that your digital storefront builds trust—and Voltage’s digital storefront radiated clarity, sophistication, and humanity. Combined with a positive previous collaboration, it felt like a natural next step. Compared to traditional conferences, the depth and value were incomparable.

I applied to the Core Certification and was thrilled when I was accepted. It aligned perfectly with where my career was heading: from technologist to facilitator of enterprise-level transformation. I wanted language, frameworks, community, and accountability around what I had been doing intuitively. I wanted to be not just effective—but artful.

Language for What I’d Been Doing All Along

Core delivered exactly that. Concepts like facilitator presence, purpose-first design, and group process leadership weren’t abstract—they were mirrors. They validated what I already knew and opened new vistas. Like hiking in Colorado: one moment you’re in the trees, and suddenly you’re above the treeline with a panoramic view.

The community component surprised me most. Facilitators inside large organizations can feel isolated—embedded everywhere but rarely gathered. Voltage’s buddy system changed that. My buddies in Core and Master became the people I could share ideas with, test new methods, and even whisper insecurities to: “Am I overengineering this?” The program wasn’t built to center the instructors; it was built to center community. That energy intensified at the Voltage Summit, and I left with genuine friendships that continue to anchor my life and work.

Voltage also deepened my facilitator presence. People often tell me I create psychological safety, and I take that seriously. During COVID, I developed rituals—music at the top, warm check-ins, conversational flow, and a closing dad joke. Those rituals held us together. But after losing both of my parents within four months, I learned that presence isn’t a switch—it’s a practice. It requires self-regulation, humility, and honesty about when you’re not able to hold space for others. Voltage—and books like Standing in the Fire—gave me tools to navigate that season.

I also loosened my grip on content. My job is often to design the container, not fill it.

From Orchestrator to Amplifier

If there’s one word that captures the shift in me after certification, it’s trust. Facilitation at scale is the slow, steady work of building trust—with leaders, with teams, and across silos. The more I trust the room, the more the room trusts itself. And then something remarkable happens: a temporary group becomes a high-performing team right in front of you.

Midway through the Core program, I was asked to facilitate alignment between senior leaders and deeply experienced domain experts on the pace of digital transformation—especially as AI began reshaping familiar boundaries. It was a room filled with thoughtful, seasoned voices who each carried valuable history and perspective. I used a Voltage Problem-Solving one-pager to create a shared structure: those who needed space to surface the core challenges had it, and those eager to move toward outcomes could clearly see the path forward. The artifact helped anchor the conversation and build confidence in the process. By the end, what started as a set of differing viewpoints shifted into genuine alignment. Several people asked, “What did you do? Can you teach me?”

The feedback I value most now is simple: “I’ve never had a meeting like this.”

Practices like check-ins, check-outs, naming purpose upfront, and designing for inclusion seem soft until you watch them unlock hard outcomes. The way a group works together becomes as important as the work itself. That combination—function, purpose, and aesthetic experience—is still my fuel.

What I’m Building Next

The biggest shift Voltage catalyzed is moving from expert to amplifier. In an AI-enabled world, knowledge is increasingly democratized. My job isn’t to walk in with the answer—it’s to create the conditions where the best answer can emerge from the room.

My company has invested deeply in my development, and they’ve asked me to multiply that impact. My Master capstone is a community of practice for facilitators inside the organization—called FacilitateX. I’ve gathered ten practitioners to co-design the blueprint: the charter, identity, operating model, and launch strategy. If stars align, we’ll bring Voltage in to help embed the competencies we value most. This isn’t tucked away in HR; it’s elevating facilitation as a strategic leadership capability.

At the same time, the governance forum I built in 2020 has become a model other groups reference and adapt. We recently applied the same principles to support responsible adoption of emerging technologies—diverse voices, clear cadences, transparent artifacts, and human-centered experience. It’s the same core belief: well-designed spaces help people think better together.

Looking ahead five years, I see a multiplier effect—a network of strong facilitators who can support integration efforts, digital transformation, and culture work. In an AI-accelerated world, alignment is oxygen. AI becomes our companion, not a replacement, freeing us to design experiences that feel both humane and effective. And personally? I see myself continuing to be a relational strategist, building trust across the enterprise, helping people say, “That felt different—and it worked.”

Closer + Call to Action

If you’re facilitation-curious—or you’ve been doing the work without naming it—Voltage Control will crack something open in you. It did for me. Core gave me language and community. Master is sharpening my presence and shifting me from orchestrator to amplifier. If you enjoy being comfortably uncomfortable, like an athlete training for the next season, this is your place.

My encouragement:

• Invest in the craft.
• Design the experience, not just the agenda.
• Practice self-regulation as much as you practice methods.
• Find your people—buddies, mentors, peers who reflect you back to yourself and laugh at your dad jokes.

Because at the end of the day, the smartest person in the room is the room. If you’re ready to help create those rooms—and be changed by them—come join us. I’ll see you in the circle. Bring a good but terrible dad joke too.

The post From Tech Expert to Amplifier appeared first on Voltage Control.

In this episode of the Facilitation Lab podcast, host Douglas Ferguson interviews Sophie Bujold of Cliqueworthy. Sophie shares how her early experiences in MIRC chat rooms shaped her approach to building human-centered, connected communities. They discuss the importance of trust, generosity, and adaptability in online spaces, as well as Sophie’s journey from digital explorer to expert facilitator. Sophie reflects on lessons learned, balancing structure with emergent conversations, and her impact on social causes, including the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The episode highlights the enduring power of technology and facilitation to foster authentic connection and belonging.

Show Highlights

[00:02:53] The Nature of Early Online Communities
[00:07:41] Learning and Generosity in Online Communities
[00:14:10] Trust and Curiosity in Facilitation Style
[00:18:32] Realizing the Role of Facilitator
[00:27:12] Riding the Wave: Managing Growth and Avoiding Burnout
[00:35:30] Favorite Sectors and Desired Impact

Links | Resources

Sophie on LinkedIn

About the Guest

Sophie Bujold is a facilitator and community strategist who helps membership-based organizations design communities that feel more human, connected, and sustainable. Through her company, Cliqueworthy, she works with associations, professional networks, and social impact organizations to rethink how members engage and how teams collaborate behind the scenes.

With more than 20 years of experience in community design and facilitation, Sophie helps turn scattered efforts into clear, meaningful action so organizations can build communities where participation and belonging come naturally.

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Transcript

Douglas Ferguson:
Hi, I’m Douglas Ferguson. Welcome to the Facilitation Lab Podcast, where I speak with Voltage Control Certification alumni and other facilitation experts about the remarkable impact they’re making. We embrace a method agnostic approach so you can enjoy a wide range of topics and perspectives as we examine all the nuances of enabling meaningful group experiences. This series is dedicated to helping you navigate the realities of facilitating collaboration, ensuring every session you lead becomes truly transformative. Thanks so much for listening. If you’d like to join us for a live session sometime, you can join our Facilitation Lab community. It’s an ideal space to apply what you learn in the podcast in real time with peers. Sign up today at voltagecontrol.com/facilitation-lab. And if you’d like to learn more about our 12-week facilitation certification program, you can read about it at voltagecontrol.com.
Today, I’m with Sophie Bujold from Cliqueworthy, where she helps membership-based organizations design communities that feel more human, connected, and sustainable. She works with associations, professional networks, and social impact organizations to bring clarity, connection, and momentum to their member experience. Welcome to the show, Sophie.

Sophie Bujold:
Thank you. It’s great to be here.

Douglas Ferguson:
It’s so great to have you. Looking forward to chatting.

Sophie Bujold:
Me too.

Douglas Ferguson:
So to get started, I’d love you to take us back to those late nights on mIRC in a small New Brunswick town.

Sophie Bujold:
So I discovered mIRC when my parents signed up for the internet. It came on a floppy disc back then with our internet provider service. And little did I know that that piece of software would actually open up a whole new world for me.
I quickly started meeting people from around the globe in cities and countries that I hadn’t even dreamed of being able to access at that point and made some really lifelong friends. I still have friends from those days that are in my world. My partner and I met on those chat rooms and started, I think, one of the first online relationships really, it was just not heard of during those days. And it was really one of those moments where I don’t think we realized it at the time, how transformational it would be, but looking back on my career, I realize how much of an influence being able to have those first experiences connecting with other humans in an online world just really influenced how I do my work today.

Douglas Ferguson:
Yeah. I recall you were talking about this idea of slow but meaningful online conversations and it really shaped a sense of place and relationship.

Sophie Bujold:
Yeah. I mean to give you some context back then, for those of you who know mIRC, you know that it’s a pretty boring platform. It’s text on a screen. Multiple people could join in a channel. For a little while, you couldn’t even have private conversations on the side with people. And we had to literally mail each other photographs. That’s going to make me sound very ancient, but we couldn’t send files through the software.
So it had a little bit of innocence to the interactions in that there wasn’t a huge amount of people on there. Most folks were from universities, so a lot of scholars, a lot of professors, and a lot of students, and everyone was kind of helping one another with all kinds of things. I got help with my homework back then. I got help even just learning about other parts of the world that I had not been into. And there was a wholesomeness to it that I think the internet has lost a little bit today, but that was really powerful in helping me see, at least, the power of using technology to connect with other human beings.

Douglas Ferguson:
Turns out you didn’t need subreddits in the beginning of the internet.

Sophie Bujold:
Exactly. It was just one of those places where if you were mildly technical, you could find your way to it, but it wasn’t wildly accessible to everyone. So the networks were actually fairly small, even though there were multiple of them. So there were actually a lot of people on those networks, but you had to find your way to little corners and then kind of just stay there because you were like, “I don’t know what else is out there,” and you don’t know if you can come back and find your people from there.
So I felt very adventurous, I think, in the process and also really curious about the folks that I was meeting. I just thought that was the coolest thing that I could have friends in far off places and not have to do it by pen pals or whatever else.

Douglas Ferguson:
It felt a lot like traveling. You find a spot where you really connect with people and you kind of want to stay there and come back because it took a lot of effort to find.

Sophie Bujold:
Yeah, that’s a really great point. It was a little bit like traveling without leaving the comfort of my home at that point, which I couldn’t really do. I was a teenager, so I was at the mercy of my parents back then, but this was a way for me to start exploring things beyond my backyard in a way that was still relatively safe and harmless.

Douglas Ferguson:
You also reminded me, you couldn’t send images, there was no DM at that point, right? And also, I think it’s just helpful context for folks to think about, there was no cell phones then and in a lot of ways, it was like the messaging that we have now on our cell phones, but you had to do it with a computer. You couldn’t send images yet.

Sophie Bujold:
Exactly. That sounds tedious to every teenager on earth right now.

Douglas Ferguson:
You had to know someone’s phone number where this group of folks were. It’s like a group chat on your phone that you had to know the phone number for, or at least become aware of it somehow. And it’s text only and you’re tethered to a computer and it’s over a phone line, so when your mom needs to make a call, you had to get off.

Sophie Bujold:
You’ve been there. You’ve been there.

Douglas Ferguson:
I just wanted to make sure that the folks that weren’t as old as us or weren’t keyed into this stuff at the time had some point of reference because some folks got the internet much later.

Sophie Bujold:
Yeah, absolutely. And it definitely was a bit of a wild world. And we ended up in channels that were very random. Our favorite channel, ironically, for those who don’t know me, I have zero farming background, yet I hung out in a channel for many years called Dairy Farming because that’s where all our friends were. So it was just a weird and wacky place to visit. And it was almost like one of those curio cabinets where you could open a door and be like, “What is behind this and what can I find here and who is in that room?” And if you didn’t like it, you just closed the door and moved on. So it was a very, for me anyways as a curious teenager, it was a really fun and exciting environment to be in.

Douglas Ferguson:
Yeah, that’s so fun. It definitely felt like a bazaar, like, so many curious things and really I think it just tapped into my love of eccentricity, just random things. And it was such a fun way to discover new stuff, whether it was music or art or just new ideas.

Sophie Bujold:
Yeah, absolutely. And also tapping into the number of people that I met that were world experts in whatever, or at least claimed to be and I believed them, was really unreal. I remember a time where I had a physics assignment that I couldn’t figure out and instead of going to a web browser and searching it, which was limited back then too, I just hopped on to a chat room and found someone who had that expertise and he walked me through my homework. That’s just something that’s a little bit hard to emulate today unless you have an app for tutoring or whatever else. Back then, it was just a lot of goodwill and a lot of people just connecting with one another.

Douglas Ferguson:
Yeah. And I’m curious, how did the early internet spirit influence how you gather people today?

Sophie Bujold:
I think for me, there were two big pivotal points. So one is, I come from a very small community of people on the east coast of Canada and I think the first piece for me… And let’s note that I did not realize that until I was much older, but I think I realized now that that community experience really shaped my perception of belonging and how I want to welcome people in a space. There was a warmth to the culture that I come from that I crave on a regular basis and really try to emulate in the work that I do.
The internet came in and chat rooms and things like that really shaped the second part because I was a very early adopter of that technology. And when I started my career, what I heard from people was, “It’s really cool that you’re doing that, but there’s no way a computer can create real human connection.” And I was like, “I think it can.” And I don’t think that I consciously set out to really take that on as a challenge in the work that I do, but I did do it, at least at a subconscious level, to the point where I started playing with, how do we create spaces that welcome people in and how can we create experiences that they come back to over and over again? And how can I do that with limited technology? So really, I started marrying the two and I think one of my key tenets for the work I do now is how would this interaction look if it was in person and how close can we get to it with the technology that we have today?

Douglas Ferguson:
Okay. So you mentioned that you had a professor help you with a physics problem, but also I believe that you had a plane ticket that led to some deeper relationships later on. So what was that like?

Sophie Bujold:
That was wild. So I mentioned earlier that my partner and I met in those chat rooms that I was in very early on. We were nowhere near one another. I was on the east coast of Canada, he was on the west coast of the United States. And as a teenager, the prospects of traveling to one another sounded pretty impossible. And what we had is one of those strangers in the room that saw us chatting day in and day out approach me and say, “I would love to give you a plane ticket so you can spend your first Christmas together.” Total stranger. I have never met this person. I don’t even know their real name. Somehow, I trusted that a plane ticket would show up at my door, because back then they were paper tickets that had to be mailed, and gave this stranger all of my personal information and got a ticket and my identity is totally safe.
So that person showed up at that right moment, gave us an opportunity to spend some time together. Many, many years later, we’re still together. So they kind of were the catalyst for that relationship really taking off and working, which was unheard of in those days. My family was going, “What the heck are you doing?” And I said, “I think it’s good. We’ve been talking for two years. I know more about this person than anyone else.” Maybe that was a bit naive on my part, but it worked out. And to me, that’s a moment that was really magical.
And that person came in, did that good deed, and then we haven’t seen them since then. So they really just showed up and it just showed the generosity that was happening back then. There were a lot of people helping each other out in different ways. It emulates some of the things I see on social media now, to be honest, whether it’s a crowdfunding campaign and things like that. But in those early days where all of that stuff was not set up or accessible yet, it was a pretty magical thing to have someone land right in the middle of another relationship that was building and just say, “Let me help it along.”

Douglas Ferguson:
And what did those acts of generosity teach you about trust in an online community?

Sophie Bujold:
That’s a very good question. I think it has taught me less about generosity in the online community very specifically. For me, the biggest lesson I took from that is to always assume the best out of people first. And I do that, whether it’s in an online setting or a lot of the communities I built also have an offline component. Just with interacting with humans in particular, assuming the best before you assume the worst until someone proves you wrong is really a philosophy that I’ve carried forward since then because it has served me so well across the spectrum of my life to just trust that people have good intentions in most cases.
Has it worked out 100% of the time? No, but I’d rather assume that it will than assume that everyone has bad intent and not have the opportunity to experience those moments of generosity. Because really at the end of the day, had I said no to the offer, we wouldn’t have had that opportunity to spend time together and build that relationship and that trust and that carries forward with any other moment where I’ve trusted that someone was coming to do good in my life.

Douglas Ferguson:
And how do you think this notion of trust and assuming positive intent has shown up in your facilitation style?

Sophie Bujold:
Yeah. So I think in facilitation in particular, that same philosophy can be applied, right? So I don’t assume that my participants are there to cause trouble or that even their reactions are to harm the experience for everyone else. I think it helps me get curious when something happens in the room that’s unexpected that maybe the first instinct is to go, “Oh my God, why are they doing this?” Or whatever that is, to get curious about where that reaction comes from. And I think that helps create an environment where people really aren’t afraid of showing up as they are and they know that the room is being held for them to have the reaction that they have and that we can have a conversation in most cases around that, when we have the time obviously, but it has really helped me not see reactions that are unexpected as a bad thing and see it as part of this process that I’m bringing people through.
So whether that’s thinking through strategy or looking at the vision for a new community structure, people will have feelings about it and I see it as an opening really to exploring why that person had that reaction, what they meant by it, and what it can mean to how we shape whatever we’re shaping in that space.

Douglas Ferguson:
I love that because a lot of facilitators really struggle with some of those pieces, especially when it comes to what’s emerging in the space can really knock some folks off their feet. They’ve come ungrounded and they lose their sense of flow. So it sounds like you’ve really tapped into some of these early lessons to help ground you.

Sophie Bujold:
Yeah. And I would say part of my superpower is really relationships, right? And a lot of those personality assessments or strengths assessments, that always comes out loud and clear for me that empathy and relationship building are my top skills. So those hard moments or those moments that someone might say, “Oh, they don’t have a good intention,” for me are an area of opportunity to bring that person in rather than push them out. In most cases. There’s always exceptions, but in most cases, it creates this beautiful opportunity to either deepen the conversation or have them realize what’s going on with them too. There’s been times where they didn’t even realize the impact of their reaction in the room and just not necessarily putting them in the spotlight or on the spot, but just bringing attention to the fact that that was coming up helped them analyze where their feelings were, which really helped them feel connected to the group really at the end of the day.

Douglas Ferguson:
Yeah. I’m also thinking about your early career. I was thinking, digital explorer kind of came to mind as you were moving across these different roles and doing these things and you were kind of in a season of figure it out. And I’m curious if that helped you with this notion of being comfortable with ambiguity and just iteration as a core part of your practice.

Sophie Bujold:
Absolutely. And I would say that even today I’m still in a season of figure it out with a little bit more knowledge to make it a bit easier, but that’s just par for the course in a lot of this stuff. And I think if I was building community without being comfortable with human emotion and human being, I don’t know how effective I would be at the work that I do because at the end of the day, you can plan a community experience on paper all you want, but once you put humans in it, it might react differently and you need to be comfortable with that and you need to be comfortable with the feedback that comes from that in order to move forward in building an experience that makes people feel like they belong and they’re welcome in the space.

Douglas Ferguson:
And before you had the language of facilitation, you were already shaping conditions and softening the hard edges of tech. And can you recall a moment when you realized, even without the label I’m facilitating here, that you were doing that and what were you noticing in the group?

Sophie Bujold:
Well, it’s funny because I don’t think I realized it until I was in the cert program and we started walking through what it means to be a facilitator and then also being asked to bring forward some examples of our work in which we have facilitated. So for me, it wasn’t a moment in the room with a client. It was more the moment of me taking a moment, wanting to deepen my skills in an area where I felt like I wanted to explore and develop, and then realizing all along that, “Oh, that’s exactly what I’ve been doing here is facilitating these rooms and then pulling out all the examples of my work.” That was a pretty significant moment for me because I think before that, I realized the depth of the work that I was doing, but I don’t think I realized how deep that depth was, if that makes sense.
I knew it was important work, but I didn’t realize how much impact it had until I started sitting down, looking at the work that I had actually done, and thinking about, well, what did that mean for the customers I helped? And then I started realizing things like, I have impacted directly 11 out of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. I have been able to build communities that support people in areas that I feel pretty proud of, helping folks grieve very real-life situations, helping advocate for mental health across Canada, being able to help entrepreneurs secure funding for their ideas in the impact world. All of those things really… I don’t think I’ve ever done the work just to stroke my ego, but in that moment I stood a little bit taller and the impact that that has had on the world. And I think especially right now, where things are so tumultuous, I hang onto that and I say, I’m not the only one doing work that has impact. There’s still a lot of good that’s really happening out there.

Douglas Ferguson:
Yes, I love that. And I wanted to come back to something that you said in your alumni story that really struck me as this kind of comparing, trying new methods to picking up a fresh set of paintbrushes. And there might be a few rough strokes at first when getting used to the feel and how they presented on the paper or the canvas. And so I’m curious, because we embrace and embody practice so much at Voltage Control and Facilitation Lab, it’s such a critical part of the journey, and so I wanted to come back to these first rough strokes and curious if you could share an experiment that didn’t quite go as planned and what you learned from it?

Sophie Bujold:
Yeah. I think that analogy, first and foremost, came from the fact that I am an artist, I paint, I do photography, I create a lot. And over the last several years in particular, I’ve been focused on intuitive creation as opposed to very formal realistic paintings and things like that. So for me, once I started realizing that facilitation was a thing I was doing, I’ll say I was very comfortable with experimenting, but that doesn’t come with areas of discomfort.
So the first few engagements that I did after certification were definitely an area of opportunity for me to be putting the skills I just learned to use. And in those moments, yeah, the engagement went very well from the client perspective, but I could start seeing, “Oh, I forgot to…” The first one that comes top to mind is I totally forgot to ask how many people would be in the room on my first workshop. I assumed that it would be a small group and then I ended up with a slightly bigger one that I didn’t quite know what to do with. And then I was like, “Okay, moving forward, that’s going on my intake sheet.”
So these little blind spots that you don’t think about in the moment, you’re just like, “Hey, I’m going to do this workshop. I’m going to knock it out of the park.” And just having that experience of having to operate on the fly and go, “Okay, there’s twice as many people as I expected here. How do I handle that right now because everyone’s in the room?” Figuring it out, working through it. Again, the engagement was fine from the client perspective. They had a good time. They really got what they needed out of the session, but in the background, I was definitely peddling a little bit faster.
And I think from engagement to engagement, that was the first one, the second one, it was just finding the balance between… I love a good conversation, I really do, but keeping time and having a good conversation sometimes goes against one another. So finding the balance between letting that conversation emerge and keeping on schedule so that everyone can get what they need out of the session was definitely another balancing act. So it was more on the technical side of things of me just kind of finding the right fit for the style of who I am and how I like to dig into things. I really love the kind of emerging stage where we’re thinking of new ideas, we’re putting things on the table, we’re having those conversations, and I’m learning that I need to get better at the convergence at the end.
So I’m okay with that, and I know that that’s what it is, and I’m putting practices in place in how I run my workshops to get better and better at it. Is it perfect now? Absolutely not, but I’m okay with that and that’s the part that I practice from time to time.

Douglas Ferguson:
Yeah. I mean that is what practice is about. We do things and we learn from them. If we’re not learning from our behaviors and our actions, that’s where I think practice ceases, both our ability to run a practice, to put in practices, and just the broader definition of like, are we learning? Are we growing from the things we’re doing? And I love that you’re like, “I’m going to put this in my intake form.” It shows that we observed a lesson and we learned it, we applied it, and then we’re going to try to avoid it in the future.
Also, it’s interesting you talk about the timing stuff, loving the conversation, not omitting or assuming the number of people. And so I’m sensing a love of the art, of the passion in the conversation, the beautiful stuff that can happen when people are in communion together, but the logistics maybe are the thing that you’re personally working on.

Sophie Bujold:
Yeah. And it’s definitely finding the balance because a lot of what I do comes in those emergent moments and I don’t want to lose that as part of my facilitation. And I’m also known to just modify the agenda on the fly if I feel like the thing that we need is about to emerge and we’re just going to adjust the rest of what we’re doing. I’m comfortable doing that and I think that’s part of the figure-it-out training that I’ve had over my career is like, “Nope, we’re just going to adjust. Here’s what we’re going to cut out because this is where the nugget is.”
But I lean a lot more on our common humanity and what can come out if we just talk to one another. And that’s something that, at least in community building, is super important. It’s like, how do we get people to not just be shooting mechanical questions back and forth and then answering below, but how do we create that feeling of, “I want to be in this room because amazing things happen? I’m getting conversations that are very productive and stimulating for me and I want to be there?”

Douglas Ferguson:
Yeah. It’s so important that we’re creating a sense of flow for folks.

Sophie Bujold:
Yeah. And a sense of, I’ll come back to it over and over, just feeling like they belong in that room, like they found their people and they just can’t get enough of wanting to be in there.

Douglas Ferguson:
Yeah. Love that. And it’s reminding me too of, I think near the end of certification for you and also about the time we were chatting about our community and about the alumni story, you were talking about just the right work was landing and multiple clients and a large member-based organization was coming in and just generating lots of deal flow. And I’m curious, what did you do structurally and personally to ride that wave without burning out? I think listeners could probably be interested and benefit from hearing what worked and didn’t work as you were kind of getting a lot of interest and trying to navigate a busy time, but also a time that was busy with things you were passionate about.

Sophie Bujold:
I think one of the most important things I did was really leaning on the community that I had created within our program. I met some amazing folks, some incredible people that I’m still in touch with now on a regular basis, and really leaning on some of their expertise in areas where I just had less experience.
The other piece of it too is I wasn’t using this to kind of shape the whole thing, but I used AI as a thinking partner a lot to just kind of challenge how I was structuring things or suggest activities that I might not be aware of that I might want to consider. It didn’t build my whole agenda, but it was definitely a thinking partner in the process of it.
And then third, leveraged a lot of the office hours that were happening at that moment to really kind of bring my work to the table and be like, “Here’s where I’m heading with it. What am I missing?” type thing.
So I think part of that. And then also, I’ll be very candid and say, part of it was also the, I’ll figure it out as I go thing that I’m really good at. But I relied a lot on the relationships that I had, whether it was with the client to start figuring out, “This workshop didn’t quite hit what we were looking for, what if we did a second one to just tie it up and here’s where we would focus?” So I left a lot of room for fluidity even in the engagement because I knew that these were new ways for me to work and that I might not hit the mark exactly on the spot that first time.
So for the client, that actually ended up adding a lot of value because they got a little bit of extra time to think through things, but it also gave me a playground to be able to really start structuring how I move in my Miro boards and what exactly I’m trying to extract from this group in order for us to continue doing the consulting piece of the work afterwards, right? Because my work has those two parts in balance all the time. It’s like, yes, I facilitate, but it’s also with the goal of getting information that I can then use to be the consultant to say, “Okay, based on the decisions you made, here’s the direction we can take with the experience you’re trying to create.”

Douglas Ferguson:
Another thing I was thinking about was just the importance of clarity and focus for organizations, especially I think professional services organizations benefit greatly when there’s a really sharp focus and you know who you’re serving. And you’ve done a great job, over the past few years, really starting to clarify that member organizations are your lane, co-designing roadmaps, facilitating discovery, and aligning teams. And I’m curious, if we walk through a typical engagement with you, what does that look like and how’s facilitation making a pivotal difference for you?

Sophie Bujold:
Yeah. I think every engagement is a little bit unique just based on the need that comes through my door, but people typically come to me in two-ish buckets. So one, they’re either coming to me where they have an idea for a community experience, whether it’s online, hybrid, or offline, they just want to think through what exactly are we offering people? How do we structure it? And how do we start building a team that can support it? The other piece is, we have something and it’s broken. It’s not working the way we want it to. We don’t know what’s going on. We don’t know how to fix it. So that could be low engagement, high churn, just something’s just not jiving and it’s not meeting the needs of the organization that it’s supporting.
So in both those cases, I think the journey starts very similarly. I have a pretty robust intake form that everyone goes through on my website. That is purposefully done to get information ahead of the conversation that I want to have with clients, to get them reflecting about exactly what they want. So to your point about focus, that’s one of my ways to help them focus is to get them to stop for a minute and think about some of the key aspects of their community before we even have a conversation.
For a lot of people, I get to the call and they thank me for those questions because it really helped clarify in their head what exactly they’re asking for. So it leads to a much better discovery call where we can really dig into, what are their specific needs? And then craft an engagement that makes sense for that.
For a lot of the folks who are in that bucket of, we have something new, I have a whole community mapping process that is usually, 90% of the time, the process that we’ll go through where we really start digging into the values and mission that’s driving the community and why it needs to exist in the world. We take a look at what is already out there and how it might not be fitting the need of their client or where is the opportunity to find a difference that we can fill in the market. And then from there, we start looking at each piece of the community, right? Events, any kind of interactions they want to be having, whether it’s forum groups or whatever it is, whatever components, we always match it back to the needs of the community and the needs of the members that are in it.
I think one of the key pieces of what I do is really this empathy map of who is your member and what journey do we know they go through as they move from the first few moments of being in the community all the way to feeling like they’ve got what they need and exiting that community? What is that journey and what is the core need they need at every step? And we use that to then go into the experience and go, “Okay, now we know what they need. How do we help them scratch that itch? How do we help them fulfill that need so that they can move through the journey and be transformed?”
So many people don’t realize that community experiences also have a member journey and can be transformative. They just think like, “Oh, people come in and they hang out and they leave when they’re ready.” But if you tie the experience that you create to those member needs, one, it creates an experience that people participate at much higher rates in. Two, they stick around a lot longer, sometimes by years, which is usually good if it’s a membership-based fee at the front. It means more lifetime value for that customer. And yeah, so tying it all together from there.
And then once we have that really good picture of what the community needs, then we put in place the launch plan and the team plan and all of those things to move forward. And then on the side of, how do I fix my community? That usually starts with an audit of sorts and then moves from there based on the needs that we find in there.

Douglas Ferguson:
Looking ahead, what kinds of member-driven challenges or sectors are you most excited to tackle next? And how do you hope the ripple effects of your work will show up in communities those organizations serve?

Sophie Bujold:
So there’s three key areas that I actually love serving. It doesn’t mean that I don’t go outside of that, but it’s where I feel like my impact is the greatest. One is really in kind of social services area. We’re talking about things like communities that are helping people with their mental health, communities that are advocating in those spaces, and kind of adjacent communities in that space. I never set an actual wishlist for who I want to work with.
The other space is really the space of creativity, but I tend to work with clients who, again, are in that space of we want to have an impact in the world. So they’re doing creativity for the purpose of wellbeing, mental health, and having a positive impact on the people that are learning. It’s never just a learning community, there’s always that goal of, we want to help through art, through music, through all kinds of things. I’ve worked with painting communities and cello communities and all kinds of things in between, but all of them had that social impact kind of woven in, that they weren’t just doing it for teaching purposes, it was really to help people feel better, find something that they’re passionate about, and wanting to move forward.
So for me, those spaces are really important, especially, again, right now. There’s so much happening in this world and I think people need those anchors that are not work related, that are not politically related, where they can actually just sit in a room with other folks who have an interest similar to theirs. And I would even say that I consider those spaces really transformational, especially when two people with maybe opposing views can find some common ground. And I’m seeing that more and more with all kinds of initiatives in those spaces that I just named. Like, you have the Gaia Collective in New York City that’s based on music and singing and a whole bunch of other communities where, at first, it feels like, “Oh, it’s just for hobbies,” but really there’s a really connective fabric at the bottom of it.
So that’s what I look for in projects, is spaces where there’s some thought that’s been put into, how do we bring people together, especially people with differences?

Douglas Ferguson:
Ooh, love that. And I would imagine the ripple effects when we’re bringing together folks with differences are that we might have a bit more understanding about each other and a bit more harmony maybe, which I would argue that the world could benefit from. And anyway, we’re coming to our end, unfortunately. I know we could keep going and going. So I want to give you an opportunity to leave our listeners with a final thought.

Sophie Bujold:
So my final thought for today is really in the fact that there’s a lot of opportunity right now to create connection between people to help people feel like they belong and they’ve found a supportive community and that, sure, it can take the form of working with someone like me on building something a little bit more formal, but I would also say there’s a lot of opportunity to look within our neighborhoods and our communities right now and being like, how can I gather people to either hold a potluck between neighbors or where can I create that opportunity of connection right now? You don’t need a formal business setting to be able to do those things. That’s what I experienced when I was online in those first few years and I think that’s something that folks have been slowly coming back to in a lot of cases right now and is needed more than ever.

Douglas Ferguson:
Wow. Yeah. I would echo that and thank you for sharing. It’s been such a lovely conversation and hope to chat with you again sometime soon.

Sophie Bujold:
Well, thanks for having me. It’s been great.

Douglas Ferguson:
Thanks for joining me for another episode of the Facilitation Lab Podcast. If you enjoyed the episode, please leave us a review and be sure to subscribe and receive updates when new episodes are released. We love listener tales and invite you to share your facilitation stories. Send them to us on LinkedIn or via email. If you want to know more, head over to our blog where I post weekly articles and resources about facilitation, team dynamics, and collaboration; voltagecontrol.com.

The post The Greatest Lessons in Trust and Generosity from Online Communities appeared first on Voltage Control.

“Can you hear my audio? Can you see my screen?” How many times did I utter those sentences in 2020? Suddenly, the teaching, convening, and presenting work I had felt I could almost do in my sleep felt brand-new again – like I had to relearn how to walk and tie my shoes. That was not a comfortable feeling for a mid-career consultant who prided herself on creating engaging meetings and events.

Without ever calling it “facilitation,” I’ve used facilitation skills throughout my entire career as a strategy consultant to nonprofits and foundations (with a side-quest into commercial work – but that’s another story). Since founding my consulting practice in 1996, I have led countless board meetings, retreats, strategic planning workshops, Communities of Practice, listening sessions, focus groups… pretty much any type of gathering you can think of, with all sizes of groups.

It’s always been one of my favorite parts of my work – the experience of bringing people together to think creatively and expansively about possibilities, learn from each other, and co-create solutions that didn’t exist before is at the heart of why I love my work.

But things changed when the pandemic kicked off. Although I had done some online facilitation prior to March of 2020, it was quickly clear that I was going to have to really up my game if I wanted my groups to achieve their goals and objectives via Zoom. That’s when I started researching where and how I might pursue professional development.

Around the same time, I attended a webinar on an unrelated topic. When one of the speakers was explaining her methodology for generating a group discussion, another webinar participant posted in the chat: “It sounds like Liberating Structures.”

That caught my eye, so I googled… and was immediately blown away by the potential of the methodology. “Where has this been my whole life?” I asked myself while poring over the Liberating Structures site and book.

As part of my research, I soon came across the word, “facilitator.” And I immediately said, “Yes, that’s me!” Digging further into blogs, online workshops, discussion threads, and communities, I found Voltage Control, along with a few other organizations, that were offering the kinds of learning I knew I needed: how to create online spaces of focus and purpose, where people could be as creative and connected as possible to achieve big results.

I was surprised and excited to learn how many professionals globally take this facilitation stuff seriously, and particularly because we cover such a diverse range of interests and applications of the skills. I found myself connecting with product designers, IT professionals, CEOs… as well as plenty of other nonprofit professionals and consultants like me. The diversity of applications and interests meant I was learning from a wide variety of experiences; the consistency of our collective commitment to facilitation told me I was in the right place.

After attending a few Facilitation Labs online, I decided to enroll in an 8-hour online workshop Voltage Control was offering at that time on Liberating Structures. I couldn’t believe how fast the time flew during the workshop – I was used to online meetings that dragged and droned, with endless slide decks and limited opportunity for interactivity or engagement. The experience served to reinforce to me that I was definitely on the right track for taking my consulting practice to the next level.

In fact, even before the two-session workshop was done, I started bringing what I had learned into client meetings. Activities like 1-2-4-All helped me overcome the challenge of having the most vocal person dominate the conversation, while TRIZ created a fun and memorable framework for getting at root causes of deep-seated community challenges. And that was only two of the Liberating Structures – I had dozens more to try!

What’s more, my clients were noticing the difference, too. More than one long-term client made a point of telling me that “something had changed” in my facilitation – sessions were stronger, more dynamic, and more productive than before.

When I reflected on what had changed, I realized that the balance of engagement had flipped on its head. Before I started pursuing facilitation training, my sessions would be 80% of me talking and teaching, and 20% of the participants engaging and interacting. After becoming more intentional about facilitation and expanding my methods, I observed that 80% of my sessions involved direct engagement and peer-to-peer interaction of the participants, and only 20% me.

That’s when I realized: Facilitation is not about wielding control in the room. Facilitation is about creating a room with a set of rules that enables humans to connect authentically and find their collective wisdom.

Around that time, I had a client project that involved designing and facilitating six online strategic visioning sessions on different topics relating to the future of a local community. This would be the first big project with a lot of high-stakes online sessions, and I was both excited and nervous about putting my new skills to the test.

In my planning, I was tempted to try some of the more complex methods I had learned about in my Liberating Structures workshop… but I managed to resist the urge and Keep It Simple, to reduce the stress for both me and the participants. I secured a co-facilitator, with responsibility for running the technology (including Zoom and Mural boards) and providing troubleshooting assistance when needed.

And then I opened the rooms, doing what I have always loved doing: Bringing people together to envision a thriving future where kids experience summer camp, people with disabilities have full access to community life, teachers get appropriate compensation and recognition, and the professionals who make the entire community run are visible and appreciated. We co-created inspiring visions for the future in these sessions, and my elation grew with the completion of each one. It WAS possible to create online spaces of openness, generosity, and trust.

We got excellent feedback from participants, as well. One participant took the time to write on the post-event survey: “Robin’s strategic planning workshops were among the best I’ve attended — even on Zoom. They were goal-oriented, interactive, and thoughtfully designed. Robin fostered open discussion and guided participants effectively while allowing space for independent conclusions.”

And another: “Robin tenaciously sought input from a diverse group, stimulated active discussion, and provided the leadership and clarity to enable us to confidently move forward. She is masterful in her approach and dedicated to an outstanding outcome.” 

Although I felt my skills advancing and developing, I also had my eye on the Voltage Control certification program. I was able to make time in my schedule and free up budget to invest in the program, and I joined Cohort 11, convening in the summer of 2024.

The best thing about the certification program was the wonderful community of facilitators I got to work intensively with for three months. Everyone had differing levels of experience, their own particular style, and varied goals for what they wanted out of the program. But what we had in common was passion for facilitation.

My personal goals in the program were to dig more deeply into “why” – I wanted to better understand WHY many of the techniques I had developed through trial-and-error over the years worked, and at the same time how to adjust for things that weren’t working. I also wanted to better understand my own “why” – what was my purpose as a facilitator? Why was I so drawn to this work? What did it say about my professional world, my interests, and fundamentally, my values?

I answered those questions through the certification program, which gave me the framework, community, and access to expertise and mentoring that enabled me to grow. Preparing my portfolio was an exercise in bringing it all together – my purpose, my experience, the kinds of positive outcomes for nonprofits and communities I was working toward.

In fact, I keep my purpose statement printed at my workstation, to remind myself every day, every meeting, how I’m putting my values into action:

“My purpose is to create environments in which people practice being their best selves while collaboratively solving intractable problems.”

In the world we live in today, this feels like more than a profession – it feels like a calling.

Soon after I completed certification, I signed up for more: I joined the first cohort for Master Certification through Voltage Control in the spring of 2025 because I wanted to go deeper with my skills and particularly with my ability to build empathy in groups characterized by conflict or even hostility.

At the same time, I explored my frustration with the negative impact bad meetings have on the ability of nonprofits to achieve their missions. For my final project, I designed and piloted a three-session workshop series for nonprofit professionals and volunteers, to provide a foundation in the principles of good meetings:

1. Connection Before Content
2. Have a Purpose
3. Do the Work IN the Meeting

I ran the pilot with 7 participants, all of whom appreciated learning and practicing the practical skills that could help their meetings not suck! In the words of one participant, “I so appreciate Robin’s willingness to share her insight and expertise on meeting facilitation! She takes facilitation and participation to a new level. This class really addresses the frustration and boredom that can plague those of us who spend a lot of time in group meetings and brings home the idea that there is another and better way!”

While making my way through the Master Certification program, I was also applying to full-time consulting roles with firms that specialize in nonprofit and foundation work. I wanted to take what I’d developed over nearly 30 years to a bigger audience and work on larger teams, and joining a firm made the most sense for accomplishing both goals.

Soon after completing Master Certification, I joined Tangelo Tree Consulting as a Senior Consultant. My facilitation skills and the investment I’d made in developing them were an influential part of my application. And, with a talented team of other consultants, I get to work with regional and national clients on such topics as reproductive health rights, energy efficiency, affordable housing, and environmental conservation. The work is deeply challenging and feels vital at this moment, and I feel lucky every day that I get to do it.

To “facilitate” means to “ease the way.” Regardless of the direction your professional work is going, I believe you can ease the way by enhancing your skills as a facilitator. So much of what’s wrong with our world comes down to the ways humans interact with each other. We have so much creativity, so much potential for solving intractable problems, and yet so few spaces that are created and held so that people can truly listen to and work with one another.

This is the work I am honored to do as a certified facilitator. Whether it’s improving Tangelo Tree’s occasional online staff retreat, designing and facilitating a program for a hundred stakeholders, or anything in between, I feel most alive and connected when I’m helping others make connections. That’s how we have the potential to solve intractable problems. And that’s my purpose.

The post From “Can You Hear Me?” to “I’ve Got This” appeared first on Voltage Control.

In this episode of the Facilitation Lab podcast, Douglas Ferguson interviews Marco Monterzino, a human-centered designer and innovation facilitator. Marco shares his journey from luxury product design to facilitation, emphasising the significance of ritual, adaptability, and purpose in both fields. They discuss how design thinking and frameworks like the hero’s journey inform facilitation, and how rituals shape user experiences. Marco also explores building organisational resilience, the evolving nature of purpose, and the importance of cultivating equanimity. The episode concludes with insights on blending facilitation and education to foster resilient, innovative teams and communities.

Show Highlights

[00:01:45] Marco’s Entry into Luxury Design
[00:08:21] Rituals and Product Design
[00:15:49] Gaining Confidence and Structure as a Facilitator
[00:23:59] Workshops as Human Gatherings
[00:31:14] Bridging Facilitation and Education
[00:35:17] Final Thought: The Equanimity Hack

Links | Resources

Marco on LinkedIn

About the Guest

Marco Monterzino is a Human-centered Designer and Certified Innovation Facilitator at Monterzino Design, where he helps senior leadership teams discover their organisational resilience.

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Transcript

Douglas Ferguson (00:05):
Hi, I’m Douglas Ferguson. Welcome to the Facilitation Lab Podcast, where I speak with Voltage Control certification alumni and other facilitation experts about the remarkable impact they’re making. We embrace a method-agnostic approach, so you can enjoy a wide-range of topics and perspectives as we examine all the nuances to enabling meaningful group experiences. This series is dedicated to helping you navigate the realities of facilitating collaboration, ensuring every session you lead becomes truly transformative. Thanks so much for listening.

(00:38):
If you’d like to join us for a live session sometime, you can join our Facilitation Lab community. It’s an ideal space to apply what you learn in the podcast in realtime with peers. Sign up today at voltagecontrol.com/facilitation-lab. If you’d like to learn more about our 12-week facilitation certification program, you can read about it at voltagecontrol.com.

(00:58):
Today I’m with Marco Monterzino, human-centered designer and Certified Innovation Facilitator at Monterzino Design, where he helps senior leadership teams discover their organizational resilience. Welcome to the show, Marco.

Marco Monterzino (01:14):
Thanks for having me, Douglas. Great to see you.

Douglas Ferguson (01:16):
I just want to say it’s so wonderful having you on the show today. You’ve been such a great collaborator, and the work you’re doing at Facilitation Lab Europe is so wonderful. We really appreciate everything you’re doing there. And we’ve got some cool stuff that we’re working on that we might be launching next year. So always a pleasure to chat with you, and it’s so wonderful having you on the show today.

Marco Monterzino (01:37):
Thanks. Look, it’s been an incredible experience and so supportive of my own journey. So yeah, thanks for setting it up really.

Douglas Ferguson (01:46):
You began your career designing luxury objects, like lighters and fountain pens. What first drew you into that world? And what did you learn from working in such a rarefied space?

Marco Monterzino (01:56):
So that’s a great question, Douglas. I would say I more or less stumbled upon this market. It’s something that I was introduced to by the college I studied at. So Central Saint Martins College in London is a college that has a very strong network in a very specific niche of the market, which is the high end luxury market. Really because they are active in the intersection of art, fashion and design. So that’s the kind of network that I got introduced to.

(02:31):
I also have to say, as a child growing up, I really enjoyed collecting lighters and fountain pens, but really not the lighters that cost you half a yearly salary. So these are things that I just encountered along my journey and I really enjoyed discovering. Especially I would say the whole experience of creating these items, luxury items, high end items is connecting to a notion that the French call savoir faire, which is basically craftsmanship.

(03:11):
So having a chance to immerse myself in companies that have these workshops where they make bespoke diamond-encrusted accessories for gentlemen, for ladies, it was really super, super precious. And opened up my mind as a designer because I could see how … This was my first experience in connecting the practice of designing to the practice portfolio manufacturing, and this was a very specific type of manufacturing. It’s very little industrial production, just a little bit of C&C milling, digital manufacturing, which was then all finished by hand, encrusted by hand, engraved by hand. So the range of possibilities was really endless.

Douglas Ferguson (04:04):
I recall that your big project was the Diva. And I playfully suggested From Diva to Facilitator as your alumni story title, but that felt a little off to you. Tell us about the origins in the name Diva, and what was there for you as you were working on that project?

Marco Monterzino (04:19):
Yeah, thank you. That’s a great memory actually to recall. So I had been given this assignment to work with a young audience for a luxury brand called Stephane Tissot Dupont based in Paris. They started being known for travel case design. They created these travel cases that people use for traveling on the great liners of Cunard, that heritage. When I went to visit the factory, the workshops, the atelier actually how they call it, it was really super feeling the weight of these objects and hearing the sound of the lids as they came open. I was introduced to a whole new universe. I never really could see how you could design into that level of detail.

(05:08):
Now, the concept actually came because I was struggling with coming up with an idea for something in that market. It’s really not my market, I hardly could empathize with the user. And that’s my first job as a designer, understanding what a user needs. So one day I was just walking around in Lugano, on this Italian border with Switzerland. Actually, it was the Swiss border with Italy. And I saw … Sometimes you start observing, and I’m the kind of person sometimes, a bit awkwardly stops and starts staring at something as if I was invisible. I was super mesmerized by something that I was observing. And this scene was a guy and a girl who was basically, they didn’t know each other and they crossed paths on the shore of this lake. She asked him if he had a lighter. And the way this interplay happened was really beautiful because the light was just right, there was a gust of wind, and their hands gently touched each other as they were exchanging this moment, this gesture.

(06:28):
And for me, that moment was where I was, “Oh, wow, that’s really beautiful. What if I could design a physical object, a tool like a lighter, that could really represent and enhance this ritual of giving fire?” The elegance of an open gesture like that. So the idea was what if a person like me could, in a dream, be able to treat a woman like a diva, like you see in the great films of the Hollywood era. So that’s how the name came about, just thinking of a lighter that was dedicated, it was an homage to the user. A lady who’s treated like a diva by a gentleman. The divas are in this dream scenario that I lost myself into.

(07:38):
That landed really well Stephane Tissot Dupont, the creative director really liked it and said, “We can manufacture this.” And in fact, I think they didn’t end up manufacturing that specific design unfortunately, as it often goes with product innovation. But they built the idea of something that could be operated with an open gesture in other collections. One for 007 is operating that way, then they have another one that is a bit more sporty and leverages the strength of the hand. Because the whole idea was to offer a lighter, rather than in your fist like many would, on the open palm of a hand, as if your hand was a surface rather than your hand holding onto something.

Douglas Ferguson (08:21):
That story immediately drew me to the idea of ritual, and I think you even invoked that word yourself. This idea of passing the flame has become a thing of the past because people are moving away from smoking due to health concerns or picked up vaping instead. Are there other human-to-human rituals that we’ve lost that we could amplify with design or objects?

Marco Monterzino (08:44):
Look, it’s a very interesting space, that one, I think for all forms of industrial design especially because that was where I asked myself this kind of question. The idea of a ritual really is at the root of many products that we use. If you think about simple rituals like how we use our handsets, there’s lots of little rituals in there. A lot of little gestures, a lot of thoughtless acts, a lot of cultural norms we can play with.

(09:17):
Now of the top of my head, I wouldn’t be able to pull in a specific ritual that I have in mind. But if you think about the usual rituals of, for instance the tea ceremony or many other cultural rituals, really are about the process being just as important as the outcome. Because the outcome, at the end of the day, might be drink a cup of tea. But what if the pleasure and the value of the experience is throughout the process from the beginning to the end? Yeah, how you prepare the mug, how you select and appreciate the blend, how you embody a certain posture rather than another one. In certain cultures, like in Japan, there’s a lot of very sophisticated detail that goes into these things. So I think ritual is everything in product design and it’s a great place to start a design process from my experience.

Douglas Ferguson (10:18):
At what point did you realize objects, though beautiful, didn’t quite align with your own values? And how did that spark your pivot toward utilitarian design?

Marco Monterzino (10:28):
Now, it didn’t come without its pains. You can imagine, I was very excited to be in such a market. It made me feel extremely fortunate. I didn’t see myself designing a fountain pen for Montblanc or helping Stephane Tissot Dupont launch a new lighter. It was something that it was completely foreign to me. But I don’t know, I just felt by doing other bits of work, the purpose part of it was really driving me.

(11:03):
When designing these beautiful objects, you’re often designing items that end up being collected. They might not even be used as much. These brands are really keen to make sure that their products are not seen as collectibles, but unfortunately quite often that’s the way it goes, especially with the more customized and expensive pieces. So being on the other end of the spectrum, so solving real life problems, everyday problems, really addressing something that you might observe in real life, like how can we make packaging not end up in our seas, that sort of problem. How can we help people behave in a different way when it comes to sustainability? These are issues that I’ve dealt with very, very regularly.

(11:55):
It’s the other end of the spectrum. Very, very fast-moving goods, packaging. Not glamorous at all, not massaging my ego as much as a designer, but definitely giving me a sense of purpose and I’m having an impact here. Which I have to say, I wasn’t feeling as much when I was designing the other products. And that is not to say that you can’t have a sense of purpose when designing those other products. If you’re a watchmaker, I think there’s a lot of purpose there. But just it didn’t really click with me. I felt I needed something more grounded. Yeah.

Douglas Ferguson (12:36):
Can you share the moment when you first sensed that facilitation, not just product design, might be the real work you were meant to do?

Marco Monterzino (12:44):
I think I mentioned earlier, product innovation, that’s when my shift happened. That’s the first moment I encountered the … I understood the skill behind design. The mindset was transferable, I could use it outside of designing stuff. I could use it to help an R&D team come up with a product without designing the product, just coming up with 10, 20 ideas. So it was incremental in my experience. I went from designing hands-on, to a degree like a craftsman. Designers are, to a degree, craftspeople. They apply their ability to understand manufacturing and form. I went from that place to a place where I could generate lots of ideas for organizations.

(13:44):
And then that turned into we’re not solving product innovation problems now, but when working with a large fast-moving goods company, like Proctor & Gamble or Pepsi, PepsiCo, we might need to really think about, say structural problems for a smaller organization like a startup or a scale-up. And that’s when I could see that holding that hand in understanding how they could discover their product. So their very first product, it was all product-based at the beginning for me, could be done through the same process that I used for designing the product itself. So understanding the what problem is, reframing it, coming up with solutions, and then prototyping and testing solutions to a degree whenever it really fits.

(14:40):
And that’s when I actually started doing design sprints because I overheard at Makerversity, a lovely coworking space I was based at in London, I overheard that my friends in the neighboring office or set of desks were able to sell this product like hot cakes. I was like, “Wow, what’s the secret here?” And the secret was, it was very clear. For the first time I was able to hear people talk about the design process like something that was bite-sized and that could be seen as very tangible because you got from big problem to a user-validated solution at the end.

(15:25):
So that’s where I could see that there was something on the horizon around facilitation. But by no means, I didn’t have the experience or the methodology I could lean on. It was all I was winging it big time. And sometimes, as you do when you’re winging it, sometimes it goes really well and some other times it doesn’t go just quite as well. So yeah, that’s actually how I came about you guys and it was very much to address that need for structure, that need for a sense of also confidence. Because if I was winging it and it was a sunny day and everything was going well, I was completely confident and bold. But if things were not working out, or the client was potentially pushing back, or things were not really, yeah, working out, I would be losing my confidence. You can’t lose your confidence as a facilitator, it’s a key feature of the work we do. We have to guide and lead in a confident way.

(16:30):
So having methods, the readings, especially the first reading, the Art of Gathering, super clear. It was a big light bulb that went off in my head. It clarified my role. I was gathering people, I wasn’t just running workshops. So there was a lot more thought that had to go into it.

Douglas Ferguson (16:53):
That confidence is really key. You talk about when everything’s sunny and goes well, it’s easy to follow the playbook, run the recipe. But then what happens where there’s a perturbation in the system or something goes unexpected? We have to be unflappable. We have to be resilient. That’s why we have our competency of adaptive. If we’re not adaptive facilitators, when we’re met with adversity it’s going to be really hard to respond.

Marco Monterzino (17:25):
Definitely, definitely. Look, one thing that really got me thinking about this topic was when, I think you brought it up on Circle, on the live community, the Facilitation Lab community. You brought up the topic or the notion of equanimity, which was an entirely novel term for me. The English language is not my first language and I had not come across this word before. So I looked it up. I was like, “Oh, I need a bit of this.” It was this inner smoothness was really extremely tantalizing. It was like, “Yeah, I need more than a bit of that. I need to have control of that.”

(18:11):
So yeah, that planted a little seed somewhere in the back of my head. And then through experience, I was able to actually craft for myself something that could ground me when things were not working out quite the way I was hoping.

Douglas Ferguson (18:30):
So tell me more about that?

Marco Monterzino (18:31):
Well, this is something that I refer to as my, I don’t know, it’s a mantra for me. Something that I go to to find my footing. And I found myself and I still find myself quite regularly … Maybe it’s because it’s I’m a creative, I’m a designer, emotions have a strong grip on my psyche. So whenever there’s some emotion that’s making me feel less confident because maybe I’m experiencing an emotion called fear, then as soon as I realize that’s going on I go, “Okay.” I just take a breath and then I just repeat within myself quietly, “I’m here to serve you.” Because at the end of the day, all the work that I do as a consultant, as a human-centered designer is to serve people.

(19:22):
And then it’s like pressing autofocus on a very blurred image. Things go blurry, blurry, blurry, and then I go, “I’m here to serve you,” and everything is crystal clear and instantly I have my confidence back. Instantly, every time. Super reliable.

Douglas Ferguson (19:39):
Nice. There’s a reason purpose is first and adaptive is last. If we’re not starting with purpose and anchoring the other competencies along the way, it’s going to be really difficult to get to adaptive.

Marco Monterzino (19:51):
Totally, totally. And I would say that adaptability is a key feature of purpose. Because I can see my purpose as a business evolving over time, and I can see that you guys possibly have the same. Depending on how you evolve, your purpose has to evolve. Depending on how the market evolves, your purpose has to evolve. Depending on how the learning that I take on along the way informs me with new knowledge, my purpose has to evolve. And that piece where I’m constantly iterating my purpose is the adaptability, the ability to keep that purpose, the driving purpose fresh on my mind. I don’t know how it is for you guys, but that’s definitely the case with me.

Douglas Ferguson (20:39):
Yeah, that echoes true. I want to come back to the journey we’re talking about there. At Untapped Innovation, you saw design embedded in R&D and fueled by frameworks like the Hero’s Journey. How did that experience shape your view of design as facilitation?

Marco Monterzino (20:54):
So yeah, I would say one thing that I came across when working with Untapped was I would label it as a wealth of experience. They had a huge amount of experience, they’d been working with lots of large organizations, companies, multinational companies. One of the methodologies we were using that I encountered was the Hero’s Journey. Because ultimately, one of these human-centered design 101 methodologies is you put the user at the center and you design the whole narrative of whatever you’re innovating upon around it. So that was super, super powerful.

(21:35):
Just a quick example, a quick memory, anecdote. I was brought in to work with a manufacturer of a product that has been … Well, I’ll just say it. I was brought in to work on a tobacco harm reduction project with a large organization that needed to address the fact that their products were harming people. So I remember how having that perspective that put the user at the center, and also having that perspective as a designer to think about the user as a person who is engaging in rituals, especially when it comes to consuming drinks or having other experiences. That became the core aspect of how we generated ideas. So we generated ideas about how we can reduce harm by making the experience of, for instance consuming tobacco, while physically less harmful, but also a lot more about the ritual. A lot more about the quality of the experience, rather than just the consumption and going through packets of cigarettes. So that was powerful.

Douglas Ferguson (22:59):
Yeah, that reminds me of some advice I’ve heard in the past about quitting cigarettes and how important it is to not leave the rituals behind. A lot of times, people smoke when they’re having coffee. A lot of times people will take their smokes breaks. That will be the only time they go outside and take a break from work. There’s some people that even argue it’s the deep breathing that is the relaxing part because nicotine’s a stimulant, it actually raises the blood pressure. So if there’s any argument to it feeling relaxing or stress relieving, it’s the deep breathing that you’re doing when you’re inhaling deeply and exhaling, which people don’t normally do. So this group encouraged folks to, “Hey, keep your coffee ritual. Keep your afternoon and mid-morning breaks. Go outside and breathe.”

(23:47):
I find that interesting reminder of that story while listening to you around designing around those rituals. It kind of comes back to what we were talking about earlier with the lighters and the other human exchanges.

Marco Monterzino (23:59):
Yeah. Look, we could connect this with also the practice of seeing workshops as gatherings. For me, it’s the same matter, or it was the same transition. Because why should we suddenly treat a workshop as a situation where there’s one person talking at a group, and there is no structure, and there is no ritual to it. It doesn’t feel like something that belongs to our culture, something that belongs to our human nature.

(24:35):
When you say if we look at it as a gathering, wow. We start thinking about a big circle of people with a blazing fire in the middle. It can become something I think quite natural and quite … There’s a lot of references from our culture itself. So when you are running a workshop, you should think about how the most important thing is the relational quality of it, especially at the beginning. Clarifying purpose of course, keeping things on track, but also making sure that people connect because that’s why you’re bringing them together. And it’s not about getting people through as many design thinking exercises as possible to get to an outcome that is designed by committee. But rather, getting people excited about being together. Able to give shape, to contribute with their logs to the big fire, and to make it bigger and better, and make it memorable.

(25:30):
So yeah, I think making experiences whatever they are human is one of the key learnings of human-centered design, and at least one of those that I really keep close to my heart.

Douglas Ferguson (25:40):
Love that. And also, in your work you’ve described facilitation as “helping organizations access their own resilience.” Could you share an example where you saw that resilience come alive in a powerful way?

Marco Monterzino (25:53):
Right. So this one is covered by a certain amount of confidentiality, but I think I want to share, I would say, the essence of it. Which is there’s been, due to geopolitical changes on the landscape, there’s been a need for certain technologies to be employed in the defense sector. And a lot of innovation, because we’ve gone through a lot of periods of extensive peace which has been I think something we took for granted. And unfortunately, we’re looking at a picture that is a lot less clear and a lot less certain as we speak.

(26:32):
But anyway, these companies were required to help their countries to be resilient in a time where there was disruption. Or these companies themselves were going through a change of purpose that was potentially going to push away a number of their workforce. Or these companies were experiencing a disruption in how they saw themselves and that takes a lot of intentional structure. You can’t do those sort of things just organically. You can, but it takes longer, it’s a lot riskier, and you might risk losing a lot of your people along the way.

(27:17):
Well, if you do it in a very structured way, in a very fair way, in a very transparent way, in a very intentional way, in a way that is designed, then you have basically the equivalent of a well-operating device. You’re basically taking charge of that process. And I think facilitation does that brilliantly because it comes into a place where there is need to be able to spring back to shape after disruption, and I’m giving this example, but it could be other examples. Even simply an organization needing to change management. So there’s a new CEO and maybe with the CEO, a whole new group of executives come into the organization. I’ve been involved in a couple of these larger structures. That’s a huge disruption that then poses the question how do we then connect with the workforce? And how do we enable the workforce to be taken on to a journey?

(28:21):
Because sometimes I’m asked, “Marco, can you help us roll out a new strategy?” And of course what I hear is, “Can you help us enable the work to themselves lead parts of their strategy and meet those goals one-by-one?” And that’s what we do basically, and I think that’s where I see facilitation being, let’s say, a skill or a role or a responsibility that is conducive to resilience. Because it makes disruptions, it turns disruptions into fuel, rather than into things that stop your motion and stop your progress. You take the disruption as an opportunity to redesign, as an opportunity to come up with new solutions, and as an opportunity to refresh. And yeah, facilitation can definitely do that.

Douglas Ferguson (29:11):
Yeah. It’s sort of reframing. Because what might seem like a disruption, or if you look at it through the lens of a disruption is something that is destructive versus looking at disruption as something that is as signal, as a force. But how can we harness that force and utilize it? Because it is showing that people are passionate and there’s energy there. So if we’re able to harness it, if we’re able to redirect it in ways that help us in pursuit of our goal, wow, that’s super effective.

Marco Monterzino (29:42):
Yeah. The notion of resilience has gone through phases. It’s been a buzzword during the big eras of disruption around COVID and I think people grew tired of it. And now I think there it’s come back up with new disruptions and new challenges. I can see that it’s a word that attracts a lot more interest now and I’m glad to see that. But I think there’s been a big argument that resilience is not enough. So what if resilience is not the point?

(30:14):
I can’t remember what was the author, maybe someone will be able to let us know who was the author of this piece of writing. But there was a book that described the 2.0 version of resilience is being this anti-fragility, the anti-fragile type of system. And I don’t like the word itself because I find it a bit difficult to pronounce, it’s a bit long, where resilience to me flows nicely. But I think when I think of resilience, I think of resilience as something that is really fed by challenge. So at the end of the day, it’s something that is anti-fragile. It’s really fueled by all of the challenges that we have coming towards us.

Douglas Ferguson (30:57):
Are you think about Nassim Taleb’s book?

Marco Monterzino (30:59):
That’s the one.

Douglas Ferguson (31:00):
Yeah, great read. And yeah, that word can be a little bit challenging for folks, but I think that might have been its goal. Let’s put something out there that catches people’s attention.

Marco Monterzino (31:12):
I think so. Yeah, definitely.

Douglas Ferguson (31:14):
Well, let’s look ahead. You’re starting to bridge facilitation and education. Thinking about lecturing and other pursuits that are in that world of academia, what excites you most about teaching as a natural extension of facilitation?

Marco Monterzino (31:28):
So the two worlds are very intertwined, aren’t they? Teaching and facilitating. Now that I’ve discovered what facilitation is, which is this soft skill, the mother of all soft skills, I understand or I see teaching in a completely new light. I realize that people who are teaching are facilitating a gathering, a class is a gathering. There is a purpose, which is let’s learn about that subject, that topic, and by the end of the session we will be at the end of that chapter or whatever it might be. So I think there’s a quality which is a natural extension of the more commercial facilitation practice.

(32:11):
And then the other aspect is I have been myself asked a number of times, “Marco, can you help us train our own people so that we can empower our workforce with human-centered design, with collaboration skills, with workshop design, with facilitation?” And that I think took that part of my brain or gave me an opportunity to grow into a new aspect of my practice. Which is to be able to not only perform the craft of facilitation, but also being able to communicate it and to be able to take other people, a journey where you have to make the right space for learning, you have to create the right conversations among peers so that learning can happen. You have to stand back and really not be at the front of the room as much. You’re there enabling this mysterious phenomenon, which is how do people learn stuff.

(33:19):
But yeah, it’s something that I’ve come across as a request, an ask. People ask me, “Can you do that for us?” And I’m like, “Yes, let’s do some experiential learning.” Which is basically taking people through the experience. And then I came across you guys, and you talk about practice, practice playgrounds, which is a brilliant way to experience methodologies and to basically understand that like playing an instrument really well, like finger-picking on a guitar. You might be born with it, but you don’t have to be born with it. You can just spend many, many hours every week practicing, practicing, practicing, and then you get the hang of it. And then you get better, and better, and better. And facilitation is the same, learning these kind of skills is the same. I find it exciting to hold space for that sort of thing because find it made it useful for me, and so I believe it can be useful to others.

Douglas Ferguson (34:15):
And if you look a few years down the road, how do you hope your work, whether in consulting, education or facilitation will contribute to building more resilient organizations and communities?

Marco Monterzino (34:25):
If I blur my eyes and I try to see beyond the horizon, I think I see myself doing a blend of the two worlds. I think that’s where I might be able to keep myself fresh. And also, learn, pick up new things and cross-pollinate. So I think my ambition is to continue on this journey that I’m on. I’m not keen to, let’s say change everything, but I’m keen to continue making small changes as I go forward. And I think these two spaces, the learning and the consulting space to me, there’s a tradition. Lots of designers do that, lots of people in the consulting space also teach, and I see the point. And I think that’s a good ambition to work towards.

Douglas Ferguson (35:17):
And as we come to a close today, I’d love to invite you to leave our listeners with a final thought.

Marco Monterzino (35:22):
Okay. So my final thought for the listeners is as an invite as much as a small challenge. I invite you all to craft your own equanimity hack, something that you can tap into when you might lose your confidence. Because as you know because you are maybe already working as a facilitator or maybe it’s something you will discover as you start working as a facilitator, being able to keep that wind in your sails no matter what is crucial in this practice. So craft yourself a little hack to tap into your equanimity and rekindle your confidence. That’s my final thought.

Douglas Ferguson (36:12):
So important. Thanks for coming on the show, Marco. It’s been great chatting.

Marco Monterzino (36:16):
Thank you, Douglas, for having me. It was lovely.

Douglas Ferguson (36:18):
Thanks for joining me for another episode of the Facilitation Lab Podcast. If you enjoyed the episode, please leave us a review, and be sure to subscribe and receive updates when new episodes are released. We love listener tales and invite you to share your facilitation stories. Send them to us on LinkedIn or via email. If you want to know more, head over to our blog where I post weekly articles and resources about facilitation, team dynamics and collaboration, voltagecontrol.com.

The post How Can Rituals in Design Enhance Facilitation and Organisational Resilience? appeared first on Voltage Control.

As November settles in, teams naturally shift into long-view mode. It’s the season for pruning, strengthening roots, and harvesting insights from the year so we can plant smarter in the next one. That rhythm is tailor-made for the kind of thinking AI transformation actually requires—systems thinking. Because while AI can accelerate what works, it can also amplify what doesn’t. If you adopt it as a series of isolated tools, you risk scaling the very patterns you’re trying to change.

This month, we invite you to step back and see the whole. AI transformation is not a tool swap; it’s a chance to redesign roles, rituals, rules, and boundaries across your organization. When you map the system together—actors, relationships, flows, and incentives—you uncover bottlenecks before they appear, create better decision pathways, and frame experiments that compound learning rather than stall in governance fog.

Our Activity of the Month is Systems Mapping, inspired by the session Erik Skogsberg and Dirk Van Onsem led at the Facilitation Lab Summit 2024. If you’ve never mapped a system with your team, this is the perfect time to try. If you’re already mapping, this is the perfect time to revisit your map, stress-test your future state, and align on experiments that everyone can rally around.

Below, you’ll find a practical, seven-part guide to approach AI with a systems lens—complete with an activity you can run in 60–90 minutes, ways to anticipate tomorrow’s bottlenecks today, and facilitation moves that turn digital transformation teams into conveners of clarity. Let’s get you set to map before you move.

See The Whole To Change The Parts

AI adoption tends to enter organizations as a noun—a new platform, pilot, or policy. But sustainable transformation lives in the verbs—how we decide, coordinate, hand off, learn, and adapt across the system. If you focus on “the tool” you’ll optimize pockets of work. If you focus on “the work,” you’ll redesign the moves that matter most—especially the moves between people and teams where friction and value compound. Verbs over nouns is the mental shift that keeps AI from amplifying yesterday’s patterns.

That shift is only possible when you broaden your container. Instead of asking what AI can do for one role or function, ask what becomes possible across roles, rituals, rules, and boundaries. Where are decisions waiting on a single person? Which incentives reward local wins at the expense of system outcomes? Which rules were written for old constraints that no longer apply? Seeing those dynamics is what lets AI actually change the system, not just accelerate it.

It helps to imagine your organization as an ecosystem, not an org chart. Ecosystems thrive through flows—of information, decisions, value, trust. When we talk about AI adoption, we’re really talking about ecosystem gardening, not gadget shopping. It’s the work of cultivating healthy relationships, pruning outdated norms, improving the soil of incentives, and introducing new capabilities with intention.

Most important, a systems view honors human needs. Change lands well when people feel safe, skilled, and significant. If fear is present, judgment narrows and teams retreat to what they can control. That’s why a facilitative stance matters. Check-ins, working agreements, and visual artifacts create a shared field of view. They lower the waterline of uncertainty so teams can engage, learn, and own the change together.

Make It Visible Together

Systems are invisible until you draw them. The fastest way to move from assumptions to alignment is to make your work visible—actors, relationships, dependencies, decision points, and feedback loops. When it’s out on the board, you can collectively see where latency piles up, where incentives subtly pull teams apart, and where a small change could unlock major flow.

We love Miro as a base container for this work because it supports both divergence and convergence in one place. You can invite many perspectives, surface assumptions quickly, then converge on the parts that matter for your next move. With Miro’s AI features, you can even bring in an “extra lens” to help spot patterns—emerging loops, clusters, or contradictions—that the group can then interpret, validate, and refine.

A critical step is asking whose voices are missing from the container. If you’re mapping a process without someone who lives its pain points, you’ll miss essential nuance. If you’re designing decision rules without folks who actually carry them out, you’ll create elegant bottlenecks. Make your invitations explicit: who co-owns this map, what benefits and responsibilities come with participation, and how the artifact will be used beyond the workshop.

Finally, remember that maps are prototypes. The goal isn’t a perfect diagram, it’s collective insight. A good systems map gives you enough clarity to move, learn, and iterate. Hold it lightly. Update it as you test, so your shared understanding grows. When the map changes, that’s not rework; it’s progress.

Activity Of The Month: Systems Mapping

If you run just one session this month, make it a 60–90 minute systems mapping workshop. This is a practical, low-lift way to transform big conversations about AI into concrete decisions and experiments. Our facilitation team has been running versions of this for years, and the moves are straightforward to adapt to your context.

Start by clarifying purpose and boundaries. In 10 minutes, align on what system you’re mapping and where it starts and ends for this session. Then list actors—teams, roles, customers, partners, tools, policies—who impact or are impacted by this system. In the next 20–30 minutes, map flows: how work actually moves today. Surface handoffs, delays, and decisions. Highlight where information waits, where approvals stack up, and where “ghost rules” create drag.

In 20 minutes, annotate the map with friction points and incentives. Where are people rewarded for local optimization? Where are norms or policies written for constraints that no longer exist? Where does trust have to be rebuilt for a new move to stick? As you talk, capture opportunities for AI to help at the system level: better triage at handoffs, improved decision support at key thresholds, smart routing to reduce latency, or lightweight automation where waste is predictable.

Close by harvesting experiments and decision rules. Choose 2–3 experiments you can run within 30–45 days. For each, name the owner, success signal, consent threshold, and a safety check or ethical red line. Define how you’ll make the decision to scale, reverse, or sunset. This small governance layer keeps learning fast and trust high. For more background and inspiration, watch the Activity of the Month video and revisit Erik Skogsberg and Dirk Van Onsem’s 2024 Facilitation Lab Summit talk on systems mapping:

Find Tomorrow’s Bottlenecks Today

The most valuable maps don’t just describe today; they help you see around corners. As AI introduces new capabilities, bottlenecks move. You may reduce time on a task and inadvertently flood a downstream team. You may open access to information and discover that decision rights—not data—are your new constraint. Mapping lets you anticipate those shifts so you’re not surprised when your pilot meets friction.

One powerful move is to run a premortem on your future state. Sketch the improved flow you want with AI in place. Then ask, “It’s three months from now and the pilot failed—what happened?” Look specifically at four areas: data access, decision latency, policy gates, and trust. Where will approvals slow you down? Where is risk-threshold clarity missing? What new handoffs appear that weren’t there before? This is how you “pre-mortem the future” so the future doesn’t mortem your pilot.

This is also where governance benefits from a reframing. Many teams get stuck because governance shows up as a heavy brake. Try treating governance as choreography—the roles, rules, and rhythms that keep you moving responsibly. Define consent thresholds for experiments, decision rights for scaling, safety checks for sensitive data, and clear reversibility criteria so decisions can be unmade with minimal cost. When governance clarifies motion, momentum follows.

Finally, watch for latency loops that quietly drain energy. When decisions repeatedly wait on one person, consider role-based or rule-based approaches that preserve accountability without creating single points of failure. When a policy meant to protect inadvertently blocks benign learning, craft lightweight “sandbox” zones with clear boundaries. Each constraint you make explicit lowers the cognitive load on your team and raises your chance of compounding wins.

From Commanders To Conveners

Digital transformation teams are increasingly being asked to lead AI strategy and enablement. The temptation is to become the owner of the answers—publish standards, pick platforms, roll out roadmaps. But in complex environments, invitations beat mandates. The most effective transformation teams act as conveners of clarity, not commanders of compliance.

Being a convener means you design the spaces where cross-functional sensemaking happens. You set cadence, craft agendas that surface trade-offs, and make the work visible. Decision logs, journey maps, and systems maps become the living artifacts that align stories when memories diverge after the meeting. Instead of “big announcement” heroics, you build trust through reliable rituals and transparent artifacts that anyone can reference.

Co-ownership is key. Ask yourself: who needs to co-create and co-own the map for it to matter? Which leaders and operators must be present for decisions to stick? Spell out the benefits and responsibilities of participation in plain language. This sense of authorship is what turns alignment into commitment. When people see themselves in the work, they carry it forward without extra push.

This stance also transforms your messaging. Rather than “Here’s the tool we’re rolling out,” try “Here’s what we want to get better at doing together, and here are the experiments we’ll run to learn how.” Verbs over nouns. Process over prescriptions. In our experience, the more your team is asked for answers they can’t hold alone, the clearer the signal that it’s time to convene the system.

Incentives, Norms, and Skill Building

Many AI “adoptions” stall because the organization’s incentives are tuned for local optimization. A team gets rewarded for shipping more tickets, so they resist a change that would slow their queue to speed value end-to-end. Or a policy written for old constraints blocks safe experimentation under new constraints. Systems mapping helps you spot these misalignments so you can adjust rules and rewards to fit the era you’re actually in.

When you identify friction on the map, treat it as a design clue, not a personal failure. Ask, “What agreement, norm, or slight boundary change would unclog this without shifting the burden somewhere else?” That last part matters. A superficial fix often moves the problem downstream. The systems view helps you see those second- and third-order effects before you pull a lever.

Skill-building belongs inside the work, not outside of it. Instead of one-off trainings, create peer-led practice circles that meet regularly. Turn early adopters into coaches without anointing them gatekeepers by pairing them with peers and rotating roles. Use check-ins to surface where people feel unsafe or unskilled, then scaffold practice moves into your routines. When people feel safe, skilled, and significant, they try new things. That’s the engine of transformation.

Finally, clarify decision-making patterns so experiments don’t stall. Define when consent is sufficient, when advice is required, and when a higher threshold is needed. Make decisions visible and, where possible, reversible. The goal is not reckless speed; it’s responsible velocity—the discipline to go fast where it’s safe and slow where it’s wise, with clarity everyone can trust.

Cadence, Artifacts, and the Power of Visible Agreements

Cadence builds trust. Sporadic heroics and big-bang announcements breed resistance; steady, predictable rhythms build reliability. Think weekly mapping huddles, biweekly experiment reviews, and monthly retros that refine working agreements. This isn’t ceremony for ceremony’s sake. It’s the social choreography that turns insight into practice and practice into capability.

Artifacts align stories when memories diverge. After a workshop, each person carries a slightly different recollection of what was decided. A living map, a simple decision log, and a one-page experiment sheet reduce rework and confusion. Ask, “Which artifact would most reduce rework this month?” Then keep it live—visible, updated, and used—rather than letting it become a static prop.

Co-own your artifacts to strengthen buy-in. If the transformation team is the sole author, artifacts can feel like compliance documents. When leaders and operators co-create, artifacts become references people trust. Make sure each artifact lives where the work lives, not tucked into an obscure folder. Visibility is an invitation.

And let’s talk cadence that sustains momentum without fatigue. Use check-ins to tune pace and focus. If your rituals are creating drag, prune them. If they’re building clarity and confidence, strengthen the roots. This is the season to ask: what cadence serves our goals, and what can we let go of to protect energy and attention for the work that matters most?

November Harvest and Your Next Move

November is a natural time to harvest insights and prune scope so new growth can thrive. Look across your meetings, decision rules, and flows. What will you sunset to make space for better practices? Which rules were written for constraints that AI has lifted? Which norms reward silo wins over system outcomes? Retire rituals gracefully. Name what you’re letting go of and why. That story helps people release the old to welcome the new.

Use your map to make smart trade-offs explicit. When you reduce scope, show the dependencies you’re preserving and the risks you’re accepting. When you create a sandbox for safe learning, document the boundaries and the reversibility. Transparency compounds trust. The more clearly you visualize trade-offs, the more confidently your team can move.

As you look ahead, ask a few focusing questions: What cadence will sustain momentum without fatigue? Where are skills uneven across roles, and how might peer-led practice close the gap without creating gatekeepers? How will we connect AI use cases to our purpose and values so participants carry a clear story back to their teams? Those stories are how change scales.

Call to action: Run a 60–90 minute systems mapping session before the month ends. Clarify your purpose and boundaries. List actors. Map flows, handoffs, and decision points. Identify friction and incentives. Harvest two or three experiments with clear decision rights and safety checks. Watch our Activity of the Month video to guide your session, and revisit our write-up on facilitating change by mapping systems. Then share your map and learnings with your broader org to build momentum. If you want a partner, Voltage Control can facilitate your first mapping session or coach your team to lead its own. Let’s map before we move—so your AI transformation amplifies what you value most and your system is ready for what’s next.

Resources:

Facilitating Change by Mapping Systems

Summit talk video

Activity of the Month Video Systems Mapping

Ready to convene clarity? Reach out to schedule a mapping clinic, join an upcoming facilitation certification, or bring Voltage Control in to help your digital transformation team lead with a systems lens.

The post Map Before You Move appeared first on Voltage Control.

I grew up in San Jose, California, in a big Filipino family that knows how to throw a party. Like, really throw a party. These gatherings weren’t just any backyard barbecues—they were full-blown community events built around a celebration called Sinulog, honoring the Holy Child, Santo Niño. It was a mix of food, faith, and family, but for me, it was also about the stage. Starting when I was just a kid, my family would have me emcee or perform dances at these events. One year, I was front and center doing choreography. Another, I cracked jokes and kept the flow going as the MC.

Even though I’d always considered myself shy, my family saw me as outgoing. I think because I could get up in front of a hundred people and make them laugh, they just assumed I was born for the mic. But really, I think I just loved the feeling of everyone being together, of helping people have a good time. That was the thread that carried through, even as I went off to community college. I started out as a teaching major (my mom and grandma were both teachers), but switched to communications after taking a public speaking class—one of two options to fulfill a graduation requirement. I chose it because it scared me the most, and ended up falling in love with it.

There was something about that class that stuck with me. My professor taught us how to write a strong slide, how to hold an audience’s attention, how to speak so people could really hear you. That was the first time I began to see that creating a moment of connection was more than just being confident—it was about being intentional. It was my first taste of what would eventually become a passion for facilitation.

At the time, I didn’t have a name for it. But the core of it was there. I loved making things clear. I loved holding space where people felt comfortable showing up. I loved bringing people in. Later, I started working at Philz Coffee on Middlefield Road in Palo Alto, tucked away in a quiet part of the neighborhood, it was the fourth store ever to open. Being in that kind of neighborhood meant we saw the same smiles every day,and that same thread showed up again. It wasn’t about the coffee. It was about knowing the regulars, building relationships, creating a little hub of community. I stayed there for three years because it felt good. That was always my north star: people, and the spaces between them.

Learning to Lead, Even Without a Map

Fast forward to my time at Strava. I started as a recruiting coordinator, then got promoted into a role called Organizational Development Manager. That’s when facilitation began to take center stage in a whole new way. I was asked to lead a mentorship program project—a huge initiative that had no playbook. Total ambiguity. I was in charge of guiding a group of people toward something that didn’t yet exist. And I could tell they weren’t buying in. They weren’t engaged. And I didn’t yet have the tools to reach them: though I tried. I even scheduled 15-minute one-on-one meetings with each person in the project to ask for feedback and figure out what I needed to do to get them onboard

So I started Googling. And honestly? It was overwhelming. I didn’t even know the word “facilitation” could unlock this whole universe of practices and techniques. I saw the potential of facilitation everywhere—in meetings that fell flat, in presentations that didn’t land, in rooms where people felt confused or disengaged. I was trying to solve these problems intuitively, but without the frameworks or confidence to back me up.  I didn’t even know what to search for, and when I did find something useful, the step-by-step instructions often weren’t enough to do it justice. Something was missing, some deeper understanding, some context, some why behind the how.

That project became my friction point. I knew I needed support. I needed actual learning. And as I started looking around, someone in our internal L&D Slack channel mentioned a program they’d done through Voltage Control. There was a ripple effect from a group of Strava PMs who had gone through the certification and loved it. They were recommending it left and right, especially for folks who wanted to uplevel facilitation skills.

The timing couldn’t have been better. I was frustrated, exhausted, and desperate for some clarity. So I started digging in.

A Signal of Safety

I’m naturally a little skeptical, so I did my research—Reddit, reviews, you name it. What stood out most wasn’t just the testimonials. It was the fact that there was a Diversity Scholarship. That told me this wasn’t just another cookie-cutter professional program. It told me someone had thought about who gets access to this type of learning. For me, that small detail signaled psychological safety before I even applied.

I needed to know that I wouldn’t be the only person of color in the room. That I could bring my full self. That I wouldn’t have to translate my experience for people to get it. That mattered more than any syllabus or schedule.  It was incredibly impactful to say something like, “my Filipino family was conflict avoidant,” and feel understood without having to explain what that meant. Even if others hadn’t lived it, they got it. That kind of understanding made me feel safer, and it made the conversations move with more depth, more honesty, and a faster rhythm.

And I was right. From day one, I felt like I belonged. The people in my cohort were from all over—someone worked for the UN, another person was based in Africa, others in tech, nonprofits, government. But we got each other. We were all learning together, from different angles. That mix made the learning richer, the conversations deeper, and the insights more nuanced.

Stepping Into My Power

The moment everything clicked for me was during a coaching session with Skye. I was still stuck in this mindset of, “I’m just a beginner, I don’t know what I’m doing.” And she stopped me. She had me list all the things I’d already done, all the choices I’d made to bring people together, all the facilitation moves I had already used—without even realizing it. And then she said: “You are a facilitator.”

That shift was huge. It was like someone handed me a mirror and said, “Look.” From that point on, I started showing up differently. In meetings, in sessions I led, in the way I talked about my work. My confidence skyrocketed. And confidence, for someone like me who has battled self-doubt for most of my life, is everything.

What changed wasn’t just how I felt. It was how I acted. I made decisions faster. I trusted my gut. I leaned into hard conversations instead of tiptoeing around them. And I had the words, tools, and frameworks to back it up. 

That session with Skye flipped a switch.  It helped me realize something I’d heard a million times—“you are enough”—but never really believed. I started to ask myself: What have I missed out on just because I thought I wasn’t ready? Is anyone really an expert before they start? No. Some people are less qualified and still go for it. So why not me? That realization cracked something open. It reframed not just how I showed up—but what I believed I was capable of.

My Toolbox, My Team, My Transformation

One of my favorite things about the program was how immediate and tangible it was. We’d read about a technique one week, then try it out in our next session. 1-2-4-All became my go-to. It’s now in my back pocket anytime I need to draw out quiet voices or avoid groupthink. This was especially important on my team, some folks hated breakout rooms. And honestly, if you’ve ever led a workshop, you know: the moment you mention breakouts, a few people instantly disappear. 1-2-4-All gave me a way to create participation without forcing discomfort. Paired with what I knew from the Enneagram, that people process and engage differently. It became a pivotal moment for me. I saw clearly: we have to meet people where they are.

I also fell in love with the Portfolio Project. It gave me space to reflect on what really matters to me as a facilitator: psychological safety, inclusion, shared ownership. It wasn’t just a collection of assignments. It became a declaration of my purpose. And that clarity translated directly into how I show up at work. Now, even for something as simple as a weekly check-in, I ask: How can I make this meaningful? How can I make sure every voice is heard?

Honestly, my whole team has changed as a result. They see the way I facilitate, and it’s influencing how they lead their own sessions. They trust me more. They come to me for advice. And yes, they pile on more work (because doing a good job tends to have that effect!). But the work feels aligned. It feels like impact.

Bringing It Back Home

One of my proudest moments recently was leading a team workshop that combined Enneagram with team dynamics. I only had 60 minutes, but I designed a flow that introduced the framework, surfaced a specific team challenge, and led us to a clear action plan. At the end, people were energized. One person said, “That was the best session I’ve ever attended.” And we walked away with a shared commitment to build a more connected team.

That’s the kind of transformation I never could have facilitated before the program. Not because I didn’t care or didn’t try—but because I didn’t yet have the clarity, confidence, or structure. Now I do. And the results speak for themselves.

Tool for Belonging

The biggest mindset shift for me is that facilitation isn’t just a skill. It’s a leadership practice. It’s a way of creating the conditions where people can be brave, take risks, and do their best work. It’s about guiding, not controlling. Inviting, not telling. Holding space, not filling it.

I’m especially passionate about how this shows up for people who don’t always feel seen. In my family, we were loud and vibrant, but we also avoided conflict. That shaped how I approached facilitation. I had to unlearn the instinct to smooth things over. Now, I help make space for the hard stuff—because I know that’s where the breakthroughs happen.

Helping Communities Thrive

Looking ahead, I see a world of possibilities. Right now, I’m in tech. But long term? I want to support nonprofits. I want to work with local bike shops (I’m a huge cyclist) to create learning spaces around adventure and community. I want to use my skills to build safer, stronger spaces for people who don’t always get them.

That vision—of helping communities thrive because someone facilitated their way through a challenge—that’s what drives me. I may not know exactly how it’ll unfold, but I know what it’ll feel like: vibrant, connected, purposeful. And that’s enough to keep going.

If you’re on the fence about facilitation certification, here’s what I’ll say: You don’t have to wait until you feel “ready.” You’ll never feel 100% confident starting out. But Voltage Control creates a space where you can learn at any level. Where you can see yourself reflected. And where you get more than just skills—you get belief in yourself.

If my story resonates, take the leap. You might just walk away with a whole new way of seeing your voice, your impact, and your path forward.

The post From Stage to Safe Spaces appeared first on Voltage Control.

I sometimes joke that my career has been a journey from geopolitics to office politics. But when I look back, I can see the thread running through it all: people trying to understand one another, to build bridges, and to work together despite differences. That thread is what ultimately pulled me toward facilitation.

When I was eight years old, my family moved into a seminary housing complex in southern California, and suddenly my neighbors were from places like India, Bulgaria, Korea, and Madagascar. It sparked in me a deep curiosity about the world and a desire to understand people across cultures. I studied French, met my husband while studying abroad in Bordeaux, and taught English at a French elementary school after my undergraduate degree. That love of cross-cultural understanding, combined with an interest in negotiation inspired by the book Getting to Yes, took me all the way through a dual master’s program in International Affairs at Sciences Po in Paris and Columbia University in New York. My compass was always set toward doing good in the world, and I started seeing my contribution in terms of helping people connect across divides.

After graduating, I got a job at the philanthropic foundation Carnegie Corporation of New York, where I worked in the international peace and security program and was steeped in grantmaking that supported dialogue and bridge-building. I was fascinated by grantee convenings that brought adversaries or skeptics into a room and created enough trust for them to imagine a shared path forward. At the time, I didn’t call it facilitation. I called it conflict management. But the seed was there.

The first time I encountered a professional facilitator by title was in an internal meeting in 2022 at Carnegie. We had invited Christa White to facilitate a conversation around how we could think more intentionally about our organizational culture. Watching her work was eye-opening. The way she structured the discussion, the way she held space for vulnerability and presence—it shifted the dynamic completely. It wasn’t just us talking at each other. There was flow, coherence, and clarity. And I thought: I want to learn how to do that.

Around the same time, I was also making a career transition from program analyst to learning and development specialist—the first such role at Carnegie. My chief HR officer encouraged me to step into it, and as I learned more about what people in L&D roles actually do, I realized I had found a path that could bring together the things I loved most about my international affairs work and apply them much closer to home. Designing learning experiences, supporting professional growth, and helping colleagues connect across differences felt like the right fit. And facilitation has been at the center of it.

Learning From My Mistakes

One of the moments that most shaped my curiosity about facilitation actually came from a failure. In May 2020, only a few months into the turmoil of COVID, I co-designed a virtual communications workshop for my own department. It was one of the first workshops I got to design by myself, and I made the rookie mistake of not securing alignment with the rest of the team beforehand. I didn’t clarify the purpose with participants, including senior staff, and when the session began, people immediately started asking: why are we doing this? I froze. I had prepared meticulously, but I wasn’t nimble in the moment. I didn’t know how to respond constructively to the resistance in the room.

That experience stuck with me. It taught me that facilitation isn’t just about designing a good workshop; it’s about having presence, agility, and confidence when things don’t go as planned. Later, when I read Magical Meetings, the metaphor of the facilitator as a Jedi resonated deeply. That’s what I had been missing in 2020—the grace, responsiveness, and calm authority to guide a group even through the unexpected. From then on, I was determined to build those skills.

After moving into the new L&D role in the fall of 2022, I took foundational ATD courses on instructional design and coaching, which built my knowledge base on effective structures for learning and engaging colleagues deeply around challenges they were facing. Facilitation still felt like the missing piece – a skillset that could address what I kept hearing in staff conversations: that we wanted stronger relationships, better communication, and more productive collaboration.

Choosing Voltage Control

When I decided I wanted formal facilitation training, I assumed I’d find something in person in New York. But to my surprise, there wasn’t much. That’s when I discovered Voltage Control. What drew me in wasn’t just the certification itself, but the ecosystem around it—the community hub, the Practice Playgrounds, and the Summit. It wasn’t going to be a one-and-done course; it was going to be a living practice.

To test the waters, I joined an online Practice Playground. I wanted to get a taste of who these people were and how they worked. Right away, I saw a group of practitioners who were willing to experiment, to try things, and to share generously. That gave me the confidence to sign up for certification, even though it was virtual. The promise of live interaction, a diverse cohort, and an ongoing community made it feel right.

Building My Presence

In the certification itself, I had two major breakthroughs. The first was the diamond of participation from The Facilitator’s Guide to Participatory Decision Making. Understanding the dynamics of divergence, the groan zone, and convergence was like turning on a lightbulb. Suddenly, what I had been experiencing in group settings made sense. Discomfort wasn’t failure—it was part of the process. And with the right structures, I could help groups move through it.

The second was the shift from techniques to presence. I came into the program still focused on tools: which activities, which exercises, which Liberating Structures. And those were valuable. But the deeper lesson was about me: who am I as a facilitator? What is my purpose? How do I show up? With guidance from my instructors and inspiration from my peers, I began to see that my strength lay in creating dialogue—helping people have the conversations they wouldn’t otherwise have. Once I embraced that, my confidence grew. I didn’t need to have all the answers; I needed to create the space.

The learning partners were another unexpected highlight. With Brian Buck, I went deep into identity and purpose. Debbie Baker introduced me to visual facilitation. And Robin Neidorf gave me the encouragement I needed to finish my portfolio. These relationships made the experience richer, and meeting them in person at the 2025 Facilitation Lab Summit was a joy. Walking into that room and already knowing I belonged to this special community made it one of the most rewarding professional experiences of my life.

Bringing Facilitation Home

After certification, I had the chance to facilitate a full-day strategy and process-improvement retreat for my old grantmaking team. In the past, our retreats had been loosely structured and not always as productive as we wanted them to be, with some voices tending to dominate while others held back. This time, I applied everything I had learned. I interviewed participants in advance and co-created the agenda. I clarified outcomes and roles, including careful intentionality around when and how the group would make decisions. I designed a flow that balanced purpose and process.

The retreat was a success. Participants told me it was the best retreat they’d ever had—productive, engaging, and relationship-building. For me, it was validation that the skills I had invested in were real, practical, and could help groups move forward even in complex contexts. 

Alongside this, I began applying facilitation not just to team retreats, but also to organization-wide capacity-building. For example, I’ve had the chance to roll out Crucial Conversations training as a certified internal trainer. Because the course already comes with such strong content and structure, it gave me the freedom to focus on my presence in the room. The topic itself makes facilitation especially meaningful: creating a space where colleagues can explore the difficult conversations we often avoid, even though they shape so much of our work. I’ve come to see that the work of dialogue—whether in international affairs or collaborating with coworkers—always starts with yourself. The same is true of facilitation: I had to focus on my own presence and mindset in order to create the conditions for others to open up. The feedback I’ve received has been deeply affirming, with participants highlighting my openness, a nonjudgmental approach, active listening, thoughtful responses, and a warm, clear style. I truly love this work because it feels like an opportunity to practice the kind of dialogue that strengthens both people and organizations.

Leading in Community

One of the unexpected rewards of the program has been not just learning facilitation practice, but leading it. After my initial disappointment that there wasn’t a Practice Playground in New York, it was incredibly rewarding to help launch one as the regional lead for Facilitation Lab NYC. Month after month, I get to challenge myself, experiment, and build community with others who are curious about facilitation. The mix of alumni, newcomers, and curious professionals makes for a dynamic group, and I always leave energized and grateful.

The community aspect is, to me, one of the most powerful parts of Voltage Control. Facilitation can feel like an individual skill, but it’s really a collective practice. Getting to learn, stumble, reflect, and grow alongside others has made me not just a better facilitator but a better colleague and leader.

Looking Ahead

Right now, in addition to my L&D work, I’m also supporting a new initiative at Carnegie focused on reimagining the system of national service in America as a way to counter the forces of political polarization. We’re working with longtime leader in the field Alan Khazei, co-founder of City Year, to explore how service can provide more opportunities for young people and strengthen the civic fabric. As part of this, we hosted a major summit in early October with leaders across government, education, business, philanthropy, the military, faith communities, and the nonprofit and service sectors. My facilitation training has been and will continue to be directly relevant as we’ve thought through designing a purposeful gathering, creating trust, and ensuring a range of voices and perspectives are heard as we build toward a shared vision.

Long term, I plan to continue blending facilitation with my passion for dialogue and bridge-building. Whether it’s international relations, civic health, or organizational culture, I’ve learned that the work is based on the same core principles: creating spaces where people can listen, connect, and collaborate across differences. That’s the work I want to keep doing.

If you’re considering the certification, my advice is simple: do it. Whether you’re brand new or twenty years into your practice, you’ll gain skills, perspective, and community. And if you’re not quite ready, try a Practice Playground or come to the Facilitation Summit. Those experiences give you a taste of what’s possible—and you might just find yourself, as I did, saying: this is exactly what I’ve been looking for.

The post From Conflict Resolution to Collaborative Leadership appeared first on Voltage Control.

In this Facilitation Lab Podcast episode, host Douglas Ferguson interviews Grace Losada, Vice President of Learning and Development at Change Enthusiasm Global. Grace shares how her early experiences in peer counseling, athletics, and performance arts shaped her facilitation style. The conversation explores creating safe, engaging environments for learning, the importance of shared language, and the art of scaling intimacy in large groups. Grace offers insights on embracing mistakes, fostering connection, and designing impactful experiences, emphasizing playfulness and agency. The episode highlights facilitation as both an art and a science, rooted in intentionality, collaboration, and authentic human connection.

Show Highlights

[00:04:27] The DJ Turned Facilitator Story
[00:08:15] Beyond Psychological Safety: The Role of Enthusiasm
[00:16:52] Team Dynamics and Nonverbal Communication
[00:21:18] Advice to Her Teen Self
[00:24:02] Discovering Facilitation as a Discipline
[00:32:09] Designing for Impact in Large Groups
[00:37:38] Scaling Intimacy in Large Venues
[00:42:32] Connection as the Ultimate Outcome

Links | Resources

Grace on LinkedIn

About the Guest

Leveraging a background in learning and psychology, Dr. Grace Losada has served as an executive leader in start-up and high growth organizations at the intersection of business and social enterprise.  Well before the pandemic, she successfully built and led multi-functional national teams, both face to face and virtual, through rapid growth and change.  At the center of Grace’s work is creating professional environments that support the development of individuals and teams so people and business can thrive. 

Born and raised in Asia, Grace attended an international school that gave her a love of travel, a global perspective, and a dedication to inclusive development of people. She is grateful every day to live in sunny San Diego.

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Transcript

Douglas Ferguson:

Hi, I’m Douglas Ferguson. Welcome to the Facilitation Lab podcast, where I speak with Voltage Control certification alumni and other facilitation experts about the remarkable impact they’re making. We embrace a method agnostic approach, so you can enjoy a wide range of topics and perspectives as we examine all the nuances of enabling meaningful group experiences. This series is dedicated to helping you navigate the realities of facilitating collaboration, ensuring every session you lead becomes truly transformative. Thanks so much for listening. If you’d like to join us for a live session sometime, you can join our Facilitation Lab community. It’s an ideal space to apply what you learn in the podcast in real time with peers. Sign up today at voltagecontrol.com/facilitation-lab. If you’d like to learn more about our 12-week facilitation certification program, you can read about it at voltagecontrol.com. Today, I’m with Grace Losada, at Change Enthusiasm Global, where she serves as vice president of learning and development, supporting individuals and enterprise clients to navigate change in a more human way. Welcome to the show, Grace.

Grace Losada:

Thank you. Thanks for having me.

Douglas Ferguson:

So great to have you. I’ve been looking forward to chatting. I really enjoyed interviewing you for the alumni story and seeing that get published. So I know it’s going to be a great conversation today.

Grace Losada:

Looking forward to it.

Douglas Ferguson:

So you’ve shared that your facilitation roots trace back to high school, specifically to a retreat in Hawaii where friends nudged you into a pure counseling program. When you revisited that first immersive weekend, what was the moment you realized a well-held container could transform how people show up with one another?

Grace Losada:

Yeah. It was such a powerful experience. And I wish I could remember the name of the organization who embedded in our high school and helped us get this program off the ground. Because I feel like I tell this story sometimes and I want to give them credit, and I can’t remember the name of the organization and I feel terrible. So if they’re listening out there, remind me. But I went to a few different high schools, but in this particular instance, it was a small private high school where we got to do a lot of really cool creative things, just by the nature of our size. And also, I’m going to give credit to my headmaster. His name was Pieper Toyama, and he was just a gifted educator. And this peer counseling program was set up between our high school and a rival high school in the area where we had some bad blood, to be perfectly honest.

And so they set it up so that the sophomores, juniors and seniors got trained in this particular protocol. And then we put on an event for the seventh, eighth and ninth graders. And it was an overnight event, which I think is always risky when you’re dealing with middle and high schoolers. And we all camped out in a gym for two days and had really meaningful conversations about the nature of life and where all these young people about to launch. And certainly, because of the nature of the relationship in the high schools, we also talked a lot about human relationship and what that was like for us, and what we wanted to create going forward in the world. It was just a mindblower for me. I’ve never been exposed to something of that depth at that age, and they put the kids in charge. That was the thing that was just so incredible when I look back on it.

But there were just these moments of closeness and connection that were so emotional and heartfelt, and powerful and transformative. That’s the word I really want to say. It was transformative and you could just feel it happening. And people were laughing and crying and hugging, and we were a bunch of teenagers. It was great. It was truly, truly amazing. I’m so grateful for that experience. And I didn’t really know the impact at the time. I knew I was feeling something, I was experiencing something. I had no idea that that was going to be kind of a harbinger of things to come in my life, but it certainly was. Yeah.

Douglas Ferguson:

Let’s talk about the DJ turned lead facilitator twist.

Grace Losada:

So again, I was reluctant to join this group. I had no interest. It just didn’t occur to me. But a couple of my friends were like, “No, no, no, you got to do this. We’re going to all do this. Let’s go do this together.” And so I joined the group. And still not really seeing myself as any kind of a facilitator, or leader or… I just was a kid who was into theater and soccer and whatever. And not a great student, by the way, and just didn’t see myself in that capacity. And so I show up at this thing and we’re having all these conversations and we’re setting up roles for the event. So most people were going to be facilitators, and then there were a couple of roles that I would call more like production and logistics. And there was one role that was the DJ for the event, and you got to put together all the music and lead that effort. And I thought, “Oh, that sounds fun. I’ll do that.” And I raised my hand for it.

And the adults in charge, kind of pulled me aside and they were like, “Well, if we think that maybe we could really leverage your talents in another way that was just more powerful, are you open to that?” And I was like, “All right, sure. Yeah.” I was again, along for the ride. So they did not give me the DJ role. They put me in a facilitator role. And again, I think that they saw something in me at that time, that I didn’t really see in myself yet. And that’s again, the mark of a good educator. That’s hopefully, what we’re doing for young people when we’re educating, is we’re pulling things out of them that were going to help blossom and grow. And they did that for me for sure.

Douglas Ferguson:

So I was curious how that experience shaped the way you spot and cultivate leadership in others?

Grace Losada:

Oh, that’s a great question. Well, I guess I’m probably having these thoughts for the first time, because I don’t know that I ever really thought about that, but it absolutely did upon reflection. Because what I know that I have done with young people and adults that I’ve worked with in terms of leadership development, is most often trying to create the container, I guess I’ll call it. We’re creating the conditions and the container for something to occur, and then we have to let go. We let go of the reins. So when I work with people, specifically around leadership, which is a big part of what I do, you’re looking for these flashes of insight and beauty in the way that they’re relating to others, in the way that they’re reflecting vulnerably, in the way that they’re willing to share. And then you want to pull that thread.

So the best way I know to do that is to create an environment, to create a container, to create the conditions where people feel not only safe, but we talk a lot about psychological safety, and that’s super, super important. But it’s a step beyond that, because I need people to not just feel safe, but to actually feel excited and engaged in whatever the moment is bringing. And to take risks and to reach and to quite literally, grow in real time and watch that transformation happen right in front of you. It’s the most exciting thing I’ve ever experienced as a professional. And really, the thing that’s kind of cool about it is it’s almost effortless if you’ve set up the environment, because people take it on themselves. They drive their own ship, so to speak.

Douglas Ferguson:

I love that. And coming back to your point around it needs to be more than just safety, I think you missed a great opportunity to point out that it has to be enthusiastic.

Grace Losada:

Yeah. Well, right. And I should be talking about that. Change Enthusiasm Global, if nothing, we are enthusiastic. And I think that that’s just, it’s a symptom. It’s a marker of great engagement. When you’ve got people sort of on the edge of their seats because they’re so into whatever it is that you’re discussing or doing, the enthusiasm just starts to flow, and then you know, then you know you’ve got them.

Douglas Ferguson:

Yeah. So let’s talk about Parker School. Am I understanding, they champion student voice and you help recreate retreats for younger students?

Grace Losada:

That’s right. Yeah, that’s right. That school again, was just it was ahead of its time. And our headmaster was ahead of its time and very, very gifted. So another example of just empowering students, you had the opportunity to create not all, but some of your own courses. So being that it was a small school, they had sort of the core curriculum that was offered. And then if you wanted to do something that was slightly out of the box or unique, et cetera, you were empowered to design your own course. And you would find somebody on the faculty who would champion the work that you wanted to do, and you could put that whole thing together. And so, I remember one I wanted to do was photography, and I created the whole course and found a sponsor. And I did a photography course that I actually wrote that went on my transcript.

And so they were just very good about putting us in the driver’s seat. And I think for this particular peer counseling program, the idea of putting a bunch of teenagers in charge of some younger teenagers or pre-teens, that’s a really risky thing to do. You’ve got to have a lot of confidence in your ability to create that container. You’ve got to have a lot of confidence in your ability to create the condition, so that that goes well, because it could very easily go poorly. And you could easily put kids in a situation where real damage is done psychologically and relationally, and so forth, but they were just masterful. So another kind of pain point, right? So I mentioned we had 10th, 11th, and 12th graders in charge of seventh, eighth, and ninth graders. And mind you, in these schools, seventh and eighth was middle school and ninth was high school.

And so the freshmen were like, “What in the heck? You’re putting me back in middle school?” And so we were starting with a loaded situation, where people were already kind of like, “Oh.” But it worked, it just worked. And it was brilliant that they did that in the end, because it gave the freshmen this opportunity for what I guess I’ll call, like a transitional leadership. Because they were the oldest of the bunch. They were in a different sort of category in terms of their grade at school, but maybe they weren’t quite ready to lead because they were just getting their feet wet. And it gave them this sort of transitional leadership opportunity that I think initially, they felt like, “Oh, I’m being pushed back into middle school.” But then they quickly realized the ability that they had in that role to sort of stretch their own leadership wings, which was really cool.

Douglas Ferguson:

Yeah, that’s really neat, this idea of almost passing the torch and these ritualistic moments where people are priming for the next evolution of themselves.

Grace Losada:

Yeah, absolutely. The whole program really was essentially like a social emotional learning program. We talk a lot about that now in education. This was back in the early ’90s. And I think it was maybe just beginning to be a conversation around those things. None of those labels, I don’t remember any of those labels being put on what we were doing. But as I grew in my own career and went into the psychology and science of learning, I started to understand the wisdom and what they had set up for us and really appreciate them.

Douglas Ferguson:

Yeah, it’s powerful stuff. Speaking of foundational experiences, I’m always really fascinated by the influences folks have throughout their life that kind of shape who they are today, and what makes for great facilitation skills and just all the resources and experiences you bring into the work. And for you, early on, you balanced outrigger canoeing, and soccer, and dance, and theater, even playing some notable roles on stage. So I’m curious, how did the rhythm of athletics and the presence of performance train your facilitation muscles around timing, energy and reading the room?

Grace Losada:

Yeah, that’s such a good question. And again, one that I wasn’t aware of what was happening at the time. But upon reflection, I just think, “Oh, that was the recipe.” So I often talk about performance when I talk about facilitation, because I think when we think about facilitation, we think about clearing the way for participants to drive. And that’s really, really important. And I think that sometimes we forget because we’re so focused on clearing the way as a facilitator, there’s one way of thinking that maybe what we need to do is sort of fade into the background, be almost unseen as this thing starts to happen in the room with the participants. And there’s some truth to that, but I also really feel that none of it starts to happen unless the facilitator has the ability to model the energy and enthusiasm that we’re looking for in the event, in the exploration. Whatever the topic is, whatever the assignment is that we’re working on collectively, the facilitator sets that tone, at least initially.

And at some point, maybe they’re passing the baton to certain people in the room, but that’s sort of phase two. In the beginning, another thing that I’ll say a lot of times is no one’s going to learn from you if they’re not paying attention. And how do we get people to pay attention? Well, in the beginning, we kind of have to entertain them. We have to sort of pique their interest. And there should be the ability, I believe, of the facilitator to stand in front of a group of people well, to take up space and energy, and then also retreat and become smaller and be in command of that. It can’t be accidental. It’s got to be purposeful. And you learn a lot of those skills in theater and performance. So I was a dancer and I was an actress, and I loved those things, and I have absolutely brought them into my facilitation.

And when I am working with people who are learning facilitation skills, I bring that up right away. I recently led a development for a group where that was pretty much all we did. We called it a day of play and learning, and we took on different personas and they had to deliver content that they were used to delivering that they already understood really well, but they had to do it now in some kind of crazy character, and start to feel what that was to stretch and where were those points of authenticity, even when you were emulating something ridiculous, like Austin Powers. And just to really play with that and have fun with it. And it opens the door also to laughter, which is a huge connector for people.

And then when I think about the sports aspect, primarily, I did do a couple of sports early on that were individuals. I was on the swim team at one point, and I think I was just a very kinesthetic kid. I was very active, and so that was always a part of my life. But when I really got into it, was when I started to play team sports. And so it was the outrigger canoeing and soccer. These were sports where you have to be really in tune with your team and coordinated. And if you’re not pulling together in the same way with the same end goal in mind and with a certain rhythm, you won’t be successful.

So I think you learn to communicate with human beings in ways that are sometimes free of language. So you can’t always stop and sort of consult when you’re on the soccer field, or certainly not in an outrigger canoe boat. So if people don’t know what that looks like, it’s a six-man canoe and you’re all lined up front to back, straight down the row, and you have the steersman calling out the stroke changes, but you can’t hear each other. There’s no conversation. You’ve got to be in tune with each other.

And that one’s even really interesting, because you really can’t see each other either. You can see the person who is right in front of you, but that’s it. And so you’re not even picking up on body language. You’re picking up on energy. And again, you become successful in that space through solid human connection and being able to read each other and take unspoken cues towards a goal, while pulling together towards a goal. And I definitely learned so much about the dynamics of a team, because here’s the other thing, especially at that age too, right? We are still learning how to be good human beings. Well, I guess the whole life, we are trying our whole lives. But it’s high school. There’s squabbles. You don’t love everybody on the team, and that persists today, but you still have to work together. You still have to find a way to put all of those things aside and find a way to pull together. And I think sports are a tremendous way to do that.

Douglas Ferguson:

Yeah, absolutely.

Grace Losada:

Another thing that happens too in sports, I think, is that even though you have a designated position, so you’ve got a position in the boat, you’ve got a position on the soccer field, your defense or your offense, or whatever the case may be, but the reality is, when the game gets going, you’re trading positions. And you are filling in where you are needed, and you are looking at the gestalt, the whole picture, to understand where the detail lies and where the opportunity is. And I think that’s a great metaphor for life too. I think the people who really are successful in broader scheme of things, they’ve kind of figured that part out. They’ve figured out how to look at the big picture, and also understand how the minutia fits into that and feeds it.

Douglas Ferguson:

Yeah. An ability to move from high levels of granularity, to low levels of granularity, and even specificity sometimes, because we have to make decisions on really quick information. Some of it feels almost like intuition. And it’s really fascinating when they do those studies around, like baseball players, for instance. They’ll ask them, “What are you doing when you hit a home run?” And they’ll say all these things. And then you put a high speed camera in place and they’re not doing any of the things they think they’re doing. They’re just in a moment, right?

Grace Losada:

Yeah, yeah. It’s the difference between an expert and a novice. When we’re just learning something in the beginning, it’s not automatic yet. And so we’re being conscious about all of our choices. And the more you do it and the more sort of expert you become, oftentimes, the worse you are at being an instructor or teacher or mentor to someone, because now, all of these things that you’re doing are unconscious. It’s all automatic. And you have to really stop and reflect and think deeply. And sometimes you’re going to get it wrong about, “What am I doing? How did I get from point A to point B? What would be the roadmap I would give to someone?” And we’ve oftentimes put that way back in our mind somewhere, because now, it’s just automatic and we’re looking at different things.

Douglas Ferguson:

Yeah. I’ve often heard that referred to as the curse of knowledge. Once we get really good at something, it’s hard to remember what it was like to not know that thing or not be able to do it.

Grace Losada:

Yeah. Absolutely, absolutely.

Douglas Ferguson:

So another question about the past, and then we’ll get to kind of what’s happening right now. But I’m really curious, if you could sit beside your teen self after that first retreat, what short principle or reminder would you whisper into her ear?

Grace Losada:

I think it would be something about dreaming big. Because again, I think one of the things that when I… And maybe this is universal. This is probably not just me. I think it’s got to do with where we are developmentally. Right? But when I reflect back on all of these different elements that we’ve been talking about, the common thread for me was just not really being aware yet of my own agency and power as a human being. I don’t know if other people would say this, but when I look back on who I was at that stage in my life, I would characterize myself as a floater. I would sort of just like, wherever the wind took me in, I was just in the moment. And I wasn’t future oriented. I wasn’t really thinking about any of these experiences as being foundational or something that I would build upon in my life going forward.

I just didn’t have that awareness. And I wasn’t talking about that stuff at home with my parents. Some kids are. Some kids are really, and parents are really focused on kind of like, “You’re building your future,” and all this kind of stuff. I wasn’t getting any of those messages. My parents are not that style either. They’re very sort of in the moment as well. And I think I didn’t have an awareness that whatever I kind of dreamed, I could build it. I could do that, as we all can. And I might whisper that. And I think it’s a hard thing. It’s like the sliding doors principle. Right? Because on the one hand, maybe I would have made different choices and there would have been some different and new opportunities that would have come up in my life, and things that I would have created intentionally. On the other hand, it’s been a pretty good ride.

So I don’t know. Do I want to mess with it? I don’t know. But I think that there was definitely a lack of awareness on my part of like, the agency and power I had as a human being to create my reality. And that’s a belief that I’ve developed over time, that we all have that ability to create our reality to an extent, obviously. We can’t control certain outside forces, but I just didn’t have that awareness at all, and I think that would have been a helpful awareness for me to have from a younger age.

Douglas Ferguson:

Nice. So switching things up a bit, and you can talk about the present day, or at least leading up to it, you described joining Change Enthusiasm Global as the moment you realized facilitation is a distinct discipline. And I’m kind of curious, what assumptions you held about facilitation that was most productively challenged in that process?

Grace Losada:

I don’t know if it was an assumption, maybe it was. Yeah. Okay, it was. I guess it was an assumption that these things just happened, these magic moments with groups of people where they’re coming together with an intention, but it’s just sort of happening. And I probably did know because I was designing things as a facilitator without calling it that, designing experiences for people. And so I did know that there were certain things that I learned you could do to create one type of experience versus another, et cetera. If you’re looking to have a creative exchange, if you’re looking to have a problem solving exchange, there’s so many different reasons that we come together. I just didn’t know that it was a field of study. I just didn’t know that it was a whole profession. And of course, it is. Why wouldn’t it be, right? If there’s something like this that’s so powerful, why wouldn’t there be people out there who are thinking about and documenting and creating a common language around this phenomenon, this study, this professional ability? But I just didn’t realize that.

And I think anytime that you start to organize your thinking in that way, so it’s like, “Okay, now, I get it.” This is a whole field and there’s structured ways to think about this and approach this. And my goodness, the role of the producer blew my mind. And I sort of had had producers, I suppose, in a certain way, in different events and experiences, but there were no labels on any of these things. And so when we don’t have labels, we don’t have the clarity to understand really what it is that we’re talking about.

So it was like all of a sudden, everything came into focus. “Oh, that’s what we’ve all been doing this whole time. I get it. Yes, okay.” And now, because I have language and a structured way of thinking about it, I can be even more intentional about the choices that I’m making as I’m doing this work. And it just all of a sudden, rockets you forward in terms of the sophistication of what it is that you’re doing.

Douglas Ferguson:

Yeah. I love how much of a force multiplier that can be.

Grace Losada:

Yeah, absolutely. I’ve really felt it deeply. And also, there have been moments where I’ve kind of wanted to laugh about certain things and go back and thank people who have been a part of the journey. There was a woman that I worked with for a long time who, again, I didn’t call her a producer. She probably wouldn’t have used that label herself. I don’t remember what we said, but she sort of made sure that everything that needed to happen, happened. And then I was facilitating in this recurring learning experience that we were… It was an onboarding process for a company that I was with. And at the time that we were doing that, I was in graduate school. So I was being flooded with new thinking and ideas all the time, and I would get excited about those ideas and I’d want to bring them into the experience.

And so this was a recurring learning experience that was designed to be the same way every time. And every time I would show up and I would be like, “Karina, I’ve got this new idea and we’re going to do this whole new thing.” And she’s very much a very structured, organized thinker. I loved partnering with her because I would be out there with these wild ideas and she would help me narrow in and actually make it happen. And I know I sent her into a panic every time I would show up and be like, “I’ve got this new idea.” And she would kind of groan. But to her credit, she’d go along with it and it was a great partnership.

Douglas Ferguson:

I love that. In fact, I was curious to hear more about the producer-facilitator partnership. I was recalling in your alumni story, you had mentioned following the keynote with a learning session for hundreds, complete with streamers, lights and personal storytelling. And so I’m curious, it seemed like that experience taught you a bit about the producer-facilitator partnership. And so I’m curious about that, and what practices are now non-negotiable when you design at scale?

Grace Losada:

Oh, that’s a great question. Yeah. And that was a new aha again. As you said, there was a keynote. I think the keynote was for about 600 people. And then we were following that with a learning experience, an interactive learning experience for about four… Well, what was supposed to be about 400 people, ended up being almost everybody stayed for the learning experience, and that credit goes to Cassandra for her keynote. But as we were planning this and we were up against the wire because this invitation to create this experience came late in the game. So we didn’t have a lot of time to plan. And of course, we’re going to be delivering this in person together, but the entire team was remote. And we were given a producer by the company that we were serving in this situation.

And this was someone I had never met before, and they were producing the entire week long event for this organization and we were one piece of that. So we started talking, and initially, it’s just kind of the basics. Here’s a handful of visuals we want to share. Here’s some moments where we want to have some music and talking about microphones, and who’s going up and who’s going down, and just some real basics. And then I started to get the feeling that this gentleman I was working with, he was pretty gifted at what he was doing. And so then, I started bringing forward some really more theatrical, I’m going to say, ideas. And that’s a little maybe out of the wheelhouse of what you would typically see in corporate learning event, but he was right there with me. And then he started bringing in ideas and they were so good.

And what we ended up with was this experience that was very dramatic, very emotion… I don’t want to call it emotional, but it elicited a lot of emotion from the audience and got them involved and engaged in a way that was really important for the learning. I wanted them to feel personally connected to some of the stories that were being told and go on an emotional journey with the facilitators. I think we largely achieved it because of what the production team brought to the experience. If we hadn’t had the element of music and lighting and so forth, that really became almost like another member of the facilitation team where all of those elements in the room, we still would have gotten somewhere with the team, but it would not have been nearly as impactful. And so I look for that now, especially when I’m doing something on a bigger scale.

Because you’ve got to be able, I think, when you’ve got… The more people you have in the room, it’s like you almost have to have these things choreographed in an even stronger way to have the impact. It’s like, the more bodies that are in the room, the more things have the potential to be diluted. And if you really want to have the impact, you’re going to have to keep upping the ante, but you’ve got to have a producer who fully understands that and can work with you on timing. Timing is big and visual impact is big. We’re visual creatures. So yeah, gosh, that was a lot of fun. I’ll remember that forever. And it set a new standard for me, in terms of how I’m thinking when I’m thinking about designing for large groups.

Douglas Ferguson:

Yeah. It’s a different ball game when you got way more folks and way more things that you’re thinking about, what could go wrong or what attentions could shift. And it’s such a big wave that could happen.

Grace Losada:

Yeah, yeah. And everything does go wrong, by the way. Everything does go wrong. And I think that’s another beautiful part though of facilitation. And I think it’s a point where you can see a facilitator sort of level up when they… There’s this point where I think facilitators stop fearing that the mistakes and the errors and the things that go wrong, and instead, start noticing them as opportunities. And comfortably leveraging those things to propel the learning, whether it’s as simple as bringing human fallibility into the room and just acknowledging that these things happen, and what that does to people’s willingness to take risks and be wrong and show their vulnerability or maybe something more profound too. But I think that’s a really important lesson for facilitators. And I also think it’s one that you can talk about ahead of time, but it’s not until you really have the experience that you start to truly trust that.

A phrase that I use all the time is trust the process. And just know that whatever happens, it’s going to be okay. And that’s usually my final message when I’m working with a group of facilitators. And we’ve done everything we can to prepare, and then it’s time to release and just go do the thing. And the last thing I try and always remind people is, listen, trust the process. You’re not going to do something so wrong here that it’s going to sabotage the whole thing. In fact, it’s going to be beautiful. And just know that and just trust it. And magical things happen in these settings and I really enjoy watching that. And in that respect too, I feel as a facilitator, if we’re tuned into that, we never stop learning either, which is part of the appeal to me of facilitation. We get to continue learning and making new connections throughout this process, even though we’re sort of there supposedly setting up the learning for others. I think that part is magical.

Douglas Ferguson:

Yeah. I think similarly, you mentioned building a shared language for your facilitation team at Change Enthusiasm Global. What rituals, artifacts, or even debrief habits are helping keep that language alive across different clients and contexts?

Grace Losada:

That’s a great question. I think a lot of it is about repetition, deciding what’s really important. What are those things that need to be centrally held, and making sure that we’re attending to that over and over again, and we’re saying it over and over again. And I think also, there’s something about it that needs to be playful, so that that language… I’m trying to remember who I learned this from, but there’s this point when you’re being repetitive about something, there’s this point where it becomes a little obnoxious. And then if you keep going, it becomes fun again. And it’s funny, and you can be a little self-deprecating about it. And it’s like, “Yeah, I know I’ve said this 15,000 times and here we go, 15,001, because it’s that important.” And so I think I try and have fun with it, but it’s really about repetition.

There’s an educator, his name is escaping me right now. It’ll come to me. When I first read about in the world of K-12, he was promoting this idea of doing classroom walks. And so what he meant by that was getting together a group of educators and walking through the school building and observing in classrooms and having conversation about that. And the whole point of doing it from his point of view, was to create this common language. Because one of the challenges that you can have in education is you have three people conduct an observation in a classroom, and they come out and tell a story of three very different classrooms, even though they just looked at the same thing. And it’s because they don’t have a common language about how they want to talk what’s important, what are we going to talk about about this space?

And so just doing it over and over and over again, and doing it together and building that language together, and how powerful that is. And I think you have to be willing to allow the language to evolve as well, in that you’ll begin in one place and you’re on this hopefully, lengthy journey of learning. And as you do that, if your language isn’t evolving, you might be doing something wrong because that’s awfully static. Right? And so, I think you’ve got to be willing to allow the voice of the group to come alive and add to what you’re talking about and maybe take away too, when sometimes you realize that, wow, now we have a new awareness that so shifts our paradigm that we’re going to release this part of it, and because now, we kind of see that we want to go in this new direction. And that’s a co-creation. That has to happen collectively. You can start it, but then it becomes something that the group owns, I think, and it should own.

Douglas Ferguson:

So let’s take that ownership and intimacy to another level. You were wrestling with the question, how do we scale intimacy? When we spoke about the alumni story and as you envision ballrooms, maybe even stadiums, what designs, principles guide you to ensure that a massive venue feels like a small, brave space?

Grace Losada:

Yeah. I think I’ll be learning about this for a while, but where I am right now, I mean, I think we can think about it metaphorically like, just life and humankind. There are things that are happening on a global and on a national scale that we’re all experiencing. And yet, in our day-to-day lives, our relationships are much more intimate and direct, and we’re being impacted by what’s happening in our broader context. But still, our day-to-day reality is much smaller than that. If we were to draw circles around like, “What do I experience every day?” And then there’s these rings of context expanding from there, it’s kind of the same thing I’m thinking, when we’re designing for these large groups, is we have to be aware that there are certain things that are going to be experienced by all in this broader context in the space, again, whether it’s a ballroom or even a stadium. You could think about it in concerts too. Right? Everybody’s watching the band play, but they’re also having an intimate experience with whoever is sitting in the seats right around them.

And so being able to be mindful of what those things are, what elements are at play, and how can you impact them through design. Are there things that you can do through design that impact both the broader context and what’s happening in the little space? So yeah, in this instance, the event that we were talking about, we’re in this huge ballroom and there are certain things that everybody is experiencing, but then everybody is also organized into tables. And I think it was 10 tops in this particular environment. There were 10 people at each table. Those people are having an intimate experience. They’re having a unique experience in the room that’s going to be impacted by what everybody else is experiencing, but it’s also going to have elements that only occur at that table because of who is at that table.

And so really thinking about how we set up in a learning experience like that will have usually, moments where we ask people specifically to turn to your neighbor or discuss as a table or that type of a thing, and being really intentional about how we set those moments up. There’s also something to be said also about creating little allegiances and little teams within the team. So we had, again, in this particular experience, people were sitting in the room according to the division that they belonged in the company, and we decided to sort of lean into that. There were some things that the company wanted us to lean into with respect to that, to create a sense of camaraderie and connection on those teams, that was an opportunity to deepen the connection for those teams. And so there were certain things at play that we could pull on that were already in place within the organization, but then that was where we brought in certain color and team names. And we set up these moments of celebration that were specific to the team.

We had talked about there was an energy around and a desire initially, for us to put a lot of competition into the room, which is one way that you can do things. But I think that I tried to resist that a little bit because it can also backfire. And I felt like what this particular organization was trying to accomplish, might not be what they really needed. And instead, what they maybe needed was to celebrate together. And so we leaned into that a little bit, and it worked, and it was really powerful. Some of the intimate conversations that we were asking people to have were pretty emotionally laden. And those were quiet conversations that happened in small groups, and people kept that confidentiality. We talked about that part and set that up. And then we had these slightly larger experiences where people were still affiliated with a smaller group, but they were celebrating together in a way that was not diminishing to any other group, but still was uplifting for the group that they were a part of. And we had a lot of fun with that.

Douglas Ferguson:

So last question before we wrap up. When you imagine someone leaving your largest future events years from now, not recalling every bullet point, but remembering how they felt, what do you hope they say they carry forward in their work, their teams, and their lives?

Grace Losada:

I think it’s connection. I think it’s just about building connection. I believe that as social creatures, we are at our best when we are well-connected to each other, and disconnection is the thing that drives most of our challenges. And so if we’re promoting one thing, I hope we’re promoting connection, human connection.

I went to a concert several years ago, some people listening probably went to the same one. It was a Coldplay concert and I don’t remember the name of the album. I’m not good at this stuff, but it might have just been Colors, that might have been the name of the album, Colors. When you walked into the stadium, you got this wristband that sort of looked like a watch. It was white and there was no face on it. There was no numbers or anything, but it sort of looked like a watch and you were instructed to put this on. And so then, we’re all in the concert, and at some point, these watches start lighting up in colors that are forming patterns and just amazing beauty in tandem with the music. And also, sort of geographically, somehow they know where you are in the stadium because there’ll be waves of colors going through. And it was so powerful. I’ve never forgotten that.

And it’s something that I try and think about, as I’m designing experiences for people, just the power of that moment, how these little… First of all, it was unexpected. Maybe some people knew what was coming. I sure didn’t. And the wristband was white. And so when it all of a sudden, lit up in color, I had no idea that was going to happen. It was beautiful. So visually, it was stunning and it was a connector. It connected everybody. The entire stadium was going, “Oh, wow,” all at the same time. And we’re watching the colors flow through our bodies essentially. It’s connected to our bodies through, and it was the most powerful thing. That’s probably one of the things that that band, Coldplay, is known for, is that they’re good at eliciting emotion and a sense of connection in their audiences. And boy, did that work. That was really cool.

Douglas Ferguson:

Super cool.

Grace Losada:

Yeah.

Douglas Ferguson:

Well, we had to come to a close, so I want to give you an opportunity to leave our listeners with a final thought.

Grace Losada:

Oh, goodness. It’s just to have fun. Just play with this. It’s hard to make a wrong move. I think just have fun with it and recognize that if you have the opportunity to do this work, as in you’re functioning as a facilitator, or even participate as a participant in an experience that’s being facilitated by someone, what an incredible experience. What a wonderful way to learn, to create, to grow, to develop. I just think it’s a unique gift that we have. And not necessarily the way that things are always structured. There’s a lot of times where it’s a stand and deliver or a top down, or this is what it is, and it’s just a forced delivery. And so when we have the opportunity to create experiences in a more creative way that gives the power and the agency to the people in the room, it’s just beautiful. It’s magical. And just have fun with that. And I think the more fun you have with it, the better it goes. And I mean, that’s certainly my goal.

Douglas Ferguson:

That’s lovely, Grace. It’s been such a pleasure chatting with you. Thanks for coming on.

Grace Losada:

Thank you. Appreciate it.

Douglas Ferguson:

Thanks for joining me for another episode of the Facilitation Lab podcast. If you enjoy the episode, please leave us a review and be sure to subscribe and receive updates when new episodes are released. We love listener tales and invite you to share your facilitation stories. Send them to us on LinkedIn or via email. If you want to know more, head over to our blog where I post weekly articles and resources about facilitation, team dynamics and collaboration at voltagecontrol.com. wholeness of people and not just the fragments that we’re expected to show up with. So that we are connecting because we understand that people are carrying so many different things, either things from their past or things from their present that are affecting how they show up. And so how do we just take away the stigma? And make it acceptable to say, “You know what? If we’re not healing, if we’re not healing ourselves, if we’re not investing in that, our workplaces are going to stay sick, our society doesn’t get better.”

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I didn’t grow up thinking I would become a facilitator. My first career was actually in dance. For six or seven years, I performed professionally while also juggling different small jobs that I pieced together to make a life in the arts. Dancing nurtured my creativity and encouraged a willingness to try new things and take risks. It also required that I be comfortable in the spotlight. Even though I wasn’t the loudest personality, I learned to step into the spotlight with purpose, confidence, and presence. That experience has followed me into every chapter since and is undoubtedly a grounding foundation for my work as a facilitator now. 

Back then, when I was transitioning from dance into higher education, I wasn’t thinking about facilitation; I was thinking about college students. While working at AXIS Dance Company, where dancers with and without disabilities perform together, I oversaw interns—mostly college students. I found I loved mentoring them as they gained professional experience. Around the same time, my husband and I were involved in college ministry at our church, meeting students where they were and encouraging them in meaningful ways. Looking back, those two experiences were my first glimpses into a world of facilitation, even though I didn’t yet know the word for it.

So I went to graduate school for counseling—not with the goal of becoming a therapist, but because I wanted to be in higher ed. I loved the richness of that developmental time in life: students are asking great questions, trying things, and being vulnerable in ways that adults rarely are. After grad school, I worked in academic advising at UC Berkeley for two years, then moved into my current role at the University of Virginia as an academic coach. I’ve now been at UVA for almost seven years.

My role involves both one-on-one coaching and group facilitation. On the individual side, I meet with students about study strategies, time management, choosing a major, breaking down projects, or managing procrastination. It’s not always straightforward—sometimes students know what they need, other times I help them uncover the deeper challenges underneath the surface. On the group side, I design and facilitate workshops to support student success, such as navigating the transition, adopting a growth mindset, or using the science of learning. I also lead an accountability group for students who struggle with focus and/or organization.. In all these contexts, I began to wonder: how can I refine my skills to lead? What else is out there that could make me better at guiding these conversations and learning experiences?

Searching for Better Tools

During COVID, these questions became urgent. I was teaching a class of 150 first-year students online, plus leading a discussion section of 15 or 20 on Zoom. It was difficult to get them engaged. I remember thinking: I don’t have the tools I need to do this well. A few years later, I taught another in-person class for first-years, and although I managed some good breakout activities, I still wanted to get better. That’s when I started googling.

Somehow, I landed on the word facilitation. That became the keyword that opened up a new world. I discovered Voltage Control through one of their introductory sessions. I could only attend part of it before being pulled into another meeting, but even in that short time, I was struck by the energy, the interactivity, the way engagement was baked into every moment. That was exactly what I was searching for.

I didn’t do a ton of research beyond that. I saw enough to know that this was the kind of growth opportunity I was looking for. I wanted to learn how to design better experiences, not just transfer knowledge. I wanted tools that would help me spark participation rather than stare at blank Zoom screens. Facilitation seemed to be the bridge.

Making the Leap

In the end, the decision was fairly straightforward. I had professional development funding through my job, so the resources were available. The timing worked. The little taste I had seen from Voltage Control felt aligned with what I needed. So I jumped in.

There wasn’t one single dramatic tipping point—more of a quiet confidence that this was the right move. And I’ll admit, I was nervous. I didn’t think of myself as a facilitator at that point. I wondered if I belonged in a certification program where CEOs and senior leaders were also enrolled. But I knew that I wanted to grow, and that was reason enough.

Finding My Place in the Cohort

Once the certification began, I quickly realized the power of being in community. My cohort was filled with people from contexts wildly different than mine—executives, consultants, global leaders. At first, their titles were intimidating. But everyone was kind, and the pairing with buddies helped make the experience more personal. My instructor, Skye, had a background in higher ed, which reassured me that my context belonged in this space too.

During the program, I was paired with three great buddies from around the world. Each person was a valuable connection.: We were fellows journeying the path together, encouraging, sharing ideas and feedback, providing accountability, and more. Even though I sometimes wished there were more people from K–12 or higher ed in my cohort, the diversity of perspectives was a gift. It helped me see that facilitation is a universal skill, one that adapts across industries and cultures.

The content itself gave me several “aha” moments. Priya Parker’s work on the importance of purpose especially stuck with me. Slowing down to ask “why” before diving into planning has transformed the way I design workshops. I loved it so much that I borrowed the book from the UVA Library after giving my copy away, so that I could ask my new hire to read it so we could share the same grounding. The field guide activities were another highlight. I tried “I Used to Think, Now I Think” with a group of incoming first-years, and it worked beautifully. Such a simple tool, but powerful in helping students notice their own growth.

Perhaps the biggest shift, though, was simply starting to see myself as a facilitator. Before certification, I would never have used that word to describe myself. Now I do—with confidence.

Bringing It Back to UVA

The changes showed up quickly in my work. That summer workshop I mentioned, where I ended with “I Used to Think, Now I Think”—I don’t think I could have designed it as thoughtfully a year earlier. It felt like a workshop with more purpose, more intentionality, and more engagement. The response confirmed it. The feedback from colleagues helping to facilitate was overwhelmingly positive, and I’ve heard the Orientation Team wants to include the session multiple times next year, so more students can participate. A few students even stopped on their way out to say thank you and tell me how helpful it had been; for an 18-year-old to offer that kind of feedback unprompted meant a lot.

I have also found myself stepping into meetings and increasing leadership moments with more confidence. After being promoted last fall, I started contributing ideas in peer and supervisor meetings, suggesting new approaches, or gently redirecting conversations. I realized that facilitation isn’t just something I do in front of students—it’s a way of showing up in any group setting. Even as a participant, I can help make a meeting better. I’ve even caught myself drawing on field guide activities informally, like reframing a discussion with colleagues by borrowing language from “hopes and fears,” or inviting quieter voices in the room with a facilitation move instead of waiting for someone else to steer.

Looking Ahead

For now, I see myself staying in higher ed. Maybe at some point I would consider a move into talent development, but for now I still love working with college students and I love the vibrancy of this developmental stage..Wherever I go, whether in work or in my personal life, facilitation skills will translate. I know I’ll keep drawing on these tools whether I’m teaching, coaching, or leading meetings.

I also hope to keep connecting locally. I attended the first Facilitation Lab Charlottesville meetup, where I ran into colleagues from UVA I didn’t even realize had gone through the certification. That was energizing, to see how this work is sparking connections even on my own campus and within my context. I’d love to keep building those networks and practicing together. It reminded me of the joy of bumping into fellow learners unexpectedly—like discovering a shared vocabulary that makes collaboration easier. Knowing there are others nearby experimenting with facilitation gives me energy and courage to keep practicing, not just alone but as part of a living, breathing community.

Facilitation has given me new confidence and new language for the work I’ve already been doing. It has shown me that what I do matters, even if my context looks different from others in my cohort. If you’re considering certification, my advice is simple: reach out. I had a one-on-one call with Eric before joining, and his validation gave me the assurance I needed. Don’t be afraid to ask, does this fit me? The answer might surprise you.

And once you’re in, start your portfolio early. It’s time-consuming, yes, but worth it. The process forces you to reflect, to capture your growth, and to own your voice as a facilitator. For me, that was the real gift of certification: not just learning new tools, but learning to see myself differently. And now, whether I’m in a classroom, a meeting, or a community gathering, I carry that with me.

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A New Chapter in Collaboration

As Miro unveils its next chapter in collaborative AI at Canvas 2025, we’re reflecting on a journey that began not with code, but with a question:

In an era when most AI tools promised to make individuals faster, we wondered how AI could make teams better. After years of running facilitation workshops around the world, one truth was clear: most innovation problems aren’t about ideas—they’re about alignment. People don’t struggle to think creatively; they struggle to think together.

That’s the problem we set out to solve. And that’s where this story begins.

The Vision Before the Tools

Back at SXSW 2025, we invited a room full of innovators, facilitators, and technologists to imagine a new kind of collaboration—one where artificial intelligence wasn’t a tool outside the circle but a teammate inside it.

Our session, AI Teammates: Facilitating Human Connection in the AI Era, wasn’t about automation or productivity hacks. It was about relationship. We staged a live experiment: participants interacted with fictional “AI teammates”—each with a personality and role to play in the group dynamic.

• There was The Challenger, who surfaced hard truths.
• The Synthesizer, who connected patterns across ideas.
• The Optimist, who expanded possibility.
• And The Historian, who anchored choices in precedent.

These personas weren’t chatbots. They were conversation archetypes designed to stretch how people think together.

As the session unfolded, something remarkable happened. The room came alive—not because of any output the “AI” produced, but because people started thinking differently about how they thought together.

When the exercise ended, one participant said, “I’ve never seen AI make a conversation feel more human.”

That comment stuck with us. It wasn’t about speed; it was about sensemaking. And yet, at the time, there was no product to make this vision tangible. It was still a simulation—a facilitation experiment about what could be.

The Moment Miro Made It Real

Fast-forward to the summer of 2025. When Miro invited us into the early beta of AI Flows and Sidekicks, we instantly recognized it as the missing bridge between concept and capability.

Here, finally, was the interface we had imagined at SXSW:
AI that could listen, synthesize, and act alongside humans, right inside the collaborative canvas.

We began experimenting in August, building facilitation patterns and testing how Miro’s new AI could support real-time group work. What we discovered was transformative.

AI Flows acted as intelligent pipelines—automating the translation of inputs (research, briefs, notes) into structured, visual outputs like user journeys, prototypes, or summaries.

AI Sidekicks took it a step further. They gave form to something we’d imagined months earlier at SXSW: AI as a teammate, not a tool. With Miro’s Sidekick framework, we could finally bring our original AI Teammate personas—The Challenger, The Synthesizer, The Optimist, The Historian—directly into the canvas as participants that offer voices often missing in the room. Whether surfacing dissent, expanding optimism, or connecting overlooked patterns, these AI teammates help facilitators create richer, more balanced conversations. What had been a facilitation exercise in Austin became an intelligent, inclusive system teams can now use in real sessions.

It was the perfect realization of our SXSW philosophy:

We brought our original AI Teammate personas—The Challenger, Synthesizer, Historian, and Optimist—into Miro as Sidekicks. We even added new ones:

• The Sketcher, who makes structure visible.
• The Co-Facilitator, who guides process and inclusion.

Each Sidekick embodied a mindset we teach in facilitation—listening deeply, synthesizing meaning, and supporting clarity.

For the first time, AI could actively participate in a team’s thinking process rather than merely executing after the fact.

Behind the Scenes: Building the Bridge

Our collaboration with Miro’s product and partner teams felt like a masterclass in co-creation. We shared prototypes, tested facilitation flows, and offered feedback on how facilitators actually use AI in live settings.

Our earliest conversations centered on one key distinction:

That question shaped our approach to every prototype.

We realized that the future of collaboration isn’t about speeding up work—it’s about amplifying shared understanding. AI should help teams see patterns sooner, articulate assumptions faster, and move forward together more confidently.

It’s not automation for automation’s sake. It’s augmentation for alignment.

Instant Prototyping: From Insight to Alignment in Minutes

To prove this approach, we built Instant Prototyping—a Miro AI Flow designed to help teams move from an opportunity to a prototype in minutes.

Instant Prototyping turns messy beginnings into momentum.
You paste your opportunity brief, add any research, and click “Run.” Within moments, the Flow generates:

1. Research Insights — a synthesized view connecting what you know.
2. User Flow — a map of how someone might engage with your solution.
3. Screen Requirements — what each step needs to deliver.
4. Prototype — a visual concept you can immediately react to.
   

The process feels facilitative: review, adjust, and re-run. Each iteration invites reflection and sharper focus. When the AI gets it wrong, that’s useful—it reveals assumptions, gaps, and preferences faster than traditional review cycles ever could.

“When the AI is wrong, it’s useful—it surfaces gaps and preferences fast, accelerating alignment.”

This pattern—speed plus direction—has become the backbone of how we help teams build clarity in real time.

Proof of Concept: Breakout Buddy

The first major product we built using Instant Prototyping was Breakout Buddy, a revolutionary Zoom facilitation app that gives hosts unprecedented control over breakout sessions.

In just a few weeks, we went from a blank canvas to a working prototype. Using AI Flows, we synthesized user research, mapped facilitator pain points, and visualized solutions—all inside Miro.

Each iteration made the design clearer. By the end of the first session, we weren’t debating what to build—we were deciding how to make it real.*

That clarity paid off. Breakout Buddy is now in review at Zoom’s marketplace, a tangible example of how facilitation-guided AI can accelerate both design and decision-making.

Instant Prototyping didn’t just make us faster; it made us truer to our facilitation roots—inviting multiple perspectives, clarifying intent, and turning conversation into shared artifacts.

Field Testing with Real Clients

Following the success of Breakout Buddy, we began testing Instant Prototyping and AI Flows with select clients in diverse industries.

• Financial Futures Planning App: A fintech startup used our Flow to translate complex customer research into clear decision journeys. Within a day, they had multiple prototype directions visualized—something that previously took weeks of back-and-forth between product and design teams.
• Local Home Services Platform: A startup supporting plumbers, electricians, and home service professionals used Instant Prototyping to map their booking experience. The team went from vague strategy discussions to a concrete, visual service flow in a single session.

These pilots validated what we believed all along:

Each engagement reaffirmed that the goal isn’t to replace human thinking—it’s to surface it faster, make it visible, and align around it collaboratively.

AI Teaming: A New Paradigm

At Voltage Control, we call this shift AI Teaming.

It’s the practice of designing relationships between humans and AI systems that are purposeful, participatory, and aligned with facilitation principles.

Most organizations treat AI as a personal productivity tool. But true transformation happens when AI becomes part of the collective intelligence of the group.

Facilitation provides the ethical and practical structure for that shift. It defines:

• How we listen to AI (and each other).
• When to pause automation for reflection.
• How to ensure every voice—including digital ones—is used responsibly.

AI Teaming is not about doing the same things faster. It’s about working differently:
more conscious, inclusive, and experimental.

“Facilitation has always been about helping groups find clarity together. Now AI can help us see that clarity forming in real time.”

AI Teaming, Not AI Tooling

There’s a quiet but crucial distinction shaping the future of work: AI tooling is about personal productivity. AI teaming is about collective intelligence.

Most organizations still think of AI as something individuals use to move faster — a personal assistant, a summarizer, a generator. Helpful, yes. But when every person uses their own AI tool in isolation, the result isn’t alignment; it’s fragmentation. Ten people might leave a meeting with ten versions of truth.

That’s why facilitation matters.

AI Teaming is built on three principles we’ve practiced for years in facilitation:

1. Inclusion: Everyone — human or machine — has a voice, but not every voice should dominate. The facilitator’s role is to balance inputs and create psychological safety for contribution.
2. Transparency: The group should always see how conclusions are reached. Hidden algorithms are the enemy of trust. That’s why we design Miro Sidekicks to work in the open — you see every prompt, every output, every change.
3. Purpose: AI should never be busywork. It exists to clarify, not to clutter. When used well, AI helps teams focus on why they’re doing something, not just how fast they can do it.

In practice, this means running meetings where AI participates visibly and democratically:

• The Synthesizer summarizes insights, and the group edits or corrects it together.
• The Challenger surfaces risk, and participants discuss trade-offs transparently.
• The Optimist explores new possibilities, and the team refines them collectively.
• The Historian recalls precedent, and the group draws lessons from what’s come before.
• The Sketcher maps structure, and the team spots patterns, gaps, and next steps.
• The Co-Facilitator proposes next moves, and the team stays aligned and engaged.

When AI joins the conversation like this, facilitation becomes the safeguard that keeps collaboration human.

We’ve seen how powerful this is in action. In workshops where we introduced Sidekicks as participants, teams reported higher engagement and greater confidence in their decisions. It’s not just that the AI saved time; it changed the tone of dialogue.

Participants started talking to each other more — not less — because they had a shared reference point to react to. That’s the paradox of AI Teaming: the more intelligence you add, the more human the process becomes.

“The future of collaboration isn’t human versus AI. It’s human with AI — guided by facilitation.”

Miro Transformation: Turning Capability into Culture

Technology adoption often fails because teams layer new tools on top of old habits.
Our Miro Transformation programs exist to prevent that.

We guide organizations through a facilitation-first approach to integrating Miro’s new AI capabilities responsibly.

• Step 1: Assess How Teams Work
  We observe how information flows, how decisions are made, and where collaboration breaks down.
• Step 2: Introduce AI Intentionally
  We co-design flows and Sidekicks that enhance—not replace—human judgment. This means creating ethical automations that preserve context, learning, and inclusivity.
• Step 3: Measure Real Value
  We focus on results that matter: shorter meetings, higher engagement, faster synthesis, and clearer outcomes.

Transformation in Action

• A global innovation team reduced alignment time by 60% by using Sidekicks like The Synthesizer and The Coach during workshops.
• A leadership group adopted AI Flows for decision documentation, cutting weekly update time in half.
• A product team transformed sprint planning from frustration to flow by running Instant Prototyping to visualize priorities on the spot.

Each story reflects the same truth: facilitation is what makes AI collaboration work—ethically, efficiently, and humanely.

Responsible AI: Designing for Trust and Inclusion

As the world rushes toward automation, facilitation is the counterbalance that keeps technology human.

In our AI Strategy Workshops, we help leaders define what responsible AI looks like in their organizations. Together, we explore questions like:

• How do we make AI reasoning transparent to the team?
• When should a facilitator—not an algorithm—make the call?
• How do we ensure that speed doesn’t silence diversity of thought?
  

Responsible AI begins with inclusion and ends with trust. It’s not a checkbox—it’s a culture.

By grounding AI use in shared principles, we ensure it supports the behaviors that make teams thrive: curiosity, dialogue, and accountability.

Product × Practice × Purpose

At Voltage Control, our partnership with Miro rests on a simple but powerful equation:

• Product gives teams intelligent scaffolding for synthesis and action.
• Practice ensures those tools are used with intention and care.
• Purpose keeps it all rooted in why we collaborate in the first place: to connect, create, and contribute meaningfully.

This triad—Product × Practice × Purpose—is the DNA of AI Teaming. It’s how we turn new technology into new ways of working.

Facilitator Reflections

When we facilitate, we tune into the subtle shift—the instant confusion gives way to clarity. You can see the spark. You can feel the room align.

Seeing that same shift occur with AI present on the canvas is extraordinary. It’s not about replacing intuition; it’s about scaling it.

Facilitators now have new instruments to play with—flows that structure conversation, Sidekicks that spark reflection, and automations that handle logistics so humans can focus on what matters most: the quality of connection.

That’s the art and science of facilitation in the AI era.

The Full-Circle Moment

From SXSW to Canvas, we’ve witnessed a transformation that began as a thought experiment and matured into a new practice of working together.

Today, every team can experience it firsthand:

• Run a Miro AI Flow to turn insights into prototypes.
• Invite AI Teammates like The Challenger or Synthesizer to expand group thinking.
• Use Utility Sidekicks to manage the board and free up human attention.

This isn’t a simulation anymore. It’s collaboration—amplified.

“AI teaming was once an idea we simulated.  Now it’s something every team can do—live, visual, and human with Miro.” —Douglas Ferguson, Founder & CEO, Voltage Control

Join the Movement

Explore how facilitation and AI come together to unlock team potential:

• Explore Voltage Control’s Miro AI Collection
• Join the Instant Prototyping Waitlist
• Discover Miro Transformation Programs
  

Because the future of collaboration isn’t about replacing people,  it’s about inviting AI in to help people work better, together.

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