Essential Role of Meeting Facilitation in Blockchain

Web3 organizations are not immune to the stereotypical unproductive meeting that plagues the corporate landscape. Through proper meeting facilitation, meeting culture can be changed for the better, which allows the organization and its individual participants to develop sustainable habits and best practices for optimal efficiency and beneficial collaboration.

Benefits of successful meeting facilitation for blockchain and Web3 companies can include:

• Better Decision-Making: Facilitators can help networks identify and overcome obstacles to shape the best possible decision-making process.
• Improved Transparency: Facilitation can help make communication clearer, allowing community members to better understand what’s happening across the organization. 
• Increased Engagement: Blockchain networks are reliant on community participation, and great facilitation can improve that participation and build lasting engagement.

Blockchain and cryptocurrency are driving forces for innovation in the tech world and beyond. Web3 organizations deserve the efficient outcomes that proper meeting facilitation delivers, and trained facilitators are able to help these groups maximize efficiency when it comes to the collaboration of their stakeholders and network participants.

Facilitation for Global Collaboration

There is an inherently global makeup to Web3 organizations, as many blockchain networks and cryptocurrency providers have participants and stakeholders scattered around the world. Since Web3 is not constrained by geographical bounds, its global talent pool can participate in virtual and hybrid meetings which require dedicated facilitation for global collaboration and diverse perspectives.

Facilitators are experts at designing processes that allow for maximum collaboration between different perspectives, and, above all, they are able to nimbly adapt to the needs of a given goal, event, or group of participants. Voltage Control Certified Facilitator Caterina Rodriguez explained, “If you have intentional design and purposeful structure, you can make [meaningful] conversations happen at a global scale.”

Rodriguez was one member of the global team of facilitators who partnered with blockchain network Cardano for their governance development project, which led to the approval of their constitution and their eventual transition to fully decentralized governance.

Case Study: Cardano Constitutional Convention

Cardano solidified itself as a leader in Web3 when the blockchain network drafted, revised, and certified an on-chain governance document that reflects their decentralized structure. The process required the input of stakeholders and network members who were stationed around the globe, so Cardano partnered with Voltage Control to ensure successful facilitation.

In the months leading up to the Cardano Constitutional Convention, facilitators led Community Workshops in dozens of countries around the world, with participants reviewing and revising sections of the governance document draft. While some workshops were facilitated remotely, facilitators frequently traveled to conduct these day-long sessions in person, ensuring an optimal meeting environment.

Facilitators worked closely with workshops hosts from each location to plan an in-person, hybrid, or remote event. They balanced unique cultural considerations, including language barriers and local requirements, while keeping the participants focused on the topics at hand and working toward a common goal.

After dozens of Community Workshops and Delegate Synthesis Workshops, the community gathered for the keystone event at the Cardano Constitutional Convention on December 4 to December 6, 2024. The event was run simultaneously at two locations connected by video link, Nairobi, Kenya, and Buenos Aires, Argentina, with additional remote participants joining from around the world. 

“The live Argentina-Kenya link was a milestone in global gatherings. I have personally never seen something like that happen where both locations were live and participating,” explained Certified Facilitator Reshma Khan. Attendees were enthusiastic participants, embracing the opportunity to connect and collaborate with one another for this important event.

The three-day event relied heavily on the skills of the facilitators to keep the final revision and drafting process for the constitution on track, with over 400 participants contributing to the final document. Ultimately, the participants produced a constitution that would later be ratified on-chain with 85% approval, and Cardano became the first blockchain network to have created decentralized on-chain governance.

Read the whole case study of Cardano here.

Meeting Facilitation for Web3, Blockchain, and Crypto Companies

Web3, blockchain, and cryptocurrency organizations can reap the benefits of successful meeting facilitation, including increased transparency, higher engagement, and improved decision-making. Facilitation can provide the key to optimal process design and network structure, as evidenced by the successful facilitation of Cardano’s constitutional creation process.

Voltage Control has partnered with countless top tech organizations to deliver tailored Facilitation Training Programs at the organizational level. Today, leaders in Web3 are joining that list, leveraging the program’s impact of sustainable facilitation practices and transformative change. Web3 organizations that partner with Voltage Control for facilitation certification can count on being at the forefront of the latest in facilitation techniques, best practices, and methodologies.

On an individual level, professionals from blockchain, cryptocurrency, and decentralized finance (DeFi) organizations are also increasingly joining the personal Facilitation Certification program from Voltage Control, with recent cohort members including CEOs, product managers, consultants, team leads, and beyond.

To learn more about how Voltage Control can partner with your team, contact us today.

The post Meeting Facilitation for Blockchain and Crypto appeared first on Voltage Control.

In school, I never hesitated to volunteer. I remember being a cheerleader for basketball despite being 4 feet 11 inches tall and definitely not the fastest on any field. Sports weren’t exactly my thing, but I loved bringing energy, pulling people together, and making sure everyone felt connected. Even though it was a tiny school, with only about 70 students in my graduating class, there were plenty of committees and clubs—Pep Club, FBLA, Student Council—and I ended up holding a governance role in nearly all of them. By senior year, I was the student body president, coordinating events, and rallying people around shared goals. It wasn’t ambition; it was simply a love for building momentum and energy.

I think a lot of that came from the way I was raised. My mom always pushed me to get involved, try everything, step out of my comfort zone. Being curious, eager, and willing to dive into new things just became second nature. It shaped my instinct to step into leadership roles, even though at the time I wasn’t really thinking about leadership or facilitation at all.

When I was at DHL, our vice president asked me to present at an internal department meeting. I was one of the most junior people in the room, but I stepped up and delivered my content my way—casual, interactive, conversational. I had everyone laughing, engaging, and openly giving feedback. Months later, at an all-hands meeting, she singled me out, saying, “Our best presenter is Kristi.” I was stunned. I hadn’t been intentionally performing; I had just been myself. But that moment sparked a curiosity. I began to wonder: what exactly was I doing differently? How could I refine it and become more intentional about creating engaging experiences for others?

I brought this mindset into our sports marketing initiatives. At baseball games, we didn’t just put up a DHL banner—we created a story. We dressed up as DHL drivers and delivered pizza to fans in the stands; we made it fun, memorable, and immersive. We had to create moments where people felt part of something bigger, moments that would linger long after the game ended. This wasn’t just brand building; it was community building, story building, and momentum building.

Later, when I transitioned into internal communications, I faced the challenge of getting people aligned around internal goals and strategies, which is notoriously difficult. I instinctively leaned into workshop formats—though, again, I wasn’t explicitly calling it facilitation yet. I realized traditional presentations weren’t going to move the needle. I needed engagement. That meant interactive activities, structured conversations, and visual ways of working.

It was around this time I started working with a coach, Mary Beth Mains, who became both a mentor and a good friend. She continually reinforced what I was naturally good at. I often overlooked these skills because they came easily to me, but she encouraged me to see them clearly, to acknowledge them as valuable, and to build on them intentionally. That encouragement was a crucial pivot point—it validated that my natural instincts were worth honing and deepening.

When the Format Becomes the Force

Moving to WHO brought a new level of complexity. Here I was, trying to help teams implement global health solutions in wildly diverse contexts. Every country had its own starting point, its own political landscape, its own tech capabilities. There was no single implementation plan that worked for all 194 member states. You couldn’t just roll out a policy and expect it to land.

I started to notice where things were breaking down: our meetings. Teams would say, “We’ve had five meetings and nothing’s moving.” And I’d ask: “What happened in the meetings?” Usually, they’d show a slide deck, ask a few questions, and… nothing.

So I started intervening. Asking: what is the actual purpose of this meeting? Is this about informing? Co-creating? Making a decision? Let’s get clear on that first. Then let’s create space for the people in the room to actually participate. Even at academic conferences, where the norm is to present and move on, I began experimenting with embedded 1-2-4-Alls or structured prompts to turn passive listening into idea generation.

I wasn’t trying to overhaul everything overnight. But I did want to inject curiosity, experimentation, and shared authorship into the way we gather. Not just to feel better, but to actually get things done.

One memorable example came during a major WHO workshop originally planned as an in-person, three-day event. Due to unexpected funding cuts and travel freezes, my team had to rapidly pivot to hosting the event completely online. Everyone around me was skeptical, convinced it couldn’t be done effectively virtually. But I had just begun the Voltage Control facilitation certification and was learning powerful methods like Liberating Structures, particularly 1-2-4-All. I told my team, “We can do this.”

Despite resistance and logistical challenges—like no access to Zoom and limited familiarity with Microsoft Teams whiteboards—I methodically began to apply the facilitation techniques I was learning. We rehearsed, troubleshot, and experimented relentlessly. The result was a huge success. We didn’t just meet our objectives—we exceeded them. Participants engaged fully, contributed rich feedback, and left energized rather than drained. It was a revelation to my colleagues: facilitation wasn’t a nice-to-have; it was transformational. From then on, they trusted me to structure interactions differently, understanding the power of a thoughtfully designed meeting.

Clicking Through the Chaos

I found Voltage Control the way a lot of people do: by Googling. It was the fall of last year, and I was searching for facilitation programs. Voltage Control kept showing up on all these curated lists. Coming from a marketing background, I know lists can be bought. So I was skeptical at first. But I kept seeing them again and again. Either they were very rich, or very legit. (Spoiler: it wasn’t the former.)

What stood out was the length of the certification. Most other programs were a couple of days or weeks. This one was three months. That felt like the right depth. I’d done a creativity coaching program the year before and realized how valuable it is to stretch learning out over time. It lets you try things, apply them, and come back with questions.

So I applied. I didn’t overthink it. I tend to ask questions later and trust my gut.

Learning by Doing, Not by Lecture

I’ll be honest. I showed up to the first day of the certification without fully understanding what I had signed up for. Skye kept referencing the final portfolio presentation, and I kept thinking, “Wait, what are we working toward again?”

But I loved that it was experiential. There were no lectures on theory. We’d read something, then immediately use it—Troika, TRIZ, 1-2-4-All. There was no lengthy breakdown of the method; we’d just try it, reflect, and move on.

It affirmed what I’d always felt. I’d rather run a meeting with a handful of liberating structures than with a polished deck. PowerPoint makes me break out in hives. I’d rather people interact with each other and the content than just sit through slides.

The cohort itself was also a gift. We clicked quickly, and that made the solo weeks in the middle of the program harder. When we returned to the final phase, there was real joy in seeing everyone again. The feedback and encouragement I received, even from people I hadn’t worked with directly, was incredibly validating. It reminded me: this isn’t just something I enjoy, I’m actually good at it.

Prototyping Change in Real Time

During the certification, I was building a real-time workshop for WHO. Originally, it was going to be in-person over three days. Then came the travel ban. Suddenly, we were going remote. My team panicked. “There’s no way this will work online,” they said.

But I was in the middle of certification and knew it could work. I started slowly—shifting our planning meetings to be more participatory, getting the team familiar with breakout groups and digital whiteboards. They were skeptical, but I kept going.

We didn’t have a Zoom license, so we used Microsoft Teams, which is famously clunky. Our consultants logged in with personal Gmail accounts to practice. We ran rehearsals. We built the whiteboards. And we pulled it off.

The virtual workshop exceeded expectations. We didn’t just gather feedback; we co-designed implementation pathways. Participants shared what would and wouldn’t work in their contexts. They offered open-source code, shared plans, and talked openly about collaboration. It worked because we created space for them to speak.

From Host to Catalyst

Since the certification, I’m being asked to help more teams—not just run meetings, but design gatherings that work. I’m doing diagnostic work with colleagues: What is the real purpose of your meeting? What kind of engagement are you inviting? Is your format actually aligned with your goals?

In the middle of our reorg, I’ve been working with leadership on what happens after the org chart is published. What kind of culture do we want to create? How do we design the space to live into that culture?

The certification helped me name and strengthen something I was already doing intuitively. It gave me tools, vocabulary, and the confidence to stand by my choices. When someone pushes back—”People won’t do 1-2-4-All,”—I now know how to hold my ground and say, “Let’s try it. Let’s see what happens.

Bringing Intention to the Unknown

Looking ahead, I want to do more of this strategic work. Not just facilitation, but guiding teams through the full arc of convening—before, during, and after. Helping them set the right questions. Helping them listen better. Helping them design with their stakeholders, not just for them.

WHO’s mission is to convene. My work is about making those convenings matter.

Whether I’m designing a multi-country workshop or supporting leadership through change, I want to make sure we’re not just informing, but transforming. That people walk away not just with information, but with ownership.

If you’re on the fence about the certification, I say: jump in. Try it. See what happens. If you’re like me, you’ll ask questions later. But you’ll learn by doing, and you’ll leave with more confidence than you walked in with.

This isn’t a traditional classroom. It’s an experience. And if you’re someone who finds energy in ideas, who likes bringing people together for a reason, then you’re going to love it here.

The post The Power of a Well-Placed Why appeared first on Voltage Control.

These takeaways also come from decentralized communities that may not qualify as true DAOs, such as blockchain ecosystems like Cardano, which recently celebrated a successful constitutional creation process thanks to their active participation in their community.

Participation Challenge in DAOs

As fully autonomous organizations without centralized authorities, Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) use blockchain smart contracts to operate in an automated, decentralized manner. In order to make critical decisions and plan for the future, DAOs must rely on the active participation and collective effort of their members—and getting members to participate can be an ongoing challenge.

The participation challenge in DAOs crops up when it comes to essential functions like voting on proposals, staking, delegation, and discussions, with active community participation needed in order for the DAO or cryptocurrency to have successful operations and governance. 

DAOs can suffer from the “free rider problem,” where community members who do not actively participate in governance and operations still benefit from efficient operations and growth. The free rider problem can compound with voter apathy and uninformed voting, which involves token holders voting blindly. 

Token-Based Governance in DAOs

The most common form of DAO governance is token-based, involving the issuance of digital tokens which represent voting power, and those token holders become the participants in DAO operations, decision-making, and governance. For decentralized organizations, these tokens are more than just digital assets—they are the lifeblood of the blockchain. 

Role of Tokenomics

For cryptocurrency DAOs with token-based governance models, tokenomics encompasses the economic framework of a token system on the blockchain, including token distribution and token utility. Effective tokenomics is closely tied to active participation of community members and overall success of the DAO or cryptocurrency.

To improve engagement and facilitate community participation, DAOs can review the state of their tokenomics, including these crucial factors:

• Token Distribution: DAOs disseminate tokens through mechanisms like Initial Coin Offerings, mining, and airdrops but should prioritize fair and equitable allocation to prevent a concentration of power in one group.
• Token Supply: The supply and demand of tokens in DAOs has a significant impact on its market value and should be managed with proper future modeling in mind.
• Token Utility: The specific functions of a token are unique to that DAO, often representing cryptocurrency, voting power, or ownership stakes.
• Incentives: DAOs should have effective mechanisms to encourage active participation and engagement from token holders.

In a tokenized blockchain network, tokens are representation. Effective tokenomics promotes a shared sense of responsibility and supports a decentralized distribution of power. There’s no one recipe for success when it comes to managing the token economy in a blockchain, but, by prioritizing its effectiveness, stakeholders can build a community of active participants.

For some blockchain systems, active participation is tied closely to the consensus mechanisms in their Proof of Stake (PoS) models. Delegation can be implemented to create a representative system, with the option of liquid democracy allowing for fully flexible delegation of voting power.

Alternative DAO Governance Models

Not all DAOs use token-based governance models, with reputation-based governance models and hybrid models offering alternative options. Reputation-based governance models utilize blockchain mechanisms to calculate the contributions of members, and that calculation determines the voting power of the members. Hybrid governance combines aspects of both token-based and reputation-based governance.

Reputation-based governance is used successfully by DeFi DAO Colony. The members of Colony who are most active and engaged have the most voting power through their reputation, which cannot be bought or sold. While this type of DAO governance supports an engaged community, DAOs that use reputation systems may still benefit from facilitation techniques that encourage active community participation on all levels.

Additionally, many entities in the Web3 space utilize a decentralized organizational framework without meeting the true definition of a Decentralized Autonomous Organization, and those groups may also struggle to overcome the same participation problems as DAOs.

How to Improve Member Participation in DAOs

Any member of a DAO can help spark increased community participation and overcome voter apathy by focusing on a few key pillars of the organization.

Transparency

DAOs are inherently dispersed and decentralized, which can make it challenging to ensure transparent, clear communication channels. That communication and transparency is necessary, though, to keep members aware of current and upcoming proposals and other important voting opportunities.

Members may have different levels of understanding when it comes to the structure and operations of the DAO, so increased transparency provides the opportunity to educate these members. Knowledgeable members have a better understanding of the “skin in the game” they have as a part of the organization.

Incentives

Tokens can be offered as a useful incentive mechanism for DAOs, although these “tokenomics” need to be thoughtfully planned and implemented in order to ensure appropriate utility, supply, security, and engagement. 

Examples of common token-based incentives and DAO functions include:

• Reward Structures: Community members can earn more tokens as a reward for their voting, engagement, proposals, and other types of participation.
• Token-based Voting: Tokens give users voting rights, which can take the form of a one-person, one-vote system or a vote-per-token system.
• Staking Mechanisms: Token holders can stake their tokens with the network or a designated delegate, which provides more stability for the network and is important to proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus algorithms.
• Asset Access: Tokens may grant users access to exclusive tools, products, or other digital assets.
• Revenue Sharing: Distribution of profit may be determined partially or wholly by tokens, contributions, or other metrics.

Alternatively, DAOs can use reputation-based incentives to encourage active community participation from DAO members. Reputation mechanisms offer a measurement of a member’s expertise, influence, or engagement within the blockchain.

Events

The automated nature of smart contracts and blockchain technology allows for streamlined, 24/7 operations for many DAOs. By implementing dedicated remote, hybrid, and in-person events, DAOs can increase member participation and generate excitement. These events may take the form of collaborative sessions like town halls and workshops, large gatherings like summits, and informal networking opportunities for interest groups.

In order to optimize participation at DAO and Web3 events, organizations can partner with certified facilitators, such as alumni from Voltage Control. This type of dedicated facilitation can be particularly helpful for collaborative exercises like developing governance documents, which was recently demonstrated by the work of Cardano and Voltage Control to develop Cardano’s governing constitution.

Case Study: Cardano Constitutional Convention

In December 2024, Voltage Control facilitated the Cardano Constitutional Convention as a simultaneous in-person event in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Nairobi, Kenya, with additional remote participants from around the world. Facilitators had to assist the blockchain’s members as they came together from differing backgrounds and opinions in order to finalize the most important document for the future of their network—which they did successfully, with the Cardano Constitution eventually receiving 85% on-chain approval.

The event came after two years of development and six months of facilitated workshops around the world in order to draft the blockchain’s governing document, which would be the first of its kind. Those global workshops, which included both in-person and remote Community Workshops and Delegate Synthesis Workshops, provided invaluable feedback on the constitution delivered on a line-by-line basis. 

Certified facilitators ensured that these day-long workshops did not get stuck or become adversarial, allowing participants to be heard and feel like empowered decision-makers in a decentralized organization. Facilitators had to be highly adaptable based on the needs of each workshop’s attendees, adjusting to cultural norms and local demands while making the one-day event successful.

At the Cardano Constitutional Convention, the facilitators were more important than ever, serving as an essential liaison between the two locations and remote attendees while providing the support to keep the process of drafting a finalized constitution moving forward. In total, 450 attendees and 63 elected delegates representing 50 countries partook in the three-day event—and it was a huge success.

Cardano Co-founder Charles Hoskinson identified how participants built strong connections with one another, explaining, “They’ve made lifelong friends and those delegates that went to the Constitutional Convention, they’re still talking to each other.” 

These connections encourage continued engagement with the Cardano project, and this monumental event only marks the beginning of the community’s journey. In February 2025, the Cardano Constitution had been ratified on-chain with an 85% approval rate, well above the required 75% approval rate. Cardano became the first truly decentralized blockchain with a community-run governance model, made possible by its engaged, active community of participants.

Certified Facilitators with Web3 and DAO Experience

DAOs commonly face the challenges of voter apathy and waning community participation, but these organizations don’t have to tackle these obstacles alone. By partnering with facilitators like the team at Voltage Control, DAOs can design and implement actionable plans for events and projects that result in an engaged, enthusiastic membership.

Every DAO and Web3 organization is unique in its build and operation, but all of these organizations are founded on the participation of community members, often with those participants spread around the globe. DAOs can hugely benefit from partnering with a professional facilitation team like Voltage Control to achieve active community participation and collaborative success. 

All facilitators at the Cardano Constitutional Convention had obtained their Facilitation Certification from Voltage Control. The Facilitation Certification program is aligned with International Association of Facilitators (IAF) competencies, and it builds the foundational facilitation skills needed to successfully transform meetings, drive change, and inspire innovation, skills which have become instrumental when it comes to DAO operations and facilitation.

To work with Voltage Control on your Web3 or DAO project, contact our team today. To learn more about the facilitation of Cardano’s constitution, read our complete case study here.

The post Facilitating Active Community Participation in DAOs appeared first on Voltage Control.

Summer pulls us toward lighter rhythms: vacations, spontaneity, curious explorations. As September arrives, it can feel like the calendar snaps back to “serious mode.” Our invitation this month is to resist the false choice. Play is not the opposite of work; it’s the fuel for it. When we integrate play with our facilitation practice, we open space for emergence, loosening our grip on pre‑baked outcomes and discovering what a group can create together.

In the conversations we’ve been having with Douglas and Erik, we returned again and again to this idea: when we reduce the stakes just enough for people to experiment, they discover sharper insights, stronger patterns, and more humane ways of working together. This month we’ll show you how to bring that spirit into your meetings—on paper, in Miro, and in the room or on Zoom.

Play as a Path to Growth (Not a Detour)

When kids play, they aren’t optimizing for perfect outcomes. They’re exploring. They re‑arrange the blocks, try a new angle, and—without judgment—see what emerges. As facilitators and leaders, we can borrow that stance. “Holding things loosely” doesn’t mean abandoning rigor; it means allowing discovery to shape the rigor we apply next.

Play widens the field of possible moves. It invites risk that feels safe enough for participation. In practice, that could look like a sketch‑before‑you‑speak prompt, a two‑minute “pass‑a‑move” energizer, or a quick remix of a trusted game to match the moment. These low‑friction moves unlock momentum for high‑stakes conversations later.

If your organization is wrestling with adoption of product operations, AI, or cross‑functional rituals, consider how a dose of play lowers resistance. People step in when it’s okay to try, learn, and change course—together. Serious outcomes often begin with serious play.

Try this prompt: “For the next 5 minutes, we’re just exploring. What’s one tiny experiment we could try this week that might move us closer to our goal?”

Make It Tactile—Even (Especially) in Digital Spaces

We love pen‑and‑paper warmups because they unlock the hands‑mind connection. But the same tactility is possible in digital tools. In Miro, modularize ideas into stickies and small clusters. Treat them like physical objects: drag, rotate, recolor, label, regroup. The more granular the ideas, the more freedom you have to sort and recombine.

Tactility also comes from simple constraints. Use dot voting to reveal energy. Add quick icons or imagery to turn abstract notions into visible metaphors. With the newest AI helpers, you can vary the representations rapidly—generate a handful of visual framings, then let the group react.

The goal is not decoration; it’s grip. When people can literally “get a handle” on ideas, they move faster and see relationships they’d otherwise miss.

Micro‑move: Break big notions into single‑idea stickies; name thematic clusters only after you’ve moved the pieces around.

Try Squiggle Birds from Gamestorming 2.0

This month, we’re spotlighting Squiggle Birds, a delightfully low‑stakes way to turn doodles into creatures—and hesitation into momentum. It’s pure play that sneaks in real practice: pattern recognition, sense‑making, and visual confidence.

Purpose: Warm up creative muscles, lower inhibition, and prime teams for sketching/ideation.

Time: 6–12 minutes

Materials: Paper + pen/marker (or Miro with a simple template)

Steps (analog):

1. Ask everyone to draw 6–9 fast squiggles, each in its own little space. No thinking—just lines.
2. Choose a squiggle and add a tiny triangle beak, a dot for an eye, and a couple of stick legs.
3. Repeat with more squiggles. Optional: add feathers, environment, or names.
4. Gallery walk: hold up your favorites; share what made a squiggle “turn into” a bird.

Steps (Miro):

1. Provide a frame with scattered freehand lines (or have folks draw with the pen tool).
2. Add beaks/eyes/legs with simple shapes and the pen tool. Duplicate to go faster.
3. Use quick groups/clusters to notice patterns (“tiny birds,” “long‑neck birds,” etc.).
4. Zoom out and reflect: what helped your brain see “birdness” in noise?

Debrief Questions:

• What changed once you added a single detail (beak/eye/legs)?
• Where else do small cues help your team make shared meaning fast?
• How can we keep this looseness as we shift into today’s core work?

Facilitator tip: Seed it before you need it. Introduce Squiggle Birds early so your group expects playful sketching later.

Remix with Purpose — Altitude as a Closer

One theme we’re modeling this month is purposeful remixing: once you understand the core of a method, you can repurpose it to fit the moment. Altitude (from Gamestorming) is often used to set perspective at the start of a session—sea level (ground truth), plane (systems view), satellite (strategy/vision). We’re experimenting with it as a closer.

Invite participants to check out at a chosen “altitude” and say why: “I’m at sea level—grounded with two next steps.” or “I’m in the stratosphere—my imagination’s buzzing.” This reinterpretation honors the game’s essence (perspective‑taking) while helping groups reflect and integrate.

The meta‑lesson: play with the plays. When facilitators remix openly, they license groups to do the same—adapting rituals to local realities while keeping purpose intact.

Callout: If someone later reads the book and asks why you used Altitude differently, celebrate the curiosity—and share your purpose for the remix.

When a Dance Break Re‑Wired the Room

During the Cardano Constitutional Convention (see our recent case study), visa restrictions created a hybrid dynamic: a large in‑person gathering in Buenos Aires and a parallel hub in Nairobi. Tensions surfaced in Nairobi as remote participants felt peripheral to decisions. Our facilitator on the ground, Reshma Khan, hosted an impromptu dance party—music chosen for cultural resonance and belonging.

The result? Smiles, connection, renewed energy—and a subtle but vital re‑balancing of power. The Buenos Aires room noticed the joy and, soon after, spun up its own music moment. Two separate rooms, one shared vibe. A playful move revealed a serious truth: sometimes you have to meet emotion with motion.

Takeaway for leaders: play is a strategic lever, not a garnish. When used purposefully, it brings people back into the circle and restores the conditions for productive work.

Do this tomorrow: Add a 90‑second “pass‑a‑move” in your next long meeting. Let each person invent a stretch and pass it around.

Turning Play into Practice

Play can’t be the whole meeting. After you loosen the room, translate energy into clarity. Three moves help:

1. Granular artifacts. Convert ideas into single‑idea stickies or short statements. (If it’s two sentences, it’s two stickies.)
2. Visible sorting. Cluster by patterns the group names together. Title clusters last.
3. Proportionate commitment. Use dot voting, Fist‑to‑Five, or Impact/Effort to move from “fun” to “focus.”

Rotate through these moves quickly and you’ll feel the gear‑shift: from open, generative play to intentional, shared next steps. That rhythm—open → converge—is the practice.

Script: “We just opened up—great range. Now let’s converge. One idea per sticky, then we’ll cluster and vote.”

Normalize Play So It Doesn’t Backfire

Play works best when it’s part of the culture, not a surprise cameo. If you introduce a playful activity once, and it lands awkwardly, people may reject the approach. Normalize it.

• Set expectations early. Tell teams, “We’ll regularly use short playful warmups to build creative confidence.”
• Model the stance. Show your own willingness to experiment and remix. Narrate your purpose.
• Connect to outcomes. Always link the play to the work: “We doodled to loosen judgment so we can sketch product ideas now.”

When play is practiced, it becomes a trusted pathway to clarity and momentum. It’s not “fun for fun’s sake”; it’s how we work.

Leader’s nudge: Play gives permission. Purpose gives direction. Use both.

Bonus Moves & Micro‑Practices

• Music as momentum. Pair playlists to activities (tempo for time‑boxed sprints; thematic songs for laugh‑and‑learn moments).
• Parallel sketching. In design sprints, have everyone sketch at the same time; then reveal. Social energy multiplies courage.
• AI accents. Use Miro’s AI to generate quick frames or variations; let the group choose and edit. Keep it light, keep it human.
• The Classic Stretch‑and‑Share. Ubiquitous in 2020—and still great. It shifts gears in minutes.

Community Spotlight: Gamestorming 2.0 Launch (Giveaways!)

Gamestorming has been a cornerstone of our certification for years. With 2.0 out now, we’re celebrating across September and October (and likely into November) with distributed launch‑party vibes at our monthly labs. We’ll be practicing Squiggle Birds, Event Horizon, Hidden Variables, and our Altitude‑as‑Closer remix—and giving away books.

Share back: Post your birds and insights in the Hub. What did one small detail change about what everyone could “see”?

A Call to Practice (and Play)

Play isn’t a seasonal fling; it’s a stance. As you move into fall, keep summer’s looseness and combine it with deliberate practice. Let doodles become birds. Let sticky clusters become decisions. Let movement re‑set a room. And let small remixes become your signature as a facilitator and leader.

Call to Action:

• Join this month’s Facilitation Lab to practice Squiggle Birds and more.
• Bring a LabMate (or find one at our LabMate Matchup) and commit to one playful practice each week.
• Share your remix of a favorite game in the Hub—what did you change and why?

Perfectly practicing play won’t make things perfect. It will make them possible. And that’s how real work moves.

The post Bridging Play & Practice appeared first on Voltage Control.

Over the course of two years, concluded by five months of workshops leading to the Cardano Constitutional Convention, Voltage Control worked with the Cardano community to facilitate a collaborative approach to drafting, editing, and ratifying the Cardano Constitution. No other blockchain ecosystem or cryptocurrency provider has embraced decentralization this thoroughly and with such success.

By reviewing the process behind the Cardano Constitutional Convention, leaders in Web3 can learn how to successfully organize and facilitate a blockchain conference.

Inside the Cardano Constitutional Convention

By the end of the two year facilitation process, the community from Cardano had created a governance document that was ratified on-chain with 85% approval. Over 1,400 community members took part in 63 Community Workshops in 50 different countries leading up to the Constitutional Convention, with additional Delegate Synthesis Workshops facilitated simultaneously. 

Finally, the Cardano Constitutional Convention took place from December 4 to December 6, 2024, in Nairobi, Kenya, and Buenos Aires, Argentina, with additional remote attendees from around the globe. Facilitators from Voltage Control were there every step of the way, from traveling to attend workshops around the world to designing the final summit, leveraging their facilitation skills in participatory decision-making to ensure a successful process. 

Get exclusive insight into the Cardano Constitutional Convention and its supporting events by reading our case study, available here.

Going forward, international Web3 conferences and events will continue to grow in importance, serving as collaborative opportunities for advancing the industry while building in-person connections in the community. At the same time, blockchain networks will host meetings, workshops, and summits to make critical decisions and drive their communities forward.

As the facilitation team for this first-of-its-kind process, we saw the power of in-person events for Web3. In this article, we gathered our best insights and tips on how to facilitate a successful blockchain conference, workshop, or other event in 2025 and beyond.

Types of Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Events in 2025

Blockchain events can range in size from just a few participants to thousands of attendees, hosted online, in-person, or hybridly. These conferences and events may be internal and related to one blockchain ecosystem, like the Cardano Constitutional Convention, or open to the broader blockchain and cryptocurrency community, like Consensus 2025.

Events that are specific to one blockchain community can include:

• Ecosystem Development – Participants collaborate on key decision-making for topics like governance and planning.
• Community Workshops – Participants gather based on location, role, or interest to network, collaborate on a project, learn, or otherwise work together.
• Annual Meetings – The entire network is invited to build connections and catch up on the latest developments in the community.

Alternatively, events that apply to the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry more broadly can include:

• Large-Scale Conventions – Attendees travel from around the world for multi-day conventions.
• Interest Group Conferences – Web3 professionals gather based on a shared interest or unique background, such as the annual ETHWomen conference for women in blockchain.
• Industry-Specific Conferences – The central focus of these events is the intersection of blockchain and another specialized industry, such as cybersecurity or DeFi.
• Regional Events – The state of Web3 in a particular region, country, or continent is explored through a local convention, like at the Blockchain Africa Conference. 

Facilitation goes hand-in-hand with event planning for these events, particularly when collaboration or decision-making is an element of the agenda.

How to Plan a Blockchain or Crypto Conference

In 2025, every blockchain event will have unique needs and obstacles when it comes to planning a successful event. Below we outline eight key tips to keep in mind when developing your event.

1. Build an exciting agenda.

The right agenda will have attendees buzzing well before the event kicks off. Before you finalize your agenda, identify your goals for the conference alongside the goals of those who will attend, taking time to ensure alignment. By getting into the headspace of the average conference passholder, you can adjust the blockchain conference design to ensure harmony, achieve goals, and drive up attendance to less popular sessions.

For larger events, consider the different session types to create a schedule that will excite your attendees. Blockchain conference session types can include:

• Panel discussions
• Lectures
• Networking opportunities
• Interactive workshops
• Expos
• Q&A sessions
• Hackathons

For smaller events, such as community workshops and member meetings, work with a facilitator to design an agenda that features the right pacing, breaks, and engagement. 

2. Select the right facilitators.

As the Cardano community prepared to start the process of creating a governing document, they saw the task before them was monumental—and they knew they needed the support of an expert facilitation team. Cardano partnered with the team of Certified Facilitators from Voltage Control to design and facilitate the constitutional development process, working together to facilitate 63 community workshops in 50 countries as well as the Constitutional Convention that took place in December 2024.

At larger conferences, facilitators can appear at Q&A sessions, collaborative workshops, and panel discussions, and they can also provide behind-the-scenes support for the event hosts. Private summits and collaborative events, like the Cardano Constitutional Convention, also often need the support of professional facilitators to ensure smooth, successful decision-making processes.

Read more about how Voltage Control worked with Cardano to facilitate the development of the first community-run blockchain governance model in our comprehensive case study.

3. Develop networking opportunities.

At any Web3 conference, many attendees will eagerly network with one another, discussing the latest in the booming industry and building lasting connections with peers. To encourage these interactions, blockchain conferences can host dedicated networking events, with those sessions offering an area to mingle and meet, sometimes accompanied by a theme or refreshments.

The most common type of networking session is certainly the happy hour. However, hosts and facilitators can revamp the classic happy hour in favor of group activities, breakfast events, lunch and learn sessions, and more. A local facilitator can help plan an appropriate networking event based on the makeup of your attendees and local cultural expectations.

For smaller events, networking can still be facilitated through dedicated time for introductions and collaborative tasks. Participants can also network through shared downtime like a hosted lunch and a dedicated digital channel to connect before or after the event, such as a Slack channel.

4. Create a comfortable environment. 

People of all backgrounds, hailing from all around the globe, take part in blockchain, cryptocurrency, and the broader Web3 industry. These diverse perspectives can be a powerful force for innovation—but this can also present a challenge for the hosts planning blockchain conferences. 

Consider cultural differences as well as accessibility and translation needs. By planning ahead, you can develop an inclusive environment where all attendees feel welcome and safe, allowing them to fully focus on the topics at hand. 

For hybrid and remote events, consider how to bridge the digital divide for virtual attendees, as they may feel less engaged when attending through a screen. To create multiple touch points, you can offer additional opportunities for facetime and leverage supporting software such as Slack and Mentimeter. Experienced facilitators can help attendees foster connections and build meaningful relationships in a comfortable, welcoming environment.

5. Identify the latest blockchain trends and topics.

No matter the focus of your event, your attendees will be tapped into the latest buzz from the ever-developing world of Web3, and, by adding these topics to your schedule, you can increase attendance and excitement for your event. Nimble hosts may add or adjust sessions as new topics crop up before the event.

Trending topics related to blockchain, cryptocurrency, and Web3 may include:

• Artificial intelligence (AI)
• Blockchain-enabled business models
• Sustainability
• Internet of Things (IoT) integration

Facilitators should make note of how any trending topics could affect the conversation, especially if facilitating any collaborative workshops or decision-making processes.

6. Invite the right people.

For closed events, like an annual summit for a specific blockchain’s members, plan ahead to get invitations out in a timely manner and follow up with regular reminders and drip campaigns to establish clear communication. Consider how hybrid and remote attendance options can integrate into in-person events to maximize the number of potential attendees.

For the Cardano Constitutional Convention, hosts prioritized having the in-person sessions for the event in Argentina and Kenya. These locations made the event more accessible to stakeholders in Africa and South America while also emphasizing the growing importance of those communities in the blockchain industry.

For large blockchain conferences and cryptocurrency conferences, hosts should create and implement an event marketing plan that identifies the ideal audience and outlines a plan to reach those potential attendees. Meet your audience where they are with targeted advertisements, email marketing, and supporting content that generates buzz for your event.

7. Test your technology.

Web3 leads the way when it comes to online innovation and smart software solutions, so it only makes sense for a blockchain conference or cryptocurrency conference to leverage technology effectively. For workshop sessions, work with your facilitators to select the right software and tools for accurate note-taking and collaboration.

If your event has remote attendees in addition to an in-person event, consider how you can make those virtual attendees feel fully engaged and appreciated. To accomplish this, your blockchain conference may offer virtual networking events, recordings, and interactive sessions like live Q&A panels.

8. Follow up with attendees.

Your last touchpoint should not be when your attendees walk out the door. The immersive digital world has set high expectations for consumers, with the onus on the provider to follow up with the individual. For blockchain conferences, this means that event hosts should develop a clear follow-up plan to continue to engage with attendees after the event. 

This post-conference communication plan can feature:

• Recap emails
• Satisfaction surveys
• Event highlights shared on social media and blog posts
• Exclusive community channels
• Speaker information
• Videos and recordings

Event Facilitation for Blockchain and Crypto Conferences in 2025

The rapid ascension of Web3 has created an expanded community of developers, investors, professionals, and enthusiasts stationed around the world, many of whom will take part in Web3 events like blockchain conferences, cryptocurrency conferences, workshops, and summits. With the right facilitation and preparation, these events can serve as launching pads for continued growth and innovation.

The recent Cardano Constitutional Convention stands as a blueprint for a successful blockchain conference, demonstrating how global collaboration can work with thousands of participants coming together to define the future of Cardano governance. To get the full download on the event, including an exclusive look at the agenda, read the case study from Voltage Control.

Our facilitators from Voltage Control were alumni from our Facilitation Certification Program. They came equipped with the facilitation skills, techniques, and methodologies in order to help the Cardano community succeed. We’re experts in the unique needs of facilitation for blockchain conferences and events.

Are you planning a workshop, conference, or event for blockchain, cryptocurrency, or Web3? Contact Voltage Control to explore how our experienced facilitators can work with you to design a successful event.

The post How to Facilitate a Blockchain Conference appeared first on Voltage Control.

Ever wondered how someone ends up as a professional facilitator? It’s rarely a childhood dream. But the winding road that brings us here is often full of learning, pivots, and the pursuit of more meaningful collaboration. It’s a running joke within the community. Most of us stumbled upon this profession by accident, perhaps sensing that there had to be a better way for people to work and learn together. And discovering a passion and a potential career in solving that problem. Every so often, I receive a message asking how I found my way into facilitation. And like many others, my path wasn’t a straight line; it was more of a winding, adventurous trail. Perhaps my story will offer some insights for those of you just starting or curious about the journey.

Starting Without a Map

The world after college felt vast and directionless. My initial career strategy was simple: try different professions until one truly resonated. This feeling was amplified by a couple of uninspiring internships that made it clear I needed more than just a paycheck; I wanted to be the guy who could see the big picture and help others see it too.

Learning Through Adventure

Fate intervened in the form of a college friend who gave me a strong recommendation for a role at a student travel company. This marked the beginning of my deep dive into the world of experiential education, a cornerstone of my career journey for the next decade. I spent those years crafting and leading global travel experiences for students across the Americas, helping groups of young individuals and their teachers broaden their horizons and work in teams.

At first, I was drawn to the idea of getting paid to explore. But as I matured in the role, I fell deeply in love with the art of experiential learning, the subtle dance of making the learning process not just educational but truly impactful. The benefits of this approach are profound and well-documented: improved knowledge retention through active, relevant group activities; the development of crucial soft skills like teamwork, communication, and leadership; enhanced motivation and emotional engagement; the crucial bridge between theory and real-world practice; a safe space for experimentation and learning from mistakes; and ultimately, increased self-efficacy and empowerment. 

I loved trying to make our programs feel as effortless as possible, meticulously noting needs that arose during one experience and then addressing them in the design of the next. Before I knew it, I had worked all over the Americas, contributing to the growth and development of hundreds of students, teachers, and adventurers.

The work felt incredibly rewarding. I tell people I’d probably still be doing it if I hadn’t hit a ceiling as an employee. So much so that I made several passionate but ultimately unsuccessful attempts to launch my own programs. When those ventures didn’t pan out, I felt adrift, the prospect of starting a less exciting career loomed.

Discovering Design Thinking

Then, in 2015, a new horizon appeared: Design Thinking. A friend in Bogota invited me to help implement a program teaching students the fundamental principles of Human-Centered Design. This was a revelation. I was immediately struck by the powerful impact this seemingly simple problem-solving approach could have on teams. And then, I discovered that companies worldwide were actively seeking individuals to integrate Design Thinking methodologies into their business processes.

Finally, I knew my next move. I had found a more practical approach to helping people learn, and solve problems. In 2016, despite lacking a formal background in design or technology and with only one short project under my belt, I dove headfirst into the world of Design Thinking.

There was a steep learning curve! It felt overwhelming at times. I immersed myself in problem framing, various research methodologies, prototyping, and the crucial balance between convergent and divergent thinking, among a myriad of other topics. And, of course, the ever-present question loomed: how long would it take to start earning a living?

Facilitation as a Craft

With the cost and time commitment of a Master’s degree feeling prohibitive, and a strong belief in my natural ability to bring people together for social learning, I opted for an entrepreneurial approach. Alongside devouring the essential books, listening to insightful podcasts, and actively participating in online forums, I recognized the vital importance of building genuine relationships with established design leaders in the industry. This led me to start a Design Thinking meetup in my new home of Salt Lake City, Utah. At each gathering, anywhere from five to fifty people would come together to apply Design Thinking principles to tackle a real-world public challenge. Over four remarkable years, I hosted eighty of these Design Thinking meetups.

During this period of intense self-learning, I stumbled upon Jake Knapp’s work, “Sprint.” In this book, he brilliantly breaks down the often-intimidating innovation workshop into an accessible recipe, clearly defining the roles of each participant. I believe that was the first time the role of a facilitator truly crystallized for me.“Facilitation wasn’t just a skill—it was a mindset. A way of holding space, of helping people find their own way forward.” And then, seemingly out of the blue, I was offered the opportunity to facilitate Design Sprints at a local company!

It was exhilarating! The process felt remarkably similar to crafting those student travel experiences; I could focus on the process, ensuring everyone was engaged and learning together. I was hooked!

Finding My Facilitation Community

So the question remained: how could I create more opportunities to facilitate? Having now glimpsed the joy of professional facilitation and becoming aware of even more methodologies and skills, I felt a new wave of overwhelm. Even having already successfully led corporate innovation sessions, I knew it was time to stop going it alone and build confidence with like-minded people on a similar path.

My first step was to attend the Design Sprint Conference, where I experienced my first workshop facilitation training. It was there that I had the opportunity to connect with many inspiring individuals, one of whom was Douglas Ferguson, the President of Voltage Control. He was doing the very work I aspired to do, full-time and with evident passion.

One of the persistent challenges for facilitators is finding consistent opportunities to practice. Reading about facilitation techniques can only take you so far; practical, real-world experience is essential. Douglas, recognizing this need, hosted a weekly online community of practice session called Facilitation Lab. I became a regular participant, forging friendships within the community and actively sharing my learning journey on LinkedIn.

Perhaps recognizing my commitment and enthusiasm, Douglas extended an invitation to work as an assistant during his workshops. This was an incredible opportunity to become more comfortable navigating client relationships and new processes without all the stress. 

It also made me want to do what he was doing even more. It created an urgency within me to level up my own game faster. I needed a program to help me get there. And the Voltage Control’s Facilitation Certification was just what I needed to do it. 

Saying Yes to the Certification

Not to say there weren’t some initial hesitations about the Facilitation Certification. Since its 3 months, time commitment was a significant concern; juggling my existing work, passion projects, friends, and yoga obsession already felt like a tightrope walk. Additionally, because the certification program was intentionally method-agnostic, I worried it would be too theoretical. 

My doubts were quickly assuaged during the admissions call for the Voltage Control Facilitation Certification. This wasn’t a generic sales pitch; it felt like a tailored consultation. The team, with whom I already had a relationship, took the time to better understand my aspirations and challenges. They thoughtfully mapped out specific aspects of the program that would have the most significant impact on my individual growth and how to use the capstone portfolio presentation to fulfill the individual outcome I wanted. 

Deciding to finally enroll felt fantastic. I couldn’t wait to carve out time to work deeply on my goals. But the surprises didn’t end there, I was invited to be a Teaching Assistant (TA) for the program! I was genuinely thrilled.

Growth Through Practice and Community

Stepping into the role of TA brought with it a fresh set of challenges. Initially, I wrestled with self-doubt. Would I be knowledgeable enough? Could I effectively support other learners? However, these insecurities were overcome by the supportive environment of the cohort. The other participants were not only learners but invaluable allies. We were all navigating a learning journey together, sharing our experiences, offering encouragement, and celebrating each other’s progress. 

This cohort-based learning model proved to be incredibly powerful. The shared momentum kept us all engaged and accountable. The sense of community fostered a supportive system where we could freely ask questions, offer peer feedback, and build lasting professional connections. The diverse perspectives, combined with participants’ individual agendas, enriched our discussions and broadened our understanding of facilitation in various contexts.

Unexpected Gifts Along the Way

Unanticipated gifts surfaced out of these discussions. I discovered a new skill that would be both challenging and profoundly transformative for my practice: mastering Clean Language. Clean Language is a hallmark of effective facilitation. It’s the idea of using language precisely and neutrally, without injecting personal biases or interpretations into the conversation. Clean Language is a precise and empathetic way of facilitating conversations that allows individuals and groups to explore their own unique “map of the world” and discover their own meaningful insights and outcomes.

Learning Clean language is not easy. It takes lots of practice. It’s one thing to understand the theory, but putting it into practice requires conscious effort and self-awareness. I was ecstatic when Voltage Control provided a dedicated course on Clean Language during our asynchronous learning month, where I could roleplay with peers. 

The second unanticipated gift of the method-agnostic program was the confidence to lead across facilitation disciplines. Listening to my peers, I noticed that while specific activities might have different names across methodologies, the underlying principles often remain the same. I gained the ability to quickly see how activities from Design Thinking could be easily applied to organizational development, strategy, and learning agendas. 

I used Facilitation Lab to try out what we had been learning in the cohort. I liked having a safe space to experiment and receive feedback before sharing back with our cohort for more feedback. All these opportunities to practice instilled in me a greater sense of readiness for work with clients. 

Becoming a Facilitation Chef

Finally, receiving detailed feedback on my capstone portfolio project was perfect for gauging if I had met my personalized learning goals. It made me document and reflect on my evolving facilitation style, the strategies I employed, and the outcomes I helped achieve. This portfolio has become a crucial asset in communicating my capabilities to potential clients and collaborators, effectively showcasing the depth of my facilitation skills and my unwavering commitment to continuous improvement.

It became clear from feedback by experienced professionals that I had become more confident and adaptable in my practice. It made me think of an article I had read years earlier about “facilitation chefs”. “Cooks” follow recipes(Design Sprint), but the “chef” understands the ingredients and can adapt and create based on the specific needs of the group. What seemed like such a stretch at the time had become reality.

Beyond the tangible skills gained, the program created a deeper passion for the art of facilitation and the people doing the work. And just like during my time in student travel, I moved beyond just wanting a paycheck, doing something fun. I’ve fallen in love with a noble profession and desire to help advance it. This personal evolution transformed me into not just a more capable facilitator providing a better service for my clients, but a more fulfilled individual, genuinely excited about the prospect of driving meaningful change through the power of collaboration.           

As I look ahead, I’m committed to not only doing great work with great clients but helping others discover the magic of facilitation, too.

The post Bug Spray To Sticky Notes appeared first on Voltage Control.

In this episode of the Facilitation Lab podcast, host Douglas Ferguson speaks with facilitation experts Tammy Shubat and Robin Cory, both Voltage Control certification alumni. Tammy shares her journey from leadership to facilitation, focusing on relationship-building and creating safe spaces for bold participation. Robin discusses her facilitation approach, inspired by Tammy, and emphasizes thoughtful session design to foster engagement and creativity. Together, they explore the challenges and opportunities in the nonprofit sector, highlighting the importance of collaboration, purposeful gatherings, and centering relationships to drive meaningful change within mission-driven organizations.

Show Highlights

[00:01:33] First Sparks of Facilitation
[00:06:42] Tools, Techniques, and Intuition
[00:10:30] “Wreck and Rebuild” and Improv Activities
[00:13:54] Designing for Bold Thinking
[00:21:14] Honoring People and Setting the Stage
[00:25:44] Warming Up for Bold Participation
[00:28:38] Head vs. Heart: Actions and Connections
[00:34:09] Future Challenges: Collaboration and Collective Impact

Links | Resources

Tammy on Linkedin

Robin on Linkedin

About the Guest

Tammy has worked in health promotion and education for more than 22 years, and specifically for the last 17 years with Ophea, advancing health and well-being in Ontario schools. Currently in the Director of Partnerships and Public Affairs role, Tammy aligns provincial and national partners, business development opportunities, and strategic objectives for Ophea, and for the sector at large. With a practice in grounded in social justice and anti-oppressive approaches in education, Tammy is a proud member of the 2SLGBTQ community, an advocate, and a mum.

Robin Cory is a strategist, facilitator, and coach dedicated to turning bold ideas into meaningful action. With over 20 years of experience, Robin has worked alongside non-profits, foundations, and collaboratives across Canada to sharpen their strategies and deepen their impact.  

About Voltage Control

Voltage Control is a facilitation academy that develops leaders through certifications, workshops, and organizational coaching focused on facilitation mastery, innovation, and play. Today’s leaders are confronted with unprecedented uncertainty and complex change. Navigating this uncertainty requires a systemic facilitative approach to gain clarity and chart pathways forward. We prepare today’s leaders for now and what’s next.

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Transcript

Douglas:

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 Tammy Shubat and Robin Cory. Tammy is at Ophea where she facilitates and enables partnerships and public affairs for the organization and for the education sector more broadly to advance the health and well-being of kids in schools across the province of Ontario. Robin leads a strategy and facilitation practice that helps mission-driven organizations at pivotal moments gain strategic clarity, make powerful decisions, and take bold action. Welcome to the show.

Robin:

It’s such a treat to be here. Thanks, Douglas.

Tammy:

So happy to be here with you both.

Douglas:

Yeah, it’s a treat for me too because I usually don’t have two people on at the same time. So I get two alumni in the room with me today. I’m so excited to dive in with both of you, to hear both your stories and it’s an intertwined story because you work so closely together. You do a lot together, so it’ll be inspiring to hear how you collaborate. So let’s start at the beginning. Could you each share the moment of facilitation that first caught your attention?

Robin:

My mother was really a born facilitator. As a child, I got to witness her in lots of community settings, whether it was advocating for a new school in our neighborhood or leading community meetings or door-to-door fundraising. So I really saw her in action and left me really inspired. And as I went through school, high school in particular, I gravitated towards roles where I got to lead groups and influence people and work in teams and it really gave me a buzz. And I’ve since then continued through university and through jobs to be leaning into that passion.

Tammy:

I love that, Robin. I feel like I would’ve probably in my earlier life self-identified as a leader, but maybe not as a facilitator. And I think probably my spark was probably seeing you facilitate for the first time when you came to Ophea about 10 years ago to sort lead that initial strategy exercise. I remember just being so taken by your approaches and how you engaged people and how far you sort of pushed the questions that you were sort of asking us. And so I would say you were my spark to the practice of facilitation as something that I wanted to maybe embed in my own practice in some way.

Robin:

And our kind of journey together has been such a fun one. And it’s so interesting to hear you reflect on that because really today we operate as peers and spend so much time co-facilitating that it’s hard to even imagine that you are inspired by me, because I’m so very inspired by you in many, many ways.

Douglas:

Tammy, in your alumni story, you mentioned previously identifying more as a leader versus a facilitator. Oftentimes, I’ve seen that come down to how language and vocabulary influence how we self-identify. When you reflect back to those days of just having that lens of leadership, how much of what you were already doing was rooted in some of these beliefs and philosophies that we now hold dearly in facilitation?

Tammy:

It’s a great question, Douglas, and I wish I could be kinder to myself because I’ll be honest and say I think my, I really loved in my earlier days, having the room and having the space and I always thought I had something so great to say. And I remember even thinking to myself, “I can’t wait for this person to stop talking so I can say what I have to say because it’s so much better than what that person has to say.” So I think it’s actually taken a fair bit of growth in my own learning trajectory to see my role differently, which is perhaps less as the contributor or the most powerful voice in the room, but rather as the person who has the ability to perhaps tease out a variety of perspectives that can enrich the conversation in a more full way. So I would say my early days were not exemplary. They were perhaps great ground for learning though. And I’m sure a few people put me in my place, which is wonderful and has gotten me to maybe where I am now.

Robin:

Admittedly, I can relate to that feeling certainly. And I also think, Tammy, when I think about you in a room, what I think is actually such a powerful part of the way that you facilitate is that you hold the space and you invite people’s contribution in such a sort of warm and welcoming and inclusive way, but at the same time, you actually aren’t afraid to assert a point of view. And I think sometimes in facilitation it’s this dance between really creating space for others but also offering perspectives and questions and ideas that are going to move the conversation forward. And I feel like you do that selectively and intentionally and it really does indeed, I think move the conversation forward.

Tammy:

Thank you for that. And I love that point in the sense that I think the idea of a neutral facilitator is false. None of us are. And actually in fact, even if we’re pretending to really just facilitate the voices in the room, we’ve designed the facilitation, you obviously have a desired outcome. So I think I appreciate that and I think I appreciate that perspective around the dance that that is. And so how do you strike that sort of balance in the spaces that you create versus where you may be contributing more pointedly?

Douglas:

That makes me curious, do you have tools and techniques that you rely on or is it intuition that enables that? What’s helping you determine when to step back or when to step forward? When is my opinion valuable to the group? When is it disruptive?

Tammy:

I love that question. So there’s a lot of intuition in how I would operate for sure, but I think I’m always watching for cues and I think for those, for what you’ve just articulated, I tend to prefer in-person facilitation because it allows me to read the room in a really different way than in a virtual facilitation. So in an in-person facilitation, I’m always watching body language, where people are sitting, where they’re looking, if they’re having sidebar conversations, those are all cues to me around somebody in this room has something to say or there’s this underlying feeling of dis-ease.

And so how might I pose a question that allows folks to bubble up what it is might be going on under the surface? I think I struggle a bit more with that with virtual facilitation because I think people use so many tools differently, like the mute function or they’ll go off-screen or I think the strategies for engagement I haven’t fully maybe figured out, but I’m trying to. But yeah, but there’s a fair bit of intuition there in terms of when I might inject my perspective. I don’t know, Robin, how you feel that.

Robin:

Yeah, something I’ve seen you do and I think I try to do as well is potentially frame up a hypothesis. “So based on everything that I’m hearing, it feels like where you are leaning is this.” Or, “Based on everything I understand and know about your organization and your context or your team, it strikes me that Y would be a really healthy and effective path forward.” Let’s say. And then it at least creates that opening for them to say, “Actually, no.” So it’s a hypothesis they can react to or get the feeling of, “Absolutely, yes.” And then that sometimes helps to just move the conversation to the next level. We actually don’t have anything that we need to discuss anymore, we’re actually aligned and clear.

Tammy:

I love when you do that session-effective approach.

Douglas:

Do you recall a time when that happened recently?

Robin:

It’s funny, as Tammy was talking, I was thinking about a session I had yesterday, and actually I don’t think it was the best version of this, but it was an attempt to do this and I think it yielded the results I wanted, but I sometimes think the risk is, so what happened yesterday in this conversation I was leading was that I felt like there was a point of alignment where I was trying to distinguish between in my work what an organization might think of as their ultimate impact, which is kind of that big lofty goal they’re driving towards, but they’re not likely to be able to hold themselves accountable for it, and hunger and homelessness, that kind of thing. Versus the intended impact, so what are the things that they can directly contribute to and hold themselves accountable to or for?

And in this moment yesterday I kind of declared, like I said, “I think we can all agree that your organization is not likely to drive or be able to hold yourself accountable to this particular ultimate impact, so let’s talk about what you can hold yourself accountable to.” And they pushed back actually and said, “That’s actually not our operating assumption. We do believe that we can contribute meaningfully to that ultimate goal as big and lofty as it might be.” And that was really helpful for me to hear. It wasn’t a point at which I was going to agree or disagree with that, but it actually really was an important thing for me to know about how that organization relates to that particular goal.

Douglas:

That reminds me of a powerful technique, posing the wrong answer or a prototype for folks to respond to. Oftentimes, if I have a thought, I like to couch it in, “This is probably wrong, but what do you think about it?” Because it makes it safe for them to tear it apart or let them go, “Actually, yeah, that does make sense.”

Tammy:

Totally.

Robin:

Yeah, yeah. Or, “This is here for you to wreck and rebuild.” My partner, Margot loves to say that and I adopt that as well. And that really gives people freedom. Usually they’re like, “No, no, no, we don’t need to fully wreck and rebuild.” But then you can kind of dial back and say, “But we could tweak or change these few things.” And giving people permission to do that I think does create an opening.

Douglas:

Wow, that wrecking and rebuilding is making me think about. Fortunately, an activity that was used as a closer for a recent facilitation lab facilitated by Lori Wilson, also known as fortunately, unfortunately. Unfortunately We is an improv game where participants take turns creating the story together, alternating between positive and negative developments. The first person starts by describing a fortunate event, beginning with the word fortunately, we, the next person follows up with something unfortunately, kind of tearing down the previous thing, starting with unfortunately, then it goes back to fortunately and so on. It’s quick, playful, and challenges everyone to think creatively and stay present.

Robin:

Yeah.

Tammy:

That’s cool.

Robin:

That’s a good one. I really like that. It reminds me a little bit of the pre-mortem where you start with all the things that could go wrong at the beginning of a process as opposed to waiting for the post-mortem at the end of a process. And I think it reveals similar things of how do we preempt or potentially avoid certain things from happening? How do we lay the track or put the conditions in place for this to really be successful?

Tammy:

I think, and even just in both of those examples, sorry, it opens up space for, it is precisely what you folks said around giving people permission to participate in that way where we’re not going to tiptoe around the issues. We will give ourselves permission to actually boldly engage with what we’re going to talk about today or participate and be able to take that risk. So I love that.

Douglas:

Let’s further explore this idea of taking bold risks. What are some of your other favorite ways of doing that?

Tammy:

We talked a little bit about this morning, Robin. It makes me think about maybe just style. I think maybe we set the stage differently, but I think sometimes for me it’s about relationship building with people in the room first to allow for that. So if I’m, for example, facilitating in a space that might have folks with different levels of power within an organization, or the board is there with the staff, and so we’re trying to create something collaborative off the top where they’re able to work together.

So in a recent facilitation that Robin and I did together, we did something arts-based at the beginning. That seemed like a little bit fluffy, but for a lot of the more junior staff who were in the room, they really valued that as a beginning point. It allowed them to become more comfortable in the space and to open up on something that was, I’m going to say maybe lower risk in the moment, but allowed them to take more risks later on during the day. So I think that’s one of the ways. I think Robin, you do a really good job often, perhaps maybe less so with an activity, but more around what are the conditions for participation today. But go ahead.

Robin:

Yeah, no, I agree. I think doing that early work to set the table so that people feel like it is a space where you can be bold and sometimes the boldness comes out of the messiness and the friction, and so how do you make sure that there’s freedom to imagine and to dream. And we used, actually it was in terms of the cascade in that particular session’s design, Tammy did a beautiful job actually in the morning with this particular exercise. It was called Pionki, and it was this really cool thing that they built that looked like a spider. It kind of looked like a mobile if you picture hanging from a crib. And it’s, I think you said a Polish word, and it’s all about harmony and good fortune and interconnecting this with people. And so everybody kind of built their strand of this Pionki as a group and then they had to assemble it. So it actually hung together and worked.

And I thought that was really powerful, because it did let people see where they were coming from and they actually had to discuss something related to the strategy and related to something that they were connected to around Ophea’s work and Ophea’s strategy. As the day followed, we spent some time talking about the context and some of the conditions that might be standing in the way of some of the kinds of outcomes that Ophea is driving toward. And then we actually ended the day, so back to your question, Douglas, about bold, how do you set the stage for people to think boldly? We actually used the deflection point exercise that I learned as a part of the Voltage Control program that allowed people to first start talking about with Ophea’s plans as they’ve been laid, what would be the status quo outcomes? What do they think they could achieve if they continued on the path that they’re on?

Then we talked about what does the bold path look like? So what if you were to times 10 your impact? What if you were to take audacious and transformative steps towards even greater impact? What would that look like? And then we talked about the rockets and the anchors. So what are those things, the rockets that are going to kind of propel you towards the bold path and what are the anchors that have the risk of pulling you down to status quo? And we’re really at the early stages of a strategic planning process with Ophea. So I thought it gave us some really good fodder for what boldness could look like and help us kind of calibrate where people’s thinking are right now. And in some cases we’re going to need to push them further, and in some cases we’re going to be able to, I think, lean into some of the things that people surfaced. Is that fair, Tammy?

Tammy:

Totally. And I think I want give you your flowers for how thoughtfully you designed that particular activity because I think that could be a quick sort of somewhat mechanical activity. But I think Robin put a lot of thought into the design and the questions that would support people in really identifying what truly were some of those bolder opportunities and what actually might hold people back. And I think and really played it, we played it out a fair bit before actually moving into the facilitation. Like, how might people answer this question and how will this sort of play out in the broader facilitation? And I think we were able to sort of stick with that activity for quite a long time and I feel like it really unlocked some of the bigger opportunities and maybe some of the bigger barriers that we’ll face in trying to get there. So it was really powerful.

Douglas:

Robin, hearing her talk about how you just didn’t throw the structure at them has reminded me of your alumni story and how you shared your intention of transitioning from relying on structure to navigating complex dynamics with more ease. I’m hearing that you thought about the people, the questions, and the prompts you need to get the desired reaction. It seems like you’re actually leaning into those dynamics a little more rather than just throwing the structure out there.

Robin:

Yeah, yeah. And that’s part of, I think one of the things that is so helpful about having a co-facilitator, even though Tammy in this case was the client and sort of hired me to do this work, we’ve done so much co-facilitation in the past I think, and Tammy brings that skillset that usually when I’m doing things with her organization, we are co-facilitating it. And so I think that sometimes if I don’t have a Tammy, I do have to kind of just go in on faith and trust that the exercise is going to work well. But what’s nice is the thought partnership of being able to sort of, as Tammy said, sort of test what could this look like with your crowd? How do we think people might answer this? What are some of the things that might come up that I wouldn’t expect? And going into rooms, I do like to have that preview wherever possible of what could happen and how I might be able to get ahead of that.

Tammy:

I think that’s one of your greatest strengths as a facilitator, Robin. I think it’s what you bring to the facilitation process. As someone who’s worked with you for a really long time, I would say there are a lot of folks who have tools and who can just throw a tool out there and facilitate. But I think the thought that Robin puts into the design in advance really is one of her greatest strengths as a facilitator. Because I think I’ve worked with many facilitators who will just sort of throw tools or throw canned exercises into a room based on what they think might be a standard process or a standard outcome that groups are trying to achieve.

But I think the way in which Robin tries to understand context and how a particular question might land with a group of people really brings that extra added value, because when she plays that out and then we actually bring it to the space and it does land in a particular way, it can be really transformational for a group of people versus just what folks might just mechanically go through an exercise. It’s a tremendous value that she brings to that process for sure. I often joke with my colleagues, it’s never easy to work with Robin. It feels like… No, I mean that in a loving way. I’m not looking for easy. It’s like she pushes you and pushes you and asks that next question and, “What if we think about it this way? And what if we think about it that way?” And twists the whole thing up to then move us through what will be a better experience? It’s absolutely worth it, but it’s not easy and that’s a good thing.

Robin:

I still remember when we were planning for last week’s session, we were at a cafe, actually, Douglas, when we were planning it, and Tammy looked at me and she said, “I’m done.”

Douglas:

Tapping out.

Robin:

“I think we got it. I think we got it.”

Douglas:

That’s so good.

Robin:

I do kind of really get into it. Yeah, but I tend to work with partners and clients that are kind of up for it and Tammy most certainly is.

Douglas:

Great point, Tammy. You’re throwing accolades at Robin for bringing this attention and care to what might surface in the room. It’s also important to acknowledge the fact that you value it and you’re embracing and encouraging it and you’re able to articulate insights on the team. There’s a lot of leaders that facilitators might go to and ask the same questions, try to get the same stuff, and either they don’t value it or they don’t have the right observational tendencies or abilities to be able to reflect the important stuff back. And it’s a real gift to have to collaborate with partners like this that can help point out some of the things so that we don’t have to just guess or totally just tune our radar into the moment without any prior knowledge.

Robin:

Yeah, totally. I want to give an example actually, because I think hopefully for listeners, some of the facilitation examples are instructive, but in this particular session just because it was so recent, it’s top of mind. When we talk about the way we set the stage for being able to have people feel connected, in addition to doing that exercise, the art exercise, the other thing that Tammy actually built into the session was that there were two staff members that were hitting their 15 year anniversaries with the organization. And it was a strategy conversation, it was a board staff retreat, but she felt like it was a good moment to actually honor these two staff members.

And so I’ve been to lots of anniversary celebrations of people that hit milestones in workplaces, and this was very unique. What they had actually done was they had, for each of the people had put up on the wall, what’s their catchphrase? What was their core values? What were their favorite places? What were their favorite foods? What were their favorite expressions? And that was all up there as Tammy and other people were kind of saying, acknowledging things right down to if this person were a mascot for the organization, what animal would they be? And what about the fox or what about the raccoon represents them? And admittedly, I was listening, I’m like, “This is long.”

And Tammy knows that I’m all about, “We got 10 minutes. We got 10 minutes.” But I sort of obviously pulled myself back and I thought, “My God, how beautiful is this moment? And how honored do these people feel? And how rare is it to really deeply acknowledge people who have contributed so many years and so much to an organization and have them be seen and appreciated in front of all the people they probably care most about?” This was the board of the organization, this was the full staff of the organization. So really hats off to you, Tammy, because those are the things that I know we didn’t even talk about it in the debrief, but that I think really made for the kind of environment that then enabled us to get to where we got to.

Tammy:

Thank you. I appreciate that so much. I think, and we’ve talked a little bit about this, one of my biggest drivers, or maybe one of my core values is how people feel. How people feel, and also to have people feel something as a result of something that we go through together. And I think whenever there’s a moment, and even if it’s a longer moment, to embed that, I actually think it goes a long way in the rest of the day. So I’m happy to spend the time there. But yeah, thank you. I’ll find your mascot animal, Robin, next time I’ll identify your mascot animal for you.

Robin:

I was hoping, I was hoping.

Tammy:

It’s coming.

Douglas:

Tammy, in your alumni story, you mentioned letting go of control and learning to be present. I’m curious, how’s that journey going and how did it impact how you showed up at this recent session?

Tammy:

That’s a great question. I think I will say that’s a lifelong journey for someone like me, Douglas.

Douglas:

Of course.

Tammy:

I’m an A type personality who enjoys a tremendous amount of control, and I think that’s why I like being front of room, because I’m not at the mercy of how other people are going to run a show. I feel like Robin’s probably the only person I trusted to run a room with. But I think in recent years I’ve had a lot of positive experiences in, I would say more collaborative approaches that leave a little bit to chance because I think there’s always a way to sort of steer it from the sides rather than the center, if that makes sense. So I think in this particular example of this day and that arts-based activity, I didn’t realize how worried I was about how that was going to go or not go.

I spent a stupid amount of time getting materials ready, thinking about how people were going to thread their stories together, thinking about all these little elements for what was really just an introductory activity. I probably spent more time there than I should have, but I think it was because I was leaving so much up to chance in that moment, in that particular activity in the room. And it could have flopped, they could have not been able to pull it off. They could have not wanted to engage, but it didn’t. And I think there’s perhaps a whole bunch of reasons for that. And also we just have a good bunch of people who are willing to take a risk. But to some degree, maybe some of those conversations and the staff accolades and stuff at the beginning maybe set the tone for a space of low enough risk that it was a space of care that we were in.

Robin:

Yeah.

Douglas:

You talked earlier about using art and getting people comfortable and preparing them to be bold. That got me to thinking about how singers will warm up their voices. If they just start to show up and then just start seeing immediately, they might damage their voice or they might just not be ready or capable of doing the things they might demand of their vocal cords. And it’s these transformations and change that takes time and care. And so asking people to be bold and innovative or just behave in ways that aren’t asked to day in, day out is hard without a transformation or a transition.

Robin:

Yeah, it’s funny, I was thinking of a quote that I actually wrote down that Eric, I think it was Eric who said during the Voltage Control training, and he drew it from psychological safety, it sounds like sort of pedagogy. And the quote was, “You need to decrease social friction to increase intellectual friction.” And I think there’s something there about the way in which Tammy’s oriented to forming connections that, and we’ve joked before about Tammy maybe being more the heart and me being more the head. Although I don’t think, I think there’s a strong overlap in our Venn diagrams on that. But I do really try to channel that in designing sessions so that you’re really having people feel connected socially and connected to each other so that we can have sometimes really tough conversations intellectually. And I don’t know if that directly answers your question, but that’s what was sort of sparked for me when you were asking it.

Tammy:

And if I were to maybe amplify that, I would say I think we’re, even if I think about facilitating five or six years ago or in a pre-pandemic context, I think that the world is a bit of a different place now, and I think this desire or need for connectivity is greater maybe than it was before. I think people are increasingly disconnected. People work in their remote work environments, they’re largely connecting online. Sometimes we’re bringing them together in a room and we expect this muscle that they used to have to be ready to go, and it’s not actually.

And so I actually do think it is worthwhile taking a little bit more time in the upfront to set the conditions for everyone to be able to be present and be in the room and contribute in the way that we’re hoping that they will. And I think they crave it, but I don’t think they know how quite, I think. And I notice that there are some generational differences in that as well, there are identity-based differences in how people are able to show up. But I do think now more than ever, there’s a need for us as facilitators to sort of zoom in on that maybe as part of our practice.

Robin:

Yeah. And we didn’t actually say the heart and the head. We talked about people feeling a focus on you, sort of focusing more on connections and me focusing more on actions and decisions. And I think that there is, just apropos to what you just said about the lack of people being physically together, is that I’m finding there’s a lot more work you got to do to get people to the point of making decisions and taking action because they’re not, to your point, doing that, engaging with each other in the same ways with the same regularity and sometimes not about tougher things. So because you’re a box on a screen, you’re just not going to put the energy often into disagreeing.

It’s like, I’ll just be okay with that, or I’ll go off-screen and deal with it elsewhere. Versus when you’re in spaces live, there’s just more friction that happens, like healthy friction and you work that muscle of working through it. So I think as facilitators, it puts more of an onus on investing the time and energy in doing some of that. And I have to hold back my desire to quickly get to decisions and actions and do more of that, making sure the ground is fertile for that.

Tammy:

If I were to give a nod to one, I’m going to say approach that really helped me during the cert was the e-learning course on a narrative futures design. And so I think that’s an approach that has served me as a facilitator, I think, in thinking about this moment and the disconnection that folks are experiencing. And it really opens up the space to dream in a way that perhaps other approaches haven’t. And so I’ve really enjoyed utilizing that, especially if we’re doing sort of forward-thinking work and as opposed to designing to solve a problem. Let’s imagine the desired state, not with all of the obstacles or barriers sort of discourse that we would typically use when we facilitate. So I think that is one particular approach that supports dreaming and connection and these sort of approaches that I think really serve having people show up in a space in a particular way.

Robin:

And Tammy, you said, I remember after because that was one of the electives in our Voltage Control course, and I remember afterwards you were saying that you’ve been finding it particularly effective with young people.

Tammy:

Yeah, yeah, because I think if we think about generational impacts of the pandemic or even just sort of where we’re at in the world, I think there’s certain generations of young people that you speak to that maybe don’t dream or that possibility of dreaming has sort of gone away. The perception of the future is not so great, but if you ask them to, they’re very capable, but I think no one’s asking them to. They’re always caught in these conversations about these really dire social issues or these moments that we’re in as opposed to how might we dream or imagine the world that we want to be in and contributing to.

Robin:

Yeah, and one of the things I know that has resonated both with Tammy and me that came out of our Voltage Control conversations and training is this idea of the spaces we create being these temporary worlds, I think is how you all talk about it. And so to that point about dreaming, we have the privilege as facilitators to be able to create this world, this space where people can do things that they don’t do outside of the room. And if we do it well, that creates an opening for people to connect in different ways, to think together in different ways, to potentially lead to different kinds of results than they can have. And the practice of operating in this temporary space potentially in new ways, maybe more creative, maybe more silly, maybe more vulnerable ways can then carry over if we do it well into other environments.

And I think that what I’m finding in this moment, particularly working in the nonprofit sector where the virtual work has remained, I think more so than in corporate settings where people are going back to work more days of the week, I’m finding that the moments where I get the opportunity to lead staff sessions or bring teams together around strategy conversations are some of the rarest in-person moments they have. They’re just precious moments. And so I feel like there’s a privilege, but there’s also responsibility in making sure with these rare moments where people are together in the same room, that we’re not just checking the box around, have we come up with the right strategic priorities? But we’re really maximizing that time to, usually organizations have lots of different goals that they’re packing in to what they want to achieve in a single day or a single retreat.

Tammy:

What I tend to try to do with that one, Robin, just around this idea of this temporary world that we’ve created is if I’ve intentionally sort of done that at the beginning, I always try to end with what of this world would you like to take forward with you in your day to day? Because I think although these moments are rare, I would like for that way of being or existing or engaging to be less rare for folks. So what is it of what we created in that moment that they would like to embed in their practice or in their regular meetings or in their day-to-day? Because I think that is the culture shifting stuff that an individual touch point can sort of have in the future.

Robin:

What a great prompt. I love that.

Douglas:

Let’s point our attention toward the future and hear about the challenges and opportunities you’re most energized to take on.

Robin:

I think that the challenge that I am probably, as Tammy knows, spending the most time thinking about, is really about how to more intentionally, maybe more creatively, maybe more effectively be able to bring multiple stakeholders, organizations, groups together that can align around shared goals and need to really chart a course towards achieving them. And I think in this moment there, we kind of had a heyday of collective impact a decade ago where I think people really were drawing from and leaning on that pedagogy. And I feel like there’s still collaborative work, there’s still collective work, but I feel like there isn’t as much as is needed to address the complex issues that we face.

And I’m really clear we’re not going to solve some of the big intractable things that we’re, or seemingly intractable things that we’re faced with on any dimension, homelessness, climate, food insecurity, all the things that organizations I work with deal with one organizational strategy at a time. It’s just not going to happen. And so the interplay between different players is what gets me really excited. And how do you create those spaces for innovative thinking and dialogue and alignment around them? So I’m looking for opportunities to do more of that and organizations that want to sort of be together in a sandbox to try on some different ways of working together.

Tammy:

And I think if I were to piggyback off of that, Robin, because we’ve chatted about this a fair bit, and I think we’ve tried through some of our facilitations to do some of that broader sector work, but it’s hard. It’s difficult in this current climate and context. I don’t know if this is true in the US, but in Canada, charities and nonprofits are really struggling. There’s a number of smaller ones that are shutting their doors. There’s a real, I would say, survivability mindset as opposed to a more collaborative mindset or a mindset of abundance where we might all sort of benefit from working more together.

So I think as someone who works within an organization who is pleased to collaborate, it’s been really difficult to even convince funders to put money into a pot for a number of organizations to work together. So I think that continues to maybe be the challenge of the future, but it is certainly the only way to solve the problems that we’re seeking to solve. So I think continuing to, in the absence of really direct pathways to achieving that, what are some of the creative ways that we can pull that off is I think a bit where we’re at in a future state, but it’s definitely, it is a driver. There is no one individual charity or organization that will change the world on the issue that they’re trying to change the world on. It’s not possible.

Robin:

Yeah, and you see this up close with the kind of system level work you do as an organization. So it’s kind of in your DNA to work this way.

Douglas:

Amazing. You’re doing important work, and I’m glad you’re focused on it. I hope you catch the next wave of collaboration and collective work.

Tammy:

Yeah, totally.

Robin:

Yeah. Thanks, Douglas.

Tammy:

Yeah, I hope so.

Douglas:

As we come to a close, I’d like to invite you to leave our listeners with a final thought.

Tammy:

My final thought for listeners would be to reflect on the importance and the value of relationships in the work that we do. And so at the end of the day, we are all in relationships with each other. Some of them are good, some of them are strained, and we’re seeking to enhance those. And without centering our practice on those relationships, I think we will inevitably leave people behind.

Robin:

That resonates for sure. I am a huge Priya Parker fan. The Art of Gathering I know was one of the books we read as a part of this, and my, I guess final thought would be around, for anyone out there that’s gathering people or facilitating conversations or leading meetings, there’s a really simple truth at the heart of her book, which is that you need to start with purpose. And while it seems obvious, so many meetings happen without actually crystallizing why we are coming together. And so starting your with that question of why and what will be different and working backward from that outcome, so you were designing with that why in mind is something I go back to often from her work.

Tammy:

You definitely walk that talk, Robin, because-

Robin:

Thank you.

Tammy:

You definitely asked me that question probably three times in the last three weeks.

Robin:

Thank you for the validation.

Douglas:

Well, it was my pleasure having you on today. It was so great chatting. Hope to see you again soon.

Tammy:

Likewise. Thank you for your time, Douglas and Robin. It’s always a delight to share ideas with you, so thank you.

Robin:

Yeah, same, Tammy. And thanks Douglas, and thanks for the gift that keeps giving of this program.

Douglas:

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 to 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 or I post weekly articles and resources about facilitation, team dynamics, and collaboration. voltagecontrol.com.

The post How Can Facilitators Foster Bold Participation and Collaboration in Nonprofit Organizations? appeared first on Voltage Control.

This historic accomplishment was made possible thanks to dedicated facilitation from Voltage Control. Our certified facilitators traveled around the globe and dialed into hybrid events in order to ensure that the voices and feedback of thousands of participants were heard through a well-coordinated and successful collaboration.

Both our facilitation team and contributors from the Cardano community agree: the Cardano Constitution project was like nothing before. Its success offers far-reaching implications for not just the blockchain industry but also for facilitation, tech, finance, and organizations in both the public and private sectors.

A comprehensive overview of the process behind the Cardano Constitution can be read in our exclusive case study, available for download here.

In this article, we break down the essential takeaways for the future of blockchain and its overlap with facilitation practices.

Blockchain Technology in 2025

Blockchain is a distributed, decentralized, and immutable public ledger that enables secure transactions across a peer-to-peer network. Put simply, it is a secure database to record transactions and manage assets that can be transparently accessed by network participants. Each transaction on the network is recorded as a “block” of data.

Blockchain technology originated in 2008, born from the infrastructure behind Bitcoin, but, today, blockchain applications go far beyond cryptocurrency. Blockchain use cases include:

• Supply chain management
• Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)
• Healthcare records
• Internet of Things (IoT)
• Smart contracts
• Non-fungible Tokens (NFTs)
• Digital identity

Facilitators, thought leaders, and business professionals across industries can benefit from understanding and embracing blockchain and its features, including interconnectivity, Decentralized Finance (DeFi), and cryptography.

Danielle Stanko from Cardano discussed the value of this process as it extends beyond Web3, saying, “To me, not only are we really leading the way in the blockchain industry, but it’s a model worth looking at for any industry with difficult problems to solve… It’s really taking advantage of the diversity of thought, the diversity of experience across the world that people have had… empowering them, giving them a system that is more engaging to be part of and just better for people.”

Key Pillars of the Cardano Constitution Project

The Cardano Constitutional Convention took place from December 4 to December 6, 2024, in Nairobi, Kenya, and Buenos Aires, Argentina, with additional remote attendees from around the globe. The event was the culmination of two years, including five months of Community Workshops and Global Synthesis Workshops involving thousands of participants.

The process behind the Cardano Constitution gave a clear snapshot into the world of blockchain, displaying what it offers to other industries and how facilitation can be optimized for Web3. Let’s explore the key pillars of this process.

Global Collaboration

The Cardano network is accessible by any internet user, no matter where they live. The future of blockchain is clearly multinational, and the politics of blockchain continue to develop in real-time as the industry grows and adapts.

Each participant brought their own cultural backgrounds, personal experiences, languages, and values to their workshops. Facilitators had to balance these personal considerations with the goals of the project, and Cardano hosts had to keep in mind the regulations and expectations of the participants’ different countries.

Cardano Co-founder Charles Hoskinson identified how participants built strong connections with one another, explaining, “They’ve made lifelong friends and those delegates that went to the Constitutional Convention, they’re still talking to each other.”

The Cardano Constitutional Convention and preceding Community Workshops affirmed that successful global collaboration was possible. The Cardano Constitution was ratified by delegates at the Constitutional Convention with 95% approval, and then later voted for on-chain with 85% approval.

Iterative Approach

An iterative approach to governance means governance is introduced incrementally, with regular, designated opportunities for feedback and continuous improvement. This method is especially effective for organizations moving towards decentralization, as it allows for sufficient time for feedback and review from wide swaths of participants.

During Community Workshops, this iterative approach meant workshops participants were assigned a few focused questions regarding the Constitution text to review rather than attempting to evaluate the entire document. Over the course of five months, the workshops eventually compiled feedback for the entire governance draft.

Cardano Co-founder Charles Hoskinson highlighted how the approach to this project supports long-term success, saying, “The bigger achievement is an iterative process where year by year people continue to come together, it gets larger and more meaningful, and then you treat it like an open source work project.”

In the future, Cardano will continue to leverage an iterative approach to further develop governance and other network transformations. The ecosystem will build upon previous progress for a future of sustainable growth.

Decentralized Governance

Public blockchain is inherently decentralized, meaning it’s not owned by a single person or organization. The application and success of this decentralization can vary by network, and, for Cardano, it was important to create a governance structure that used sustainable, equitable decentralized decision-making.

Decentralization is a core pillar of Web3. Blockchain technology, cryptocurrency, and other Web3 products offer the opportunity to take power away from central authorities and instead distribute to a decentralized network. Decentralization in Web3 is trustless, meaning users do not need to place their trust in any one authority, and open to all to participate in.

Decentralized decision-making has beneficial applications well beyond Web3 and the blockchain industry, with its benefits including increased innovation, faster decision-making, improved accountability, and empowered participants.

Engagement and Participation

The process to create Cardano governance would only work if community members from around the world would actively participate in the events and decision making. Participants exceeded those expectations, approaching the process with enthusiasm and thoughtfulness.

The facilitators ensured that every voice was heard, leveraging different facilitation techniques and methodologies to make the most of the participants’ time and feedback. Facilitator Britta Wulfekammer explained, “My role was to make sure we get everyone to speak.” She balanced cultural differences and different power dynamics in order to make the process as successful as possible.

Today, Cardano governance is community-driven, prioritizing transparent decision-making that engages the community through liquid democracy. It offers a blueprint for success to other blockchain networks and decentralized organizations.

What Facilitators Need to Know

The future of Cardano offers plentiful insights into the future of blockchain technology, all of which is made possible by effective facilitation. Blockchain technology and Web3 are only going to continue to grow alongside other rapidly accelerating technologies, such as artificial intelligence.

The process behind the Cardano Constitution can be applied to countless industries and organizations, from private enterprises dabbling in blockchain to global nonprofit organizations applying the principles of decentralization. Cardano itself served as a proof of concept as it became the first network to have on-chain governance that was created collaboratively and approved through an on-chain ratification.

The facilitators from Voltage Control were alumni from our Facilitation Certification Program. They came equipped with the facilitation skills, techniques, and methodologies in order to succeed in this important project. To get a taste of our community, attend Facilitation Lab, a weekly virtual meetup of the facilitator community, and explore Community Hub, a dynamic space for networking, learning, and developing as facilitators.

To read a complete breakdown of the process behind the Cardano Constitution, download our case study.

The post Exploring the Future of Blockchain through Facilitation appeared first on Voltage Control.

Looking back now, I realize I was first introduced to facilitation before I even knew what to call it. It was 2004, and I had just started my corporate career in Sharjah, one of the Emirates in the UAE. Though my degree was in Mass Communications, I found myself working in the HR department, charged with setting up internal communications. It was a fascinating leap, and one that would unknowingly chart the course for the next two decades of my life. I was green, enthusiastic, and hungry to prove myself. But nothing could have prepared me for how deeply one particular experience would shape the way I view communication, collaboration, and ultimately, myself.

That’s when I met Mr. Hariharan—my mentor, boss, and one of the most formative figures in my career. He brought me into a project that, at the time, just seemed like a leadership training program. But something in that five-day workshop shifted the way I saw things. The facilitator, a gentleman from South Africa, held space in a way that changed the room. On Day One, the participants were difficult, set in their ways, unwilling to change. By Day Two, the energy shifted. People leaned in. They became open. They got curious. It was like magic. I didn’t understand what had happened, but I knew I had witnessed something powerful.

I didn’t know what was happening then—I was just 24—but the transformation was unmistakable. That experience planted a seed in me. I couldn’t name it at the time, but it stirred something profound. It was more than teaching. It was something relational, connective. Looking back, I think my curiosity was amplified by my cross-cultural background. I was used to listening for what wasn’t said, navigating nuances, and observing how power and connection played out differently depending on context. Years later, when I would find myself in similar rooms, I’d think back to that moment: that shift in energy, that movement toward openness. to do that too?”

In many ways, Hariharan was the first person to show me how to create meaningful conversations. He modeled what it meant to lead without controlling. To ask instead of tell. To nudge rather than push. And he did it with such humanity that it left a permanent imprint on me. Even now, I carry many of his lessons forward, both professionally and personally. His style was warm but clear, direct yet inviting. He created a space where transformation could unfold without forcing it.

There were other moments too, scattered across my career. Another one came while working in Abu Dhabi, when I witnessed—by contrast—what not to do. A director flew in to investigate a staff issue and handled it with such a lack of empathy and neutrality that it shut people down. That experience helped me understand the importance of psychological safety long before I had words for it. Ironically, another director on that same project maintained an open-door policy that I now recognize as a form of everyday facilitation—an invitation for open dialogue. That contrast taught me a lot about how facilitation shows up in leadership, in the micro-moments we often overlook.

Later, becoming a mother deepened my introspection. I took four years off to stay home with my daughter, and that pause sparked a new kind of growth. I wasn’t sure what came next, so I trained as a coach—not to become one professionally at first, but to equip myself with tools. That led me to start an online magazine, Slick Chick, where I interviewed everyday women transforming adversity into change. It wasn’t until much later that I realized those conversations were a kind of facilitation, too. I was creating space for others to reflect, to share vulnerably, and to find meaning in their stories.

Facilitating across generations—and across cultures within my own home—also helped me understand the role of identity in how we show up and share. Culture wasn’t just a backdrop; it was a key part of how we made meaning together.

It was around that time that I also began to understand facilitation as not just a skill, but a way of being. I started noticing how I hosted conversations, how I mediated conflict in my personal life, and how I designed experiences for others. It all pointed toward the same impulse: to create connection and clarity.

Finding My Way Back Through Stories

When I look back on that season of interviewing women for Slick Chick, I see now that I was cultivating the same muscles facilitators use: holding space, listening deeply, letting the narrative unfold on its own terms. I wasn’t designing workshops back then, but I was definitely designing spaces for reflection and insight. And most importantly, I was allowing people to discover their own answers, something I now know is central to great facilitation.

Around the same time, I interviewed Reshma, who would later become my peer and my prompt for joining the Voltage Control community. Her story, like many others, was about resilience—but there was something in our dialogue that stayed with me. We stayed in touch loosely over the years. Our paths kept crossing—in Nairobi, while camping, over dog walks and shared fires. And each time, there was a moment of recognition, of resonance. I was drawn not only to her work, but to the way she carried herself with groundedness and intention.

It wasn’t until August 2024, sitting around a campfire in Kenya, that I finally asked her: “Should I do this? Would facilitation certification be worth it for me?” Her answer was grounded and generous. She explained what it had unlocked for her, how it had sharpened her thinking, broadened her tools, and expanded her network. I left that conversation curious. The kind of curious that wakes you up at 3 AM in Dubai to join a discovery call. That call, hosted by Kat and Skye, sealed it. Something in the way they facilitated the session confirmed what I had suspected: this wasn’t just another training. It was a community, a mindset, a way of being. I signed up shortly after.

The memory of that call still lingers. The calm energy, the intentional design, the shared excitement in the room—it was all a preview of what was to come. And I knew, without a doubt, that I was ready to say yes.

Over the Campfire, a Commitment

Deciding to join Voltage Control wasn’t about a career pivot. I already had my own firm. I was already training and designing learning experiences. What I was looking for was something deeper: coherence, connection, a more intentional way to make the impact I knew was possible. I wanted the kind of structure that would not only introduce me to new tools but also help me situate what I already knew in a broader context.

There’s so much out there—Miro, MURAL, Jamboard—and I often felt overwhelmed trying to piece it all together. I wanted a place to go where I could ground myself in best practices, get honest feedback, and explore new ways of thinking. I didn’t realize at the time how validating it would feel to finally say, “Yes, I am a facilitator.” I had been doing it for years, but until then, I didn’t own it.

What the certification offered me wasn’t just new knowledge—it was a mirror. It reflected back all the moments in my career when I had been facilitating without realizing it. It helped me connect the dots between instinct and intention, between action and language.

Designed for Discovery

The certification experience was like being dropped into a well-designed ecosystem. Everything—from the pairings to the electives—was crafted with intentionality. I loved how we weren’t just paired once and left to it; we were encouraged to cross-connect, to reach out, to explore beyond our assigned groups. I’m naturally curious, so this was a dream for me. Maybe it’s the multicultural in me—the part that’s always been fascinated by difference, dialogue, and design—but I found the cross-pollination of ideas in the cohort deeply energizing. And the best part? Everyone else was just as curious and committed to growth.

The foundation in The Art of Gathering deeply resonated. I’ve always been someone who thinks in terms of intention, but now I have the  vocabulary to articulate it professionally. I have begun using the word “purpose” more fluently in my sessions and felt more confident introducing those kinds of conversations—even in spaces where people might’ve once rolled their eyes at the word “intention.” Now, I can frame it in a way that’s both accessible and powerful.

I also found the electives incredibly useful. I completed the Workshop Design elective and have the Narratives of Future Design on my summer to-do list. Just hearing Eric walk through those frameworks made me feel seen. There was no top-down delivery. It was modeling, guiding, inviting—just as it should be. The asynchronous structure gave me space to go deep, and I often found myself rewatching sections, taking notes, and thinking about how to apply the ideas in real-time with clients.

And the cohort—what a powerful mix. People navigating NGO policy shifts, internal change, personal transformation. One of my pairings was with a pastor, Connie, and the way she wove facilitation into her spiritual work was deeply inspiring. Those conversations made me realize facilitation isn’t a title—it’s a way of showing up. It’s about asking better questions, listening for what’s unsaid, and creating space for emergence.

A Return to Play

Since completing certification, I’ve noticed two big shifts. First, I’m having way more fun. Designing workshops, talking to clients, selecting tools—it all feels like play again. I feel a bit like a kid in a sandbox, rediscovering joy through experimentation. There’s a renewed energy in how I work. Even things that used to feel routine—like onboarding or preparing a deck—now feel like opportunities to be creative.

Second, I’m much more aware of the role I play in the room. Not in a performative sense, but in the quiet way a facilitator can hold space and shape outcomes. I’ve come to appreciate that this role carries power—not the loud kind, but the kind that makes real change possible when wielded thoughtfully. I now walk into spaces more centered, more grounded in the belief that transformation doesn’t require spectacle. It requires presence.

Feedback from clients has reflected that shift. One recently described me as “free-spirited and effective.” That meant a lot, because it affirmed that my authentic self was shining through—something I hadn’t always felt permission to bring into the room. I also notice how much more confident I feel navigating difficult conversations or moments of silence. Before, I might have rushed to fill the gap. Now, I understand the power of pause.

It’s also spilled into parenting. My daughter is homeschooled, and I now find myself weaving facilitation techniques into how I guide her learning. It’s subtle, but impactful. It’s making me a better mom. We reflect more. We ask questions instead of jumping to answers. She’s even started using the word “process” when talking about how she learns, which makes me smile.

Building the Table

As someone shaped by many cultures, I know that diverse rooms create deeper conversations. I want to help build spaces where that kind of global, nuanced dialogue becomes the norm, not the exception.

The future I’m envisioning is full of collaboration. I want to continue building a pool of facilitators who can design and lead workshops with integrity and purpose. Not just in leadership or communication, but in areas like sustainability, personal growth, and social change. My dream is to host a series of gatherings where people from across disciplines can come together, learn from each other, and co-create new ways forward.

It doesn’t have to be huge. It can start with a single workshop that helps someone replace “feedback” with “feedforward.” That’s a change. That’s a win. If someone leaves the room feeling more confident, more clear, more connected—that’s impact. And those ripples matter.

I’m also committed to spreading these tools to younger generations. If my daughter can learn to hold space, to ask better questions, to lead with empathy—that’s legacy. I want her to know that power isn’t about being the loudest voice in the room. It’s about creating a room where everyone feels heard.

If you’re considering certification, here’s my advice: come with the right intention. Because if you do, this work will feel like a superpower. It has magic in it—if you let it. It won’t just change how you work. It will change how you live. It will give you new lenses, new language, and new tools—but more than that, it will give you a deeper sense of purpose.

It did for me. And it still does, every single day.

The post Holding Space, Finding Self appeared first on Voltage Control.

The month has that familiar “wall of heat” feeling—the kind of transition that sneaks up on you and suddenly everything shifts. Temperatures start to wobble, school calendars snap back, projects wake from their nap, and we all feel the sharpened‑pencil energy of fresh notebooks and new intentions. Even if you’re not headed back to school, this is a collective threshold. It’s not just a change in weather; it’s a new cadence in teams, families, and organizations.

For collaborative leaders and facilitators, thresholds are invitations. They’re a chance to pause, make meaning, and choose what comes next—on purpose. This month, we’re leaning into Transitions as our theme and spotlighting Purpose‑to‑Practice (P2P) from Liberating Structures as our featured activity. Think of P2P as a way to move from inspiration to implementation—an arc that starts with why and ends with what we’ll actually do (and how we’ll know we did it).

Below, you’ll find seven sections to help you harvest summer’s clarity, mark this threshold with intention, and translate purpose into aligned action. Each section blends mindset, facilitation moves, and practical tools you can use with your team—or solo—right away.

Transitions Are a Mindset, Not a Moment

We love to circle dates on calendars and declare, “Today is the change.” But most transitions don’t flip like a light switch. They’re more like a sunrise—slow, layered, and a little different for everyone on the horizon. Treating transition as a mindset, not a moment, helps leaders stay grounded when the pace around them accelerates.

That mindset begins with readiness. Rather than waiting for “official” milestones, we can build the muscle of scanning, sensing, and choosing. What’s shifting in your market, your team, your own energy? What’s knocking that you haven’t invited in yet? Readiness doesn’t mean constant vigilance; it means having a way to notice and name what’s emerging so you can respond deliberately.

It also helps to distinguish change from transition. Change is what happens to us—budgets move, tools update, org charts redraw. Transition is the inner reorientation that lets us enter a new era with clarity. You can live through a lot of change and still be in the same era. A true transition—identity, strategy, direction—asks for intention, ritual, and practice.

Finally, remember that predictable cycles (back‑to‑school, fiscal year, Q4 push) are a gift. When everything else feels stormy, these patterns are life rafts. You can design around them—using them as natural places to reflect, reset, and recommit—so that the less predictable waves don’t throw you as far.

Begin (Again) With Purpose

Purpose is the first of our facilitation competencies for a reason. It anchors everything that follows: your principles, who’s involved, the structure you’ll use, and the practices you’ll commit to. In seasons of transition, purpose is both compass and ballast.

Start by articulating purpose in plain language. What outcomes matter now, and why? How will progress help real people? Keep it simple enough that your team can repeat it without notes. Then ask, “If this purpose is true, what becomes non‑negotiable in how we work?” Those non‑negotiables become your principles—filters for decisions big and small.

Purpose also helps you avoid the classic trap of jumping straight to solution mode. When you begin with purpose, you can evaluate ideas against something stable. That prevents the “whiplash of the week” as priorities tug you around. And it gives your team permission to say, “Helpful idea—how does it serve our purpose?”

One more tip: don’t treat purpose as a plaque on the wall. Treat it as a practice—a daily opportunity to align time, attention, and energy. Ask at the end of meetings, “What today actually moved our purpose forward?” Make the answer visible.

Activity Spotlight: Purpose‑to‑Practice (P2P)

What it is. P2P is a five‑part arc—Purpose → Principles → Participants → Structure → Practices—that helps groups move from why to what‑we’ll‑do‑next, together. It’s wonderfully flexible: run it as a named activity with timeboxes, or use it as a design “stencil” to quietly guide planning.

Why it works now. Transitions create both momentum and ambiguity. P2P harnesses the momentum while channeling it into choices your team can own. It slows the rush to “do all the things” and instead builds from a shared why, then chooses the few practices that matter most.

How to run it (60–75 minutes).

• Purpose (8–10 min): Individuals write a one‑sentence why for this next cycle. Share and synthesize to one crisp statement.
  
• Principles (10–12 min): In pairs, generate non‑negotiable guides for how we’ll pursue that purpose. Merge into 5–7 principles.
  
• Participants (8–10 min): Map who must be involved (owners, contributors, advisors, decision‑makers) and who’s been missing. Invite inclusion.
  
• Structure (12–15 min): Decide how we’ll distribute control: decisions, cadences, artifacts, channels, and constraints that help the work happen.
  
• Practices (15–20 min): Commit to the three smallest, observable practices we’ll start now. Assign owners and first checkpoints.
  

Prompts you can copy/paste this month:

• What did summer teach you that you want to apply this fall?
• What’s one practice you’ll carry into this next cycle?
• What will you stop doing as you transition into what’s next?
• How will you practice your purpose this month—specifically and visibly?
  

Run P2P with your whole team to kick off the quarter—or adapt it for a solo reset. Either way, end with calendar blocks and check‑ins (more on that below) so practice becomes real, not aspirational.

Punctuating the Threshold

Rituals aren’t fluff; they’re cognitive handrails. They mark before/after and help people make meaning as they step across a threshold. When transitions stack up, ritual stabilizes the story: We paused. We honored. We chose what to carry forward.

Try a “close the season” moment before you sprint into the next one. Ask the team: “What do we want to remember from this last cycle?” “What do we leave behind?” Keep it light and human—photos, small wins, even a funny “never again” wall. The point is to end gracefully, not just stop.

Then, introduce one new team ritual to mark the start: a fresh notebook, a new channel naming convention, a 10‑minute weekly “principles in action” round. Small rituals create clean edges and shared language. Six months from now, you want the team to say, “Oh right, that’s when we started doing X”—because that story helps them see momentum.

Finally, make reflection part of the ritual, not an optional extra. Pair weekly reflection with your team’s stand‑up (“What did we move that served our purpose?”) or with your 1:1s (“Which principle felt most alive for you this week?”). Play with pace: sometimes slowing down is the fastest way to real progress.

Small Shifts That Compound

Coming out of a break, we often overestimate what can change by Monday and underestimate what can change by the end of the month. The trick is to choose atomic practices—tiny, repeatable moves that compound.

As a leader or facilitator, translate the big transition into micro‑behaviors your team can own. If your purpose emphasizes customer closeness, one micro‑practice might be “five customer notes reviewed before we prioritize.” If your purpose emphasizes inclusion, a practice might be “rotate meeting facilitation weekly and publish the queue.”

Celebrate progress on the small stuff. Momentum is emotional as much as operational. When the team sees itself keeping promises, confidence climbs and larger shifts become possible. Build in visible acknowledgement—end‑of‑week shout‑outs, a kanban lane called “kept commitments,” or a tiny trophy that passes to whoever best embodied a principle.

To help people pick the right small shifts, use these prompts:

• Carry: What energized me in the last cycle that I want more of?
• Drop: What returned from vacation with me that I don’t want to carry?
• Nudge: What’s the smallest behavior that would make the biggest difference if we did it daily/weekly?
• Name: What will we call this shift so we can talk about it?
  

Designing for Agency & Flow

Teams often stumble on the “Structure” step of P2P because it sounds abstract. Here’s the simple definition: Structure is how we deliberately distribute control so the right work happens with the right people at the right time.

Start by naming the decisions that must be made in this cycle and clarifying who has what kind of say (recommend, approve, veto, inform). Decide where those decisions live—async docs, weekly reviews, sprint reviews—and what artifacts make them visible (decision logs, working agreements, dashboards). This reduces the “invisible maze” that slows teams down.

Then, check your cadences. Are you meeting too often about the wrong things and too rarely about the right ones? Structure isn’t more meetings; it’s better rhythms. For instance, a monthly “principles check” can prevent three months of drift. A bi‑weekly “stakeholder circle” can surface concerns before they calcify into resistance.

Finally, consider access and inclusion as structural issues, not just cultural aspirations. Who is routinely left out of early conversations? Who sees outputs only at the end? Adjusting visibility and involvement is one of the most powerful levers you have. Structure can give people real agency, which, in turn, fuels ownership of the practices you’ve chosen.

Your Purpose Compass

Peter Drucker famously coached leaders by looking at where their time actually went. We love the spirit of that move because calendars don’t lie. They are your purpose, expressed in hours.

Try a quick Calendar Remix aligned to your P2P output:

1. Aspirational view (10 min): If our purpose is the north star, what should the ideal week/month look like—time blocks, review cadences, deep‑work windows, stakeholder touchpoints? Sketch it.
   
2. Current reality (10 min): Look back at the last 2–4 weeks. What % of time aligned to purpose? What’s the ratio of “purpose‑moving” to “noise”? Get to actual numbers.
   
3. Bridging moves (10–15 min): Choose three calendar edits that get you closer to the aspirational week. Protect them like product features—name them, ship them, and don’t regress.
   

For teams, run this as a workshop. Share anonymized ratios, agree on a handful of “purpose blocks” everyone defends (e.g., weekly customer time, principle review, decision check), and schedule your first check‑in now. In 30 days, compare ratios again. Progress looks like the calendar converging on the purpose you declared.

Remember: this is about practice, not performance. You’re training a muscle. The goal is not a perfect calendar; it’s a purposeful one that steadily reflects what matters.

Turn Renewal Into Momentum

If summer was the pause button, this threshold is your play button. Don’t just return—re‑imagine. Use P2P to reconnect to purpose, translate it into a few small practices, and then shape the structures and calendars that help those practices endure. Expect to tinker. Expect to learn. Expect, most of all, to choose—again and again—what you’ll carry forward and what you’ll leave behind.

To make it easy, here’s our simple 5R Transition Check you can run with your team this week:

• Return: Name the moment you’re in. What’s ending? What’s beginning?
• Reflect: What did we learn? What do we want to remember?
• Ritualize: How will we mark this threshold (close and open)?
• Reorient: Reaffirm purpose and principles. Who needs to be involved? What structures support us?
  Recommit: Choose three micro‑practices. Put them on the calendar. Set the first check‑in.
  

Activity highlight: We’ll be running Purpose‑to‑Practice in this week’s Facilitation Lab. Come practice it with peers, gather feedback, and leave with your first three micro‑practices already on your calendar. If you prefer a quieter start, jump into the Community Hub to swap prompts, examples, and templates with alumni and current students.

Join the Hub to share your “carry/leave behind” lists and see how others are structuring the fall reset.

Here’s to entering this next era with intention. Let’s make the transition together—and make it stick.

The post The Season of Transitions appeared first on Voltage Control.