Facilitation decisions was a very interesting and I have learned that at times we make decisions from the mind, gut or heart. What stood out the most from the lesson was resulting, which means that we judge our decisions by the results of our decisions. We also tend make our assumptions the truth. I was reminded about judging myself by my behaviour and judging others by their intent. I need to look at a person through the window of the world and not my own perception. I have learnt about love languages which was very intersting
Category Archives: Week 12
Facilitation Decisions
Today’s takeaway for me was making effective and informed decisions. In our daily lives we make decisions from the time that we wake up in the morning until the time that we go to bed at night. We make decisions which will effect us in the long run and we make decisions that bite us in the “you know what” right now. The group facilitating today pointed out how me make decisions from our gut, heart and with our heads. We also use different aspects when making decisions. We use political, economic, social and technological factors when making decisions.
Bottom line is, we must remember the principal of causation, that it the cause and effect of the decisions we make. In relationships, we have the risk-hurt-withdraw-risk- circle which was very helpful to me, as I have a tendency withdraw from relationships and never risk getting hurt again. In life you have to take the risk if you want to reap the benefits of being happy and healthy.
Building Relationships
This topic speaks to the core of humanity. relationships vary from romantic, work related and social relationship. in recent time relation are built in different ways. the social media provided us with a platform to forge relation in a globally, although it has negative results. From my personal account , I ‘ve built relationship for pre -school to current work environment. some friendship failed because of different interests and some simply failed with no specific reason. for example, my best friend in a catholic nun and because of religious commitments she has to undertake, our friendship suffered because we communicate nor see each other. however the bond is still there.
Expressing Gratitude
We have not attended the lecture yet but as I am reflecting on the module, reviving my notes I see that a lot has been learnt, a lot that I can apply even as I grow…
The activities have really been steller – Bingo! 10 Nails and Nail, Knot or Not, the Decisions activity. We have moved from doing check-ins to literally wake people up to one that we’re truly relevant…
The presentations have improved week on week – it was a special highlight for me when Roz said our group’s presentation was the best one yet (nevermind that the teams after us improved more so:-)).
I appreciate 5he lessons gained this semester – I am still a while away from finishing my Wits journey but this course will certainly be counted among the highlights of this journey.
Thank you Ros, thank you Telfer.
Week 13: Facilitating Decisions
The team facilitated facilitating decisions!! well-done team even thou we were a big team, with different characters however Respect made us go forward and we managed to deal with group dynamics. I have learned facilitating skills is our everyday life and also therapy it taught me to observe everything happening around me. I also learned not making a decision is also a decision. Lol!! Everything went well as planned. We gave each an opportunity to present/ facilitate. I also learned you can facilitate using other tools accept technology one need to be creative. It is very important not to be selective with data and you must not assume. Sometimes is the smallest decisions that can change your life forever.
Thank you , Mrs. Solomon and Mr. Telfer I learned a lot from your skill-sharing keep a good job.
Facilitating Decisions
Disclaimer this day in particular I almost felt like not going to school, it feel like the more we are closer to the finish line becomes harder and harder to stick with the commitments I have. Two Saturdays to go and here I am feeling mentally tired no energy to go stand up in fact my bed was my best friend however I made a decision to go to school.
The 12th October, team’s was classic very interesting topic that running across on our day to day life and the team articulated it very well.I like the fact that their brought in parameters that are very key to effective decisions such as Politic, Economic ,social and technology. The team went further and gave us activities aligned to the topic and consider the four parameters then explain how their affect our lives.
In conclusion to make effective decision we need to collect data, assess the impact and that will inform decision. The team left us with a quote by Michelle Obama that says “Make decision based on what should happen”.
Facilitating Decisions
The Facilitating Decisions team trully outdid themselves. Each team members strength was highlited. Their ice bracker was amaizing, their synergy was out of this world.
When I walked into that class I had made unconscious decisions and I was reminded by that team that we make decisions each day without even realising it. Some decisions might be made due to emotions, experience or as a result of being under pressure. The truth of the matter is that we make decisions based on different situations, be it work, socially or family related.
I also learnt that we as individuals often justify our own actions but we fail to do the same when it is another individual. What I mean is that from today onwards I will evaluate people’s actions by their intentions instead of concluding the first thing that comes to my mind. Especially because I work in a team and being surrounded by different people of different charancters, we are bound to stumble each other, one way or another.
By understanding people’s intetions through communication I will be doing myself justice by not stressing unnecessarily or jumping to conclusions. Instead this will help me build better relationships by encouraging communication from both sides, which will help strengthen trust. I vow to breathing when I feel I might be overwhelmed to avoid making irrational decisions.
Well done to today’s group.
Potso?
Building Relationships
Week 12 05 October 2019
8:00am another facilitation section at Wits University. The topic for this week is Building Relationships and I was seated and assigned to a green team. Our topic was Acquaintanceship at first glimpse of the word I could not understand what it meant but to the joy of having team mates, it was explained and examples were given. The word means friendship in simple terms it is people that you know and not friends with. I am surrounded by acquaintances and not friends. Someone mentioned as you grow older you tend to lose interest in most things. All around the classroom we covered topics and shared examples on family, friendship, romantic, business and academic. One that stood out the most was the romantic relationship where love is unconditional, demonstrates trust and respect. This class made me realise the framework of not building relationship but building more on people I know; not in pursuit of friendship in long term. From this day onward in need to maintain my varsity friendships and this might help me succeed in my studies. I have started to clip and advance a friendship with my class mate, we share the same goal of graduating in the next five years and a strong support by sharing assignment solutions and elucidations.
Telfer touched on dealing with group dynamics. In my work place, I experience group dynamics daily, a couple of individuals in my team are on form and no substance types. Worse of all these are males, I have been avoiding office politics and will continue doing so. They envy one another and compete to the extent of material things. They measure and compare it with accomplishment or supremacy. Which in my eyes are not worth more than your innermost more contented being. I lived my life without competition and I find it strange when males do it especially in a work place. I have maintained different levels of acquaintance with my colleagues and each one is different to the other. I can evaluate the level of maturity and cerebral from my colleagues.
We were tasked a Lego activity and the class had firms, each firm was sub-divided into three sections where we had to construct one third of a bridge and at the end of each group activity, we will combine all the pieces and make a bridge. It was not as easy as it sounds.
A member from my team nominated herself highlighting what she’s good at; it was reading maps and coding clues. She came on board and delivered what was expected, sharing the rest of the clues with the other firms. The activity was pleasurable it reminded me of being brave sometimes. We need not to take ourselves to serious. The joy of sharing your skill and knowledge benefits the whole team – it is not a one man show but individuality within a team.
Team @ work 
Bridge in progress 
Facilitation
Two weeks ago, a colleague of mine was off sick and one of his projects needed some changes before; we can send it to funding. I took the initiative and accountability to fix the project. Till this day I never told him of the changes made in his project. I have built a relationship with him. Communication is dominant in every situation. We need to encirclement revolution.
Adriana recommends we watch the David Kolb’s experiential learning cycle; state the process of learning is re-learning. Also, there are three learning styles namely: diverging, assimilating and converging.
Reference video(https://youtu.be/v1HJQZMh9Q4)
Course impact
I am grateful to have attended this course, it has boosted my self esteem and made confident about myself.
Gratitude
Gratitude means thank you and showing appreciation. It’s the warm feeling you get when you remember the person who told you thank you and they appreciate you.
Saying thank you does not kill anyone and showing appreciation is a confidence booster, I’m grateful for registering this facilitation course,it has taught me so many things that I did not know but now I know,the knowledge I have is for a lifetime and no one can take it away from me.
Im so grateful for Roslyn and the Team for teaching us about Facilitation skills, for making us not fearful but showing us that we can conquer the world with the knowledge we have.
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE
Week 12
This week summed up all the learnings and skills we had learned throughout the course and what better topic to tie this all up than Expressing Gratitude
Gratitude is beautiful concept. To Be be grateful is to be mindful, to be present , to be conscious of the very space you inhabit and how you decide to use it through your actions, words or deed. I found this quote by John F Kennedy that practically enforces what expressing gratitude is
“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them.” John F. Kennedy
A new facilitator called Karen came in for the day an challenged us on how we would handle conflict while facilitating ? This was tricky for me to reconcile as I kept asking myself as a facilitator in a new work environment howe can I mediate when I do not have personal information and insights on what the conflict is about and is it fair for a facilitator to be the one to mediate between group members who have conflict. Karen explains that there is no manual on how to resolve conflict as each situation is unique. With that said I will be reading up some more on conflict resolution.
The most interesting part of the class was when Karen gave us a taste of NNI way of facilitating.Our topic was the legalisation of dagga and 4 strong viewpoints came out where each group had to represent their views. it was interesting that this type of facilitation puts emphasis on the voice and not the people . This helps the speakers to not personalise issues and to also give objective views.What I observed is that it is very hard to separate the voice from the person and at some point it did get personally however Karen would step in and remind us that we are acknowledging each and every voice and we not attacking the person.
This was undoubtedly one of the best exercises we did and from that little exercise one learns the importance of listening to another person’s viewpoint and arguing constructively.
Overall I am grateful I took this Facilitation Course and would like to all all the skills I learn in class in real life.
Regards
Wakhile
Expressing Gratitude
Thanks to the group that reminded us that we should learn how to always be grateful for what you have, no matter how big or small. From the minute you entered the class till the end of the facilitation, the group made sure that we understood the significance of expressing gratitude. I liked the idea of, as a welcome gesture, we have been given a small token of appreciation as a gift, that was really sweet.
with that said, i would like to give thanks to my fellow syndicate team, a big thank you and a job well done with our facilitation. The class for sharing the experience and to Roslyn for giving us the necessary tools to use in our daily lives. From how to communicate with people to learning how to resolve conflicts. I really appreciate the lessons, and i have enjoyed myself in this course.
Thank you.
Week 12 – Blog 12:”Expressing Gratitude”
Week 12 – Blog 12:”Expressing Gratitude”
Today ‘s team facilitation is about Expressing gratitude.
The team has touched so many important points which affect most of us as audience, the team showed us how important to express gratitude toward each other within our societies, families and among friends. Expressing gratitude brings peace among the people you live with and the surrounding.
I have learnt that expressing gratitude of saying thank you to someone is not just a sign of being polite or good manner but it is the right thing to do in society hence it shows that you respect the next person who is just next to you.
Expressing gratitude or message of thank you, can be addressed to your boss, your colleague , family members , and friends as well .This message is seen in different ways some sees it as you do care about them, some as i sign of trust and some as a sign of good relationship.
After the group facilitated, madam Karen took us to a new level of facilitation method where she explained to us via a debate around a very hot topic with mixture feeling on cannabis. The hot topic was about our feelings about legalization of cannabis. We have formed four groups:
Group one : Believed that it is a gate way to drugs therefore the state should have not legalize it.
Group two: Believed that it is was a good thing to do because cannabis helps on Health issues.
Group Three: Wanted the state to regulate the use of cannabis before legalizing it.
Group Four: believed that it is democracy let everyone enjoy life and cannabis ‘s legalization is the great thing that the state has done so far.
This topic was not a easy one to digest has the room was fuming with mix feelings and colleagues were angry and some even were disappointed in other’s comment it was boiling and we all forgot about being nice to our friends in other groups.Madam Karen was insisting that you do not address directly to the people in that particular group but you are addressing to the idea or the believe of that particular group. We were also allowed to rotate and go sit in the other group and attempt to feel the heat of the group and try to defend the group, for sure it was not easy and pleasant student were boiling with anger and disappointment.
By the time Madam Karen called for the show to be stopped, people were high in feelings and she asked us to dust off a little bit. I have learnt how to take it easy and allow other people’s views and accept them. We also have to find a way of compromising even if you do not agree with the other person.
THIS IS A BIG LESSON THAT I LEARN TODAY .IN MY LIFE I WILL MAKE SURE THAT I ALWAYS REMEMBER TODAY’S TOPIC ” EXPRESSING GRATITUDE”
At the end, she advised that it is how we are in really life , we only want our views to be accepted by others, and reject totally other’s view without attempting to understand why the next person had taken that decision. She also emphasized on expressing gratitude as a control of our feelings and that will allow us to keep checking your level of feelings because without this check up we will always be out of the track and allow our emotions or feelings to control us and which is bad hence when controlled by emotions we are always end up taking wrong decision that make us regret in near future.
Oh yes! It is another day of learning big ways of leaving life within our societies.
Thank you.
Expressing Gratitude *Week 12*
It was a very sweet gesture of the facilitating group to hand out small thank you tokens in a form of sweets. It was a nice surprise at 08:00 on a Saturday morning.
The facilitation piece was very well thought out and I loved the tree activity of writing down things that we are grateful for. This is a great way of getting back to the small things in life in order to ground yourself. A fellow class mate told me that she keeps a gratitude journal and goes back to it when she is feeling the punches of life. This was such an amazing insight for me. It is definitely something that I will be doing going forward.
In all honesty that was my only aha real enjoyable moment of the class. Loved the facilitation piece and all the pictures of quotes on the walls. I still fail to understand the point of the rest of the class, we got a taste tester of NNI which I had to go home and google to get the full logistics of :”The No-name Initiative (NNI) is a transformational group process that supports expression, emotional processing, awareness dialogue, as well as personal responsibility and accountability” Wasn’t my favourite.
Thank you Roslyn for taking the time on a Saturday to give an insightful class ( something very different from regular academia )
expressing grattitude
today’s class ne???
i think it was very clever of the facilitators to leave this topic to be presented at the very end. like the saying goes that when you show a heart of gratitude you open up room for more. Sometimes we live life as if the world revolve around us. We forget to pause and be grateful for what ever small that is happening in our lives. we tend to take people that loves us for granted and we even forget to thank the universe for the gift of life. this was a very hard week for me, being in class today just has put a lot of things and questions into perspective . i am great full for the lesson learned in today’s class,for the facilitators and especially my syndicated group.
The beginning of the end
I have been looking forward to the last day of the lecture. Not because I didn’t enjoy it, but because I was starting to feel bad each Saturday morning when I leave home 😕. My three year old would ask who goes to school on a Saturday? I think he was starting to be tortured by the fact that momy isn’t around on Saturday mornings.
But I must say I was even harder to part with my fellow group mates. To see yourself through other people’s eyes validates a lot about One’s character. Especially if it is about the qualities you were not aware of. When people don’t just acknowledge your efforts but acknowledge the whole package, it is the most humbling experience ever! We promised to keep in touch and I’m glad I met you group 5!
Start your day with Acknowledgement to Others
The last Saturday for Facilitation class and I would have thought that I would have been excited to have completed this semester. I feel as though I am saying goodbye to a friend at the airport with mixed emotions.. I sit down and listen to Ros explaining about thanking our ancestors and it makes complete sense. Irrespective of which racial group each of us belong to, it is vital to thank our ancestors or higher power even if it’s by starting off with thanksgiving to being on the wake up list this morning..
The more we are able to humble ourselves and live each day in gratitude, the more blessings, opportunities and so much more will be welcomed into our paths. Small things that we often overlook like the people that we meet, our families and the love and joy that they bring into our world.. Or simply just being happy and in a better space not even having a reason for your bliss..
What are You grateful for at this very moment? Even if it’s one thing that you could mention. .That’s the perfect item to Acknowledge and Pray for! So get ready to light your candle and talk to the One whose Always listening..
I’d like to take a moment of Acknowledge all the people from Group 4- Storytelling.. I will miss our planning, silly jokes, sitting together on Saturdays during lessons and breaks. I’m grateful that our paths have crossed. We have always keep in touch and meet up, not letting life keep us too busy as we have formed real and good friendships. To Ros and all the Facilitators, I’d like to thank you for sacrificing your Saturdays to spend with us as you could have been with your families. I have learnt an immense amount of wisdom and will retain these techniques and apply them daily to myself and how I work and treat others. Lastly I’d like to thank my support structure, the people who have always believed in me and helped me along the way. I will never forget the important lessons I’ve learnt in this class and even something as small as a smile at a stranger will help them feel that the world isn’t such a scary or lonely place..
Love and light to All
xoxo
Nina
thank you….thank you
This course brought more than awareness, it was therapeutic in so many levels. This course has been great and enjoyed all the presentations and appreciated all the effort the teams put for their presentations.
Big thank you and appreciation goes to all the members of group 8, they were great to work with. Love you team J
To my friend Gillian Louw, so many things I can say about you but you know you special to me. You are a great friend, supported me during my pregnancy by taking notes for me in lectures and sharing them with love.
To our lecture, thank you so much for making me enjoy this course, I have learned a lot from you, I love your energy and empathy you showed. You are an amazing person Ross.
Final Acknowledgement…#TakeABow!
As I finally type this blog, I look back at this journey and realize it wouldn’t have been easy had I have traveled it alone. I’m even doubting myself if I would have made it this far.
I would like to Take a Bow to my group “Learning From Life” group, you have made this trip a pleasant and a joy-able ride, from the day I joined the team as a late additional member to today…we have shared laughter, advises, mentor and knowledge through our interactions and whatsapp group. It has been great and Thank you for all your support.
To the entire Facilitation Team, YOU are all amazing! you have made it easy for me to forfeit my weekend sleep just to be part of each session and I am grateful for that. Our Facilitator and supporting staff thank you for sharing the knowledge and for your guidance.
I have gained more than what I had anticipated.
Acknowledgement
my challenge is that i am impatient, not being able to be tolerant when it comes to issues that i disagree with. confrontations i avoid which sometimes make things worse because important issues are not being dealt with because of the fear of confrontations
my accomplishments is that i work well under pressure and i am able to hold my life together better than what i would have expected myself to be
my frustrations are that people do not listen at work and i ens up having to put out the fires.
i love being alone, travelling and just the tranquility of being surrounded by nothing, the sound of water flowing the sound of crickets at night i love that
whats holding me back is fear
Life begins @ 40
Mixed emotions……..
Another aha moment to my friend Zodidi Kutwana I wish to express a sincere thanks; you gave me the best gift ever. I celebrated my 40th birthday 10 days ago and when you gifted me with the most beautiful journal entitled “Those who TRUST in the LORD will find NEW Strength” I did not fully understand your choice of gift. The universe has spoken my Friend, the last time a kept a journal I was 15 years old and for some odd reason I simply could not get myself to journal until today 25.10.2017. A new journey has started for me and I thank you!!!
Life indeed begins at 40 I feel renewed and revived & super excited for the journey that awaits. Challenges I had too many to count; survived heart surgery and God blessed me with new beginnings & promise of life in abundance, Self I have achieved against all odds a girl from the Southern Townships of JHB, years later God blessed me with 2 beautiful daughters one of which a 2nd year Law student travelling the world, Completed 7 Comrades marathons & realizing a life long dream my BA Degree, Emerging Self forming an NGO for victims of trauma, writing my memoirs and travelling the globe discovering & embracing the best me, Frustration that exist in my current employment and lack of ethics and professionalism suppose it’s part of the concrete jungle, Energy I love my family my endless source of energy, Inner resistance allowing anger to manifest, walking away, holding on to a past but finally decided to let go I need to do me, The crack renewal is on the horizon!!!, Community give to the needy and uplift women, giving unconditionally to the ones near & dear to my heart, From the Balcony realise my strengths & weaknesses knowing when to pursue and retract but most importantly to never allow anyone the key to my happiness. God blessed me abundantly & he knows the plans he has for me, Letting-go of the old & embrace the new me, Seeds having turned 40 I effectively planted the seeds for a bright future which was written in the stars at the beginning of my life journey, Prototyping adventure & innovation, People my A Team, my Smile keepers, my day one, Action let go, let life & embrace with all my might no more fear and anxiety continue to journal and put concrete action items into place
I will forever be grateful to each of my loved ones, mentors, the ones who believed in me against all odds. ACKNOWLEDGMENT to the ones who invested in the best me ever to the ones in this realm & beyond for constantly revealing how blessed I am “Appearance, Actions, Qualities & Impact” the new cornerstones of the better ME – Gigi xoxo
Module 12 – Acknowledging others (Thank you Ros & Facilitation Class of 2017!)
In order to complete and submit all of my blogs, I provide a thank you in advance to Group 11 for their facilitation piece.
I sincerely need to acknowledge the beautifully crafted Facilitation Skills programme as designed by Roslyn Solomon and Team. I am grateful to Ros and the co-facilitators for showing up and being present with us during all of the activities and especially with all the new-learning which we jointly experienced.
This Facilitation Skills programme is a breath of fresh air due to the unique and controversial approach which is introduced on Day 1. I am grateful that I was not influenced by peers about what to anticipate from this course, as this programme has fulfilled and exceeded any expectations which I thought I had.
I would also like to thank the co-facilitators who had shared of their personal experiences on the first Saturday of the course. At the time, I didn’t quite get what the fuss was all about, in terms of how this course could so dramatically impact your life. I humbly confess that I now am a believer, and now, I definitely get it!
Ros, your life journey has presented you to us as a sage, unconventional, amazing, Facilitator. I admire how comfortable you are in your own skin, and how you do not feel a need to defend your truth. It was beautiful to learn from you, your family, your life experiences – it was all so authentic. May you be blessed with phenomenal opportunities to inspire young and older minds with relevant and rewarding experiential life lessons.
Strength and Amazing Grace, to You, your Family, and your Team members.
To my fellow class members – this has been an amazing journey. Thank you for adding the spice and flavouring to each Saturday morning session. For those of you who are finishing your last year of studies this year – what an inspiration you are. To those who continue with me for 2018/2019, let’s show Witsplus how it’s done.
Thank you!
Thank you are never enough
I am really getting emotional because i do not know what to say to Ros and the team, not because i cannot pen, but because can not express what i am feeling at the moment. Thank you is just not enough for me, i take your teaching to being a better person for me, to being a better person for the team at work, to being a better person at home and ultimately for my country.
It is often the smallest thing that make us fail in life and the ability to reflect and rectify that is significant, the use of delta will be a tool that i will use at the work place because it is there to assist and not to demoralse. I will take meaningful conversation when i am engaging my wife in any conflict situation, i understand you say, will not only help slow down a heated conversation but it will make me a better communicator.
In my language they say Tankie Hangwe (Thank you once) Tankie Habedi (Thank you twice) Tankie Hararo (Thank you three time)