- Practices
- Going Forth
- Emerging Facilitators
- Facilitators
Consultation Groups
from chapter 10 of Coming Back to Life by Joanna Macy and Molly Brown; second edition, published 2014. Please acknowledge the source when you use any of these practices.
Time: 60 minutes
As a follow-on to the Callings and Resources exercise, people meet in four-person consultations to “get real” with their visions and plans. These groups provide feedback and advice and often suggestions about contacts and resources.
Method
Each pair from the “Callings and Resources” practice now joins with another pair to make a group of four, bringing the notes of their plans.
You are now provided an unparalleled opportunity. You are offered what money cannot buy: top-flight consultants who are allied with your vision. Take a moment to reflect on the plans you’ve been hatching. Where can you use some excellent advice? Is it to get clearer on your project and what you can achieve? Is it how to find the resources you need, or how to deal with particular obstacles? You each have fifteen minutes. Hone your question(s) carefully in your mind, so that you can speak briefly and give the others time to respond.
It is hard to bring these groups to a close, so give two minutes advance warning, and remind people that they’ll have time, when the workshop finishes, to confer further.