We see the devastating consequences of what happens when affected stakeholders aren't involved in making a decision at all levels of society –

• Governmental policies that harm the communities they serve
• Organizational decisions that harm workers and the environment
• Family decisions that don't involve children and result in loss of trust and collaboration

Many people want to involve all stakeholders in a decision but fear doing so will be hopelessly inefficient and result in no decision at all.

Happily, there's a process known as Convergent Facilitation, that offers you ready solutions.

It's based on one simple fact: that connections between people happen at the level of their underlying principles, needs, aspirations, and dreams, not at the level of their surface positions.

Convergent Facilitation is a highly efficient decision-making process developed by Miki Kashtan from the principles of Nonviolent Communication and codified in close collaboration with Lisa Rothman. It enables you to look beneath the surface and find the fundamental human needs members of any group hold in common. As a result, it readily produces connections and alignment.

This method is uniquely effective because it:

• Taps into a group's shared purpose, and leads to decisions that everyone truly supports — without sacrificing productivity, efficiency, and forward momentum.
• Is very versatile: it may be used for fast emergency responses, for breaking through bottlenecks, or collaborating throughout the life cycle of a long-term project.
• Gives you tools to address power differences so everyone at the table can speak frankly about what really matters to them. It even works with highly polarized groups, like the longtime political enemies who recently used Convergent Facilitation to pass landmark legislation in Minnesota.

Who It's For
If you work with groups that struggle to make decisions or collaborate effectively, this course is for you.

• Team leaders: Reap the benefits of whole-hearted collaboration; create buy-in at all levels; enjoy a more cohesive team that makes better decisions informed by stakeholder needs.
• Community organizers and activists: Learn to bring people's core concerns to the surface, and reach consensus decisions where no one is marginalized — all while avoiding long, draining, and divisive meetings.
• Facilitators: Zoom in on the source of conflicts, and learn transformative, practical options that work even when your group seems completely stuck.
• Mediators: Receive new tools to help any number of parties work towards breakthrough solutions, using a process that is transparent to all.

What You Can Take Away

• A practical, step-by-step process for discovering breakthrough solutions to problems that seemed unsolvable.
• Strategies that help people transcend conflicts, stretch beyond their initial positions, and embrace a decision that attends to everyone's needs
• Many ways of keeping a meeting moving forward without leaving anyone behind.

For more details, read this case study for a start-to-finish view of the Convergent Facilitation process and its transformative results.

Why Isn't Miki Kashtan Teaching This Course?

Miki wants to put her life energy into breaking new ground and experimenting with new concepts.  At the same time, she wants to make it possible for people everywhere to take Convergent Facilitation so they can learn and experiment with it in their daily lives. That is, ultimately, how anyone truly masters Convergent Facilitation.

Only an extremely small number of trainers have gathered enough experience in Convergent Facilitation to be able to teach it.  Lisa Rothman is one of them.  She was the driving force behind the creation of this workshop, she helped Miki cement some of the concepts, and she collaborated with Miki to create the exercises and the workbook.  

Aya Caspi, CNVC Certified Trainer, will be co-facilitating the course with Lisa. Aya will be holding the precision and alignment of the curriculum with the spirit and practice of Nonviolent Communication. She also brings a depth of empathetic understanding that will likely astound you.

Miki says:  "When I decided not to offer this course again myself, Lisa was beyond the natural choice to do it. Aside from being intimately involved with converting her massive notes from the early Convergent Facilitation workshops into a coherent curriculum that is reliably teachable (if you had been there, you would know how much of a quantum leap that was!), Lisa is a trainer and solo performer with years of experience teaching online workshops. She is deep and light at the same time (not my strength, usually), is highly entertaining, and her presentation skills are simply stellar. If you are unsure, please sign up for the first free session and see for yourself what a treat it can be to learn from her."

"Lisa's being joined by another colleague who's studied and then worked with me for years. Since I first met Aya, I have been impressed with her depth of commitment to NVC and to nonviolence. Aya fully lives the principles that this course is based on -- creating togetherness through finding common ground in terms of what's important about a decision; aiming for a solution that truly works for everyone, without domination or compromises; and remaining present and attentive to even complex dynamics that might divert a group from these commitments. I have full confidence that her presence and love will contribute to creating a container that will deepen and optimize the learning for all."

Dates and Topics Covered

November 4       Introduction     Overview of Convergent Facilitation – THIS SESSION IS FREE!
November 11     Session 1        Criteria Gathering: Finding the Noncontroversial Essence
November 18     Session 2        Proposal Creation: Tracking as a Key Facilitation Skill
November 25     Session 3        Decision Making: Inviting and Engaging with Dissent
December 02     Session 4        Attending to Outliers and to Power Differences