First Time Facilitator The skill that makes you a better human with Maria McDonald (Episode 164)
You’ll often hear how facilitation is used in the context of workshops and meetings on this podcast. However, today’s guest, demonstrates how it’s an incredibly handy skill for life in general, to. In fact, she used the tool of facilitation alone to build an entire Learning and Development department at the company she worked at.
She’s a tremendous example of how you can define what you love, and have the courage to go after it. If you want to build a facilitation career but have no idea how to take the next step, I hope that this conversation will help you find your courage to seek opportunities where you are.
My guest today is Maria McDonald. As a Learning & Development consultant (as well as the L&D Manager for Geocaching), Maria is dedicated to helping leaders, businesses, and entrepreneurs intentionally shape effective, impactful, and empowered company cultures.
In this show, we also discuss how her yoga teaching practice combined beautifully with her facilitation growth, how to demonstrate value-add for teams, how she used facilitation to create a role in her organization (that never existed before!), and how she deals with unpredictable moments in her workshops.
Maria uses facilitation skills to demonstrate the value of continuous learning, improve collaboration across the company, clarify mission & goals, improve individual & collective communication skills, enhance brainstorming sessions, guide retrospectives, and mediate conflict.
About today’s guest: Maria McDonald
As a Learning & Development Consultant, Maria is dedicated to helping leaders, businesses, and entrepreneurs intentionally shape effective, impactful, and empowered company cultures.
Through customized consulting practices, Maria’s innovative and energizing techniques support you in achieving your business goals while proactively developing your people. Her vision is to shift each business into effective paradigms that inspire people at every level of your organization.
Maria is also the Learning and Development Manager for Geocaching, where she formulates learning and development strategy based on organizational needs, and creates a culture in which continuous learning and improvement are encouraged, and where employees are equipped with the tools for self-help and empowered to teach and learn from each other.
Resources
- Visit Maria McDonald’s website
- Connect with Maria on LinkedIn and send her a message, letting her know your favourite takeaway!
- Geocaching: Join the world’s largest treasure hunt
- Join The Flipchart community on Facebook
- Support the show and shout Leanne a coffee!
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