About this Publication

Have you ever felt unsure how to help a team that was spinning in circles? Or wanted to flee a room with a high-conflict group? If you lead teams of any size, chances are you have been a facilitator at some point. But what does it mean to be a facilitator? While sticky notes, dot voting, and gathering people around a whiteboard are all helpful activities, they can only take us so far. The Art & Science of Facilitation is your guide to moving your team further forward using the groundbreaking Five Guiding Principles of the Facilitation Stance. You will learn to lead teams toward effective collaboration by inviting different points of view (even when it creates conflict), remaining unbiased in high-stakes meetings, understanding what the group needs, and navigating difficult interpersonal dynamics. This book is for anyone ready to lead with self-awareness and group insight, and to help their teams work more efficiently and effectively in a truly collaborative environment.

“Every voice in an organization matters, and Marsha shows us how to hear each one.” – Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen, authors of Difficult Conversations and Thanks for the Feedback

About the Author

Marsha Acker, CPF, CPCC, PCC, is the founder and CEO of TeamCatapult, a respected and sought-after leadership development firm that equips leaders, at all levels, to facilitate and lead sustainable behavioral change. She partners with leaders and leadership teams to clarify their desired change, develop communicative competence, and think together - accessing their collective intelligence to bring about change. Marsha is an executive and leadership team coach, author, speaker, facilitator, and the host of Defining Moments of Leadership Podcast. Marsha’s unparalleled at helping leaders identify and break through stuck patterns of communication that get in their way of high performance. She is known internationally as a facilitator of meaningful conversations, a host of dialogue and a passionate agilest. She is the author of The Art and Science of Facilitation: How to Lead Effective Collaboration with Agile Teams and Build Your Model for Leading Change: A guided workbook to catalyze clarity and confidence in leading yourself and others. Marsha has over 28 years of experience designing and facilitating organizational change initiatives. She believes facilitation and coaching skills are invaluable 21st-century leadership skills - required for leaders as they learn to lead agility across the organization.