Empathy is a cornerstone of facilitation. Without it, we are only thrusting ideas and intentions on people. With it, we meet people where they are and work with them, as they need us too, to create the right outcome for that moment.

Gabriel Couture, a Learning and Service Experience Designer based out of Toronto, has been working on structuralising empathy - using a framework of integral facilitation quadrants that tap into people’s motivations, personalities, and moods.

We discussed integral facilitation quadrants at length, but also delved into the idiosyncrasies of facilitating large groups and the challenges of meeting online. 

It was a wide-ranging conversation that flowed beautifully and uncovered some fascinating insights for both of us. I hope you will find it just as illuminating! 

Find out about:

•  What integral facilitation quadrants are and why they are effective tools
• Why orientation and alignment are the ‘true north’ of meetings
• Why appreciating that we all have different starting points (orientations) is the key to guiding a group
• How we come from different places, have different motivations, and need different things to feel comfortable
• The differences between facilitating small and large groups
• Applying integral facilitation quadrants in online spaces
• How Gabe has adapted his practice for online spaces
• Identifying where structure stops helping and starts hindering the group

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Questions and Answers

[01:20] When did you first call yourself a facilitator?

[04:08] To what extent did gaining a certification change the way your worked as a facilitator?

[08:12] Do the integral facilitation quadrants have a hierarchy? Do they have to be approached in a sequence?

[10:44] How important is it to understand your audience when using integral facilitation quadrants?

[12:28] Do you design online and offline events in different ways, to accommodate for the increased variance of personalities?

[15:57] Can we picture the quadrants as obstacles that we need to overcome to achieve a successful outcome?

[20:07] What have you learned from integrating quadrants in your workshops and events?

[23:00] Is it easier or harder to facilitate large groups online?

[27:06] What is your experience with bringing people back from breakout rooms?

[33:29] Why is it that we tend to over-explain or over-structure in online meetings?

[35:37] What makes a workshop fail?

[37:18] Do you have a silver bullet exercise to get people to buy-in?

[41:48] What do you do when you realise somebody doesn’t want to be in your workshop?

[45:58] It seems you’r

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