WE'VE ALL EXPERIENCED the challenges associated with working with groups, but The Handbook for Working with Difficult Groups turns the idea of "difficult groups" on its head. Rather than view groups as inherently difficult, it looks at the factors that make working with groups difficult. Individual chapters focus on challenges such as involving dissenters, building external perspectives, reducing complaining, adapting to cultural differences, incorporating diversity, facilitating inclusion, working virtually, resolving identity-based conflict, transforming unproductive behavior patterns, preventing workplace harassment, and strengthening accountability. The book first provides a framework for thinking systemically about the many and varied ways in which working with a group can be difficult. Building on that framework, the contributors each address three basic issues: How the group is difficult a description of a real group and the observable phenomena that reflect the group's difficulty. Why the group is difficult an exploration of the underlying causes of the difficulty. What you can do about it what you can do as a group facilitator, leader, or member to help the group.

Extreme Facilitation picks up where other books on the topic leave off to present a revolutionary method that helps large, unwieldy, adversarial, and apparently dysfunctional groups achieve consensus and reach objectives on divisive and contentious issues no matter how long the group has been struggling. Throughout the book, expert facilitator Suzanne Ghais shows how extreme facilitation - which puts on the emphasis on creativity, flexibility, and customization - can change how group members interact with one another and how participants view the issues even in the most challenging and exceptionally difficult situations. Extreme Facilitation covers the preparatory phases of the process, including assessment, convening, and contracting. Ghais also offers vital information on process design and tips for handling situations that many facilitators find particularly challenging.

In this book, educational consultant and group coach Donna Reid argues that popular vehicles for improving school cultures and student achievement, such as professional learning communities and critical friends groups, too often fail because the participants are unaware or unwilling to make the required changes for successful collaboration and change. To assist facilitators and group leaders, the author presents narrative cases that examine the experiences of teacher leaders, principals, consultants, and parents as they negotiate the difficulties of reluctant team members, hostile colleagues, maintaining group interest, sharing responsibility, using technology, and cultural competency. Each case includes questions for reflection that can be used individually or in small groups to improve facilitation skills. Book Features: Addresses the roles of the facilitator and participants. Focuses on the complex contexts in which educators must work. Illustrates a range of challenges with possible ways to manage them. Offers strategies for building sustainable relationships, such as how to include new colleagues and work with difficult people. Discusses common tensions, such as sharing responsibility, respecting confidentiality, and developing cultural competence. “With its engaging and informative mix of case descriptions, discussions following the cases, and questions for the reader, this book is a welcome change from other books on facilitation and coaching. As I read, I imagined that someone had been looking over my shoulder as I coached my first CFG, and as I have supported others doing the same over the years. A must-read for all those engaging in their first few years of facilitating collaborative teacher teams!” —Gene Thompson-Grove, educational consultant and founding board member, School Reform Initiative “This book is a must-read for anyone in the practice of collaborative coaching and facilitation. By tapping into the power of story, the author provides a reflective space that allows the reader to consider coaching moves, as well as experience and reflect on common potential pitfalls in coaching or facilitating a group.” —P. Tim Martindell, president, Texas Council of Teachers of English Language Arts, Coordinator Secondary ELA, Fort Bend Independent School District

Praise for The Handbook of Conflict Resolution "This handbook is a classic. It helps connect the research of academia to the practical realities of peacemaking and peacebuilding like no other. It is both comprehensive and deeply informed on topics vital to the field like power, gender, cooperation, emotion, and trust. It now sits prominently on my bookshelf." —Leymah Gbowee, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate "The Handbook of Conflict Resolution offers an astonishing array of insightful articles on theory and practice by leading scholars and practitioners. Students, professors, and professionals alike can learn a great deal from studying this Handbook." —William Ury, Director, Global Negotiation Project, Harvard University; coauthor, Getting to Yes and author, The Third Side "Morton Deutsch, Peter Coleman, and Eric Marcus put together a handbook that will be helpful to many. I hope the book will reach well beyond North America to contribute to the growing worldwide interest in the constructive resolution of conflict. This book offers instructive ways to make this commitment a reality." —George J. Mitchell, Former majority leader of the United States Senate; former chairman of the Peace Negotiations in Northern Ireland and the International Fact-Finding Committee on Violence in the Middle East; chairman of the board, Walt Disney Company; senior fellow at the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University "Let's be honest. This book is just too big to carry around in your hand. But that's because it is loaded with the most critical essays linking the theory and practice of conflict resolution. The Handbook of Conflict Resolution is heavy on content and should be a well-referenced resource on the desk of every mediator—as it is on mine." —Johnston Barkat, Assistant Secretary-General, Ombudsman and Mediation Services, United Nations

Designing Systems and Processes for Managing Disputes features a hands-on, interdisciplinary approach with wide-ranging practical applications. Seven real-life case studies and numerous examples have students designing and implementing a process for resolving and preventing disputes where traditional processes have failed. This is a must-read for students and practitioners alike. New to the Second Edition: A chapter-long focus on facilitation skills for designers The addition of a seventh central case study related to processes following the Trayvon Martin shooting in Sanford, Florida A new appendix with an overview of mediation for students who have not taken a prior course in mediation An interesting new story by a Brazilian judge who used Designing Systems and Processes for Managing Disputes to create new processes to resolve multiple cases, some pending over 20 years, arising from lands taken to create a new national park A new question focusing on the issues related to designing court-connected mediation programs Updates throughout all chapters and the appendix Professors and students will benefit from: Focus on skills development for dispute systems designers A multidisciplinary approach Biographies of designers, providing students with a sense of how to get into dispute systems design work An appendix assisting students who have no background in dispute resolution, with brief overviews of negotiation, mediation, and arbitration Problems and exercises to help students apply their learning Examples of complex disputes Featured disputes including eBay, a child abuse claims tribunals, court-related mediation, intra-institutional disputes, and community and post-violence conflicts

Have you ever had to speak in a public meeting about your company’s or agencies plans, projects or programs? Have you attended a public meeting where people’s emotions were high? Do you want to learn how professional meeting facilitators deliver best outcomes? Professional facilitator, Dave Hardy, shares his unique insights learned from facilitating over 1,500 meetings. What are the techniques facilitators use to avoid an angry public meeting? How do they manage these meetings when they know many people will be angry? What are some of the unique situations that arise and how should you address them? In “Who Are These People and Why Are They Yelling at Me? The art and science of managing large angry public meetings” Hardy provides lessons for engaging the public in a meaningful manner. He gives essential tips for preparing for potential angry meetings and takes you step by step through the dynamics of how to help the group achieve dialogue. Essential facilitation tools and techniques are presented to support ‘extreme facilitator training’. Hardy teaches these facilitation techniques through real examples, academic insight and humour.

Bringing together cutting-edge research from over 50 leading international scholars, this forward-looking Research Handbook offers theoretical and empirical insights into the student experience in higher education.

"This book brings together an existing array of research on Theory U, including specific aspects of the theory, through diverse interpretations and contexts while exploring key theoretical concepts and outlining current approaches and blind spots"--Provided by publisher.

Mediation: Practice, Policy, and Ethics provides a comprehensive and current introduction to the world of mediation, including an overview of conflict, perspectives on justice, and dispute resolution processes to handle disputes in a variety of contexts. The book has chapters on negotiation theory and practice, as well as law and policy, case examples, and practice guidelines for mediators and attorney representatives. Leading scholars and award-winning teachers in the field present descriptions of the various forms mediation takes and mediation’s place in the panoply of dispute resolution processes. Both critiques of mediation and descriptions of its promise and potential are included. Chapters on advising clients on process choice, dispute process design, international and complex mediation, facilitation, and hybrid processes are also offered. The practical, problem-solving approach includes both analytical and behavioral approaches in varying gender, race, and cultural contexts. The text can be used for lawyer-mediators, lawyer-representatives in mediation, and non-lawyer mediators. New to the Third Edition: Streamlined text designed to be more student-friendly New updates to time-tested problems and cases have to keep the book up-to-date Professors and students will benefit from: Comprehensive current coverage of mediation including: Law and policy, case examples, and practice guidelines for mediators and attorney representatives Authors that are leading and award-winning scholars, teachers, and practitioners in this area Clear presentation of the advantages of mediation as well as critiques and concerns A practical, problem-solving approach that includes: Both analytical and behavioral approaches Varying gender, race, and cultural contexts Key excerpts from some of the most renowned scholars in the field Text that is applicable across the field of mediation with coverage of: Lawyer-mediators Lawyer-representatives in mediation Non-lawyer mediators