I am sitting in the lounge at Seattle Airport waiting for my flight home after three long days of facilitation. I smell, my feet are sore and my body clock has no idea what time it is… but I feel great.
I’ve been facilitating the annual meeting for a global team, who only meet up, face to face once a year. So, on Monday I arrived and met up with a group that had all flown in from round the world. For the last three days we have discussed, debated, shared information, learnt together and developed new insights.
The meeting has had its share of difficulties, we had to change rooms each evening, one of the days we were in a room with no natural daylight, significant organisational change announcements were made on the second of the three days, and on the last day the Director, and group leader, was taken ill. Yet, despite all this and most people suffering from jetlag, the group have thrown themselves into their conversations with vigor.
The community spirit generated in a relatively short time has been amazing. This will be important for them, as they need to create a strong enough foundation to keep connected for another year. I felt sad to be leaving the meeting today, the team spirit was compelling, this is combined with a sense of achievement at having helped the group get the most from such valuable time together.
This is why I love facilitating!