In the Knowledge Café Workshop, I teach participants how to design and run a Knowledge Café. I can run the session face-to-face or online via Zoom for between ten and thirty participants. It can be run as a full or half-day session or in as little as 3 hours.
Contact me (David Gurteen) for more details and to discuss the price.
Workshop Description
What is a Knowledge Café?
The Knowledge Café is a simple method to bring a small group of people together to have a lightly structured conversation on a topic of mutual interest. You do not need to be a professional facilitator to design and host one.
The Café can be adapted for a variety of purposes such as:
- Share knowledge
- Generate ideas
- Make better sense of an issue
- Improve decision making
- Support sales meetings and
- Mitigate risks
- Explore possibilities
It can also help connect people, improve interpersonal relationships, break down organizational silos, and improve trust and engagement. At its best, it is a powerful sense-making tool.
The Workshop
In this workshop, David Gurteen will explain the Café process. He will share with you real-life stories (from almost 20 years of running Cafés around the world) of some of the many ways the Café has been used or adapted within organizations for a broad range of purposes.
In the workshop, you will:
- Gain an understanding of the principles that underpin the Knowledge Café
- Know how to run a Knowledge Café (both face-to-face and online on Zoom)
- Learn the benefits of the Knowledge Café and how to adapt it for different purposes
Who should participate?
Most people will benefit from this workshop, but it will be of particular interest to anyone looking to encourage and facilitate more purposeful, constructive, and creative conversation in their teams or organizations.
These include:
- Managers
- Facilitators
- Project and Team Leaders
- Trainers
- Community of Practice Leaders
And professionals in:
- Change Management
- Human Resources
- Knowledge Management
- Learning and Development
- Organization Development
Café Conversation
Gurteen Knowledge Café: RSA Workshop, London, 2011 (source)A snippet of the conversation at a Gurteen Knowledge Café Workshop, Royal Society of Arts (RSA) London, on December 13th, 2011.
The video is not meant to capture the conversation but the engagement of the people and the energy in the conversations.
If you’d like my help in designing and facilitating a customised Knowledge Café—whether like the example above or something completely different—I’m here to support you. Your Knowledge Café can be held in person (face-to-face) or online via Teams or Zoom. Let’s create a conversation that meets your needs.
Agenda
Recommendations from a recent workshop
Listed below, you will find several recommendations from a recent workshop.
David Gurteen's seminar will enrich your life and empower your work.
His ideas and strategies have inspired and guided us in creating conversations that are meaningful, nurturing, consequential, and exhilarating.
Ronald Gross, Chair, Columbia University Seminar on Innovation; Founder/Director, Conversations New York.
February 2021
I highly recommend attending the Knowledge Café Workshop.
Not only did I walk away with the knowledge and skills to conduct a knowledge café, but I also had an opportunity to share and learn about potential applications for the café in the workplace, in professional associations, and the world in general.
I also connected with a broader network of knowledge-focused professionals. David, himself, is an engaging teacher who made me feel extremely welcome.
Rebecca, Sr. Consultant
February 2021
Thank you for the Knowledge Cafe workshop today, David - it was excellent!
Not only do I now feel equipped to run a Knowledge Cafe but I’ve come away with lots of inspiration about how they can support the work I do.
Thank you also for your generosity in sharing so many resources and vast experience.
I’d recommend this workshop to anyone looking to build a greater sense of connection, community, and conversation in their work with groups.
Dr. Gillian Shapiro, Consultant in organizational culture, change, diversity, and inclusion
February 2021
After stumbling across David Gurteen’s excellent Conversational Leadership ‘blook’, I was intrigued by the Knowledge Café concept and wanted to use it in my workplace to start conversations around Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
When the opportunity arose to participate in a Knowledge Café workshop, I jumped right in. It was such an uplifting experience that has left me feeling a renewed sense of hope and energy to continue to try to make the world a little bit nicer place.
It also gave me some powerful tools to achieve some of the goals at work. KC has so many practical applications, from giving people a voice and improving engagement, sparking action, identifying risks, and a whole lot more. David’s passion, knowledge, insights, and humility during the workshop are inspiring and engaging, and he delivers a simply AMAZING and amazingly simple concept!
Simon Baker, Canada
February 2021
David's session provided great insight into the value and process of Knowledge Cafés.
The session, which models the practice of hosting a Knowledge Café, not only provided access to numerous foundational resources but offered a safe space for dialogue and the sharing of rich experiences.
David's expertise in delivering Knowledge Cafés is evident. One of the best parts of the session is hearing about his experiences in running Cafés around the world.
Cindy Russell, Founder/Chief Purpose and Vision Officer, Consider Conversation
February 2021
I don't even recall how I first learned of David's work, but I am certainly glad that I did! After experiencing my first Knowledge Café hosted by David, I was eager to participate in one of his workshops to learn how to host one myself.
I have been a conversational coach and group facilitator for decades. Both my experiences with David impressed and inspired me by how the Café's relatively simple structure sparks such meaningful connections among people from varied backgrounds, even if they are meeting for the first time.
I am moved not only by David's wisdom and authenticity as he shares his experiences so openly, but I am equally moved by his generosity in offering his support and resources in the spirit of giving human beings the opportunity to truly connect with each other.
Thank you, David.
Christine D. Trani, Portland, Oregon USA
www.whenconversationsmatter.com
February 2021
A thoughtful and well-facilitated workshop to gain a deeper understanding of Knowledge Cafés, from the principles of the Cafés, to how to design and practically run cafes both in person and virtually.
The training provided an opportunity to learn from David's vast experience, but also to practice, ask questions and learn from each other different ways in which Knowledge Cafés can be embedded in a whole variety of work and sectors.
We are excited to implement the Knowledge Café approach across our work.
Annie Legge - Co-founder DOT PROJECT
February 2021
How do you get people to open up and have a meaningful conversation about topics that really matter?
Left to ourselves without thoughtful guidance and some basic structure, we tend to fall into patterns that have been developing for a lifetime — patterns that aren't necessarily healthy.
What if there was a way to bring people together with strongly divergent views and have conversations that promote curiosity and understanding?
Not a debate with winners and losers, but a dialogue where people are safe to suspend preconceptions and explore shared meaning?
This is how I would describe a Knowledge Café. David Gurteen's workshops not only teach us techniques to effectively host a Knowledge Café but allow us to experience first-hand the freedom of safe conversations.
The process isn't difficult or complex, but practice leads to better practice. And curiosity leads to trust. And trust allows for meaningful conversations. And meaningful conversations inspire hope and new ideas.
Stephe Faust
IT Director, Multi-Pack Solutions
Founder, begin2know
February 2021
The idea of gathering people together for meaningful conversations revolving around thoughts and ideas has long been a passion.
Sitting amid a group of financial planners during a retreat in 2005, I realized we were discussing important "human experience" topics that should not be confined to our professional group.
Topics that should be discussed with a much larger audience of all stripes; things that could affect our economy and lifestyles in significant ways; ideas emerging that would make our lives simpler and more satisfying. Yet, how would we do this?
Attending David Gurteen's Knowledge Café workshop has revved me up to get going with these discussions! Bottom-up ideas, the wisdom of the crowd, and personal stories can move mountains.
Learning the different ways of organizing and facilitating Knowledge Cafés has given me optimism that these conversations will take place!
Mary Zimmerman
Certified Financial Planner™ professional
February 2021
As an experienced facilitator, I came to David Gurteen's Knowledge Café Workshop hoping to learn some new approaches or tactics that we could use in our community work.
I certainly got those, but what was even more impactful to me was 1) getting a window into David's philosophy of community and conversation and 2) connecting with a really wonderful, generous group of fellow participants in our breakout sessions.
I walked away inspired to keep connecting people, made some new friends, and with a list of book recommendations. I highly recommend this workshop. I found it reinvigorating.
Christopher Parsons
Founder and CEO, Knowledge Architecture
February 2021
Attending David Gurteen’s workshop shifted my perspective on the value of hosting, rather than facilitating, group conversations.
I also appreciated learning about his methodology, which emphasizes connection before content.
In our noisy virtual meeting world, I found a delightful reprieve in this session, and I look forward to hosting my conversations in a similar way.”
Bev Attfield, Principal of Workplace Science at Jostle
February 2021
David shifts conversation from a time-consuming luxury into an essential.
I can now achieve exceptional engagement, spread understanding, and generate ideas — three ingredients for progress.
Thank you for your excellent work, and I really enjoyed the course.
Neil Hudson
Team Leader - Analytical
February 2021
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