workshops work

Share your thoughts about our conversation!In May 2022, an academic research paper titled “Virtual communication curbs creative idea generation” was published in Nature (one of the most prestigious scientific publishers). They tested how the transition from in-person to online interaction affected innovation (measured by collective idea generation) and concluded that video calls were bad for brainstorming.The media derived: “Zoom is a creativity killer.”But, as (online) facilitators, we have first-hand experience with remote teams’ creativity and effective collaboration. But, we haven’t had hard evidence proving the study wrong.My guests on today’s bonus episode, Elise Keith (CEO of Lucid Meetings, Author and Meeting Innovator) and Dave Mastronardi (CEO of the Gamestorming Group) have the ambition to test the hypothesis that online work killed creativity through a global mega experiment. As they kick off the project with a Symposium, Elise and Dave joined me to share their vision, drivers and open questions.Listen to this episode to find out about:The definition of creativity and how to measure itHow the project came to beThe bigger vision behind the project: How online collaboration can tackle global challengesHow you can get involved in the experimentDon't miss the New Rules for Work Experiment and SymposiumVisit the New Rules for Work WebsiteAnd, don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.LinksWatch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.Read the Article published in ‘Nature’Read about the studyWatch the Youtube video: Why video calls are bad for brainstormingConnect to Elise and Dave:Connect to Elise on LinkedInConnect to Dave on LinkedInSupport the show✨✨✨Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a free 1-page summary of each upcoming episode directly to your inbox, or explore our eBooks featuring 50-episode compilations for even more facilitation insights. Find out more:https://workshops.work/podcast✨✨✨Did you know? You can search all episodes by keyword to find exactly what you need via our Buzzsprout page!

Share your thoughts about our conversation!How do you create a culture of independent and empowered facilitation in a large business? Well, Rod Butcher and Nikesh Patel of Fidelity International posed me that question and, together, we came up with a radical solution.This episode explains the story of how we built Fidelity International’s Facilitation Academy.You can hear about the process we followed and the results we’ve seen, as well as how we interpreted the issues and questions that Rod and Nikesh started with.Implementing facilitation skills at scale can be a daunting thought, but it’s eminently more enticing when it’s achieved through a generative, self-sustaining cycle of talent training talent!Find out about:What the structure and process of the academy is and how it worksHow to look at a problem with a broad view, to find unexpected solutionsThe unique challenges of internal facilitation vs. external facilitationThe unexpected benefits of implementing a facilitation mindset across an organisationWhy an interdepartmental-by-default approach creates more meaningful space for changeHow framing facilitation as problem-solving generated more interestHow to create a virtuous cycle of facilitation, training, and learningDon’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.Connect to Rod and Nikesh:Rod on LinkedInNikesh on LinkedInSupport the show✨✨✨Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a free 1-page summary of each upcoming episode directly to your inbox, or explore our eBooks featuring 50-episode compilations for even more facilitation insights. Find out more:https://workshops.work/podcast✨✨✨Did you know? You can search all episodes by keyword to find exactly what you need via our Buzzsprout page!

Share your thoughts about our conversation!“Keep it simple, stupid” is a popular refrain which might be better translated as “make it harder, stupid”!One of the most common misunderstandings Gabor Bittera encounters in his mission towards simplicity is the belief that simple = easy. Far from it, in fact. Sometimes, creating simplicity is the hardest task in a workshop.Thankfully, Gabor has done the hard miles and has advice that can save you from complicating the process of simplifying your workshops… leaving you just with the fact that it isn’t always easy!We explore what it means to facilitate simplicity, with simplicity, and for simplicity in this episode—jumping from practical advice and templates to deeper questions around purpose and effectiveness. It was a joyful conversation and I hope you will get as much from it as I did.Find out about:Why Gabor prioritises simplicity over ease — no matter how complex it can be to simplifyHow to facilitate using principles from Scrum, linguistics and storytellingWhy simple facilitation requires more of our attention and careWhich part of the workshop process Gabor believes is hardest to simplifyWhy the art of facilitation includes designing constraints and restrictionsWhat the perfect group size is for both subgroup and whole-group workHow to use specific accountability to create more impactful workshopsDon’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.LinksWatch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.Subscribe to Gabor’s Substack — Scrum TimesRead or subscribe to Gabor’s MediumConnect to Gabor:On LinkedInSupport the show✨✨✨Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a free 1-page summary of each upcoming episode directly to your inbox, or explore our eBooks featuring 50-episode compilations for even more facilitation insights. Find out more:https://workshops.work/podcast✨✨✨Did you know? You can search all episodes by keyword to find exactly what you need via our Buzzsprout page!

Share your thoughts about our conversation!In an on-site workshops, breakout groups are a tried and tested way to get the group thinking, communicating, and developing.In online workshops, breakout rooms are a different beast.You press a button and the group disappears — you don’t know what they’re saying, whether they’re collaborating, or anything about their time together!Gwyn Wansbrough is on a mission to take the uncertainty out of breakout rooms and virtual facilitation. Her approach touches all ends of the workshop, helping you and your participants get clear on your shared purpose, rules for engagement, and much more.Gwyn provides a crash course in breaking through the burden of breakout rooms, so you can turn them into a powerful option in your facilitation toolbox!Find out about:Why your setup and warm-up will make or break the success of your breakout roomsWhat Gwyn believes to be the four biggest mistakes we make with breakout roomsHow to use the start of your workshop to prepare the group for breakoutsHow to use a set of shared agreements to generate buy-in and commitmentWhy it’s vital to remain present for the group, even if you are outside of their breakoutsThe three things participants need to feel comfortable in breakout roomsDon’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.LinksWatch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.Check out Gwyn’s website.Gwyn’s free guide: How to Create Engaging Virtual Sessions Your Participants Will Love.Connect to Gwyn:On TwitterOn LinkedInSupport the show✨✨✨Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a free 1-page summary of each upcoming episode directly to your inbox, or explore our eBooks featuring 50-episode compilations for even more facilitation insights. Find out more:https://workshops.work/podcast✨✨✨Did you know? You can search all episodes by keyword to find exactly what you need via our Buzzsprout page!

Share your thoughts about our conversation!Facilitation is a system that gives groups space to make sense — it’s not about guiding them towards something, nor is it about leading them.But what is ‘deliberate sensemaking’ all about? To the uninitiated, it may sound a little simplistic — is it just about helping people understand stuff that they’re working on?Michael Hamman, one of the foremost voices in Agile coaching and training, explains all in this episode and reveals the complexity behind seemingly simple sense-making. We discuss the facilitator’s role as a mirror for the group, the work before the work of sensemaking, and how our incessant and instinctive need to categorise is the last great barrier to topple if we want things to make more sense.Find out about:How sensemaking and categorisation help groups make progressWhy, once we understand categorisation, we shall dismantle itHow to create deeper insight by leaving some questions unanswered Why facilitation is about being a mirror, rather than a paintingHow to design workshops that prioritise sensemakingWhat happens when we break ourselves free from the categories we’ve createdThe common theme that emerges when Michael prioritises inner beauty in his workshop designDon’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.LinksWatch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.Centre for Inner Agility website.Connect to Michael:On LinkedInSupport the show✨✨✨Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a free 1-page summary of each upcoming episode directly to your inbox, or explore our eBooks featuring 50-episode compilations for even more facilitation insights. Find out more:https://workshops.work/podcast✨✨✨Did you know? You can search all episodes by keyword to find exactly what you need via our Buzzsprout page!

Share your thoughts about our conversation!Meg Bolger is one of a few returning guests to this show, originally featured in episode 133 (’The conversation I wish I heard when I started facilitating’).Our conversation this time was a far cry from discussing what we wished we’d heard at the start of our careers. Instead, we focused on Meg’s area of expertise after 12+ years of development and practice: facilitating diversity, equity, and inclusion workshops and processes.We stripped things back to their basics in search of universal language, juggled with contradictions, and explored the wider aims and outcomes of committing to a DEI process.I learned a great deal in this episode and I hope you will, too!Find out about:Why language is holding back progress in the DEI spaceHow to bypass buzzwords and reach a place of unity and understandingHow to facilitate DEI processesHow to consider DEI in your facilitationWhy exclusivity can sometimes be used effectively to create inclusivityWhat to do when you feel friction or dissent against the workshop’s goalsDon’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.LinksWatch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.Meg’s wonderful Facilitator CardsEpisode 133 (Meg’s previous appearance on the show)Connect to Meg:On LinkedInOn TwitterSupport the show✨✨✨Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a free 1-page summary of each upcoming episode directly to your inbox, or explore our eBooks featuring 50-episode compilations for even more facilitation insights. Find out more:https://workshops.work/podcast✨✨✨Did you know? You can search all episodes by keyword to find exactly what you need via our Buzzsprout page!

Share your thoughts about our conversation!When you’re facilitating, where are you? In your head, your body, a role? There are no wrong answers, but there are plenty of interesting questions you can ask to better understand how you facilitate.Anna Momber-Heers can share a lot of interesting insights, as her background is as a performance and communication coach. She helps professionals use tools and ideas from acting to get into their bodies and into a more settled place in their minds.The closer we can get to our bodies, the clearer we can get in our minds. And, in fact, the more we can start to use one to influence the other. Learn about embodied facilitation and how to act like the facilitator you want to be in this episode.Find out about:Why creating a facilitator ‘role’ for yourself can make it easier to focus on your jobHow we can use acting tools to connect us to our minds, bodies, and emotionsWhat changes when facilitators have a stronger connection to their physical and mental experiencesWhy trust is irreplaceable in workshop settingsDifferentiating between our private selves and our present selves in the roomHow to handle the tension between encouraging improvisation and managing timeHow to train your body to prompt and support your mind in different statesDon’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.LinksWatch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.Anna’s websiteConnect to Anna:On LinkedInOn TwitterSupport the show✨✨✨Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a free 1-page summary of each upcoming episode directly to your inbox, or explore our eBooks featuring 50-episode compilations for even more facilitation insights. Find out more:https://workshops.work/podcast✨✨✨Did you know? You can search all episodes by keyword to find exactly what you need via our Buzzsprout page!

Share your thoughts about our conversation!How often do you walk away from a conversation feeling heard, like you put across the things you wanted to? Feeling relaxed, not frantic?And how often do you workshops produce those same sensations?If it’s less often than you’d like, Johnnie Moore can help, with his Unhurried model for conversation (and more).As facilitators, we can learn a lot — directly and indirectly — from this approach. Unhurried might make you think ‘slow’, but it’s not necessarily so. Rather than purely slowing down, Johnnie explores what happens when we add layers and awareness to our interactions. When we take time to share, listen, and reflect, the conversation sounds very different.In an increasingly demanding and results-oriented professional space, this is becoming a rare skill. And, as it becomes rarer, it will become vital that we reclaim the time and space to be unhurried.Find out about:How Johnnie developed the concept of unhurried conversations to what it is todayWhy slowness isn’t necessarily the goal of being unhurriedHow to use props and models as guides to ease your way into unhurried conversationWhy Johnnie’s reflective practice uses a sliding scale of satisfaction, rather than failure vs. successHow to own your role in the conversation and step into honest relating about your experienceWhat ‘airtime’ in conversation is and why it is often the root of frustrationsHow to have an effective conversation while speaking gibberishDon’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.LinksWatch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.Johnnie’s websiteThe Unhurried websiteConnect to Johnnie:On LinkedInSupport the show✨✨✨Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a free 1-page summary of each upcoming episode directly to your inbox, or explore our eBooks featuring 50-episode compilations for even more facilitation insights. Find out more:https://workshops.work/podcast✨✨✨Did you know? You can search all episodes by keyword to find exactly what you need via our Buzzsprout page!

Share your thoughts about our conversation!Language is messy. It comes with assumptions, uncertainties, and contradictions — but what else can we use to facilitate?Florentine Versteeg would never claim to have all the answer, but she is certainly asking all the right questions. Her thoughts on facilitation and the inherent privileges in our language take us on a fascinating journey in this episode.We challenge our ideas about communication, inclusivity, and bias — and what we aim to achieve by challenging them in the first place!If you’re a facilitator who enjoys questioning things you’d never think to question, stepping into big challenges, and learning new ways to see things… this might be the perfect episode.Find out about:How to overcome bias towards articulation and adopt new ways to listenUnlocking a broader conversation by including non-verbal communication stylesWhy facilitation is not democratic (nor should it be our goal)Why universal representation is a greater priority than universal agreementWhether defaulting to English is always a positive choiceWhy inclusion leads to expression, and why expression can lead us anywhereDon’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.LinksWatch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.Connect to Florentine:On LinkedInSupport the show✨✨✨Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a free 1-page summary of each upcoming episode directly to your inbox, or explore our eBooks featuring 50-episode compilations for even more facilitation insights. Find out more:https://workshops.work/podcast✨✨✨Did you know? You can search all episodes by keyword to find exactly what you need via our Buzzsprout page!

Share your thoughts about our conversation!As facilitation has grown in popularity and awareness over the last decade. And, as markets grow, dilution and variance begins to naturally occur. Marcus Crow has been pondering this issue for a while — chewing over formalization, authentication, and accreditation in our profession.An idea he wanted to explore more (and what better stage than this podcast?) is what a degree in facilitation might look like.Is facilitation something you can teach in an academic space? What disciplines and related fields would inform the curriculum? Where would our field trips take us?Head back to school with us in this curious and joyful episode!Find out about:Why Marcus keeps questioning whether formalization will help or hinder facilitationThe disciplines and ideas that might inform a Bachelor’s-style programmeWhether facilitation is static or context-independent enough to be academizedHow facilitation might become a constant feature of CPD plans in the near-futureWhy Marcus would take his class to a military barracksWhat the common threads and techniques are between different types of facilitators Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.Links10,000 Hours — Marcus’ companyConnect to Marcus:On LinkedInSupport the show✨✨✨Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a free 1-page summary of each upcoming episode directly to your inbox, or explore our eBooks featuring 50-episode compilations for even more facilitation insights. Find out more:https://workshops.work/podcast✨✨✨Did you know? You can search all episodes by keyword to find exactly what you need via our Buzzsprout page!