workshops work

Send us a textSome episodes of this podcast have an extremely tight focus — a specific topic, inspected under scrutiny. Some episodes are like walks through a beautiful park, stopping and admiring different beautiful moments and places.My conversation with Francis Laleman — a trainer-of-trainers, a facilitation teacher, and an excellent facilitator in his own right — was most certainly one in the latter category. We spent an hour or so weaving our way through big questions and small curiosities. It was a joy and an opportunity for both of us to think more deeply about the fundamentals of our work.Explore the depths of change, the art of not doing anything, and the hidden designs we create in our lives and work.Find out about:Why change is the common goal that links facilitation, training, and coachingWhat Francis aims to achieve by hosting workshops with ‘provocative absence’ and invisibilityWhy the ‘you’ that facilitates a group is unique to each groupHow learning is a cooperative affair and, so, training is a matter of creating readiness for cooperationWhat ‘exformative’ learning and facilitation areTaking inspiration from acting and theatreWhy our view of workshops as singular events can inhibit our effectivenessDon’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.LinksWatch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.Visit Francis’ website.Connect to Francis:On LinkedInSupport the show✨✨✨You can now find the podcast on Substack, where your host Dr. Myriam Hadnes is building a club for you to find fellow listeners and peers: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

Send us a textDance—especially improvised dance—is an arena for deep vulnerability, connection, and growth. It requires careful and considered facilitation, as you may have guessed!Enter, Tom Goldhand! Tom helps participants understand themselves and each other through the power of dance and authentic movement. Perhaps most impressive is how Tom can apply his skills in business settings, offering unique workshops for groups and companies to move their way into new ways of thinking.We had a lot to discuss, which might not surprise you, but we managed to fit so much into this episode. Step up to the stage and enjoy the rhythm of our conversation.Find out about:What every workshop—from dance and improv to corporate clients—has in commonWhy creating a space to share knowledge is very different to teachingHow emergent dynamics in dance workshops reflect wider truths of human connectionWhat happens to individuals and groups when they improviseHow to protect participants from a ‘vulnerability hangover’Why it can be beneficial to think about a ‘good enough’ outcome for your workshopHow ‘movement with awareness’ can make dance feel more accessibleDon’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.LinksTom’s websiteWatch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.Connect to Tom:On LinkedInOn InstagramSupport the show✨✨✨You can now find the podcast on Substack, where your host Dr. Myriam Hadnes is building a club for you to find fellow listeners and peers: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

Send us a textAsk a group of leaders about heart connections in their organisations and you will likely be met with raised eyebrows and doubtful looks. Their loss—and Breeze Dong’s gain, as a veritable expert in heart connections in the context of organisational development.Breeze joins me in this episode to unravel the concept of heart connections—explaining what the phrase really means, how companies benefit from encouraging heart connections, and how they’re more important than ever in an age of uncertainty. It’s a fascinating insight into deep truths that might otherwise be dismissed as ‘woowoo’ when taken by name alone.Learn about facilitating inner, outer, and networked connections from a place of meaning in this episode.Find out about:What heart connections are and how we can facilitate them in different environmentsWhy heart connections, grounding, and emotionality need to be flexible in organisationsWhy rational solutions aren’t a cure-all in times of uncertaintyWhy having time and space for self-work is a precursor to forming heart connectionsHow to move groups from being in their heads to being in their bodiesWhat system thinking has to do with heart connectionsHow to balance the needs of a system with the needs of its individual constituentsDon’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 Breeze:On LinkedInSupport the show✨✨✨You can now find the podcast on Substack, where your host Dr. Myriam Hadnes is building a club for you to find fellow listeners and peers: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

Send us a textWe’ve had plenty of opportunities to practice online facilitation since 2020, but have we reached a plateau? Has complacency crept in?John Chen has been hosting (and training others to host) engaging virtual meetings for longer than many of us have even thought about them! He’s the perfect candidate to discuss this topic.John joins me in this episode to discuss the magic ingredients of online facilitation — and why an overemphasis on tech and tools has led to us abandoning deeper personal and interpersonal engagement.Find out about:What happens in the first minute of virtual eventsWhy John is wary about making tech the main focus of virtual eventsWhy forced-on-camera participants are worse than off-camera participantsWhy engagement is platform-, tool-, and activity-agnosticHow to facilitate tangential conversations — and how to know when to redirect themWhy the chat function in online events is a sacred space of simultaneityBridging the gap between well-run and transformational online eventsDon’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.LinksWatch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.Author of Engaging Virtual Meetings, published by Wiley and Sonsclick for a FREE ticket to my Engaging Virtual Meetings Conference, every October.Connect to John:On LinkedInOn FacebookOn YouTubeOn TwitterOn InstagramSupport the show✨✨✨You can now find the podcast on Substack, where your host Dr. Myriam Hadnes is building a club for you to find fellow listeners and peers: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

Send us a textWhat is it like to be on ‘the other side' of the workshop — to be a participant or a client?This podcast has always focused on conversations with facilitators, but perspectives from clients are just as valuable for understanding our work and processes.Hence, why this episode features Sandy Wilson, Director of Culture and Learning at Insights Learning and Development. In 2021, Insights initiated a company-wide facilitated LEGO Serious Play project, dubbed ‘On Purpose’.I’m shocked that it’s taken me 182 episodes to host an episode from the clients perspective, but it was more than worth the wait. Enjoy a bounty of unique and unmissable insights in this episode.   Find out about:How Sandy (and his organisation) decided to choose LEGO Serious PlayWhat it’s like to lead an organisational project without a clear expected outcomeWhy a focus on identification and exploration was critical to creating changeHow the organisation adopted a snowball-effect of permissionless progressWhy ‘extroverted thinking’ dominates in management structures and how to facilitate the inclusion introverted perspectivesHow they conducted the search for an external facilitator and what made candidates stand outThe struggle to confidently link organisational changes to individual projectsDon’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.Linkshttps://www.insights.com/ Connect to Sandy:On LinkedInFacebookYouTubeTwitterSupport the show✨✨✨You can now find the podcast on Substack, where your host Dr. Myriam Hadnes is building a club for you to find fellow listeners and peers: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

Send us a textTobias Mayer’s experience as a scrum master has taken him around the world and across the upper echelons of the biggest names in tech. Those 20+ years have taught him a lot, but perhaps more importantly, have provoked some challenging questions.In this episode, we discuss a bit of everything! We challenge assumptions, we question the unquestionable, and we explore what it takes to facilitate change. A clue: it’s rarely comfort or ease!If you’re curious about facilitating change in a meaningful and sustainable way and want to pick up some extra tools to help you in the process, this episode will be one you come back to time and time again.Find out about:Why facilitators help participants exist ‘at the edges’ and achieve ‘their edge’How confrontation fits in the facilitator’s toolboxWhy the end of a workshop is the start of a new chapterWhy the flexible nature of facilitation makes the role hard to grasp for some organisationsWhy promoting staff for their knowledge entrenches a fear of failureThe art and skill of asking uncomfortable — and better — questionsHow changing your style to fit the group inevitably harms the groupDon’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.LinksTobias’ websiteConnect to Tobias:On LinkedInSupport the show✨✨✨You can now find the podcast on Substack, where your host Dr. Myriam Hadnes is building a club for you to find fellow listeners and peers: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

Send us a textMohsin Memon is a gaming expert—but he’s not spending his days playing shoot ‘em ups. Mohsin’s expertise lies at the crossroads of learning and gaming, where he spends his time creating immersive experiences and teaching others how to do the same.Our conversation in this episode was a speed-run of all things experiential learning, from the nuts-and-bolts details of what makes a game enjoyable, to the more cerebral questions around ‘fair play’ and childhood experiences.If you’re interested in alternative approaches to learning, novel applications of facilitation skills, or adapting your methods to the needs of the group—you’re going to thoroughly enjoy this episode.Find out about:How Mohsin (and the wider world) defines and understands gamesHow games hold up a lens to our behaviour patterns and show us fascinating distortionsWhy games are a vehicle for interaction and connectionHow our childhood experiences dictate our expectations of gamesHow our culture shapes our appreciation and proclivity for certain types of gamesWhat it means to play a game fairly—and what happens when that isn’t assuredDon’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.LinksGamitar - The company Mohsin represents. This is also the official publisher of the games.Evivve - The Leadership Game - A game designed for virtual and physical facilitated learning experiences on a range of leadership competencies.Connect to Mohsin:On LinkedInSupport the show✨✨✨You can now find the podcast on Substack, where your host Dr. Myriam Hadnes is building a club for you to find fellow listeners and peers: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

Send us a textThere are few spaces in which facilitation skills have a greater impact than diplomacy, yet conversations connecting the two are rare.This episode changes that.With over 30 years of experience in mediation and mediation training, Ron Ton has unique and unparalleled insights to share. Explore the incredible world of diplomacy, negotiation, and mediation with one of its pre-eminent experts.Tune in to learn how facilitation skills intersect across Ron’s work—and how his approach has changed over time.And, as a separate note, this is one of my first in-person recordings in 2+ years. What a joy!Find out about:What diplomacy, mediation, and facilitation have in commonHow to balance defending one’s interests with finding a mutually agreeable path forwardWhy so much of Ron’s work comes back to facilitating collaborationThe three levels of awareness Ron focuses on in any negotiationWhy your workshops starts before you’re in the roomHow humility can take us away from unspoken agendas and towards deeper understandingWhat to do if a group gets stuck on a disagreement early on in a workshop Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.LinksConnect to Ron:On LinkedInSupport the show✨✨✨You can now find the podcast on Substack, where your host Dr. Myriam Hadnes is building a club for you to find fellow listeners and peers: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

Send us a textWhen you think of business transformation, what do you picture?Expensive consultants armed with long presentations and a briefcase of jargon? Or a voluntary grassroots movement of trust, equity, and contractual safety within an organisation?Douglas Breitbart sees it one way and one way only. You may be able to guess which method gets his vote.This episode was hugely refreshing and inspiring. Douglas’ conviction and confidence in the power of internally led transformation projects — and the methods required to facilitate them effectively — are a blueprint for the agile and empathetic businesses of the future.Find out about:How sharing, not enforcing, power creates changeWhy Douglas believes organisations can (and shall) change without new resources or inputsWhy many leaders end up ignoring the most powerful energetic potential in their organisationWhy an attachment to outcomes causes harm to the facilitator and their workshop participantsWhat changes when a voluntary team leads a transformation processHow to use values audits in business transformationWhy workshop participants are waiting for ‘enrolment’ — and how you can provide itDon’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.Links2BElemental, Douglas’ coaching, insights, and collaboration businessBeing In Systems, Douglas’ emergence facilitation businessThe Values Foundation, Douglas’ value-alignment businessConnect to Douglas:On LinkedInSupport the show✨✨✨You can now find the podcast on Substack, where your host Dr. Myriam Hadnes is building a club for you to find fellow listeners and peers: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

Send us a textLove is wonderful, it’s all around. Love is the finest thing in the world… but what’s it got to do with facilitation?Spend and hour with Lorenz Sell and you’ll see the many threads that connect love and facilitation together. From creating connection and honest communication to presence and validation — facilitators may as well be love incarnate!Lorenz and I discuss a range of themes in this episode, from the nitty-gritty of learning and sharing to the beautiful soft light of love and attention. Conversation with Lorenz flows so lightly and thoughtfully, this episode is equally perfect for a candle-lit Saturday night or a slow summer Sunday morning. Enjoy it — whichever way you choose to listen.Find out about:Why the labels we assign to objects, feelings, or states cannot override their universal valuesHow online learning fell into an imbalance of content vs. connectionWhy Lorenz sees ‘coherence’ as the great challenge of his facilitation practiceHow Lorenz defines ‘the space’ in a workshopWhat the difference is between hearing, seeing, and feeling another personWhy Lorenz thinks facilitators need to get comfortable with the darkest corners of themselvesDon’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.And download the free 1-page summary, so you can always have the key points of this episode to hand.LinksConnect to Lorenz:On LinkedInOn TwitterSupport the show✨✨✨You can now find the podcast on Substack, where your host Dr. Myriam Hadnes is building a club for you to find fellow listeners and peers: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/