workshops work

Send us a textThis week, I am joined by Joe Allen – a meeting scientist, professor of Industrial Organisational Psychology, Director at the Center for Meeting Effectiveness, and co-author of Suddenly Virtual.Joe’s dedication to the science of how and why we meet is helping to advance organisations’ understanding of how to have better meetings and, for the last year or so, his focus has been on the sudden shift we had to make to online meetings.Now, as we start to emerge from the throes of the pandemic, he is predicting a rise in hybrid meetings - in which some people are on-site and others are remote.Together, we explore how we can have successful hybrid meetings and how we can make meetings of all formats run more smoothly, efficiently, and enjoyably.Find out about:Why better meetings start with diagnosis, not solutionsThe three most common issues Joe finds in meetings – and their solutionsWhether cancelling a meeting is helpful or harmfulWhat lessons Joe learned in writing his book: Suddenly VirtualThe positive and negative changes we’ve seen in the shift to online meetingsExploring hybrid meetings: their limitations, potential, and use casesHow businesses and teams can prepare for hybrid meetingsDon’t miss the next show: Subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.Questions and Answers[01:01] You are a meeting scientist! What is that?[03:16] Would you call yourself a facilitator?[06:36] What gets in the way and creates the knowing vs. doing gap?What are the top three issues you encounter with meetings?[08:18] 1) Overload[12:36] 2) Challenging personalities[18:46] 3) Stale meetings[24:25] What has been the impact of the switch to ‘Suddenly Virtual’?[27:32] Did people at the top of the hierarchy struggle most with the shift to virtual?[31:30] What is a hybrid meeting?[34:17] What are the traps in hybrid meetings that facilitation can help us avoid?[37:38] Do people naturally fall into ‘subgroups’ in hybrid meetings?[43:47] Do hybrid meetings require more facilitation than other formats?[45:20] What makes a meeting fail?[52:00] What is the one thing you would like listeners to take away from this episode?LinksJoe’s websiteJoe’s new book, Suddenly VirtualThe Meeting by Helen B. Schwartzman Connect to Joe: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 textStructure contains us and sets boundaries, it can’t make space for freedom or creativity… can it?Liberating Structures says otherwise - and Nadia von Holzen joins me in this episode to discuss the benefits and practical applications of these methods.Nadia is an independent facilitator and advocate for better meetings, collaboration, and creativity. I was taken aback by how many insights and great ideas she left in this episode, speaking with passion and conviction about a huge range of topics.We danced from Liberating Structures and digital facilitation to thinking fast and slow and analysing the language we use to describe the people we work with. It was a wonderful conversation that I hope you will enjoy.Find out about:The importance of process thinking and why COVID has made it more urgentWhy Nadia doesn’t like to call people “participants”Identifying a new zeitgeist of workshops, collaboration, and workWhy facilitative skills are needed in every area of an organisationWhy more content and inputs will rarely make a better meetingHow to get started with Liberating StructuresFinding the balance between fast and unhurriedDon’t miss the next show: Subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.Questions and Answers[01:09] When did you start calling yourself a facilitator?[02:58] How does facilitation change when you focus on the “how”, not the “why”?[04:18] How do you bring your experience in knowledge management into facilitation?[07:25] How has the pandemic changed the way you prepare and deliver your workshops?[13:09] Is everyone equally in charge of the process, not just the facilitator?[14:35] How can we strengthen our ‘process muscles’?[18:12] Nobody intends to host a bad meeting, so why do they happen?[19:14] What’s the minimum facilitation skill people should learn that would have the biggest impact?[22:42] Could Liberating Structures be the holy grail for helping organisations have better meetings?[24:46] What is beyond the toolbox?[27:21] Is four the magic number of people to have in a breakout room?[29:30] What makes a workshop fail?[32:15] How do you select a person within an organisation with whom you will co-facilitate?[37:09] Can you share more about speed and pacing?[44:15] How does quality conversation and communication contribute to sense-making?[46:04] Why confidence matters so much – and why it’s a constant work in progress.[48:21] What is the one thing you would like listeners to take away from this episode?Links:Nadia’s websiteLiberating StructuresUnhurried conversationsConnect to Nadia:LinkedInTwitterSupport 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 textEmpathy is a cornerstone of facilitation. Without it, we are only thrusting ideas and intentions on people. With it, we meet people where they are and work with them, as they need us too, to create the right outcome for that moment.Gabriel Couture, a Learning and Service Experience Designer based out of Toronto, has been working on structuralising empathy - using a framework of integral facilitation quadrants that tap into people’s motivations, personalities, and moods.We discussed integral facilitation quadrants at length, but also delved into the idiosyncrasies of facilitating large groups and the challenges of meeting online. It was a wide-ranging conversation that flowed beautifully and uncovered some fascinating insights for both of us. I hope you will find it just as illuminating! Find out about: What integral facilitation quadrants are and why they are effective toolsWhy orientation and alignment are the ‘true north’ of meetingsWhy appreciating that we all have different starting points (orientations) is the key to guiding a groupHow we come from different places, have different motivations, and need different things to feel comfortableThe differences between facilitating small and large groupsApplying integral facilitation quadrants in online spacesHow Gabe has adapted his practice for online spacesIdentifying where structure stops helping and starts hindering the groupDon’t miss the next show: Subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.Questions and Answers[01:20] When did you first call yourself a facilitator?[04:08] To what extent did gaining a certification change the way your worked as a facilitator?[08:12] Do the integral facilitation quadrants have a hierarchy? Do they have to be approached in a sequence?[10:44] How important is it to understand your audience when using integral facilitation quadrants?[12:28] Do you design online and offline events in different ways, to accommodate for the increased variance of personalities?[15:57] Can we picture the quadrants as obstacles that we need to overcome to achieve a successful outcome?[20:07] What have you learned from integrating quadrants in your workshops and events?[23:00] Is it easier or harder to facilitate large groups online?[27:06] What is your experience with bringing people back from breakout rooms?[33:29] Why is it that we tend to over-explain or over-structure in online meetings?[35:37] What makes a workshop fail?[37:18] Do you have a silver bullet exercise to get people to buy-in?[41:48] What do you do when you realise somebody doesn’t want to be in your workshop?[45:58] It seems you’re applying a lot of your coaching tools to your facilitation work?[47:17] How do coaching skills scale from working with individuals to working with a group?[51:33] If you had a hashtag, what would it be?[52:48] What is the one thing you would like listeners to take away from this episode?LinksSpring StrategiesBraindatesCave DayConnect to Gabe:LinkedIn Support 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 textThis toe-tapping, energy-flowing, jam of a workshops work episode explores the similarities (and differences) between jazz music, strategy, and facilitation - with fabled facilitator Rich Goidel leading the beat.Rich fell into facilitation from his career in creative planning and brand strategy and has been uncovering fascinating insights ever since, thanks in no small part to the unique intersections he finds between music, strategy, and facilitation.We explore where these crossovers work and fall short, how we can all embody a bit more musicality in our work, and even find ourselves practicing a live activity using Rich’s industry-favourite Catalyst Cards!Find out about:Rich’s accidental journey from brand strategy to facilitationHow the need for alignment shows up in so many places in our livesJoining the dots between strategy, music, and facilitation – and how they can each inspire new thought in the othersHard skills vs. soft skills – and why soft skills are the hardest to masterUnderstanding who owns the ‘blame’ if a workshop doesn’t go to planWhy preparation often takes twice as long as the workshop delivery itselfThe tricky debate of whether we can own creative ideasWhy practice grants us the freedom to work with flexibility and creativityDon’t miss the next show: Subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.Questions and Answers[01:08] When did you first start calling yourself a facilitator?[04:32] What are the similarities and differences between strategy, music, and facilitation?[09:05] What’s the magic ingredient in creating the space for leaders to be vulnerable?[17:17] How do you help groups push themselves further and into discomfort – where real progress is made?[19:57] Where do you draw the line between experimentation and taking the workshop off course?[24:32] What does neutrality in facilitation mean to you?[28:18] Who owns the ‘mistake’ if a workshop goes off track?[31:43] What makes a workshop fail?[35:50] What’s your stance on ownership of creative exercises? Can we own ideas?[40:43] What is your favourite way to use Catalyst Cards in an exercise?[45:34] Rich and I practice using Catalyst Cards mid-podcast![48:08] What would be the wrong way to use Catalyst Cards?[51:32] If you had a hashtag, what would it be?[52:41] What is the one thing you would like listeners to take away from this episode?Linksdangerous.kitchen - Rich’s company websiteRich’s Catalyst CardsFacilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making by Sam KanerRich’s article, Racing Against The Clock (A Facilitator’s Lament)Connect to Rich: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 textForging your own career or business in facilitation isn’t easy. As so many of the guests on this podcast can attest to, it’s often the case that we don’t know that we are facilitators until somebody introduces us to the concept.So, how can facilitators create a career or business in facilitation with intention, strategy, and confidence?Robin Muretisch is a shining example of how to do this! She joins me in this episode to share such vital advice and insights into how facilitators can launch out on their own, run a business, and avoid the mistakes she made.Find out about:Starting a career as an independent facilitator with intentionalityWhich certifications and experiences made up Robin’s journey, and how she weighs their importanceThe key differences between facilitating in-house and independentlyHow Robin deconstructed a big dream into small, actionable stepsHow to network in a way that feels natural, not transactionalHow Robin got her first solo gigsWhy Robin sees the administrative work of running a business as a privilege, rather than a choreDon’t miss the next show: Subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.Questions and Answers:[01:23] When did you first start calling yourself a facilitator?[04:17] Looking back on your first facilitated session, what would you do differently today?[06:57] How did you pursue certification and training as a facilitator? What were the lessons you learned?[09:05] Can you be truly neutral as a facilitator?[10:48] How do you separate what you want from what the group needs?[12:36] How do you get people to really buy-in to something you are leading and/or facilitating?[14:45] How did you go from internal facilitator to external, independent facilitator?[20:22] What do you wish you had known before you started as an independent facilitator?[28:20] How did you get your first client?[31:22] Does word of mouth still work, or do you need to have an online presence, too?[34:49] What makes a workshop fail?[37:26] How does approaching a session as an external facilitator to differ? Is it liberating to not be too attached to the business?[41:36] Do you have a favourite exercise?[50:21] If you had a hashtag, what would it be?[51:23] What is the one thing you would like listeners to take away from this episode?LinksRobin’s websiteConnect to Robin: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 textHow much of your workday do you really pay attention to?From where you sit to how often you get distracted and what happens when you come back from a break, all of these moments that make up our days are automatic processes.What would happen if you could track and analyse the way you work?Dr Mark Whittaker does just that and uses the data he gathers to design human-centred processes that help teams work better than they ever imagined. Combining qualitative and quantitative data with facilitation, Mark’s software vFlow helps businesses optimise their processes by working with their people, not against them.It’s a fascinating marriage of facilitation, data, workshops, and processes. You can learn all about it in this episode of workshops work.Find out about:How chemical processes translate to business and commercial processesWhy opinions and data usually show very different versions of our ‘most important’ processesHow our processes change unconsciously throughout our dayWays to manage your workload and protect it from unconscious slipsWhy the thought of freeing up more of our time can actually scare usThe beautiful neutrality in challenging data, not behavioursThe importance of listening, as well as observing, when gathering dataDon’t miss the next show: Subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.Questions and Answers[01:07] When did you start calling yourself a facilitator?[04:37] Can you explain what v-Flow is and does?[06:28] What have you learned about business processes from chemical processes?[08:20] Is it possible to find the optimal business process when there are so many variables that need to be considered?[11:32] What is the process behind your data collection process and how you decide what to focus on?[13:16] Why is there so often a difference between what we think is our most important process and what the data shows us is our most important process?[18:03] Can you share an example of identifying unconscious/automatic ways of working?[21:21] Is the energy we spend changing automatic habits worth the end result or can it create problems?[27:19] How do you bring the data you collect into a workshop setting?[28:28] How do people react when they see the story presented in the data?[33:21] This information can be like opening a Pandora’s Box – how do you handle that?[38:19] Can data that is about people truly be neutral? Is there not some emotional reaction that comes with it?[40:07] Can you share an example of gamification in practice?[45:45] How do you encourage comfort and relaxation in a closed-off room?[47:52] What makes a workshop fail?[50:43] Has debriefing become harder in the age of remote work?[52:27] What is the one thing you would like listeners to take away from this episode?LinksVelresco’s websitevFlow’s dedicated websitevWall’s dedicated websiteConnect to MarkLinkedInSupport 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 text100 episodes. (More than) 100 guests. Thousands of listeners. You, here, reading this and listening to this landmark episode.To mark this milestone, I turned the microphone towards the workshops work audience and asked if anyone would like to share the moment that has stuck with them most from these first 100 episodes.I’ve received 14 beautiful responses that, when taken together, form a bigger picture of the landscape of facilitation. You might be surprised at the varied scenery it captures!Thank you for supporting workshops work, for helping to make this show what it is, and for listening – whether this is your first time or your hundredth.Find out about:The moments that made listeners stop, think, reflect, and grow, including…Understanding the ground rules of facilitationHow to develop a facilitator’s mindsetThe essentials of workshop designWhat we can learn from other disciplines to improve our facilitation skillsDon’t miss the next show: Subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player. A huge thank you must go to SessionLab, the sponsor of Workshops Work. Claim your free two months of SessionLab Pro now – this deal is exclusive to Workshops Work listeners! Questions and Answers[00:48] Robin: the summary for each episode![02:27] Anamaria: when Thomas Lahntahler, in episode 39, explained how curiosity and attention can foster psychological safety[04:10] Laure: the fourfold process of hosting, shared by Mary Alice Arthur in episode 58[06:05] Richard: realising that facilitators are like researchers, as I explored in episode 18[07:36] Gabriel: how experiences can create change but challenges help us solve problems, prompted by episode 91 with Shayne Smart[10:08] Annie: when Rein Sevenstern highlighted the importance of making time for reflection, in episode 20[11:32] Júlio: the core truth of facilitation that appears wherever and however we use our skills, taken from many episodes![13:33] Martijn: that Agile is a mindset, not a framework, as shared by Nisaar in episode 59[16:30] Sonja: that we need to stop having meetings on autopilot and, if we can’t, we need to cancel them, shared powerfully by Gustavo in episode 26[18:22] Joe: learning to Unflatten and find new perspectives on the same problem, thanks to Nick Sousanis in episode 69[20:19] Samantha: why improv can improve our facilitation as much as any study programme or course, shared by Tamar in episode 16[22:02] Nadia: that how we meet matters and that the right setting can be transformational, prompted by Roumayne in episode 88[23:18] Ana: the concept of ‘the third facilitator’ and how visual notetaking is more than ‘just’ a tool, thanks to Céline in episode 49[26:30] Lucie: when I admitted that I might not have created NeverDoneBefore if I had known quite how much work it would take![28:12] My thanks to you and an open invitationLinksMy eBook, containing the summaries of the first 60 episodes!NeverDoneBefore Facilitation Festival E39 - Thomas Lahntahler E7 - Jeremy AkersSupport 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 textBad meetings are all too common, but they are merely the product of every bad meeting that has come before them.So, how do we break the cycle of unstructured, imbalanced, aimless meetings and create a structure and process that makes meetings enjoyable and productive?There’s nobody better to answer that question than Elise Keith, founder and CEO of Lucid Meetings.Elise joined me in this episode to discuss the essentials of understanding meetings, how we can use them as tools to impact our work for the better, and what we need to do to reclaim their power.So, join us for a conversation that explores how you can start the important design and preparation work of creating a strong meeting culture within any organisation.Find out about:Why good meetings are the result of structure and mandates, not chanceHow to get the basics – like structure and meeting minutes – rightComparing Amazon and Brené Brown’s meeting structuresHow online meetings can act as a great equaliserThe most common thing we get wrong about meetings – and how to can avoid itHow the shift to online meetings has democratised and simplified facilitation… and thrown up new complicationsHow options for anonymity in online meetings can help us flatten the roomDon’t miss the next show: Subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.Questions and Answers[01:04] When did you start calling yourself a facilitator?[04:09] Is the structure of a meeting more important than its facilitation?[06:29] Is there a silver bullet that makes people respect a meeting’s timing and structure?[08:43] Is rotating facilitation in a meeting a good idea?[12:14] How do we escape the Catch 22 of having ineffective meetings and the desire to stay up-to-date?[15:01] What is the best way to produce meeting minutes?[16:31] What is your meeting routine in your own company?[19:49] Can a good meeting culture proliferate from one team across an organisation?[21:26] What are the hallmarks of good meeting structure?[23:35] How important are check-ins?[27:08] Can we have good online meetings if we never had good offline ones?[32:21] What is the one thing you think we get wrong with meetings?[36:25] Is there an exercise you would recommend to a team that’s rethinking their meeting culture?[40:31] How can we help people see their own blindspots?[43:11] Have we learned anything from online meetings that we can apply to offline ones?[49:22] What is your strategy to help the quieter voices in a meeting speak up and feel heard?[52:03] What is the one thing you would like people to take away from this episode?Links●     Elise’s business: Lucid Meetings●     Elise’s book: Where the Action Is: The Meetings That Make or Break Your Organization ●     5 things every company should do (article)●     Meeting tools●     Lucid Meetings Events●&nSupport 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 textAgile can be hugely effective in many environments, but from the outside, it can be daunting. The language, its origins in tech, and its overzealous cheerleaders can make it seem inaccessible and only applicable in specific situations.If that sounds like a familiar pain, Judith Mills is just the medicine you need!Not only is Judith an expert in applying Agile in everywhere from software to gardening, but she explains it all with easy-going charm, clarity, and simplicity.You can hear it for yourself in this episode, in which Judith decodes and demystifies Agile – bringing it back to its roots and explaining it as a mindset, not a process.If you’ve ever had an interest in Agile, you should consider this essential listening!Find out about: How to apply Agile in any field, not just softwareWhy Agile is more a communication tool than a project management processThe importance of protecting your time from ‘unplanned work’Why the time it takes to do a task is an unreliable measure of your workloadHow Judith uses facilitation skills to help teams understand AgileWhy empowering the individuals in a team strengthens the collectiveThe secret to effective retrospectives Don’t miss the next show: Subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.A huge thank you must go to SessionLab, the sponsor of Workshops Work. Claim your free two months of SessionLab Pro now – this deal is exclusive to Workshops Work listeners!Questions and Answers[00:57] When did you start calling yourself a facilitator?[01:58] What’s the difference between a facilitator and an Agile coach?[03:16] How did you get into Agile and what does it mean to you?[08:08] What’s the difference between “just delivering something every two weeks” and Agile?[11:32] Can Agile be applied to non-software teams? And does all of an Organisation need to be Agile?[16:29] What’s the process for calculating a team’s ‘velocity’ and how can you know what is objectively the most important task to be done?[22:08] Is measuring by time a trap? And how can you create the safety for a team to move past measuring tasks by time?[26:23] Can you talk a little more about safety?[34:51] Do you think managers can get caught in the illusion of control?[37:24] How do you handle someone who just doesn’t want to do any hard work?[39:46] How can retrospectives help bring unity to teams?[44:07] What makes a workshop fail?[47:27] Do you have a silver bullet exercise to raise people’s interest in a workshop?[49:38] Could Agile genuinely be applied to something like gardening?[55:33] What would you recommend as the best way for someone to try Agile for the first time?[59:09] What is the one thing you would like listeners to take away from this episode?LinksJudith's websiteEsther Derby and Diana Larsen’s ‘Agile Retrospectives’Michael Wilkinson’s ‘The Secrets of Facilitation’Connect to Judith: Support 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 textAs a former Board member of the International Association of Facilitators (IAF), and co-Founder of the Digital Collaboration Academy, there are few people better placed to discuss where our industry is and where it's going than Paul Nunesdea.We certainly captured some fascinating predictions and provocations in our wide-ranging conversation in this episode.A central focus was the importance - and limitations – of the IAF’s stated ‘core competencies’ for facilitators. We also explored the role AI might play in the future of facilitation, why neutrality can never be the aim, and how facilitators and clients can each make sure they’re choosing the right collaborator.This episode is your opportunity to hear many opinions from the very top of facilitation’s leading professional body. It’s not every day I get to say that!Find out about:Why spirituality might be the missing dimension in facilitationWhy individuality and a lack of neutrality are actually key to our effectivenessWhat Paul believes is the most important core competency of facilitatorsWhy it helps to have different versions of the same consensus across communitiesWhat Paul considers his biggest discovery in 2020How Paul pictures the future of facilitation – including the strengths and limitations of facilitation by AIUnderstanding collaboration architecture and how it appears in workplacesDon’t miss the next show: Subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.A huge thank you must go to SessionLab, the sponsor of Workshops Work. Claim your free two months of SessionLab Pro now – this deal is exclusive to Workshops Work listeners!Questions and Answers[01:17] When did you start calling yourself a facilitator?[04:12] What are the core competencies of a facilitator and how do they separate us from consultants?[06:10] What do you mean by “a spiritual dimension”?[07:55] What motivated you to join the International Association of Facilitators?[12:23] How can a client select the right facilitator?[16:14] What is the benefit of being an accredited facilitator?[16:59] Can you share some examples of the core competencies of facilitation?[19:25] Can there be a true ‘standard’ of facilitation when we have so many subgroups and specialisms?[21:07] Have the core competencies changed as we’ve moved to online meetings?[24:57] What makes a workshop fail?[27:57] What’s been your biggest technological discovery in the last year?[30:57] Do successful workshops really require us all to be in the same room?[33:03] What is the future of facilitation, from your perspective?[37:26] Would the introduction of AI remove innovation and nuance from facilitation?[38:53] What is a key characteristic of a good humaniser?[40:19] Would you recommend an exercise to bring spirituality into workshops?[43:49] What damages facilitators’ reputations?[45:31] What is “collaboration architecture”?[48:28] What makes collaboration stick?[51:36] Are there red flags to look for when it comes to ‘difficult’ clients?[55:04] What is the one thing that you would like listeners to take away from this episode?Links:PauSupport 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/