workshops work

Send us a textExploring the overlap between facilitation and leadership was an exciting proposition to me, but I didn’t expect it to encompass everything from architecture and dance to mountaineering and collaging.But such is the journey when John Varney gets into his eloquent stride!John has been involved in leadership, facilitation, and the grey space between them for over 30 years and his Centre for Management Creativity serves as a bastion for clear-thinking and change-making for companies worldwide.Join us in this episode as we search for the common ancestor of leadership and facilitation.The opportunity to join John in conversation is one that everyone – no matter what title you give yourself – will benefit from. This is an opportunity you’d be wise to claim with both hands.Find out aboutHow teams can find their flow state by aligning on their purposeWhy it’s important to focus on purpose, not short-termismWhy play, creativity, and co-creation are the cornerstones of alignmentHow to respond when your workshop uncovers a deeper issue that needs addressingWhere facilitation and leadership overlapThe important distinction between leaders and leadershipWhat John’s learned about leadership from facilitating so many leadership teamsDon’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 & Answers01:07 When did you start calling yourself a facilitator?02:13 What’s the difference between a facilitator and a consultant?04:54 What did you learn from this experience – did it shape your view of facilitation at all?06:03 How do we draw the line between being our authentic selves and being the facilitator participants need?12:20 Do you think you can bring more of yourself to a life design workshop than a managerial one?15:53 Can you explain more about what the Stanford Life Design Lab is?18:02 How much do you life design to your personal and professional life?19:19 How can you tell when the right moment is to step outside your comfort zone?24:01 Is there a perfect time to redesign your life?26:43 Life design asks us to be both facilitator and participant. Is this possible?36:40 Can facilitators actually facilitate their own life?39:55 What is your experience with co-facilitating meetings with managers?44:46 What is something you’ve learned from the life design process that you think can apply to managers right now?51:37 If we could workshop the worldwide transition out of the pandemic, what would it look like?53:10 What makes a workshop fail?LinksThe Centre for Management Creativity, John’s businessHigh Trenhouse, John’s management workshop and retreat venueJohn’s book, LeaSupport 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 Gabrielle Santa-Donato said, “we need to be intentional about this transition”, she wasn’t talking about virtual workshops or exploring a workshop challenge.She was talking about creating a post-pandemic world.We’ve grown used to adjusting – to remote work, to lockdowns, to loss. What if we’ve become so adjusted to adjusting that we risk moving out of the pandemic without intention?Gabrielle knows this better than most, having taken a role at Airbnb facilitating the adaptation to remote work. That alone is a worth a podcast episode, but so is her fascinating experience at the Stanford Life Design Lab.This episode is a wonderful walk-through Gabrielle’s career, where we are now, and what we can all do to redesign our lives in trying times.Find out about: Why showing up as your authentic self isn’t always the best thing for your workshopsWhat life design is and Gabrielle’s fascinating journey in the fieldWhy reframing our constraints can open up a world of possibilityHow to know when to prototype beyond your comfort zone and when to take smaller stepsHow Gabrielle has shifted from teaching and facilitating life design to facilitating Airbnb’s managersHow we could workshop our transition out of the pandemic 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 [01:35] When did you start calling yourself a facilitator?[04:03] What’s the signal that says you guided a group successfully?[07:15] How do we draw the line between being our authentic selves and being the facilitator participants need?[08:42] Do you think you can bring more of yourself to a life design workshop than a managerial one?[13:31] Can you explain more about what the Stanford Life Design Lab is?[16:10] How much do you life design to your personal and professional life?[19:19] How can you tell when the right moment is to step outside your comfort zone?[22:52] Is there a perfect time to redesign your life?[27:18] Life design asks us to be both facilitator and participant. Is this possible?[38:07] Can facilitators actually facilitate their own life?[42:47] What is your experience with co-facilitating meetings with managers?[48:27] What is something you’ve learned from the life design process that you think can apply to managers right now?[52:13] If we could workshop the worldwide transition out of the pandemic, what would it look like?[57:42] What makes a workshop fail?[59:16] What’s your favourite way to trigger transformations in a workshop?[1:04:14] What is the one thing you would like listeners to take away from this conversation? LinksVisit Gabrielle’s websiteListen to Gabrielle on “The Everyday Worker”Watch Gabrielle’s life design webSupport 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 textFrom exploring human graphs as a way of completing her homework in high school to flourishing as a multidisciplinary facilitator, dancer, and visual consultant, Lauren Green has had the kind of journey I love to learn about. Uniting seemingly disparate worlds, Lauren’s unique perspective on facilitation is as refreshing as it is revelatory.She joined me in this episode to discuss how facilitators can become more confident in the nascent world of virtual facilitation, how dance and facilitation have more in common than many would think, and why we should strive for silence, not conversation.Find out about:How to encourage movement when we’re all behind camerasHow dance and facilitation move in step togetherWhy the skill of following is just as important as leadingHow facilitators can build confidence in a world of virtual workshopsThree essential roles in virtual workshopsWhy we should embrace non-verbal communicationQuestions and Answers[01:10] When did you first call yourself a facilitator?[02:41] How did your teacher and your class react to you incorporating facilitation in your project?[03:45] What did you learn from this experience – did it shape your view of facilitation at all?[05:11] How has the shift to virtual facilitation impacted your work and facilitate style?[08:51] Can you explain the origin of your business name – Dancing with Markers?[14:03] What does confidence mean to you, as a facilitator?[19:41] How do you read an online room?[21:53] Can we delegate roles to participants that make them part of the workshop process?[24:02] Why can it sometimes feel so hard to embody “don’t just do something, stand there”?[29:14] What – if anything – is the key difference in mindset and skillset between virtual and on-site facilitators?[31:07] What tools do you use in the lifecycle of preparing, hosting, and closing a workshop?[37:17] Are virtual workshops inherently more vulnerable than on-site ones?[44:35] The importance of dress rehearsals – and disaster rehearsals![48:57] What makes a workshop fail?[51:21] If you were a hashtag, what would you be?[53:20] What is the one thing you would like listeners to takeaway from this conversation?Lauren’s ResourcesLauren’s Business PageFriday Coffee Chat for Virtual FacilitatorsDancing with Mural (and Google Docs) (free templates)Mastering the Art of Giving and Receiving Feedback (Blog)Self-Affirmations and Setting Boundaries with Others (Blog)Other resources mentioned:Books Don’t Just Do Something, Stand ThereVisual Practice Book Episode 079 with Melissa DinwiddieAppreciative Living Learning CirclesSupport 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 textJeroen Frumau has had a remarkable career – from working at the arrowhead of innovation in senior roles at Phillips Design to founding and co-founding multiple non-profits. The threads that stitch these experiences together are design thinking and design sprints.Jeroen joined me on the podcast to share the universal truths he’s found about the application of design thinking across private, public, and non-profit ventures – including this summer’s incredible 4better2morrow virtual Summer Camp project.Join us in this episode as we weave our way through history, perspectives, philosophy, and more to uncover the truths of how everyone can benefit from more design thinking in their lives and work. 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 & Answers01:41 When did you start calling yourself a facilitator?03:02 Where did you learn the skills of facilitation? 05:44 What does failure mean to you in the context of workshops? 08:21 What have you learned from your almost-20-years of experience leading Phillips Design?10:05 Is Design Thinking a method or a mindset?12:10 In what contexts have you used Design Thinking since starting your own business?15:21 What kind of skillsets do you need to introduce to public sector employees to help them integrate more design thinking in their work?16:29 How can we become more open to ‘failing forward’?17:37 How would you define a prototype?22:05 How can we help people see the value in the process, rather than just achieving their desired outcomes and outputs?30:15 How can facilitators help a group work cohesively when there are differences in the level of access (e.g. poor WiFi)?35:11 What’s the point at which you know you need to reschedule a workshop?40:07 How can you apply Design Thinking to such a risk-averse process as recruitment?45:18 How do hiring managers react to such a vulnerable process?46:36 How do you flatten the room when there is such a clearly established hierarchical structure as in recruitment?51:03 What’s your favourite exercise?55:57 An example of Design Thinking in the hiring process from Latin America57:47 How do you apply design sprints in 4better2morrow?01:07:20 What is the one thing you would like listeners to take away from this episode?LinksRead Jeroen’s articles on Medium.Learn more about The Talent-Sprint.Follow the 4better2morrow (4B2M) journey.Learn more about the Global Virtual Design Sprint or, listen to episode 085 with Robert SkrobeConnect Jeroen's 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 textDo you want to create meetings that participants actively engage with?When online meetings fail, it’s almost always because the offline meetings were bad in the first place. If you want every participant to engage with the meeting, you must be intentional from the start. The last thing you want to do is leave anyone out! As the facilitator, you must try and involve all participants by giving them enough opportunities to think, speak, and contribute to the meeting.In this episode of workshops work, I take you on a journey of discovery and let you in on some of my top tips to create engaging online meetings. I talk about why Zoom fatigue has become a widespread phenomenon and what you can do to ensure your online meetings engage, inspire, and motivate real change.So, are you ready to put the life back into your online meetings? If so, I hope this solo episode of the podcast helps you to do just that!Find out about:The real reason why facilitators have bad online meetingsWhy you need to have intention from the beginning of the meeting for it to be engaging and effectiveHow to actively involve all participantsHow to host engaging online meetingsWhy online meetings fail and how to avoid boring meetingsWhy preparation is so important when hosting an online meetingWhy you must allow participants to close the previous task before startingHow to give the team lead more headspace to listen and contributeDon’t miss the next show: Subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.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 textDo you want to get better at creating mind-blowing visual experiences for participants?If so, you need to think about the story and method behind your canvas and its templates. A template is designed to guide participants through the various experiences of the workshop. You can think of it like a visual guide that provides participants with the instructions they need to follow. However, you can take your templates a step further and use them to create captivating visual experiences for your participants.Shayne Smart is an architect, designer and highly versatile change consultant with 5000 hours of experience in workshop design, facilitation, and delivery. So, who better to talk to about creating mind-blowing visual experiences than Shayne? I had the pleasure of speaking to him in this episode of workshops work, where he shares some of his best tips and advice to help you create unique templates that use icons and layouts that participants understand from their natural environment.Shayne also reveals how to create a template that works and how to guide groups through online collaborative experiences!Find out about:What a canvas is and the importance of designing captivating templatesWhy facilitators must learn to lead groups through an equal-voice conversationHow to use prompts from the real world to design a space that participants can navigate as if it were in a placeWhy a lack of alignment can lead to a workshop failingHow to know you’ve done well as a facilitatorHow to create a canvas for participants who work in small groups or asynchronouslyWhy you shouldn’t reveal the complexity of a problem in one go… and so much more!Don’t miss the next show: Subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.Questions and Answers[01:47] – When did you start calling yourself a facilitator?[02:15] – What does it mean to you to be a facilitator?[05:17] – How do you translate the key task of a facilitator into the templates you create?[07:47] - What do you think most people get wrong when they design templates for workshops?[15:55] – What is the difference between designing a template where you want a group to go from A to B and designing a landscape where you want a group to go from A to B?[23:15] – How can you reduce the fear of waking something for the user?[26:52] – How can you create an environment that triggers curiosity, and the will to interact?[33:23] – How do you create a new habit of using a journal?[42:38] – What makes a workshop fail?[43:02] – What is your favourite exercise?[47:07] – What is the one thing regarding the design production of the MURAL that you would have liked to know earlier?[49:17] – How can you design something with the end in mind if you don't know the end?[51:10] – What is the main takeaway from our conversation?Connect to Shayne Smart:Shayne’s 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 textFacilitators want to inspire, motivate, and cultivate change and growth. However, facilitators cannot see into the future. No matter how hard we try, we cannot predict what will happen to the seed we planted. Whether the seed blossoms into a beautiful plant or withers away depends on so much more than the facilitator. While facilitators cannot guarantee a good crop, we can provide intention, care, and thoughtful leadership. A facilitator who understands how to do all three things (and so much more) is Lee Kim, the Co-Founder of Design Dream Lab and Design Thinking Facilitator at Cornell University.Lee is driven and passionate about human-centred problem-solving. Through the Design Dream Lab, Lee helps others foster empathy, overcome challenges, explore new opportunities, and fulfil their wildest dreams. I was so happy to have Lee join me as a guest on this episode of workshops work, where we talked about why facilitation is like gardening – if you don’t nurture the garden and the outcomes of a workshop, the results will wither and fade.Find out about:How facilitation is like gardeningWhy facilitators must be both humble and confident at the right timesHow conversations foster human connectionA fun exercise to help participants connect and explore their inner desiresWhy facilitators should never be arrogantThe importance of being intentional when pursuing success from a workshopWhy successful workshops always lead to a transformationWhy facilitators must be great leadersHow to encourage a team to get to know each otherDon’t miss the next show: Subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.Questions and Answers[00:15] – When did you start calling yourself a facilitator?[01:56] – What is the difference between a coach and a facilitator?[03:48] – What makes a successful experience or journey?[05:35] – How can we measure the success if we’re not part of the aftermath of a workshop?[21:33] – What are the shortcomings of design thinking?[23:39] - Some clients have a solution already, and they are just looking for confirmation. Isn't this the red flag for a facilitator?[29:53] - What is the role of soil in the ‘facilitation is like gardening’ metaphor?[36:30] - What have you learned from facilitation about gardening?[39:09] – Do you build stories into the design of your workshop?[50:45] – What makes a workshop fail?[51:38] – What is the main take away from our conversation?LinksDesign Dream LabVisual ExplorerDigital Visual ExplorerNeverDoneBefore Facilitation Festival and CommunityConnect to Lee KimLee’s 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 can you use the creativity of a daydream to solve a very real problem? Being able to access creative thought when necessary is a skill and it can be taught, much like any other discipline. Founders of The Drawing Board, Pat Byrnes and Jonathan Plotkin are cartoonists who facilitate creative workshops. They teach participants how to unlock creative thought using cartoonist exercises and processes. They can then use these tools in other aspects of their career to help generate creativity, problem solve, and more.We had a fascinating discussion about the psychology behind cartooning, including why art creates a safe space to disagree and how you can surprise yourself through improv. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did, and that it inspires you to pick up a pen and start cartooning!Find out about:How cartooning facilitation worksHow to access the discipline of cartooning to help your careerThe three components of a cartoon and how they relate to the creative processWhat exercises Pat and Jonathan use in their workshops and how they establish them as tools for future useWhy improv unlocks creative thoughtsThe psychology behind combining your daydreams with realityHow doodling can help you engage How art can be a safe space to facilitate disagreement Don’t miss the next show: Subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.Questions and Answers[01:17] – Would you call yourselves facilitators?[08:18] – What makes a good cartoon? How do you introduce quality into your group sessions?[10:44] – How do you teach people to use a cartoonist’s way of thinking?[13:51] – How do you get a group to improv using paper?[18:08] – What do you mean when you say improv on paper?[27:56] – Is focusing on a daydream to bring it to reality different in cartooning to drawing? Can we learn how to do it?[36:16] – How can building a cartoon can help groups collaborate better or to solve a problem?[42:41] – What makes a bad cartoon?[43:30] – How would you turn a bad cartoon into a good cartoon?[45:21] – What makes a workshop fail?[49:12] – How do we find meaning?[52:55] – What’s the one thing you’d like listeners to take away?Links:Jonathan and Pat's websiteEpisode 49 with Sunny BenBelkacem Connect to Pat and Jonathan:Pat’s LinkedInJonathan’s 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 textWhat is art-based learning? And how can art-based learning workshops be successful virtually?In this episode of workshops work, I find out how we can facilitate deep insights through art and how to overcome the challenges of shifting this intimate workshop experience from a physical museum to a virtual one.Here to answer all of my questions is Roumayne Schepers, an art-based learning facilitator at LerenVanKunst.nl. Roumayne speaks passionately about her role and reveals how she uses art-based learning to help people develop personally and build strong bonds with their teams.Listening to her processes was fascinating, and I was especially interested to hear how she’s successfully managed to transition her workshops from in-person to a fully online experience. I hope you find this episode as eye-opening as I did and encourages you to approach art in a new and exciting way.Find out about:What led Roumayne to art-based learning and why she’s considered a facilitatorWhat art-based learning is and what it aims to achieveHow participants grow, and often surprise themselves, through the learning processHow to shift art-based learning from a museum to an online spaceHow to facilitate the online transition from a personal to a group experienceWhat art-based learning can bring to a teamHow to facilitate a safe space for sharing ideasWhat to bear in mind if you’re considering using art in your workshopsDon’t miss the next show: Subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.Questions and Answers[01:10] – When did you start calling yourself a facilitator?[02:47] – How did you go from the pharmacy to the museum?[05:44] – What does art-based learning mean?[07:47] – What is art-based learning’s goal?[12:26] – How do you choose the artwork?[13:59] – How do you choose the question?[16:25] – How does art-based learning work online?[17:56] – How do you guide the group from a personal to a group experience?[22:08] – Is it beneficial if learners know the artwork already? Or is it better to exclude them?[23:18] – What is your experience transitioning from offline to online?[27:59] – What is your strategy or your favourite exercise to create a safe space?[30:19] – How can you find out what’s holding a participant back?[33:00] – When you’re sharing stories, do you move as a group from artwork to artwork? [34:18] – How do you approach a breakout room without disrupting a potentially intimate conversation?[35:21] – What is your role in smaller group discussions?[36:39] – What makes a workshop fail?[37:21] – How do you create a safe environment?[39:29] – What would you recommend for someone who would like to use art in their workshops?[43:35] – What is the one thing you would like listeners to take away from this episode?[46:17] – Do you use any exercises to help the group be present before starting? LinksRoumayne's websiteFree access to Roumayne's museumThe founder of the art-based learning methodSupport 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 textGreat facilitators aren't always subject matter experts. In fact, they may know very little about the workshop's topic. A successful facilitator acts in service of others and knows when to lead from the back, as well as from the front.Jay Melone believes that being a great facilitator requires a unique mindset. He stresses that to be a good facilitator, you must practice curiosity, patience and leave your concerns about being the expert behind. After meeting Jay earlier this year, I couldn't wait to talk to him about his approach to facilitating, both as an expert in the field and as a "shy extrovert".Jay is the Founder and Principal Facilitator at New Haircut, an innovation strategy firm. He shared many thoughtful insights into a facilitator's role and how you can effectively lead a group, even if you're not comfortable being the centre of attention. I hope this episode inspires you to step outside of your comfort zone and facilitate with confidence.Find out about:Why being curious makes a great facilitatorThe difference between an expert and a facilitatorWhy people are now willing to prepare for workshops ahead of timeHow to leverage your personality type as a facilitatorHow to design an agenda for measurable workshop successWhy Jay encourages everyone to step out of their comfort zonesHow to trust your workshop’s designWhy you don’t need to be an expert to support a team Don’t miss the next show: Subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.Questions and Answers[01:28] – When did you start calling yourself a facilitator?[02:27] – What makes a good facilitator[06:15] – To what extent is a facilitator a mix between a journalist and an engineer?[09:40] – What is your experience placing yourself as a facilitator? Do you facilitate from the centre of the conversation or from the side? [20:01] – What did you learn about being a participant in an 1,800 person workshop?[21:36] – Do you think it's easier or more difficult for an introvert, or shy facilitator, to guide groups online versus on-site?[28:42] – What would you advise aspiring facilitators who think they’re too shy to be a good facilitator? [34:56] – What makes a workshop fail?[36:06] – How do you know when your workshop is failing due to a design problem or an external problem caused by the group?[44:01] – What is your favourite exercise?[48:35] – How do you trust yourself to lead your team?[52:51] – What is the main takeaway from our conversation?LinksJay’s website‘How to Be Yourself’ by Dr. Ellen HendriksenConnect to Jay MeloneJay's 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/