workshops work

Send us a textEveryone has their strengths, but not everyone gets to work in a way that is congruent with them. Well, that is unless they attend one of Murray Guest’s workshops.Murray is a strengths-based facilitator with a litany of qualifications and a lifetime of experience in helping teams work to their individual and collective strengths, facilitating lasting change in organisations of all shapes and sizes.But strengths-based facilitation is a nuanced practice and isn’t what some people might believe it to be. I wanted to dive deeper into what this practice looks like and uncover the lessons we can all take from it to enhance our own work.In this episode, find out about:What strengths-based facilitation is and how Murray practices itWhy strengths-based workshops are at their best when they are flexible and responsiveWhy embedding learning is the only way to truly deliver lasting resultsHow enforced remote work is helping and harming teams, and what we can do to shape a new normal that is healthy and productive for everyoneWhy challenges and care are interlinked, and are blunted without each otherDon’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[01:42] When did you first call yourself a facilitator?[07:21] How can we manage our energy as facilitators to prevent our participants feeling discomfort?[11:23] What does strengths-based facilitation mean?[21:43] Would you design a workshop around the participants’ strengths?[22:34] How do you use strength-finding tools to drive outcomes?[26:41] How can we take some of the communication skills and practices we have learned in remote work back to our offices?[33:27] Why are certain conversations harder in virtual spaces?[39:03] What makes a workshop fail?[42:29] What is your favourite exercise?[49:13] Is there anything else you wanted to share?[52:26] What is the one takeaway you want listeners to have?LinksMurray Guest’s business pageCliffton Strength Framework“Fremdscham”Helium Sticks ExerciseConnect to Murray GuestMurray'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 textTeeth gnashing, fists waving, pulses racing… Conflict conjures up a certain image in many people’s minds.But it doesn’t have to be that way.In fact, conflict can be one of the most powerful tools we have to drive meaningful change.In this episode of workshops work, I speak with Marcus Crow, co-founder of 10,000 HOURS and specialist in high stakes facilitation,  about his brilliant approach to diving headfirst into conflict in a way that puts safety and growth at the heart of the discussion.Whether you’re the kind of facilitator who avoids conflict at all costs or loves to embrace it, Marcus shares such a breadth of great ideas and insights from his own facilitation practice that there is something in this episode for everyone.Why the dominant narrative in management prevents meaningful changeHow Marcus helps teams face up to their conflicts whilst fostering an environment of safetyWhat we can learn from ‘low stakes’ conflicts and how we can use these situations as practice for bigger conflictsHow Marcus helps his clients ‘depathologise’ conflictWhy Marcus believes a ‘Royal College of Facilitation’ would help advance our industryDon’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[01:11] When did you first start calling yourself a facilitator?[02:55] If you were a hashtag, what would you be?[05:03] How do you help groups benefit from their collective intelligence?[07:43] Can managers be facilitators for their own teams?[10:40] Do we need 10,000 hours to become a facilitator?[14:29] How do you prepare yourself for ‘high stakes’ facilitation in settings with lots of localised context?[21:04] What is the difference between standing at the front of the room and being in the room?[26:00] How do you confront the group and its conflict?[28:48] What does it mean to conflict safely?[31:29] Do you see replicable patterns between high stakes and low stakes conflict?[38:48] What makes a workshop fail?[45:24] What about the facilitation ‘industry’ are you opposed to?[52:28] If someone fell asleep at the start of our conversation, what is the one thing you’d like them to take away?Connect to Marcus Crow10,000 Hours’ websiteMarcus’ 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 textA workshop that goes exactly to plan is a workshop that exists in our dreams.The unexpected isn’t something we should be afraid of – fantastic ideas and outcomes can come from the moments we don’t see coming (and can never plan for) – but being prepared to adjust to the whim of the room is a vital skill for effective facilitation.But what do we need to learn – and unlearn – if we want to become adaptive, Nimble Facilitators?Rebecca Sutherns is the author of Nimble: A Coaching Guide for Responsive Facilitation and she joins me in this episode of workshops work to share the secrets of holding onto our plans a little more loosely. Find out about:• Why being Nimble is proving to be just as essential in virtual spaces as it is in on-site settings• What the sweet spot of preparation looks like and how to find yours• Why inner work is the foundation of growth, change, and progress• How to balance the needs and requirements of your client, your group, and yourself• How to strengthen your decision-making musclesDon’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[01:11] When did you start calling yourself a facilitator?[05:43] What is the story behind Nimble Facilitation and why did you write this book?[07:51] What is the core skill for Nimble Facilitation?[13:55] How do you manage clients who require a lot of detail and structure?[19:55] How do you close sessions to synchronise everyone’s takeaways?[25:34] Have you found it is harder to be Nimble in virtual workshops?[31:40] How will what we’ve learned from virtual workshops influence our future on-site workshops?[41:02] What makes a workshop fail, and is the answer different for virtual workshops?[47:14] What’s your favourite exercise?[49:55] Is there anything you wanted to mention that we haven’t touched upon yet?[55:36] What is the one thing you want listeners to take away from this show?Links· Nimble: A Coaching Guide for Responsive Facilitation· Collaborative Planning to Make Wiser Decisions Faster (Video) Connect to Rebecca· Rebecca’s website· Rebecca’s Twitter· Rebecca’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 textStories are far more than books we bury our noses in; they are the fabric of our culture and history, and the foundations of our progress. A world without stories is no world at all.Storytelling is such an innate feature of the human condition, from the way we understand ourselves to the world we live in. If we can harness this powerful tool to design our workshops, the results can potentially be transformative.Bastian Küntzel is one of the best people to learn from if you are interested in the power of storytelling – especially in the context of workshop design. Sharing lessons from his book, The Learner’s Journey, Bastian joins me on this episode of workshops work to explain how storytelling can be utilised as a design tool to facilitate change that sticks.Find out about:How Bastian got started as a facilitator and his early experience of intercultural communication helped him understand deeper commonalities in participantsWhy storytelling is such a powerful design principle for workshopsWhat the eight steps to story design areHow to apply the eight steps to workshops – at both the design and output stagesWhy storytelling is one of the easiest design principles to incorporate into any workshopDon’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[01:21] When did you start calling yourself a facilitator?[03:00] What is the difference between a facilitator and a trainer?[04:19] What is the difference between an educator and a trainer?[06:11] How did you find the transition from working with young people to corporations?[09:35] How did your experience of intercultural communication help you get started in facilitation?[11:48] How did you get into storytelling?[15:36] Can you guide us through the 8 step storytelling process and how it applies to workshops?[47:52] What makes a workshop fail?[48:59] What is the one takeaway you want the audience to have?Links to checkHero’s JourneyThe Hero with a Thousand FacesJoseph CampbellDan HarmonDan Harmon’s Story Structure 101: Super Basic ShitBastian’s bookA webinar Bastian delivered about The Learner’s JourneyConnect with BastianBastian’s websiteSupport 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 I first read about AI and facilitation, I was worried the robots were coming for my job… but then I spoke with Laure Cohen van Delft and realised AI is a most welcome addition to our profession!This is because AI, in this context, refers to Appreciative Inquiry – a framework and approach that facilitates purposeful change in organisations. The approach is centred on outcomes that grow in value (Appreciate) and a curious mindset (Inquiry).AI encompasses many facets of other facilitative approaches that are joined together by the belief that every living system has potential for growth.Laure’s explanation of AI is fascinating – a truly unique perspective – and every facilitator can learn something from her.Find out about:How Laure utilises LEGO Serious Play within her workshopsWhat Appreciative Inquiry (AI) isHow AI can be practiced in workshopsWhy AI can be so effectiveThe outcomes made possible by designing a workshop around AIDon’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[01:44] When did you first call yourself a facilitator?[03:06] What does facilitation mean to you?[06:08] What have you learned from LEGO Serious Play?[09:55] How do you define Appreciative Inquiry (AI)?[14:34] Is there a specific structure to AI?[24:05] How do we put the principles of AI together in a workshop?[38:08] What is your favourite question to ask in a workshop?[42:06] What makes a workshop fail?[48:10] What is one thing you want listeners to take away from this episode?Links to checkDavid L. Cooperrider Center for Appreciative InquiryAI CommonsThe 5 principles of AI Essentials of Appreciative Inquiry by David Cooperrider, Diana Whitney and Jacqueline Stavros, 2008Encyclopedia of Positive Questions second edition by Diana Whitney, Amanda Trosten-Bloom, David Cooperrider and Brian S. Kaplin, 2014Connect with LaureLaure's websiteFacebookTwitterLinkedInSupport 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 textWorkshops are arranged for many different reasons, but so often there is something more beneath the surface – a deeper question that needs to be answered or a problem that the client cannot yet articulate.Clients are ‘inside’ the problem, so it is understandable that they might not be able to truly define and understand it.So, how do we cut through the noise and get to the real purpose of our workshops?Britt Andreatta has been asking this question for a long time and has developed a brilliant participant-focused strategy to identify the real topic of workshops that remains true to the client’s needs.Listen in to learn:What Britt believes are key differences between virtual and physical workshopsBritt’s strategy for helping clients define the real purpose of their workshopHow designing psychological safety for the group and for the leader differHow Britt ensures the right people are in the roomWhy asking diagnostic questions at every stage of your workshops will improve themBritt is also offering Workshops Work listeners a free chapter of her book, Wired to Grow. Get your free chapter!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[01:42] How did you get started in facilitation?[03:49] What are the differences between designing a virtual and a physical workshop?[07:32] How do you help clients identify the real purpose of their workshop?[13:37] What are the differences between designing psychological safety for groups and leaders?[22:21] How do you ensure the right people are in the room?[24:14] What makes a workshop fail?[32:46] How would you describe the future of facilitation?[41:06] What hashtag would you give yourself?[41:48] What do you wish you had known when you started your career in facilitation?[45:19] What is the one thing listeners should take away from this?Links to checkBritt’s business pageBook chapter “Wired to Grow” 30 days LinkedIn learning trialConnect with BrittBritt's websiteLinkedInTwitterInstagramYouTubeSupport 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 textImagine turning up to a workshop to find there is no agenda.You haven’t walked into a nightmare – quite the opposite, in fact! No Agenda is an innovative approach that Nadja champions to great success.If you want to know how to encourage groups to own their own responsibility to connect, create, and change, then you’ll want to hear more about running workshops with no agendas from Nadja.Find out about:Nadja’s journey to facilitation and the experiences that have shaped her practiceWhy identifying the group’s “why” is the starting point of a meaningful workshopHow to effectively run a workshop with no agendaHow Nadja is navigating the shift to virtual workshopsHow to take the BarCamp structure and apply it in corporate settingsDon’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[00:52] What’s on your mind right now?[02:36] What helps facilitators cope in a pandemic?[04:39] What have you consciously unlearned from your early facilitation training?[07:13] How do you structure outputs in a workshop with no agenda?[11:47] Do you prepare groups for this?[13:23] How do you make sure every voice is heard?[18:03] What is your favourite exercise to help bring structure to complexity?[21:39] What would your advice be to facilitators who are interested in running workshops with no agenda?[24:38] What makes a workshop fail?[28:10] How have No Agenda workshops coped with moving online during the pandemic?[31:35] Can you explain what a BarCamp is?[34:41] What is the difference between a BarCamp and a world café in corporate settings?[38:29] How do your clients react if you tell them there is no agenda?[40:44] Is there anything else you want to bring up?[42:46] Would you create another version of your WonderCards for virtual facilitation?[46:46] What is one thing you would like listeners to take away from this episode?Links to checkWondercardsWondercards LinkedInWeekly facilitators remote caféWondercards on SessionLabOpen SpaceBarCampWorld caféConnect with NadjaWebsite Twitter 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 textHow can we facilitate meaningful change in a sector that is infamous for being rigid and slow-moving? (Though I am not sure I agree with that position!)Sara Huang is the person to ask – so that’s exactly what I did! Sara is an expert in facilitation within the public sector and governmental organisations.Join me in this episode of Workshops Work, in which Sara and I discuss the differences in facilitation within the public sector, the secrets to success in this field, and what all of us can learn from this unique perspective.Find out about:What it means to ‘twist’ in the public sector and why it produces great resultsThe importance of play if we want to create movement and possibilityHow to encourage creativity and open-mindednessWhen transparency can be useful (and not)How to flatten the room in an organisation with strict hierarchiesDon’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[01:21] When did you start calling yourself a facilitator?[03:44] What’s the difference between being a facilitator and an advisor, and where does neutrality come into it?[06:23] Can you explain the name of your company?[08:02] How does your vision of ‘twisting’ fit into working in the public sector?[10:39] What do you mean by ‘play’?[12:25] Do you work with visual facilitators?[14:25] How do you encourage a workshop mindset in a rigid public sector environment?[18:24] Is it true that, in government, people like to conform and, if it is, how do you challenge that to encourage new ideas?[21:19] How do you encourage people to assess every side of an argument?[27:14] How do you facilitate when there are so many layers to decision making processes in the public sector?[30:02] How transparent are you about the limitations within an organisation?[31:19] What is your favourite exercise?[34:19] How do you flatten the room in a patently hierarchical organisation?[37:19] What makes a workshop fail?[43:12] Is there anything else you wanted to share today?Links to checkSara's websiteMastermindConnect with SaraSara's TwitterSara’s InstagramSara'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 textIt is my pleasure to bring you this episode of Workshops Work, featuring Nisaar Jagroep. Nisaar is a master of Agile (though is too humble to call himself that!), and a leading proponent of Conscious Leadership.In his interview on Workshops Work, we dive into the details of Agile workshop design, the importance of having “the right people” in the room, and what Conscious Leadership looks like in organisations and hierarchies.It was a real delight to learn more about these topics. I hope you will feel the same by the time the episode is over.Find out about:Nisaar’s journey to facilitation via coaching and Agile, and how the three intermingle in his practice todayWhy making processes small makes change more achievableHow to flatten the room, with an Agile twistWhat Conscious Leadership is, how we can apply it in organisations, and why it’s so importantWhat Nisaar believes the future of facilitation isDon’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] Did you call yourself a coach or a facilitator first?[03:39] What do you understand by ‘Agile’?[05:44] How do you make work “as small as possible”?[09:20] How do you use Agile to design a workshop?[11:33] What is your favourite tool or exercise?[19:28] How would you design a workshop when you have big differences in hierarchy?[23:56] What makes a workshop fail?[26:50] Who are “the right people” to have in a workshop and how do you make sure they are in the room?[31:19] Can you explain Conscious Leadership?[41:24] What is the future of facilitation?[43:44] How would meetings change if every participant had an awareness of facilitation?Links to check Patrick Cowden on episode 001The Workshops Work Virtual MastermindAgileScrumConscious LeadershipConscious FacilitatingAgile Coaching Connect with Nisaar Nisaar'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 textThe Art of Hosting is a beautiful embodiment of many of the features of facilitation, combined with its own set of unique approaches and concepts. Mary Alice Arthur is an international steward of the Art of Hosting network and a person whose input I value hugely.Mary Alice joined me for this episode of Workshops Work to talk about the Art of Hosting in general, but also about how we can apply it amid our current circumstances of lockdown and social distancing.Our conversation was packed with curiosity and “aha” moments, and it felt like we connected a lot of dots together. I hope it will be the same for you. In this episode, find out about: The art of hosting yourself and others in normal circumstances, and during crisesWhy our individual and collective stories hold so much powerHow to use challenges and potentially destructive tools to inspire great changeWhy Mary Alice values resonant learning and collective wisdomHow to direct our energy away from fear and towards excitement 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[01:15] What makes the mindset of a facilitator?[05:58] How do you balance the two meanings of the word ‘fire’?[10:40] How do balance making the process easy with making the struggle easy?[17:03] How do you bring people to the same point in their shared story in a workshop?[23:17] Why is it so important to hear other perspectives, even if you are an expert?[26:13] Why do some virtual meetings thrive and others struggle?[28:05] How can we create and tell the story?[31:06] What are the opportunities in virtual meetings?[35:36] What makes a workshop fail?[40:43] What is the one point you’d like people to take away from this conversation?    Connect with Mary AliceMary Alice's websiteMary Alice's FacebookMary Alice's TwitterMary Alice's InstagramMary Alice'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/