workshops work

Share your thoughts about our conversation!Joost de Leij has delivered over one thousand workshops, from informal group sessions to extensive work with the largest businesses worldwide. In that time, he’s learned a thing or two about effective facilitation.This episode looks at the micro and macro of effective facilitation and how we can design workshops to deliver maximum impact. Sometimes, that can mean negotiating complicated power structures. Other times, it can mean choosing the right activities for the group. The rest of the time, it’s something we never expect or plan for!Join us for an interrogation of power; a host of practical tips and advice; and some remarkable reflections, stories, and predictions for the future.Find out about:The unique challenges of working with leadership teamsWhy non-attendance always damages the group, but can prove fatal when done by a leaderHow facilitators can use AI to complement their preparation and in-workshop phases What changes when you encourage conflict to emerge in the roomWhy Joost often asks groups to imagine themselves as a sailing ship — and how you can adopt this activity yourself How Joost uses approaches including LEGO Serious Play in his workshopsWhy asking participants to write their own workshop summaries can be a shortcut to actionDon’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.Links:Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.Connect to Joost:On LinkedIn.Support the show:Make a one-off donation and contribute to the ongoing costs of running the podcast.Support the show✨✨✨Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a free 1-page summary of each upcoming episode directly to your inbox, or explore our eBooks featuring 50-episode compilations for even more facilitation insights. Find out more:https://workshops.work/podcast✨✨✨Did you know? You can search all episodes by keyword to find exactly what you need via our Buzzsprout page!

Share your thoughts about our conversation!How can we make an informal brainstorming session, full of possibilities and quick thinking, into something more formal… without squeezing the life from it?Alexandre Eisenchteter believes deeply in the power of brainstorming sessions — and that most of us undervalue them. It’s a fair point: the prevailing view does seem to be that brainstorming is a chaotic and unstructured process. But, when Alex is facilitating, the opposite is true.When facilitated with care, brainstorming can provide us with a deeply collaborative and creative approach to problem-solving. Alex explains his approach and how you can adopt it in this episode.Find out about:Why brainstorming is an untapped goldmine for facilitatorsWhat many of us get wrong about brainstormingHow to use a number of different tools to optimise and enhance your brainstorming sessionWhy it can be such a struggle for clients to translate the outputs of a workshop into day-to-day changesHow an initial ‘scope meeting’ can prevent misalignment further into the workshop processWhy good things happen when we stick with ‘bad’ or unpopular ideas for a little longerHow to prevent a workshop being a mess of ideas and, instead, a greenhouse for big changes Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.Links:Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.Here is the link to the scoping questions:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jSLxBnI0Jtbq_WRQ1raEBtRveSwuOn6-sFuFCLYBaKw/edit?usp=sharingConnect to Alexandre:On LinkedIn.Support the show:Make a one-off donation and contribute to the ongoing costs of running the podcast.Support the show✨✨✨Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a free 1-page summary of each upcoming episode directly to your inbox, or explore our eBooks featuring 50-episode compilations for even more facilitation insights. Find out more:https://workshops.work/podcast✨✨✨Did you know? You can search all episodes by keyword to find exactly what you need via our Buzzsprout page!

Joe Weston, a facilitator with 30+ years of experience, shares insights on conflict, somatic resonance, and respectful confrontation. He discusses understanding the nervous system, navigating difficult conversations, and going deeper into ourselves. Topics also include the transformative power of facilitation, embodiment in facilitation work, and developing skills for respectful confrontations.

Share your thoughts about our conversation!Learning is a lifetime’s adventure, but, for many adults, a few bad experiences or a little bit of overconfidence can see them set in their ways and losing their love for learning.In fact, this can be one of the greatest challenges we face as facilitators — entering professional environments in which participants are not primed or prepared for learning.Joyce Matthews joins me in this episode to discuss the theory, practice, and nuance of adult learning. You may not be surprised to hear that facilitation plays a central role in it!Find out about:Why a shift from pedagogy to andragogy is the first step in improving adult learningWhat makes adults more complex learners than childrenHow facilitation and emotional intelligence interact in the context of adult learningWhy training is fine for theory, but facilitation is required to embed deeper learningHow to make learning an exploration of the self, using inner and outer resourcesWhy adults benefit so greatly from ‘eye-level learning’ and how you can adopt it in your work Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.Links:Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.Connect to Joyce:On LinkedIn.Support the show:Make a one-off donation and contribute to the ongoing costs of running the podcast.Support the show✨✨✨Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a free 1-page summary of each upcoming episode directly to your inbox, or explore our eBooks featuring 50-episode compilations for even more facilitation insights. Find out more:https://workshops.work/podcast✨✨✨Did you know? You can search all episodes by keyword to find exactly what you need via our Buzzsprout page!

Share your thoughts about our conversation!Want to turn your passion for facilitation into a full-time, thriving, scalable business? Or are you already facilitating as your main job, but want to take it to a new level?Michael Zipursky is one of the best people to turn to, if that’s the case. As a coach for consultants, bestselling author, and prolific writer and podcaster, Michael is at the top of the game when it comes to practical, actionable advice for developing your career to the place you desire.Turning his expertise towards the world of facilitation, we found that some of his advice is near-universal… and that there are some novel and exciting applications specific to facilitation.Unlock the next level of your facilitation business with this episode!Find out about:How to turn your passion for facilitation into a viable business — but why passion alone isn’t enoughWhich processes and structures can make the best foundation for your businessHow to identify, enter, and own your niche and perfect clientsWhy Michael recommends using specialised content to sell your servicesThe two things Michael believes we should prioritise to build a successful businessHow to work for free without devaluing yourself or your workDon’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.Links:Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.Michael’s website, Consulting Success.Myriam on Michael’s podcastConnect to Michael:On LinkedIn.On Twitter.Support the show:Make a one-off donation and contribute to the ongoing costs of running the podcast.Support the show✨✨✨Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a free 1-page summary of each upcoming episode directly to your inbox, or explore our eBooks featuring 50-episode compilations for even more facilitation insights. Find out more:https://workshops.work/podcast✨✨✨Did you know? You can search all episodes by keyword to find exactly what you need via our Buzzsprout page!

Share your thoughts about our conversation!You leave school and enter the ‘real world’ of work. That’s the process, that’s the plan. But who’s to say that they should be so distinct? What if we brought knowledge from educational systems, such as Montessori, into corporate settings?Benedikt Schmaus joins me in this episode to discuss how can take the best of education and use it to improve work. We explore what it takes to keep facilitation fresh, how to create a literal ‘heartbeat’ in an organisation, and how the MG Taylor method influences his work.This conversation ended up being a much bigger inquiry into complex organisations, knowledge-sharing, and ideation and iteration. A wonderful way to spend an hour, I’m sure you’ll agree!Find out about:Translating best practice from educational systems into complex organisationsHow to unlearn top-down leadership, even in places where it’s never been challengedWhat the MG Taylor approach is, how Benedikt uses it in his work, and why it’s so effectiveHow to embrace novelty and avoid getting caught in the ‘same old’ processesWhat it takes to bring human-centred, participatory processes into any organisationUnderstanding organisational maturity, self-organisation, and problem-solvingWhy facilitation is a skill of bridge-buildingDon’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.Links:Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.Connect to Benedikt:On LinkedIn.Support the show:Make a one-off donation and contribute to the ongoing costs of running the podcast.Support the show✨✨✨Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a free 1-page summary of each upcoming episode directly to your inbox, or explore our eBooks featuring 50-episode compilations for even more facilitation insights. Find out more:https://workshops.work/podcast✨✨✨Did you know? You can search all episodes by keyword to find exactly what you need via our Buzzsprout page!

Share your thoughts about our conversation!The remote revolution is underway. Accelerated by the pandemic and snowballing ever since, the future of work is fast becoming our present day default.But is it all going to plan? Lisette Sutherland flies the flag proudly for remote work, but readily admits our approach might be a little off-course currently.Has our focus been misplaced, so intently on tech and tools rather than communication styles and new etiquette?Lisette joins me in this episode to discuss it all — from the tips and tricks that make the switch to remote work smooth, all the way to psychology and group dynamics.Find out about:Why a work from anywhere policy has such a huge impact on quality of life The etiquette of virtual offices and why we cannot just transplant our in-person cultureHow to work with ineffective remote tools, when you don’t have the freedom to chooseThe value of embracing your personal style and signature — and those of your colleaguesWhat matters most (and what’s overrated) in the transition from office to remote workWhich systems, processes, and information management approaches have worked best for LisetteDon’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.Links:Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTubeLisette’s websiteConnect to Lisette:On LinkedInSupport the show✨✨✨Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a free 1-page summary of each upcoming episode directly to your inbox, or explore our eBooks featuring 50-episode compilations for even more facilitation insights. Find out more:https://workshops.work/podcast✨✨✨Did you know? You can search all episodes by keyword to find exactly what you need via our Buzzsprout page!

Share your thoughts about our conversation!How would you facilitate something that doesn’t exist? Or, more to the point, how you would facilitate a group in a way that something inexistent could emerge?Complexity and uncertainty make up most days for Jason Frasca and Iain Kerr. As co-founders of Emergent Futures Lab, they wouldn’t have it any other way.The opportunity to hear from two experts in emergence, innovation, and facilitation felt like an early Christmas present! We explore what it takes to create space for genuine innovation and novelty, why collaboration and creativity are natural partners, and how to take our focus off of ‘ideas’ and onto experimentalism.Find out about:How facilitators can create a space for emergence, rather than ideasWhether we can teach something that doesn’t yet existHow to integrate provocation and perturbation into your facilitation toolkitWhy power structures need to change for novel ideas to emergeHow creativity, emergence, and collaboration feed each otherHow to get comfortable with experimental thinking and step back from our obsession with ‘ideas’Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.Links:Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.Emergent Futures Lab publishes a weekly newsletter answering the questions: What is Innovation? and How to Innovate? Subscribe here: https://emergentfutureslab.com/newsletterConnect to Jason and Iain:Jason’s LinkedIn.Iain’s LinkedIn.Support the show✨✨✨Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a free 1-page summary of each upcoming episode directly to your inbox, or explore our eBooks featuring 50-episode compilations for even more facilitation insights. Find out more:https://workshops.work/podcast✨✨✨Did you know? You can search all episodes by keyword to find exactly what you need via our Buzzsprout page!

Share your thoughts about our conversation!Say cheese, dear listeners! This week, Else Kramer joins me to discuss the creative and connective power of photography in a facilitation context.Through the camera lens, we can see our environment and problems in new ways — and, as a result, can find new solutions. And the really magical thing? Photography isn’t an individualistic activity; when shared as part of a group it can be connective and attuning.There is a huge amount to learn about the specifics of photography and the broader picture of facilitation in this episode. Enjoy!Find out about:How to enhance any workshop with photography and specific advice for photography workWhy photography is an open door to vulnerability, connection, and progressHow a daily photo sharing practice can transform a group and the individuals within itWhy simplifying a concept isn’t about ‘dumbing down’, but making it easier for participants to invest their energy in a topicHow facilitation skills flow naturally into coaching, especially in creative pursuitsWhy ‘fun’ workshop design helps the group… and why it will eventually prevent real progressDon’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.Links:Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.Connect to Else:On LinkedIn.On Twitter.On Instagram.Support the show:Make a one-off donation and contribute to the ongoing costs of running the podcast.Support the show✨✨✨Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a free 1-page summary of each upcoming episode directly to your inbox, or explore our eBooks featuring 50-episode compilations for even more facilitation insights. Find out more:https://workshops.work/podcast✨✨✨Did you know? You can search all episodes by keyword to find exactly what you need via our Buzzsprout page!

Michelle Howard, a facilitation expert, discusses the dance between power and vulnerability in workshops. Topics include the value of vulnerability, building relationships, reinforcing positive behaviors, the importance of co-facilitators, not censoring, acknowledging experiences, creating a fair workshop, and challenging power dynamics.