workshops work

Share your thoughts about our conversation!Jo Nelson is one of the founders of ICA Associates Inc. and the International Association of Facilitators, as well as an IAF Hall of Fame inductee. All of which is to say, this episode is special. To speak with a founding mother of the organised practice of facilitation is a rare privilege.As a result, this episode is one that zooms out a little, so that we might trace the growth of facilitation as a movement. Jo walks us from facilitation’s roots as a modular component of training to its blossoming as a unique and powerful resource for leaders in every corner of the world.We didn’t just stay in the macro view, though. We had (and enjoyed) plenty of opportunities to talk about some micro learnings and specific takeaways. There’s lots to learn, reflect on, and enjoy in a conversation with Jo — it’s a delight to share it with you. Find out about:Jo’s view on the evolution of facilitation, having been involved from the earliest daysWhy listening is fundamental to facilitation and how it touches so much more than our workHow Jo learned to leave her ideas and preferences at the door — and how that improved her facilitationWhat it means to master the art of facilitationWhy a binary search for ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ is incompatible with facilitationJo’s five Working Assumptions that guide her workshops and approach to facilitationExamples and resources from ICA and Jo’s own toolkitLinks:Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.Jo’s website.ICA Associates website.More on ORID/ Focused Conversation Method.Working Assumptions resource.Connect to Jo: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 prevailing view in organisations (and among their leaders) is that change processes are rational challenges — a question of getting from A to B with efficiency and minimal interruption.After 30+ years of facilitating change processes and training others to do the same, Rob Evans has learned that a great deal of the work to be done is anything but rational.The emotional and political contexts in which groups exist matter. The decision-making structure around the team matter. The restrictions and fears matter.Join us for a discussion in the depth and detail of group dynamics, participant empowerment, and the deeply human sides of facilitation.Find out about:Why prioritising participants learning and growth is an ever-reliable foundation for workshop planningHow to account for emotional and political contexts in your workshop and avoid over-rationalisationWhy Rob believes successful workshops hinge on having a large enough groupHow to approach a problem that is too big for the group to fixWhy it’s worth asking why a change hasn’t happened yet, before we ask how to make the changeWhat Rob has learned form helping drug users to rehabilitate from their addictionsDon’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.Links:Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.The Collaboration Code website.Connect to Rob: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!Alison Coward, Rebecca Sutherns and Sunni Brown are each exceptional facilitators in their own right, but that doesn’t mean they see things in exactly the same way.They came together for this unique episode, a fireside conversation all about collaboration, and provided some incredible thoughts and reflections.Pull up a chair by the fire and dive into the particulars of what it means to collaborate, how we can create the conditions for creative connection, and why the ‘right’ people will fail to collaborate without a deliberate structure.Find out about:Why facilitators have a glaring gap in their CV when it comes to collaborationWhat happens when we leave collaboration to chance… and how to fix the resultsWhy solo and group work are both necessary for effective collaborationHow boundaries, responsibilities, and limits help us become better collaboratorsWhy creating an appropriate context makes such a significant differenceWhat the difference is between collaboration and ‘collective thinking’Why it’s wrong to assume that the best outcome from a collaboration should amalgamate every view that’s been sharedDon’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.Links:Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.Rebecca Sutherns WebsiteConnect to Alison, Rebecca, and Sunni:Alison on LinkedIn.Rebecca on LinkedIn.Sunni 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! Kirsten Clacey is a facilitator and coach, currently Head of Facilitation at Automattic’s Learn Division, with some brilliant perspectives on process, content, and learning.What’s even better is that she holds these ‘competing’ views with wonderful balance and nuance.In this episode, Kirsten shares why she places so much value on process — without sacrificing content. The key, as she sees it, is to create a process that lets learning opportunities emerge naturally for the participants.Learn how Kirsten creates integrated processes, makes learning happen fast, and adjusts her process and content depending on the circumstance.Find out about:Why the outcome of a workshop is embedded throughout the process, not as a final lightbulb momentHow a focus on process eventually leads to stronger, self-directed outcomesWhy facilitators are experts in adapting — for themselves and the environments they create for othersHow to dial up and down the balance of content and process, according to the group and their needsHow to facilitate with and around an ‘expert’ participantWhy it’s critical for participants to apply the skills they’re learning in-situ, to embed the learning and create a snowballing sense of 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.Kirsten’s website.Kirsten’s new blog (coming soon!)Kirsten’s book: The Remote Facilitator’s Pocket Guide.Connect to Kirsten: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!We’ve had plenty of practice with online meetings by now; we have fallen into the common trapdoors and know how to avoid them in the future. But is effectiveness enough? Shall we really set the bar at running a ‘smooth and easy’ event?Many attendees still report that they feel unheard or unable to contribute in online event spaces — we are still missing a critical ingredient in a genuinely meaningful event, then.That’s why I felt so happy to speak with Tina Lyngdoh and Lux Narayan in this episode. As the co-founders of StreamAlive, they are at the very forefront of the push for universal involvement. Their work helps me to believe that we can still make meeting online connective and powerful.Find out about:What StreamAlive is, why Lux and Tina founded it, and how it serves online audiencesWhy facilitators can lean further into assistive tools — and why it’s so important onlineHow to move from monologue to dialogue in an online world that defaults to the formerWhat we unlock when we visualise chat in ways beyond the typical scrolling sidebarWhy in-person meetings benefit from audience-to-audience interaction as much as online onesHow deepening the participants’ experience and communication can help the facilitator take their work furtherDon’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.Links:Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.The StreamAlive website.Connect to Tina and Lux:Lux on LinkedIn.Tina 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!Activists are the fuel behind social change. Without them, we would stall and stutter and stop making progress. These are people who are driven by passion and strong beliefs — which certainly makes life interesting for facilitators who work in the space.In all the energy and conviction of activism, facilitation can be crucial to turn grand plans for changing the world into something manageable, measurable, and achievable.Anuschka Ruge has been doing this work for many years — in the climate movement, education, and beyond — and has invaluable experience to share with other facilitators. This episode is her platform to do so, so please listen closely and make the most of it!Find out about:Why facilitators can be so useful in the big-picture world of activismHow to facilitate groups that are high-emotion, passionate, and subject matter expertsWhy it can be so useful to make space for anger and how to lean in to the passion in the roomWhat we can do to support and facilitate beyond the session, to embed ideas and changeHow to facilitate with an awareness of your subject-matter limitations and privilegesWhy it’s critical to prepare participants for leaving the space, and how to hold their passion with the wider publicDon’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 Anuschka: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!

Unpacking Experiential Learning with Romy Alexandra, focusing on collaborative and interactive training. Discussing the impact of seeing learners as vessels and the importance of 'struck' moments in learning. Exploring the blend of Experiential Learning and Open Space Technology for effective training. Emphasizing community, connection, and co-creation in training sessions, with trainers viewed as performative stars.

Share your thoughts about our conversation!Why is it that so many groups come together with a shared goal… and fail to make any meaningful progress?This is the question that’s plagued Deb Mashek’s professional life — and it’s taken her to some fascinating places.Deb’s work and the lessons she’s taken from it have made her a go-to speaker, author, and commentator in popular media, but she’s not one to sit comfortably on the sidelines. She still loves nothing more than diving into mission-critical projects that live or die by the strength of collaboration. As you might expect, she’s got some wonderful insights to share from it all!Dive into the details of collaboration and how we can all take responsibility for better work together.Find out about:Why the heart of collaboration lies in our personal skills The most common causes for collaborative breakdown that Deb seesWhy technology helps us collaborate… until it does the oppositeHow leaders can begin the long-term process of creating a collaborative cultureWhy ease, reward, and visibility are Deb’s three key markers for a collaborative cultureHow prioritising shared definitions and language makes collaboration happen fasterDon’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.Links:Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.Sign up to receive twice-monthly collaboration tips from Deb: https://debmashek.lpages.co/one_simple_tipDownload the Mashek Matrix poster: https://debmashek.lpages.co/mashekmatrixConnect with Deb on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debra-mashek/Connect to Deb:On LinkedInOn InstagramOn TwitterSupport 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!Facilitation can be a messy business; what can we do to clean it up?Judy Rees, who’s been working with groups for almost 20 years, thinks the answer lies in clean language. A focus on clean language in turn creates what Judy calls ‘clean facilitation’.Specificity and neutrality is the name of the game, but can facilitators ever truly be neutral? Judy and I wrestle with the big questions of influence, manipulation, and communication in this episode as we try to clear up clean facilitation and explore how to apply it in our day-to-day work.Find out about:What Judy means by ‘clean facilitation’Practical examples of how clean language can help facilitators dig deeper into a discussionWhy getting out of the group’s way is a noble goal, but not always possibleThe ways in which we manipulate without ever realisingHow to use our influence with the group in a beneficial wayHow clean language can help us better understand a group’s idiosyncrasies and uniquenessWhy focusing our influence on the process, rather than the content, is a valuable path to followDon’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.Links:Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.Free Clean Language ebook.Judy’s Clean Language for Facilitators course.Video guide for a Clean Language-based change process.New Rules for Work experiment, applying Clean Language.Connect to Judy: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!They say it takes a lifetime to build and a second to break… Trust is priceless to teams and the organisations in which they exist, so why is it so often overlooked as part of team-building?Perhaps because after-work socials and lunchtime chats are easy and sound ‘right’; but high-functioning teams take work — deep, intensive work. They certainly don’t appear out of nowhere.Leigh Ann Rodgers sees trust as key to building better teams, because trust can’t be faked, or phoned in, or achieved with a few drinks after quitting time. This episode will help you make trust a priority, understand why it makes such a big difference, and explain what you can do to build a high-trust culture.Find out about:Why communication is the heart of trustHow to identify a box-ticking approach to trust-building and why it almost always failsWhy understanding others’ communication styles gives us a shortcut to empathyWhich characteristics are most important to understand about your teammatesHow to treat trust and alignment as journeys, not destinationsWhich activities and actions you can implement to start building trust quicklyDon’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.LinksWatch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.Team Consultant AcademyBetter Teams BlogConnect to Leigh Ann: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!