We use our facilitation skills in our work, but these are universally applicable skills. Negotiating with a toddler, hosting parties, working out which takeout to order!Join me and Jacob Chromy in this episode of workshops work to learn how we can apply our facilitation skills in more walks of life - and how people from all walks of life can identify the facilitation skills they’ve been using this whole time!It felt so liberating to explore the different ways our tools of the trade can be app...
Since March 2020, almost 100 facilitators have collaborated to bring to life a bold vision: A 24 hours long, global facilitation festival. In this bonus episode, Michelle Howard, collaborator and facilitator at the NeverDoneBefore facilitation festival (and guest on episode 043 of the podcast) interviews Myriam Hadnes who initiated the project and invited all podcast guests to host workshops in a way that they have never done before. In this episode, you will hear about What fa...
Sarah McVanel is a recognition expert, a public speaker, a facilitator… and she thinks that we are “mutts”.Put your pitchforks down, this is a good thing – and she explains herself beautifully!Sarah’s perspective on the transferable skills in facilitation will leave you feeling empowered and inspired. You might even be happy to call yourself a mutt!Sarah has successfully pivoted to work as a public speaker (as well continuing as a facilitator and recognition expert) and believes that facilita...
Teeth 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 discussi...
A 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 Respon...
Stories 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 ...
When 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 a...
Workshops 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...
Imagine 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 identif...
How 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 l...
It 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 w...
The 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 ...
We can find inspiration for our work as facilitators in the most surprising places. I would have said that game design is one of those surprising sources, but after speaking to Coline Pannier, the similarities and interconnections were abundantly clear.Game design is the path to mastery in a controlled environment.While we might look for convenience and facilitate in a way that creates ease, game designers approach tasks from another angle. They create interesting challenges that help players...
Prototyping is a mainstay of the tech world, but nothing exists in a vacuum anymore. Disciplines are increasingly cross-pollinating and useful strategies from disparate fields are finding new life in places we may not have expected.Prototypes are one of those strategies, and my guest on this week’s podcast can attest to that. Douglas Ferguson sits at the intersection of tech users and tech teams, with the workshops he leads creating positive outcomes and outputs for both parties.But how does ...
Beauty appears in different ways – with our intention or entirely without provocation – but how can we purposefully create beauty in our workshops, and what effect can it have on the outcomes of our practice?Eike Niclas Schmidt believes beauty is an essential component of a successful workshop, and that it can be encouraged and created in simpler ways than you might imagine.As an Art of Hosting specialist, Eike is acutely aware of the impact our spaces and presence have on the people we share...
As facilitators, change is our business, our livelihood, our North Star.Eugenio Moliní has spent his life thinking about change. He’s chased it, avoided it, and now he is accepting it. Perhaps more accurately, he has found that it is only by accepting our truths that we can truly find change.As you might expect from someone with such depth of thought and consideration for the process of change, Eugenio is fascinating to speak with and listen to.His thoughts on self-acceptance, anxiety, and co...
As facilitators, we are used to holding physical and mental space for groups – but what changes when we do this virtually and how can we facilitate effective collaboration in digital spaces?The Virtual Collaboration Campus is a community of 35 facilitators who are coming together (virtually, of course!) to discuss and teach the ways we can effectively organise and conduct virtual meetings and work.Storytelling, collaborating, space sharing, understanding, and listening remain the same i...
Heleen Kuiper is an expert in the practice of holacracy – a system for shifting organisations and teams towards self-management, helping them to focus on purpose, responsibilities, and getting work done. So, who better to talk to about holacracy than Heleen herself?It is a fascinating take on facilitation and there are lessons every facilitator can learn from it, regardless of whether they entirely agree with it. In this episode, we discuss:How personal development and organisational dev...
There is a fascinating intersection between Agile and facilitation.With experience of integrating Agile into both marketing and HR teams, Eoin Cannon has a unique perspective on why certain approaches prove fruitful and others fall short.In this episode of Workshops Work, Eoin shares how Agile can help to shape smarter, more effective teams in any department to be better equipped to overcome problems.There are dozens of points that Eoin picks out that hold huge value, so if you want to learn ...
50 episodes of Workshops Work – wow! What a joy every episode has been. Thank you for joining me on this journey – whether this is your first or fiftieth time listening.To mark this milestone, I brought together ten Workshops Work alumni for a fishbowl discussion about facilitation.We covered a range of topics in such detail, it’s a struggle to summarise it in these show notes. If you are interested in hearing what a room of facilitators has to say about the complexities, joys, and novelties ...