Unprofessionalism

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 ou...

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 fa...

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...

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...

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, gam...

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,...

As part of the Virtual Collaboration Campus 2020 , we invited all participants to join an inclusive Fishbowl conversation (similar to the one for Episode 50 ) around the question “What makes virtual workshops work?”. A total number of 73 participants joined the Zoom call and we covered many topics around virtual workshops and virtual collaboration: What works and what doesn't? What are our be...

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...

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,...

 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 wo...

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 entire...

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 pro...

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 intere...

Can an object – a passive actor – be considered a facilitator? That’s what Sunny BenBelkacem and I came to agree in this episode of Workshops Work. As a graphic recorder and communication artist, Sunny brings workshops to life by visualising the discussions that take place. The work produced by a graphic recorder can become a facilitator in itself – sparking discussion, pulling at threads, and cre...

No two facilitators are the same in the way they run their workshops – or in who they are outside of being a facilitator. For Markus Püttmann, the interplay of his other interests and skills have helped to develop an effective and unique approach to workshops. What if you used your skills and interests to create a better workshop experience for your participants? That’s what Markus has achieved by...

What does it really mean to have a successful workshop, meeting, or event? The answer lies with the end result. What do people gain when they attend your workshop or event? Do they walk away with a tangible output (e.g. plans or decisions)? Or, do they leave with an outcome (e.g. a feeling or vision) instead?  Tim Ferguson is the CEO of Audience, a creative and strategic agency specialising in liv...

Holger Nauheimer is one of the leading voices in change management and the founder of Berlin Change Days, a conference for facilitators and change makers – attracting 150 participants from all continents to Berlin.  With over 30 years of facilitation experience, Holger is uniquely placed to talk about our passions and profession. So much so, in fact, that he has developed a reputation for facilita...

On episode 045 I speak with Leanne Hughes, my "(nearly) facilitation twin", public speaker, trainer and, fellow podcast host .  We cover a lot of ground and speak about the habits of facilitators and our mindsets, we speak about the meaning of showing up (as opposed to showing off). Leanne shares what she has learned from instructional design and now applies to her workshop design.  Don’...

On episode 044 I speak with Enrique Rubio, founder of Hacking HR - the fastest growing online community of HR professionals.  This show is different compared to the other podcast episodes as we don't explicitly speak about workshops and workshop facilitation. Instead, we dive deep into the topic of the Future of Work and the future of HR and the role of facilitation in both.    Enrique shares...

On episode 043 I speak with Michelle Howard, a specialist facilitator and MD of collaborations in Melbourne.  She has written a book on the relevance of presence and has worked in the government, private and not-for-profit sectors. “The most valuable (facilitation) tool we have is ourselves.” Michelle Howard In less than one hour, Michelle and I explore many different spheres besides the relevance...

On episode 042, I speak with Dave Mastronardi, the CEO of the Gamestorming group. Dave is a business-focused strategist and facilitator who sees business challenges through the lens of game design. In our conversation, we speak about the structure and nature of games and the difference between gamestorming and gamification. In that line, we touch on topics such as experimentation to avoid repetiti...

On episode 041, I speak with Amaranatho Robey, who was a Buddhist Monk for 15 years and now applies his learnings to coaching and facilitation. He has run over one hundred retreats, workshops, and public talks around the world, impacting thousands of people.  Our interview comes in two parts: The first part introduces Ama's major learnings from his life as a monk for facilitation and coaching...

This interview with Tamara Eberle, trainer and facilitator of Design Charrettes and Organizational Game Designs comes in two parts. In this first part, we speak about "serious games" as an alternative to the usual workshop design. You will learn the difference between 'gamification' of a process and a 'serious game' used to clarify or define a process. Tamara also ans...

On episode 039, I speak with Thomas Lahnthaler, co-founder of Groundwork, who worked in the field of conflict and crisis resolution and now applies his learnings and expertise to executive training and workshops. On our way to the core topic - facilitation without questions - we touch many other themes, such as conflicts inside the workshop space and how we can effectively deal with them. We also...

On episode 038, I speak with Sam Bradd, graphic recorder and facilitator, change-maker and principal of Drawing Change. With his team, Sam contributes to positive change by helping their clients to solve complex problems and distil big ideas that promise to make the world a better place. Sam helps me and the audience to grasp the complexity of visual facilitation - we begin with the basics, such a...