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Keeping the energy going in a looong meeting

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Keeping the energy going in a looong meeting

I love it when a new piece of work comes in: the excitement of getting to know a new client and group, the creativity in designing a workshop which will fit the ambition and the constraints, deciding what kit to pack… And then there’s the worry and even bad dreams about the many ways it might go wrong, fall flat, peter out, end in chaos and disappointment.  

A recent assignment involved a four-day hybrid multi-lingual, multi-time zone workshop based around an organisational assessment survey tool of some 80+ questions. There were many, many ways in which this might go wrong. Amongst our concerns was energy - of the group, and of the four-person facilitation team. As someone asked when I posted about it on LinkedIn, how did we survive and maintain energy?! 

Well, we didn’t just survive, we thrived. But it took planning, prep and a willingness to press pause. Let me tell you more. 

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In the fish bowl

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In the fish bowl

What would you say if you knew the usual suspects wouldn't interrupt you? What would you hear, if you could be a fly-on-the-wall during an open, honest conversation about something difficult? This is the premise of the 'fishbowl' technique, and I ran one at the IAF England & Wales Conference earlier this year. What happened?  

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Phases of development, inspired by the Olympics

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Phases of development, inspired by the Olympics

Earlier this month I stood on a 10th floor roof terrace, looking out over the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. In front of me were the sweeping curves of the aquatics centre, the delicate frame of the London Stadium and the frankly disturbing tangle of the Orbital.  

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Three reframing strategies

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Three reframing strategies

Ever had one of those days? The dog’s been sick, there’s a mystery leak dripping through the kitchen ceiling, and just as you’re finally leaving home you discover your bike’s got a flat tyre.

Or, your beautiful project gets trashed by trolls on twitter, half the finances fall through, and your boss or client suddenly wants twice as much output in time for their end-of-year performance review.

Bad days will happen, even to the best of us. We’ll deal with them better if we have some resilience strategies up our sleeves. 

Here are three ways to pick yourself up and show the day who’s boss. Read more…

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Sustainable retrofit: plus ça change...

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Sustainable retrofit: plus ça change...

I've danced on eggshells and walked on thin ice (metaphorically). I've trodden on carpets, lino, floorboards, polished concrete, bricks, tiles and flagstones, non-metaphorically. But the floor of Wednesday's meeting space was made of large metal tiles and that was a first. They've probably been there, under my feet, in any number of office blocks as part of the raised-access flooring, but always covered with something else. The dull gleam and grey reflections were a subtle sign that the building was a bit unusual. "This is not an ordinary project. But it needs to be."    Read more…

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Troika consulting

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Troika consulting

I explained my dilemma to the other two people in my ‘troika’ group, and then turned my back. For the next few minutes, they discussed the problem as if I wasn’t there. I heard empathy, I heard honesty. They were free to talk to each other about what I’d said without worrying about me becoming defensive, or correcting them. They also said what they’d intuited about what I’d not said. It was liberating for us all.

Milestones

Milestones

On 7th January, I passed a literal milestone: a striking sculpture marking the end (or for some people the start) of the South West Coast Path. I hadn’t been that bothered about this, as our ambition is to walk all of the England and Wales coast, but as we got nearer I started to feel light-hearted and was positively beaming by the time I saw the galvanised steel map and giant hands holding it.

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Signalling roles when you're facilitating

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Signalling roles when you're facilitating

"...and if there's any more [questions or feedback], please come and see one of us in the green t-shirts". How do we make it as easy as possible for participants - and the rest of the facilitation team - to spot us in a crowd? 

Farmers who have been taking part in pilots for the new Sustainable Farming Incentive system came together to give feedback to the Defra team. This was a classic consultation event: no decisions were being made in the room. Instead, the client organisation wanted to harvest as much detail about what's working and what's not. So there were facilitators on every table and lots of worksheets for people to record their feedback on. The 'green t-shirts' are referenced at 5.15 on this video. Well done to the team from Sheffield University who ran these pilot learning events. 

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Doing the sustainability team a favour

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Doing the sustainability team a favour

Does it sometimes feel as if your colleagues treat their sustainability actions as a favour to you? 

I'm working with a couple of in-house sustainability teams at the moment, whose situations have strong similarities, despite one being a global brand and the other a public sector agency.  The teams have hats which are familiar to most in-house sustainability specialists: 

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Inviting feelings into the conversation

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Inviting feelings into the conversation

We work together better when we trust each other, relaxing our guard and being more honest about what's getting in the way and what's energising us. Letting people know that they are welcome however they feel - the good, the bad and the meh - is a powerful way to get there faster. Here are three ways of inviting people to bring their feelings to the conversation.

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Spinning stories to dream the better future

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Spinning stories to dream the better future

It's 2140, and the most popular reality TV show is a live-stream of Amelia Black transporting polar bears to the Antarctic in her airship as part of assisted migration. In New York, housing is run by cooperatives and buildings have been waterproofed below the high tide line. Sky-scrapers have had docks added part-way up for speed boats, and there are floors dedicated to food growing. This is the setting of Kim Stanley Robinson's New York 2140, a classic of post-climate fiction with an optimistic outlook.

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12+ insights about hybrid meetings on a shoestring

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12+ insights about hybrid meetings on a shoestring

You want to give those who can come along an in-person experience, and there are people who need to join online. BUT there isn't the budget to hire in an entire tech team and the venue's swanky AV equipment. How might you run a hybrid event anyway, and what is it like?

Building a 'wall of wonder'

Building a 'wall of wonder'

On a shelf in my office there is a little shield-shaped trophy, from when I was part of the Thaxted Primary School junior road safety team. A very particular specialist subject for a kids quiz! We were Essex County Champions in 1977. I also have a folder called 'nice things people have said', where I save the positive feedback I get from clients, colleagues and readers. It makes me bolder to be reminded of successes, even if they were 40 years ago.

We can harness the power of previous achievements to help teams build resilience and plan their next moves. Here's how.

Maintaining boundaries to focus our energy

Maintaining boundaries to focus our energy

I love seeing boundaries. Whether it's the excellent jigsaw skills of a drystone wall, or the 'hedges' of Cornwall with their bushes and flowers growing over walls, or an expertly woven 'layed' hedge with hawthorn half-spliced and bent over...

What about the boundaries we set to make sure we are spending our limited time on the right things? Constructing a boundary in the right place is one thing. Maintaining it is another. Here are some ways to keep yours strong.

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Highlights from the She is Sustainable spring gathering

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Highlights from the She is Sustainable spring gathering

Thank you so much to everyone who joined us at one of the She is Sustainable spring gatherings in March!

It was wonderful to be part of your conversations about guilt and joy, finding the right boundaries to protect our own energy for what we care about, and whether we should be 'nice' to people who still don't get it, or who are spilling over with new-found enthusiasm.

A 'just' transition

A 'just' transition

In the UK and elsewhere, domestic electricity, gas and heating oil prices have been rising at alarming rates, even before Russian troops invaded Ukraine. If you've already got a very energy-efficient home and travel by bike, you will be cushioned from the worst of this. But if your windows leak heat, your washing machine is energy-hungry and local bus services are a joke, it's swingeingly high bills or cold isolation. Not fair, is it?