Imagine this: Your workshop is buzzing with energy, participants are in small groups collaborating, brainstorming, and ideating like there’s no tomorrow. Suddenly, the timer goes off. It’s time for the dreaded report out. Cue the collective sighs and eye rolls.

We’ve all been there. Small group sessions excite everyone, only to be deflated by lackluster report-outs.

But fear not! Traditional report-outs don’t have to be as exciting as watching paint dry.

With a few clever strategies, we can transform them into the highlight of your workshop, the moment everyone looks forward to.

Let’s delve into why typical report-outs are such snooze fests:

Because They Are Party Poopers

Translation: They suck all the fun energy out of the room.

Traditional report-outs are like joy vampires, draining the excitement from the air faster than a leaky balloon.

We’re here to keep the energy levels up, not send everyone into a passive-thinking coma.

Because It’s A Report Out Wilderness

Translation: Purposeless wandering.

Why do we even have report-outs? What’s the point? The often lack purpose, fail to connect the dots, and end up collecting dust in a forgotten corner. It’s like aimlessly wandering through a report-out wilderness without a compass.

Time to find our true north, folks!

Because There Are Oh So Many Report Out Bloopers

Translation: Facilitator Design Oopsies

As facilitators, we spend hours designing engaging activities, only to leave the report out as an afterthought.

It’s time to give those report outs some love and attention, ensuring they match the awesomeness of the rest of our workshop.

Because They Zone-Out The Audience

Translation: Report-outs are a Snoozefest

Traditional report-outs are boring! As each group hurriedly runs through their endless laundry list of what they discussed, other groups start losing interest faster than a turtle in a race. Listeners mentally check out and slip into daydream mode.

It’s time to slap ’em awake (figuratively, of course) and keep them engaged throughout the session.

We get it. Report-outs are often lame, so what can we do?

Revamping the Report Out Experience

Just because report-outs often miss the mark doesn’t mean they’re entirely useless. They can help honor the work, create alignment, and identify themes, connections, and areas of divergence.

However, we must ‘disrupt the default’ and choose when report-outs are truly needed rather than mindlessly doing them after every activity.

When you decide you need a report-out, let’s make them peak moments of your workshop filled with learning, humor, engagement, and innovation.

Assuming you need a report-out, here are a few tips for transforming these into engaging moments in your workshop

Introduce Purpose And Fun

Give report outs a clear purpose, whether it’s sharing insights, summarizing key themes, or spotting connections.

And, why not inject some fun into the mix? Instead of the usual stand-up-and-share routine, let’s shape report-out messages out of clay, build them with Lego, or channel our inner Picasso and draw them.

Who said report-outs couldn’t be arts-and-crafts time?

Focus on the Juicy Stuff

Skip the laundry list. Nobody wants to sit through an endless list of what each group did. Let’s cut to the chase!

Have groups share the juiciest, most important 3 points that absolutely must be shared, or simply the one most useful idea they discovered.

Create boundaries for them by the size and number of the post-it note(s) you give them to write up their output. Affinitize the themes as each group reports out. Keep it short, sweet, and oh-so-memorable!

Story Spine Showtime

Lights, Camera, Report Out! Turn report-outs into Hollywood productions using the “Story Spine” framework. Create a captivating narrative by structuring the report out like a story.

For example: “Once upon a time, there was a group that shared the infinite detail of what they did every day. Then one day they they told a story instead. And they blew our minds with their brilliant ideas. And ever since then, we’ve been inspired to take action!”

You get the point. Cue the applause and a sense of accomplishment.

Structure for Success

Let’s provide structure to the report-outs to avoid chaotic ramblings. Try the What-So What-Now What structure.

Ask groups to answer three key questions:

What did we do?

So, what does it mean for us? Why is this important?

And now, what makes sense for us as we go forward?

This, or any, guided structure, acts as a report-out GPS, helping them navigate their presentation smoothly and purposefully.

Engage the Spy Listeners

Agent 007 reporting here’s a secret mission: Assign undercover agents from other groups to listen carefully during each report out. Their mission? To extract the main point shared and play this back to the rest of the participants.

It’s like turning your report outs into a thrilling spy story.

Who doesn’t love a good spy tale?

Ditch the Report Out, Embrace the Gallery Walk

Break free from the traditional report-out format and try something different. How about a gallery walk or scrambler session?

Participants can roam around, interact with visuals, and engage in lively discussions. It’s like an interactive museum but with a workshop twist.

Let creativity and collaboration take center stage.

Prizes and Laughs

Make it a mini-competition. Who says report-outs can’t be a good time?

Turn them into a mini-competition throughout the day. Encourage groups to unleash their creativity and give out prizes for the most imaginative group report out.

Get ready for some laughs, friendly competition, and unforgettable moments during your workshop.

There you have it!

Report-outs don’t have to be the bane of workshops. With thoughtful design, intentional approaches, and creative strategies, we can transform them into peak moments that leave participants energized, engaged, and eager to take action.

These strategies tap into engagement dimensions such as VARK modalities, thinking styles, and participant involvement, to name just a few, shifting report-outs from drab to fab.

For more about the nine dimensions of engagement and how to use them in your workshops, check out this link.

Now, let’s bid farewell to those energy-draining, purposeless report-outs and welcome a new era of workshop awesomeness.

By infusing fun, structure, and relevance into your report-outs, we can make them the highlight of every workshop, leaving participants inspired, connected, and ready to conquer the world — one report out at a time!

Facilitating large groups of people in a workshop setting can be both exhilarating and challenging. Effective facilitation is paramount in these sessions to ensure the desired outcomes, navigate emotional ups and downs, and provide participants with a memorable and impactful experience.

Here are a few tips for facilitating large groups that will help you maintain engagement and productivity throughout the session while fostering a positive environment for collaboration and action.

Facilitator Communication Clarity

Importance of Clear, Scaffolded Instructions

Clear instructions are essential when working with large groups to avoid confusion and ensure task comprehension. Instead of providing bulk or multilayered instructions, scaffold your guidance by breaking tasks into manageable steps. This structured approach minimizes complexity and empowers participants to contribute effectively. Break down tasks into manageable steps, and write the words you will use to communicate with the group. Issue one step at a time, allowing the group to work through it before moving on to the next. By communicating exactly what you intend and managing potential overwhelm, participants will feel empowered to engage and contribute their best.

Don’t Default to the Dreaded Report Out

Traditional report-outs can consume significant time in large group settings and drain the energy that smaller group work creates. Optimize report-outs by refocusing them on specific requests that can be delivered succinctly. For example, ask each group to share their top two most important ideas or one unique concept that another group hasn’t discussed. Since groups may forget the guidelines for reporting out, be sure to remind each group before they take the floor. This approach ensures a concise and impactful sharing session while preventing excessive sharing.

Use Variation to Your Advantage

When conducting activities, not every group needs to approach them in the same way. Encourage participants to share their outputs and ideas in various formats to spark creativity and maintain engagement. While all groups may work on the same exercise, allow each to choose a different style for sharing in the plenary session. This can include drawing, creating playdough models, building LEGO designs, or assembling image collages. Embracing diverse presentation formats adds excitement, fosters autonomy, and enables participants to express their ideas freely.

Leverage the Power of the Group

Embrace a Mindset of Lazy Facilitation

Foster a sense of ownership and self-sufficiency among participants by not doing everything for them. Instead, empower them to take charge. After groups share their ideas, encourage them to take their flipcharts and hang them in a designated area, creating a gallery of outputs for a subsequent gallery walk. This approach promotes autonomy, collaboration, and shared responsibility for the workshop’s success.

Flex Group Sizes and Incorporating Individual Thinking Time

Some participants may feel intimidated in large group settings, leading to disengagement. Avoid this by incorporating regular moments of individual thinking time at the start of group activities. This allows individuals to process their thoughts before group work begins, boosting confidence and enhancing collaboration. Moreover, in large groups, managing overall energy levels is crucial. Introducing moments of individual thinking time or quiet reflection brings a calming influence to the session, creating a welcoming change from high-energy moments.

Employ Group Scrambling Techniques

Inject energy and encourage connections among participants by using interesting group scrambling techniques. Rearrange group compositions at key points in the session using strategies such as color grouping, work teams, or numbered sequencing. This practice prompts individuals to step out of their comfort zones, fosters new connections, breaks routines, promotes collaboration, and enhances the workshop experience.

Leverage Displays and Logistics

Leverage Displays and Tech

Enhance communication and focus by incorporating large screen displays. Slides with instructions on these screens help participants navigate tasks and stay focused. Use screens with timers to assist individuals in managing time effectively. Also, provide microphones to ensure everyone can hear and actively participate in discussions.

Harnessing the Power of Music

Music can be a powerful tool for grabbing participants’ attention and signaling transitions. Consider playing background music while groups are working, creating a conducive and energized atmosphere. When it’s time to regroup or transition to the next activity, subtly turn off the music to bring everyone’s focus back to the session, facilitating smooth transitions and maintaining the session’s flow.

Optimize Breaks and Lunch

To save time and maintain momentum, optimize break and lunch arrangements. Offer multi-station setups with pre-packed options, allowing participants to access food stations and minimize disruptions. Avoid traditional buffet-style service, as long lines can waste valuable time and lead to delays in resuming the session. By streamlining break and lunch logistics, you maximize productive time and keep energy levels high.

Facilitating large groups can be a rewarding experience when armed with effective strategies for engagement. The tips shared here have been harvested from recent sessions with hundreds of participants. They predominantly focus on playing with three of the nine dimensions of engagement; Energy Levels, Group Size, and Instruction Complexity.

To delve deeper into the nine dimensions of engagement, listen to this podcast episode of the Every Little Model podcast.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/every-little-model-podcast/id1615430380?i=1000568750894

And if you’re looking to enhance your facilitation skills and become an engagement master in all types of sessions, whether small or large, explore the “Engagement Made Easy” online program for even in-depth explanations of each of the nine dimensions, how and when to employ each dimension and multiple strategies and techniques to boost engagement in your workshops, training sessions and gatherings.

https://islandschool.teachable.com/p/engagement-matters

Mastering the art of facilitating large groups requires flexibility, adaptability, and a bit of courage. Hopefully, these tips will help you to create an environment where participants are engaged, motivated, and ready to co-create the future of their organization. Happy facilitating!

Are you tired of being pulled into last-minute, chaotic meetings that lack purpose, structure, and direction? Do you find yourself sitting through endless discussions that drain your time and leave you feeling frustrated and unproductive?

If you’ve experienced the powerlessness of being a passive meeting participant, unable to influence the course of a meeting, you’re not alone. Regardless of their role or seniority, many professionals face the daily challenge of navigating meetings where they are not in the lead role.

“How can I influence the performance and effectiveness of meetings I don’t lead?”

The “Lead Meetings That Work” program brings together executives, small business owners, and team leaders eager to leverage their everyday leadership opportunities — otherwise known as meetings — to unlock new levels of performance and shape team and organizational culture. And this is a question that regularly arises.

And here’s the secret: you have the power to make a difference.

By being an exemplary meeting participant.

Welcome to the world of being an exemplary meeting participant — a role that significantly influences what is accomplished in meetings and how we perceive their value in terms of time well spent.

Imagine a work life where every meeting is facilitated by exceptional leaders who possess the skills, capabilities, and confidence to guide discussions smoothly and effectively. Envision a scenario where every participant shows up as their best self, fully engaged from beginning to end, and committed to actively contributing and achieving meeting goals.

How different would your work day be?

The significance of being an excellent meeting participant cannot be underestimated. It directly impacts the outcomes of meetings and how we experience them in terms of productivity and fulfillment. Becoming an engaged and effective meeting participant can amplify team collaboration, drive organizational success, enhance your well-being and work experience, and foster a positive and fun work culture.

Your participation matters, and your collective efforts can transform meetings into collaborative, productive, and enjoyable experiences for everyone involved.

Why This Matters

Being an engaged and effective meeting participant offers numerous advantages, not just for the team and organization but also for each of us as individuals. Let’s explore why it should matter to you:

1. Amplify Team Collaboration: Active meeting participation encourages collaboration, fostering an environment where diverse perspectives and ideas can flourish. Contributing thoughtfully and constructively makes you integral to the team’s success, fostering a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment.
2. Drive Organizational Success: Your active engagement in meetings contributes to better outcomes, rigorous decision-making, improved productivity, enhanced creativity, and overall team and organizational success. As a result, you become a valuable asset, recognized for your contributions and impact on achieving organizational goals.
3. Enhance Your Well-being and Work Experience: Meetings are transformed when everyone shows up as good meeting participants. This means less time in unproductive discussions and less frustration and burnout from meetings. Engaging in enjoyable conversations and feeling more productive can significantly enhance your work experience and reduce day-to-day stress.
4. Foster a Positive and Fun Work Culture: You create a positive team and work culture by being a good meeting participant. When meetings are engaging, productive, and enjoyable, they become opportunities to connect with colleagues, share ideas, and foster a sense of camaraderie. This leads to a more enjoyable work environment and promotes a sense of fun and fulfillment in your professional journey.

Clearly, showing up as a good meeting participant matters on many levels.

Ten Top Tips

Now, let’s explore ten practical tips to help you be a better meeting participant:

1. Be Prepared: Review the agenda and any pre-meeting materials, and show up prepared with your contributions and questions. In the absence of meeting materials being shared in advance, reach out to the meeting leader and ask what pre-work is required or how they would like you to prepare for the meeting. This demonstrates readiness, accountability, and respect for your role as a contributor to the meeting.
2. Respect Time: Be punctual and arrive early. Being prompt sets a positive tone and demonstrates your professionalism.
3. Volunteer to Play a Role: Offer to take on a specific meeting role, such as timekeeper, action log keeper, and/or note-taker. Taking the initiative showcases your dedication to meeting success and helps keep everyone on track.
4. Actively Engage: Speak up and share your insights, ideas, and feedback during discussions. Share appreciation for the helpful actions and positive interventions of others. Engage in active dialogue and build upon the contributions of your meeting colleagues. Your engagement will foster a collaborative atmosphere in the meeting.
5. Role Model Listening, Recapping, and Paraphrasing: Demonstrate attention by listening without interrupting others. Be curious about ideas, concerns, and suggestions emerging. Recap and paraphrase what others have said to ensure understanding and promote clarity. Role modeling these techniques will improve the quality of the group conversation.
6. Be Succinct When You Share: Respect others’ time by being concise and to the point when sharing your thoughts or providing updates. Ask yourself, is what I am about to share necessary and relevant? This way, you can avoid taking the group on tangents or monopolizing the conversation. By delivering your message succinctly and thoughtfully, you help conversations be productive.
7. Be Fully Present: Avoid the temptation of distractions and give your undivided attention, maintaining eye contact and positive body language throughout the meeting. Being fully present throughout the meeting will allow you to make better, more thoughtful interventions.
8. Ask Questions: Shape alignment and understanding by asking clarifying or redirecting questions. Seek clarity when something is unclear or if you think more information is required. Asking redirection and clarification questions demonstrates your commitment to understanding and aligning with the meeting’s purpose.
9. Don’t Sit Back and Watch: If the meeting veers off track or becomes unbalanced, share observations and suggest ways to refocus the discussion or involve others. Stepping in to help course correct when you notice something happening shows your dedication to ensuring a valuable use of everyone’s time and a positive working environment.
10. Role Model Helpful Behaviors: Lead by example and model positive behaviors in meetings. Encourage participation, open communication, and inclusive interactions among all participants. By role modeling helpful behaviors, you encourage others to behave similarly.

By actively engaging, listening attentively, sharing insights, and supporting the meeting process, you can significantly impact the success of meetings, teams, and the organization as a whole. Being a good meeting participant allows you to be part of a meeting makeover and shape the meeting culture in your organization.

Becoming a skilled meeting participant is a valuable complement to being an effective meeting leader. To boost your meeting leadership craft, confidence, and toolkit, consider enrolling in the “Lead Meetings That Work” program. Embrace your role as both a meeting leader and participant to unlock the full potential of your meetings and drive new performance and positive change in your organization.

Remember, meetings' success relies on everyone's collective efforts. Let’s strive to be exceptional meeting participants, creating a collaborative, productive, and enjoyable meeting experience one meeting at a time.

In today’s fast-paced and complex business environment, it’s an understatement to say that leaders face numerous challenges. In fact, leaders face something even more complex; they face wicked questions. Wicked questions are entangled challenges with no intuitively obvious right or wrong answer or solution. Questions that “bring to light paradoxical-yet-complementary forces that are constantly influencing behaviors.” They require leaders to navigate through two seemingly opposite but equally important dynamics; they powerfully articulate the tension between what might be obvious and what may be unstated. Wicked questions require leaders to delve deep into such situations' complexity, uncertainty, and ambiguity. And navigating these questions necessitates insight, new ideas, and fresh ways of approaching challenges.

How To Begin

Models. Mental models are powerful frameworks created by organizational psychologists and consultants. Models offer a fresh lens through which leaders can perceive and tackle problems, engage their teams, foster learning, and inspire innovation. Here are a few ways you can use models.

I. Use Models to Enhance Understanding and Perspective

Models Help Us Reframe Challenges

Models provide alternative perspectives, enabling leaders to develop creative solutions and make thoughtful decisions. They offer a fresh lens through which leaders can uncover insights and observations that were previously overlooked.

Models Open Up and Extend Conversations

Models serve as frameworks that structure conversations, fostering deeper dives into specific aspects of a challenge or situation. They facilitate meaningful discussions, promote shared understanding, and encourage collaboration among team members.

Models Challenge Paradigms, Perspectives, and Beliefs

Models introduce alternative ways of thinking, questioning traditional assumptions, and inspiring teams to explore limiting beliefs and new possibilities. They enable leaders to challenge existing paradigms, foster innovation, and embrace change.

Practical Example: The SCARF Model

The SCARF Model, developed by David Rock, focuses on the social aspects of human behavior and provides insights into how leaders can effectively manage interpersonal interactions. It stands for Status, Certainty, Autonomy, Relatedness, and Fairness. By understanding and applying this model, leaders can identify and address potential triggers impacting employee engagement and collaboration. For example, leaders can create a positive work environment and improve overall team dynamics by ensuring fairness in decision-making processes or fostering a sense of relatedness among team members.

II. Use Models to Foster Growth, Development

Models Create Awareness

Models bring attention to patterns, dynamics, and interdependencies within organizations, identifying areas for improvement. They enhance awareness, enable us to make more informed decisions, and take targeted actions.

Models Can Normalize Emotional Situations:

Models help leaders to give context to and constructively navigate emotional situations. They provide a reference point and framework to navigate and address such situations effectively.

Models Can Facilitate and Encourage Reflection and Learning

Models encourage leaders to reflect on their actions, behaviors, and approaches, identifying areas for personal growth. By integrating models into their reflection practice, leaders can shift their behaviors to align with the desired culture they are trying to build. They foster a learning culture within organizations, promoting continuous improvement and the sharing of knowledge and best practices.

Practical Example: The Johari Window

The Johari Window model, developed by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham, promotes self-awareness and improves interpersonal relationships. Leaders can use this model to facilitate individual and team feedback sessions, encouraging individuals to share their known strengths and weaknesses and uncover hidden aspects of their behavior. This promotes personal growth, enhances team dynamics, and builds trust.

III. Use Models to Navigate Uncertainty while Driving Positive Change, and Results

Models Build Trust and Confidence by Demonstrating Expertise

Sharing relevant models and their applications showcases leaders’ expertise and deep understanding of organizational dynamics. It builds trust among team members, fosters a culture of collaboration, and enhances overall team performance.

Models Help Navigate Uncertain and Ambiguous Situations

In times of uncertainty, models provide leaders with a structured framework to make sense of complex situations. They offer guidance, strategies, and options to navigate ambiguity, enabling leaders to make informed decisions and take calculated risks.

Models Can Reinforce Experiences and Changes:

Models help leaders reinforce positive organizational experiences and changes, strengthening desired outcomes. By referring back to models, leaders can remind teams of successful strategies, reinforce effective practices, and drive continuous improvement.

Practical Example: The Four Transitional Moments In A Change Journey

The 4 Transitional Moments in a Change Journey by Tricia Conyers and John Norcross highlights the four critical moments where a change journey often falters. It emphasizes the need for nurturing belief, commitment, courage, and resilience to successfully support individuals in moving through each transitional moment. By understanding and applying this model, change agents, leaders, and practitioners can design strategies and interventions that continually help the organization progress through the change journey.

In the face of wicked questions that demand navigating complex and seemingly opposing dynamics, leaders require tools and frameworks to inspire new ideas, deep thinking, and fresh experiments. This is where models come into play. These mental frameworks offer leaders a shift in perspective and can unleash insights to tackle challenges differently.

By embracing models, leaders can enhance understanding and perspective, foster growth and development, navigate uncertainty, and drive positive organizational change.

So the lingering question is this, are you a leader brave enough to let go of familiar ways of thinking and embrace the disruptive potential of models? Or do you prefer to cling to the comfort of your old paradigms? The choice is yours, but the consequences may shape the organization's future.

For more model inspiration, check out the Every Little Model Podcast, available on Apple, Spotify, and most podcast streaming platforms.

Beyond Conventional Thinking: How Models Can Inspire Leadership Excellence was originally published in Every Little Model on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

What facilitation principles or guidelines do you live by and why? Here are a few for reflection and consideration.

embrace emergence

There is an inherent tension between structure and freedom, focus and flexibility, and all are needed for emergence. Helping the group surface and unlock what is true and real for them is one of the key roles we play as facilitators. As facilitators, we must design to keep a group focused yet allow for emergence and embrace what is revealed. Being overly rigid and/or over-designing sessions will inhibit emergence and leave the group with a feeling that something was missing.

listen beyond

Listening is probably the most important facilitation skill. On the surface we listen for context and content; we listen and invite all the voices in the room; that’s just the first level. As we deepen our facilitation listening skills, we listen for patterns, themes, and connections. We listen for what is shifting in the group and what can be reframed. Deeper again, we listen for what is unsaid but yet what has energy; we listen for the small inflections, changes in breath, hesitant pauses, and silent participants that suggest something wanting to be said and surfaced. And even deeper, we listen for higher meaning, where the core, the truth, the heart is revealed.

design connection

It’s easy to just “dive in” meetings always have packed agendas, there is lots to be done in workshops, and everyone is eager to get to the objectives. But the quality of work we do depends on how well we treat each other, and how well we treat each other depends on our depth of connection. As facilitators, we need to be intentional about designing connection into our session and working towards balancing the tension between relating and producing.

shape and protect the space

As facilitators, it’s our job to create the space, the environment, or the container that will allow for vulnerable, honest conversation to take place. In this type of conversation, grounded in trust, disagreements will surface and understanding emerge. Shaping the space starts even before people gather with the expectations we set and the mindsets we invite into the room (real or virtual). The space we shape will determine how people interact, the safety they feel, the boundaries they respect, and the choices they make. Further, our facilitators' role is to fiercely protect this space and ensure that nothing happens to damage or destroy the delicate environment created.

variety creates engagement

Full participation is the only way to achieve buy-in, and participation comes from getting people to “lean in.” Most meetings and workshops default to open discussions and presentations as their primary modes of engagement. However, these conversation structures encourage people to “lean out” in these modes, people are not wholeheartedly engaged or active in what is happening. Variety in conversation structures from individual thinking, thinking pairs, and small dialogs are critical building blocks of engagement that should come before open discussion and/or presentation. Similarly, variation in the role we ask of participants, from observer to feedback provider to co-creators, are ingredients that influence buy-in and commitment. Variety in the flow, activities, and process is as important as the outcomes and products created.

conversations should be visual

It’s easy for participants to get lost, and distracted and to take conversations down tangents when they all happen in a nebulous place. There is a limit to how much people can hold in their minds at any point in time; words get lost and forgotten after they are spoken, making it difficult to see connections and threads in a conversation. Making conversations visual creates an anchor point, a place where they take shape and where they become tactile. Integrating any form of visual capture into facilitation shifts the experience that the group shares. Visuals unlock emotion, energy, and connection — they create a frame for storytelling, and storytelling invokes empathy. Intentional use of visuals unlocks the group's themes, threads, and insights.

hold lightly and let go

As facilitators, we spend as much or more time planning, designing, and even scripting sessions than we do “in-session” it’s easy to feel passionate about our creations. And, we have to master the art of “letting go to let come” (words from Otto Scharmer). Inquiry and curiosity are key skills in “letting go” when we think carefully about questions we pose and the prompts we offer, we create a space for the unexpected to occur. Letting go also extends to acknowledging that after all the planning, most times, nothing goes to plan. So hold the plan lightly, know how it serves you and be willing to let go and make changes on the fly.

get comfortable being uncomfortable

It’s not easy being comfortable in uncomfortable situations. Facilitators know that we can never really predict what will happen in the room, so we need to be able to live in the ambiguity. We need strategies to deal with the unexpected while showing ease and authenticity to the group. From unplanned distractions to secret agendas to a range of disturbing behaviors and unhelpful group dynamics, any and all of these may be present when groups gather together. It’s our role as facilitators to respond; despite how uncomfortable we may feel, we must respond with respect and in service of the group.

differences are launching platforms

Embrace challenge, and accept that differences of opinions are launching platforms for the creation of new ideas. Facilitators must role model welcoming diversity of ideas and encouraging the group to reframe how they respond to challenges and perspectives that are different from their own. For a group, this is not often their way of reacting to diverse perspectives. Facilitators can role model by meeting each person where they are at and showing value and appreciation for all the contributions and perspectives in the room. We can help the group experience a different way of accepting diversity and how this can lead to new and better solutions.

it’s not about you, and it is about what you bring

As facilitators, it’s our role to stay neutral at all times; our biases and opinions do not serve the group and should not enter the space. The experience belongs to the participants; they do the work, they explore the challenges, and they create the solutions. We should not do anything for the group that we would not ask them to do themselves. In handing over the challenges to the group, with the right support, they will almost always create something that they feel passionate about. Our role is to serve them and support them in reaching a shared outcome that they have all shaped and can buy into. While it’s not about you, what you bring to the room does matter; your energy, your mindsets, your attitude, your presence, and your authenticity all influence the group and their capacity to be successful.

Written by Tricia Conyers, Founder Island Inspirations Ltd., INIFAC Certified Master Facilitator, and Certified Virtual Facilitator

#INIFAC #CMF #certifiedmasterfacilitator #facilitationguidelines #facilitationprinciples #facilitatinginspirations #islandinspirations #meetingdesigner #learningdesigner #facilitation #facilitator #meetingsthatareexperiences

Written by Tricia Conyers, this article is Part 2 in a Series on Gathering Genres. Part 1 by John Norcross

It’s a rainy Sunday afternoon, and my whole family is gathered on the couch, tucked in for a movie session. This week it’s my husband’s turn to choose the movie, despite the many questions about what’s the name of the movie, what’s it about (those are from me), what year it was made (that one is from my 14-year-old son, having been subjected to many a 70s or 80s flick he now takes the precaution to ask), he remains pretty silent, offering only a nod and an assurance that we will like it… hmm.

With little to no information on what we are getting into, we reluctantly take our seats and turn our attention to the screen. The first 20 mins or so pass, and really not much has happened; we seem to be watching what feels like a documentary as it’s just a bunch of people doing everyday things. I’m trusting that more will emerge. My son, to the dismay of his dad, has already started sneaking looks at his phone.

We are now touching the 60 min mark, and honestly, I’m still confused. Is this a drama, a documentary, or some dark-life comedy? What is happening here? Am I supposed to be laughing or taking stock of my life, or neither? I am truly perplexed. My son, having quickly arrived at his judgment of the film, is asleep.

The movie ends, and my husband exclaims, “it was great, right?”. I look at him with obvious disbelief and ask the question that I have been thinking the whole time. “What type of movie was this supposed to be, was it supposed to be a drama?” He shakes his head, annoyed, mumbles that I never get it, and wanders off. So much for our family bonding time. My son and the dog continue to snore loudly, and I have already forgotten the name of the movie.

Does this relate in any way to you? The confusion of not knowing what movie genre I was supposed to be watching and the fact that it didn’t become any clearer as time went on ruined the experience for me.

And if I am honest, I’ve also felt this way in meetings.

Genre (noun) A style or category of art, music or literature

While you may never have found yourself wondering what’s the genre of your meeting, you may have felt similar confusion and wondered, ‘what exactly are we doing here?’

Here’s a recent example.

Observing a recent team meeting, the team has gathered to agree on back-to-office protocols. As the meeting kicks off, some of the team are trying to understand what employees think and feel about returning to work, others are pushing for action and decisions expressing frustration that this discussion has been going on too long, and others are trying to interpret and make sense of data and what is being done industry-wide.

These confusions link directly to a misunderstanding of meeting genre, this team has all shown up for different genres; some are there to Connect, some to Coordinate, and others to Learn. All are equally important but put them all together, and suddenly we are in Improv theater.

In improv theater, there’s the genre game (check out this short video). It is always a great source of delight, mostly because putting these random genres together is quite ridiculous. Comedians bounce between comedy, drama, horror, and western themes, resulting in a complete mismatch of scenes, characters, and of course, message. There is nothing else to be done but to laugh out loud.

Research on effective and meaningful meetings will initially discuss the importance of a clear purpose. Best practices will offer tips like including the purpose in the meeting invitation, being clear about the end product, and knowing the desired impact on people from the meeting.

After decades of working with organizations to improve their meeting culture, we have found that clarity of purpose isn’t enough and that even before you think about the purpose, you need to be clear about the Genre.

Gathering Genres give clarity at the highest level; it, in turn, shapes your purpose and influences all other characteristics of your meeting, such as participants, products (work outcomes and experiential outcomes), place, process, preparation, etc. It is the most macro-level view of your gathering. Identifying Genres automatically shapes the macro questions that we are gathering to think about, it kicks off the narrative for the experience, and it is a way of framing (or perhaps reframing) the issues facing the team.

Let’s look back at our movie analogy. Think of a favorite film and walk through the questions. See how they apply, and how they link together.

While clarity of purpose will undoubtedly shift the performance of your gathering, the benefits when there is clarity of Genre have been noteworthy. In fact, without clarity of genre, we have seen purpose dissolve over time.

Clarity of Genre leads to gatherings with a razor-sharp focus, where every interaction and activity serves the purpose and nothing takes away or dilutes the overall experience. Clarity of Genre leads to experiences that feel good, that engage and inspire, and get work done.

You might still be wondering, how is this different from simply having a clear purpose for my gathering? The main challenges that we have seen with gathering or meeting purposes, no matter how well they are written, are

1. There are long-winded
2. They are multiple purposes disguised as one purpose
3. The purpose(s) can be linked to multiple meeting genres.

When the purpose(s) links to different genres, this leads to dilution. Dilution of the work done and the experience people have. It also requires drastic mental shifts from participants that can be difficult in a limited time span. We have found that at best, gatherings may have a primary genre and a secondary genre, but once you move beyond this, no matter how clearly the purpose is stated, the meeting is compromised.

The meeting genre becomes even more important for repeating meetings. Take, for example, a weekly resourcing meeting. The terms of reference for the meeting can be static, with the same purpose, participants, logistics, inputs, outputs, decisions to be made, and flow. For the most part, the genre of this meeting is to Control.

However, at some points in time, as the year progresses, we might find that we need to shift the genre from Control to Learn, as a step back or a review on the effectiveness of resourcing policies and decisions is needed. Without communicating the genre shift, we run the risk of frustrating and confusing participants.

Genre (noun) (edited) A style or category of art, music, literature or gathering

Netflix and iTunes have done an excellent job at helping us all to understand and identify movie and film genres, gathering genres may be a bit less obvious. Here are the 6* that we have identified from our work as meeting designers.

The 6 Gathering Genres

Listen to the podcast episode — https://episodes.everylittlemodel.com/ep1

Connect

These gatherings/meetings answer the questions, “Who else thinks about this?” “What do others think?”

Focuses ON:

• building trust and relationships
• making personal and social connections
• engagement, involvement, gathering, and understanding perspectives

Typical Examples:

At Work: Leadership Offsite, Networking, Retreats, Council Sessions, Team Away Days, Team Social

Out of Work: Community Meeting

Create

These gatherings/meetings answer the question: “Where are we going?” “What could we do?”

Focuses ON:

• generating new ideas and or content
• looking into problems with a high level of complexity and ambiguity
• building excitement and engagement.

Typical Examples:

At work: Strategic Visioning Session, Design Sprints, Brainstorming Sessions, Planning sessions

Out of Work: Summer Camp

Communicate

These gatherings/meetings answer the question: “What do we need to share or hear?” “Where do we need alignment?”

Focuses ON:

• sharing information
• gaining information and feedback

Typical Examples:

At Work: Town Hall, All Hands Meeting, Interviews, Keynotes, Pitches

Out of Work: Political rally

Control

These gatherings/meetings answer the question: “What will we do?” “Are we committed to this course of action?”

Focuses ON:

• Align initiatives and plans
• Make decisions
• Align perspectives and views

Typical Examples:

At Work: OKR meeting, Board Meeting

Out of Work: Election Day

Coordinate

These meetings answer the question: “Where are we?” “Are we on track?”

Focuses ON:

• Maintain momentum
• Unblock obstacles and course correct
• Uncover trends

Typical Examples:

At Work: Daily Stand Up, 1–1 Check-in, Audit, Backlog Refinement, Project Status Updates

Out of Work: Parent-Teacher Meeting

Learn

These meetings answer the question: “What do we know, and what do we think?” “what sense can we make?”

Focuses ON:

• Explore common challenges
• Make meaning & uncover insights
• Develop confidence

Typical Examples:

At Work: Retrospectives, Training Sessions, Coaching Sessions, User Research, Meetups, Bootcamps

Out of Work: Consultations

To illustrate the concept, let me close with a story from a sales team.

A technology services firm had designed and approached their initial sales meetings from the COMMUNICATE genre. The purpose of the meeting was to build trust with the prospective client, to share relevant products, apps, and services that were of interest, and to ensure that the client left with confidence in the expertise and services that the sales team could provide.

When we met the team, they struggled to break through a performance ceiling they had been hitting for many months. They were consistent in their revenue performance but believed that they had untapped potential.

As we worked to help the team explore the factors limiting the performance, we helped them to rethink and reshape the genre of these initial client interactions. We shifted and redesigned the initial sales meeting as a primary LEARN gathering and secondary COMMUNICATE meeting.

This changed the way the sales team approached the meetings, shifting from less telling to more exploration, to seeking a deeper understanding of the client’s technology issues, and to working together to understand the ideal needs and wants of the client. Only after this was co-created would they share potential solutions.

Not only did the genre shift change the flow of the meeting, the agenda, the inputs, and the outputs, but it changed the overall purpose. And ultimately, it changed the mindset of the sales team.

In Summary

In our experience, there are six different types of organizational gatherings. And while there may not seem like there is an obvious or automatic connection between organizational gatherings and genres, in our experience, knowing your genre is the first step in hosting meetings with true clarity and purpose. Your genre directly influences your gathering purpose, design, flow, participants, artefacts and more. Knowing your genre ensures that you host a gathering that is purposeful and impactful. Knowing your genre will directly impact the success of your gathering.

• caveat — most of the research to support these gathering and meeting genres has come from within the corporate world with for-profit organizations. We would be interested to understand if additional genres can be identified from work outside of this.

Just for fun

Download the Meeting Genres Worksheet and listen along to this cautionary tales podcast. How many genres can you identify?

What’s your (Gathering) Genre? was originally published in Every Little Model on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

In a previous blog, The Evolution of Culture Shaping Meetings, we explored a perspective on how to transform meetings from “meetings that just happen” to “meetings that are peak experiences.” Peak meeting experiences shape culture and drive new performance levels.

Getting to the top of the meeting ladder requires meeting effectiveness and meeting engagement. Yet one proceeds the other. You won’t truly see the benefits of engaging meetings where people are doing their best thinking and unleashing potential in the session without first establishing the basics for effective meetings.

In other words, skipping rungs on the ladder is risky. It would be best if you took it one step at a time.

The first aspect of meeting effectiveness that we concentrate on is PURPOSE. Purpose moves meetings from “meetings that just happen” to “meetings with clarity.”

In this blog, we will take a closer look at PURPOSE and explore three tips you can use to get clearer on purpose.

What do we mean by purpose?

A quick google search on ‘meeting purpose’ will generate hundreds of responses. There is no shortage of material telling you the importance of knowing your meeting purpose.

Purpose is more than just knowing the objectives for a meeting or the outcomes that you want to produce. Instead, purpose requires you to think deeply about intent — the why. And as you begin to dig deeper and deeper into intent, this often creates shifts in the original ideas held for the session and may even draw into question if the meeting is necessary.

For example, I have seen a session change from a standard status update session focused on communicating information to a participatory process to generate ideas. This shift came from asking why multiple times. Why do we need to have this session? Why else? The change occurred as we unpacked what was essential and what the team required at the time.

Priya Parker says the single biggest rule we break when trying to gather — whether physically or virtually — is assuming we already know its purpose.

In organizations, it is pretty standard that we default to assuming we know the purpose of sessions, especially with repetitive meetings. Often people assume the name of the meeting is the purpose, e.g., weekly status update or monthly governance meeting. Unfortunately, meeting names do not equal purpose. Relying on this as a communication mechanism misses the opportunity to connect participants to your session’s true intent and meaning.

One reason gatherings are boring, repetitive, and ineffective is because they’re too vague and lack clarity and context. It’s difficult for people to form a connection or participate effectively in meetings if they are unclear on purpose. They won’t understand if they are there to contribute, share knowledge, or help shape solutions. This leads to frustration. And frustration leads to unhelpful meeting behaviors, which leads to ineffective meetings.

It all hinges on purpose. If you can’t easily say why a meeting is essential, why have it?

Here are three ways to achieve meetings with clarity.

1. Know Your Gathering Genre

You may never have associated the term genre with meetings, maybe only with movies or music, yet gatherings have genres. And having clarity on which genre(s) you are focusing on is the first step to getting clarity on purpose. There are 6 Gathering Genres. (Note that these are called gathering genres and not meeting genres.) Gatherings can refer to any intervention where people are coming together.

The six gathering genres are Communicate, Connect, Control, Coordinate, Create and Learn.

Spend some time thinking about your meeting and identifying your genre, don’t forgo this with the excuse of time or assuming it is obvious. Specificity is necessary for context and clarity; more often than not, the genre is not apparent or identifiable. Instead, use the clarity of genre to feed and flow into the articulation of your meeting purpose and design.

BEWARE:

Most gatherings try to lump together too many genres. Instead, challenge yourself to identify a primary (and perhaps secondary genre). Meetings that cross too many genres confuse participants and leave them with a sense that nothing was accomplished.

For more on Gathering Genres, listen to this episode of the every little model podcast for more on the 6 Gathering Genres.

Download a free PDF of the Gathering Genres worksheet here.

https://signup.islandinspirations.co/gatheringgenres

2. Craft and Iterate a Purpose Statement

Practice writing purpose statements for your meeting.

Here are two examples:

We are meeting to brainstorm on themes for our upcoming centennial celebration. By the end of our session, we will have co-created a one-pager of themes and top ideas for the celebration. We will include this one-pager in the upcoming board presentation.

We are meeting to analyze expense reports and identify budget overspending areas. By the end of the session, we will have a list of at least three areas in which each department can reduce spending.

BEWARE:

Don’t go with your first attempt at your purpose statement. Instead, give this a few tries, and iterate. Keep asking yourself why and use what emerges to help craft the statement. Try it 4 or 5 times before you settle on the one that feels right.

3. Articulate a compelling invitation

Chances are your inbox is filled with overlapping calendar and meeting invitations. These might be emails or calendar invitations, and you may not give them much thought. Depending on your schedule, you may simply click accept or decline.

Most meeting invitations are filled only with logistics, who, where, and when making them feel automatic, stale, and impersonal.

Your meeting invitation is a chance to tell a story of why this meeting is important and why the invited person is critical to the experience. It is your chance to create hype, buzz, and excitement for the session. Your meeting invitation should prepare participants for what you are asking of them, what to expect, and how they can contribute. Think of it as your marketing opportunity and use it wisely.

Your meeting invitation should contain the following:

• a short, clear, easy-to-scan subject line — bonus points if this is also catchy
• an authentic and personalized introduction
• the brief story of why and what we will be doing (your purpose statement)
• logistical details — date, time, time zone, and location
• a high-level summary of what we will be doing in the session
• how participants can get ready for the session

If you are looking for a simple one-pager to help you work through these topics and set the expectations for the upcoming meeting, try the IDOHART or Terms of Reference worksheets.

IDOHART stands for Intent, Desired Outcomes, How we will work together, Agenda, Roles and Rules, and Time (and Logistics). Although you can use either, you may find you prefer one vs. the other for different genres of meetings.

BEWARE:

Separate your meeting invitation and your calendar invitation. Don’t default to the outlook or google calendar request as your meeting invitation. Instead, take the time to write a short email invitation to your participants and then follow this up with the calendar request.

Getting to Rung 1 — Meetings with Clarity

Meeting participants are giving you their most precious resource, their time. You owe it to them to provide them with clarity on why. Why you are meeting, Why it is crucial, and Why they should participate.

Honing in on purpose will lead to meetings with clarity, the first rung on the meeting ladder. Getting to this rung will benefit everyone, meeting leaders and those in attendance. It will begin to create shifts in the effectiveness of your meeting. Spend time working on meeting purpose and exploring the impact this has on your sessions.

3 Extra Bonuses for you!

1. The Meeting Effectiveness Checklist

Try tracking your meeting effectiveness scores by using our free meeting effectiveness checklist, download here.

https://signup.islandinspirations.co/mtgeffectivenesschecklist

2. Leading Better Meetings Worksheets

You can download the 4 worksheets shown in this blog and 8 additional worksheets for leading better meetings at this link. These will help improve the effectiveness of your meetings.

LEADING MEETINGS WORKSHEETS

3. Interest List for Upcoming Course on Meeting Effectiveness Tools and Practices

A new course on everything you need to know about leading effective meetings is in the works! If you are interested in learning more about this, sign up to be on the interest list and qualify for special discounts and bonuses!

https://signup.islandinspirations.co/mtgeffectivenesscourse

The Friday Afternoon Retro — Scenario 1

It's a Friday afternoon, 3 pm, and a sales team has just kicked off their weekly online retrospective meeting. The group of 7 has gathered to review the week's challenges and successes. On paper, the primary genre¹ of this meeting is to LEARN, to make sense of what has transpired this week. The secondary genre is to CREATE, ideate, and brainstorm about what to do differently.

This is not what will take place in today's gathering.

The team begins well; they check in and hear from everyone a personal win from the week. Following the check-in, the group moves into an open discussion on learnings and challenges; this discussion gathers momentum. Eventually, one courageous participant proposes a particular meaty and wicked question about tricky customer objections they encountered, an excellent question for the team to explore. The situation is well suited for an idea-generation process that will encourage idea diversity, creativity, inspiration, and perspective.

Instead, they take a different route.

One team member believes they know the answer to this question, have the relevant experience and need to educate others. So they begin telling the individual what they should do and say in this situation. They hold the floor, advising the challenge holder without stopping to take note of what is happening in the virtual room. Any witness to the conversation can see that the challenge holder has lost interest, uttering a few ummm, ahhhs, and head nods from time to time to appear tuned in. But they are not interested, engaged, or motivated by the advice. After all, you don't solve problems with advice.

This dynamic continues. Two participants drop off the call and do not rejoin. Another turns off their video, and another is visibly answering text messages. Finally, a brave participant attempts to join in by offering a different perspective. The speaker interrupts before they finish sharing, rebutting the input and repeating their initial sentiments. Eventually, the clock ticks over and releases those who have remained on the call. The meeting ends, and everyone departs, drained of energy, and witnesses to a monster of a missed opportunity.

Spot the disengagement?

There are thousands of reasons why people disengage in meetings; in the above scenario, I am sure you can spot a dozen or more. From a poorly framed topic to connection issues, social detachment to lack of participation, terrible timing to uncorrected unhelpful behaviors. The above team retro is a typical example of 'meetings that just happen.'

This scenario is not unique to this team or this organization. In meetings like this, at the very bottom of the Meeting Ladder (see Diagram 2), many thoughts run through participants' minds. They asked themselves why. Why am I here? Why do I have to listen to this? Why can't this be over?

Not only are the individual participants in the meeting frustrated, but if the business, the collective organization, had a voice, if it could express emotions, it too would be annoyed. Meetings like this are a waste. They waste time, money, and energy to start. Nothing productive or value-adding comes out of them, making them a straight-line expense, a cost, and a drain on the organization's cash flow. If organizations tracked meeting costs in their accounts, as they did salary costs, utilities, or raw materials costs, executives would think much more carefully about the number and quality of meetings held across the organization.

Now, life without meetings is just as dull as life with too many bad meetings. And there is potential to release and value to create by leveling up the Meeting Ladder. Great meetings offer a chance to connect — to each other, to what's essential, to purpose, to culture, and to future potential. Great gatherings light us up, ignite our minds, and leave us inspired, excited, and empowered to make change happen. Great meetings shape culture, shape experiences, anchor liberating beliefs, and unleash untapped performance.

Meetings are touch points that can become tipping points for cultural change.

Moving from "meetings that just happen" to "meetings that shape culture and drive new levels of performance" takes intentionality and design. It is more than simply including organizational values and cultural rituals in a meeting or using appropriate language, activities, and processes. It requires a commitment and dedication to design sessions that will become transformative and reinforcing experiences.

How to begin climbing the Ladder

We start by focusing on the basic meeting effectiveness principles of purpose, tools, and practices. Through a focus on purpose, we create "meetings with clarity." Meeting participants need and deserve clarity. They should understand why the meeting is required, why it is relevant to them, what success looks like, and how they need to contribute. As Brene Brown says, "clear is kind, unclear is unkind."

Here are three easy tips for how to achieve meetings with clarity

Once clarity is established, we introduce essential meeting tools such as action logs, decision logs, meeting notes, parking lots, meeting reviews, etc. With tools like these, we create "meetings that function." Meeting tools further enhance clarity and ensure that participants practice rituals. In addition, these tools establish consistency and set meeting expectations.

To further improve the effectiveness of meetings, we introduce meeting practices. Meeting practices include ways of working together, such as co-created ground rules, rotating roles, time management, decision dynamics, and conversation dynamics. As practices become ingrained in meetings, we scratch the surface of "meetings that involve."

Now while purpose, tools, and practices are critical. They contribute most to making meetings effective. Making them work, eliminating frustrations like not knowing why we are meeting, what we decided or who's going to do what. They ensure participants can work well together while gathered. With consistent meeting effectiveness principles, we can shift meetings to a point where they become cost neutral to the organization. Here the value produced from bringing participants together is about equal to the cost of the participants' time spent in that meeting.

As a change agent, this was where we focused. We used the meeting effectiveness principles of purpose, tools, and practices to shift meetings to this point. Participants now had clarity and utilized rituals, symbols, and tools to shape their sessions. They worked well together and created value when they gathered. As change agents, this was also where we stopped.

A quick sidebar (and facilitator's perspective)

As a change agent, the operational aspect of meetings was my primary focus. However, as a learning designer and facilitator, creating and hosting engaging experiences was my primary focus. Experiences that wowed, were different and left participants inspired and excited. Through this practice of intentionally designing for engagement, I identified and explored the many dimensions² that can be varied and tweaked to shape, create and hold engaging experiences. (refer to diagram 3).

Basic Meeting Math:

Meeting Effectiveness + Meeting Engagement = Peak Experiences

Peak Experiences = Culture Shaping Moments x Unleashed Performance

Crossing the Cost Neutral Threshold of the Ladder

Meeting effectiveness raises the bar for meetings improving performance and value creation. Yet there are further gains to be realized by focusing on meeting engagement. When meeting design intentionally engages the voices, minds, thinking, and ideas of everyone who comes together, it is in these moments that what the gathering creates is of greater value than the cost of bringing people together.

By focusing on role modeling and reinforcing meeting behaviors such as appreciation, encouragement, equality, attention, mindfulness, curiosity, and ease, we begin to shape a meeting environment that unleashes possibility. In 'meetings that unleash possibility," the environment invites connection, listening, creativity and play. The attendees feel supported and encouraged to be truthful, vulnerable, and authentic. There is a creative flow in these sessions and electric energy. Participants can welcome engaging in challenging experiences and grow stronger with reinforced values.

These types of meetings liberate and reveal new meeting mindsets and beliefs. Beliefs such as;

• we are all accountable for making meetings work
• we believe it is our collective responsibility to protect each other
• we believe we can reframe challenges as opportunities
• we believe all voices are equal and necessary in liberating ideas
• we believe that differences are the launch pads for creativity
• we believe it is our collective responsibility to embody our culture when we gather.

We achieve meetings that empower change when these beliefs are imprinted and reinforced by behaviors, practices, tools, and purpose. These peak meeting experiences strengthen and shape culture and unleash new levels of organizational performance.

The Friday Afternoon Retro — Scenario 2

It's a Friday afternoon, 3 pm, and a sales team has just kicked off their weekly online retrospective meeting. The group of 7 has gathered to review the week's challenges and successes. On paper, the primary genre¹ of this meeting is to LEARN, to make sense of what has transpired this week, and the secondary genre is to CREATE, to ideate and brainstorm about what we could do differently.

As they usually do, the team starts with a check-in and hears from everyone a personal win from the week. They then move into a thinking pair, allowing each person to process and connect with their thoughts around the difficulties and challenges they faced. As they regroup, they level up their thinking by articulating a wicked challenge that took shape for each of them. Next, they capture these challenges in chat and engage in a timed open discussion to further explore challenges.

Through this discussion, common themes running through the challenges emerge. Someone on the team asks if anyone would like to propose a new question for the group to explore further. Three participants step forward, each articulating a meaty and wicked question that encompasses the themes and tensions with which they are personally wrestling. Each share their question with the group using the chat. All participants vote amongst the three questions and hone in on a single question to further explore in the meeting. The winning question owner reposts this in chat for everyone's visibility.

They set a timer for four mins; in these four mins of silence, they capture their unique ideas and experiences in service of the question. Each person then has the floor for three mins to share their thoughts verbally while a volunteer scribe captures them in the chat. Following this, the question owner shares a few words about what is taking shape and emerging for them, and the others each share their appreciation in light of the courage displayed to step forward with today's question. The meeting ends. The chat is saved.

This weekly scenario reinforces their organizational values of learning, respect, courage, and service.

Meetings are necessary. A critical touch point in any business. Not only should they be effective at getting work done they should also shape the wider organizational culture. Work on meeting design and improvement should not be casual or optional in workplaces. It is a skill that should be practiced by all team leaders, managers, executives, and leaders. When we hold effective and engaging meetings, we unleash inspiration, value diversity of ideas, role model inclusion, reinforce strengths, connect, operate from a center of appreciation, play, and grow individually and collectively. We build work cultures, and we achieve.

• FREE Meeting Effectiveness Plus Engagement Checklist
• DOWNLOAD The FREE INFOGRAPHIC 15 Meeting Leadership Tips

¹ Gathering Genres by John Norcross and Tricia Conyers

For more information on Gathering Genres, listen to the Every Little Model Podcast episode, where co-hosts and model creators John Norcross and Tricia Conyers explain and explore the model.

² Engagement Dimensions by Tricia Conyers, Island Inspirations

Listen to the Every Little Model Podcast episode for more information on the Dimensions of Engagement. Also, check out the Engagement Matters online course to deepen your skills in the engagement dimensions.

Written by Tricia Conyers, Founder Island Inspirations Ltd., INIFAC Certified Master Facilitator, and Certified Virtual Facilitator

The Evolution of Culture Shaping Meetings was originally published in Every Little Model on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Written by Tricia Conyers, June 2022

Traditional leadership is losing popularity. Historically those who rose to the top exemplified traditional skills like crafting inspiring visions, being powerful influencers, witty communicators, or rallying others to the verge of action. More recently there seems to be a calling for a new wave of leadership, with leaders being recognized for their heart, passion, kindness, authenticity, and vulnerability. Courageous leadership or what researcher Brene Brown calls Daring Leadership is on the rise.

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Yet at the heart of great leadership lies something wicked.

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I recently sat in a workshop with facilitator colleague Jeremy Akers, entitled the Think Slow Dojo, a Never Been Done Before community session (an amazing community created and hosted by Myriam Hadnes). In this session, Jeremy encouraged attendees to slow down their thinking in order to think better, think deeper, and think differently.

To do this we agreed to intentionally seek questions over answers, observations over evaluations, changing perspectives over points of view, and self-reflection over criticism.

We set out to explore what makes powerful questions and ultimately to surface some provocative and deeply thoughtful questions of our own. We were looking for questions that surface complexities and possibilities. Questions that are paradoxical and complementary. Questions that illuminate polarities, dualities, tensions, juxtapositions, and layers of complex forces. Questions that reveal behaviors and beliefs.

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What questions surfaced? Here are a few.

How is it that we can be satisfied and grateful in life while also being ambitious and greedy for a better future?

How is it that we might be attentive and generous listeners and advocates for others while also being in service of our own beliefs, values, and experiences?

How is it that we might embrace and encourage curiosity while also being certain and confident?

How is it that we can build organizations that can respond to crises while simultaneously creating and role modeling peace and ease?

How is it that we can encourage and promote self-centered self-care while also being in generous support and service of others?

How might we be well versed and experienced while also being present in and embracing the unknown?

How is it that we might build a culture that encourages loyalty to organizations while also supporting the independent desires and potential of our people?

How might we create organizations that move fast and drive action while simultaneously taking pause to learn and reflect?

How might we build organizations that are good and that do good?

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The yin and yang of these questions highlight the messiness of life, of living, and of learning.

And of leading.

The paradoxical reality of these types of questions is known to us, facilitators, as Wicked Questions and it is this wickedness that is at the heart of leadership. Great leaders sit with and embrace wicked questions every day. Wicked questions accompany leaders like a shadow, lingering closely and needing inspiration and imagination.

Articulating and surfacing wicked questions is needed in today’s leadership. Similarly, the ability to continuously seek inspiration in service of these questions with no easy or obvious answer or solution is another skill.

How do you begin to solve wicked questions?

Wicked questions require wisdom, experience, and imagination to be shared in service of them, a recent practice that the team at Inflection Consulting has been leading with our Leadership Circles. Ignoring wicked questions can result in conflict, confusion, and disillusion.

Wicked questions require us to embrace the seemingly paradoxical states that exist, as both elements represent a desired and undeniable reality. They are not an either-or state but rather a both-and-state where ideas and inspirations need to be able to service both. By accepting both realities we can unearth deeper strategic and adaptive thinking and ignite new possibilities.

The challenge of great leadership is living and leading through the ambiguity and tensions of the many wicked questions that arise each day. And this takes leaders who are willing to show heart, be human and give hope.

To learn more about Wicked Question, check out the Liberating Structure by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless

Interested to learn more, download our Leadership Aspirations worksheet and sign up for our monthly inspiration newsletter

https://signup.islandinspirations.co/iilleadershipmodel

Written by Tricia Conyers, Founder Island Inspirations Ltd., INIFAC Certified Master Facilitator, and Certified Virtual Facilitator

Written by Tricia Conyers, March 2022

A year ago, my husband took up golf. He had never played the sport before and when he had to listen to his golfing friends’ stories he would have an obvious look of boredom. But, amid lockdown and little clarity as to when outdoor activities might resume, the only place for fresh air and exercise was the golf course, so he decided to try. In little time he was hooked.

It hasn’t been an easy year from where I sit, far from it. I’d say that the year has been filled with epic failures. Failures that looked like: shouting expletives into the wind on the golf course, packing up the clubs mid-game, and storming off (only to reach home, pack them up again and drive to the range, determined to “fix the problem with the driver”), failures that have resulted in broken windows in my garage and near-death misses for my spectating dogs.

Every day, (yes he plays golf every day) I listen to the stories of which holes plagued his game. How many balls he dropped. How his elbow hurt, and how the game is a never-ending complexity of changing conditions that challenge his technique and mind.

There is also another part to the stories he tells. In the retelling of the day’s events, there are other golfers he encounters on the course who pass on tips and tweaks to help and encourage him with his game. These tips he soaks up, often going back to ask if he can play a 9 with them on another day. As I sit and listen, I witness how he extracts small nuggets of ideas and inspirations from within the frustration he has felt that day. Each tale becomes less about the score and more about the discovery.

I’ve noticed that what he does amazingly well is isolate every bad score, and every failure as a moment in time. He has no emotional attachment to it, it happened, and he moves on. It does not define his self-worth or his capacity for potential. Instead, each failure is purely a piece of data from which he explores trends and decides what he will try next.

Today only a year later, he scored his best score, on par or even surpassing his friends that have been playing since their childhood, and it’s still not good enough. He is determined to keep failing.

Failure can define YOU, or failure can define a moment in TIME.

Ask yourself, when is the last time that you failed at something? How did it feel? Were you able to examine and explore it until a discovery emerged? Were you able to reframe it?

In recent workshops, I asked executive teams and groups of Grade 9 teenagers the same question. How do you feel about failing?

The answers were remarkedly similar. FAILURE is not something that either teenagers or executives like to discuss. The experiences associated with failure are 80% awful, the words associated with failure are 99% negative, and the mindsets associated with failure are 100% limiting*. (*subjective data)

As a learning designer and facilitator, I have a unique vantage point. I have permission to be inquisitive, to ask challenging and provocative questions that unearth beliefs. First, I create experiences where people will fail. Then I get to witness as people experiment, explore and iterate. Finally, I help them name the arising emotions and reshape and reframe what they believe as true.

As a practicing Time to Think Facilitator, we aim to create Thinking Environments when working with others, in groups, or as individuals. Integral to the Thinking Environment is the understanding that there are dynamics and emotions that either encourage or inhibit thinking. Thinking inhibitors include ridicule, perfectionism, self-doubt, intimidation, and criticism. There is an obvious connection between thinking inhibitors and the feelings and words that I hear associated with failure. This connection suggests that we cannot think best for ourselves in the presence of failure.

These recent workshops have also revealed how young we are when our mindsets around failure are shaped; early in our teenage years, we see failure as something to be avoided, something frowned upon, and something embarrassing. We feel that failure is letting ourselves down and letting others down. As leaders, failure reveals us as imposters, damaging our self-worth and possibly resulting in severe consequences.

Yet, we all know that only through failure do we achieve success. Failure is the story of every athlete and every inventor.

Each time I participate in a conversation about failure, different dimensions and connections emerge from the conversation (see list below). One you can always predict is the connection between teamwork and failure. Most often, someone will share the perspective that it is safer to fail in sport than in other areas of life. Why is this? Why is failing easier in sport than at work, your career, or your life?

Here are a few of the reasons I have heard.

In sport, we are often a part of a team; sharing the failure with others seems to make it less defining. It does not define ME; it represents the collective WE. It has less impact on my self-worth. The construct of a game suggests that there will be a singular winner, removing the expectation that everyone will win. We expect that someone, that one team, will fail. Plus, in sports, we usually get another chance. There will be another Olympics, another championship, another shot at the medal. These dynamics make failure somewhat less emotional, less detrimental, and easier to discuss and dissect.

On the other hand, there is less forgiveness or acceptance of failures at work. Failure can make or break careers. Failures can come with extreme responsibility and consequences for leaders. Failures can mean loss of life or livelihood, and this is not something that any leader wants to carry. When leaders fail, it suggests that they are less deserving of trust and the leadership position. As leaders, others expect they have earned this position because they can navigate failure, know the answers, and can prevent mishaps. When leaders fail, it exposes them as a fraud. It reveals their vulnerability and unveils the less-than-perfect version of themselves that they aspire to be.

Failure defined our survival when we lived in villages and as part of tribes. Failing to hunt meant we did not eat. Failing to protect meant we did not survive. While the consequences of failing today may, in most cases, be less definitive, this does raise an interesting question. How does our ancestral relationship with failure influence our current day assumptions and mindsets? And what does this mean for reframing failure?

We know that a healthy relationship with failure builds resilience and unearths the courage and determination to push through when challenges are at their hardest. We know that through failure, we develop grit, we strengthen our growth mindset, and we make discoveries. We know that failure takes courage, and courage is a trait that we desire in leaders. Yet knowing all of this does not make failure any easier or more acceptable.

Is it possible to live a life where we thrive and seek out failure for our own betterment? This requires reflecting on a few questions:

The Knowing Question — “what do we need to know to feel safe to fail?”

The Doing Question — “where can we currently nurture and practice failing in our lives?”

The Being Question — “how might we cultivate and encourage, in ourselves, our children, and others, a healthy relationship with failure?”

The Living Question — “is it possible to reframe our beliefs around failure so as to blossom in the environment of rejection therapy (love this video!)?

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” — Winston Churchill

Recently my father defined failure “as an unexpected result on the path to success.” It’s not the first dictionary definition you find, but it positions failure well. Additionally, it highlights a difference, a distinction, between failing and failure.

Failure happens if and when we give up. If we let an event(s) or experience(s) damage our confidence so severely that we no longer can find the motivation to try again. Instead, we can isolate the moment and keep going. In that case, this transforms the moment from a failure into the ongoing process and practice of failing. When we are failing, each moment, event, or experience is an unexpected result on the path to success.

This shift encourages us to have a different relationship with failure, to free ourselves from the associated fears. It suggests that we can embrace and nurture failures for their future benefits. It challenges the notion that failure is something to be avoided and hidden and instead reframes it as something to approach with curiosity and practice. With this mindset, we can develop healthier, more productive relationships with failure and leverage the impact of failure on teamwork, innovation, problem-solving, creativity, and success.

Different Dimensions of Failure:

Failure and the Ego: How does failure validate or destroy our perceived self-worth?

Failure and Teamwork: Is failure different when we are part of a team or a group? And if so, how?

Failure and Thinking: How do our feelings about failure affect our ability to think at our best?

Failure and Assumptions: How do our assumptions and mental filters affect our perspective on failure?

Failure and Feelings: How does failure affect our confidence and insecurities?

Failure and Fear: What happens as a result of fear of failure?

Failure and Success: How do past successes affect our willingness to fail?

Failure and the Environment: Are we willing to fail in any environment or only where we feel safe? How do we create safe environments for failure?

Failure and Prior Experiences: How have previous failures been processed? Can they be leveraged, or do they linger, affecting our willingness to fail in the future?

Interested to Learn More about our FAILURE WORKSHOPS

Enjoy these inspirational videos about Failure:

Diving Into The Unknown

What I learned from 100 days of rejection

Written by Tricia Conyers, Founder Island Inspirations Ltd., INIFAC Certified Master Facilitator, and Certified Virtual Facilitator