The building blocks of facilitation can be considered as quite practical, tangible things: workshops, agendas, exercises, timing, and tools. Underpinning these facilitation essentials, though, are intricate psychological and behavioural phenomena.

This week’s episode is the perfect testament to that truth.

Karen Schmidt – the founder of the international innovation community, ‘Over the Fence’ – joins me in this episode to discuss decision-making.

In many organisations, decision-making can be more of a routine than a process. Stakeholders might be left out, partners might be disenfranchised, and the best decision might not be made. Easing the friction in and reliance on management routines to improve decision-making is Karen’s fascination.

There can’t be many workshops work listeners who don’t feel the same way!

Find out about:

●     Exploring the integral role of alignment in any decision-making process

●     How to democratise our language and create alignment and unity

●     Why established routines can harm decision-making

●     How to identify and understand what decision-making ‘role’ we are occupying

●     Why it’s healthy to flex decision-making between detail-orientation and bigger picture ideas

●     Why decision-making, leadership, and ownership all tie in to the idea of taking and making space

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Questions and Answers

[01:13] When did you start calling yourself a facilitator?

[02:20] What got you into facilitation in the first place?

[04:37] What’s the story behind Over the Fence?

[06:27] What can project managers learn from facilitators?

[08:13] What is the mindset shift between being a project manager and a facilitator?

[10:33] What do you think most people get wrong about the process of managing a project?

[12:41] When you talk about breaking management routines, what do you mean?

[14:55] What makes it so hard for project managers to empathise with and speak the language of their teams?

[16:03] An example of catching unclear language and adapting a workshop accordingly.

[21:58] What makes a workshop fail?

[26:34] Who needs to be in the small group that makes a decision?

[29:21] Why do humans find it so difficult to make decisions?

[31:50] The three leadership roles, as illustrated in Over the Fence’s Decisions Hats card set.

[37:19] Exploring the Decision Canvas.

[44:17] Is there an organisational equivalent of ‘subsidiarity’?

[45:59] Announcing the free of charge card games – and the conditions for using them!

[48:15] Is there anything else you wanted to share that we haven’t discussed yet?

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