Facilitation Lab Podcast

"Every product leader needs to have their own definition of what makes a great product manager because there is not this one size fits all definition. We're operating in so many different sizes and types of companies and organizations, so I strongly encourage the product teams to come up with their own definition."-Petra Willie

In this episode of Control the Room, I had the pleasure of speaking with Petra Willie about her extensive experience developing product people and how her experience as a software developer influenced her facilitation practice. We discuss a meeting she designed called Team Radar, the purpose of the meeting, what it helped accomplish, and why it was so powerful. Listen in for actionable facilitation tips, virtual challenges, and a few of her favorite facilitation questions.

"I really believe that anyone who has a business is a salesperson. You've got this far and you may not follow that traditional path. You may not be the guy in the polo shirt who's going to make 100 phone calls that day. But I feel like there's something to be said for people who have built their business and want to keep selling it and they have the tools to sell it. You can have these conversations."-Dana Publicover

In this episode of Control the Room, I had the pleasure of speaking with Dana Publicover about her extensive experience designing experiences for customers across a variety of creative industries and how her background in facilitating Design Sprints influenced her current business. We discuss the importance of embracing your inner salesperson, and we explore what designing an exceptional sales experience looks like and why you shouldn't hire a salesperson. Listen in to learn about outbound vs. inbound sales, nurturing relationships, and setting the rest of your team up for sales success.

"To me the future of the public commons is the metaverse. And so, if you're hearing this word metaverse and you're thinking, ;What is that?; It is a digital universe. It has many planets and solar systems. The ecosystems of the metaverse might be like a crypto experience, or it might be a virtual world, or it might be augmented reality or smart glasses. These are all places where we come to collaborate, where we come to find each other, and where we come to figure it out. We need these places to figure it out. So, that's why I've been focused on building an open, interoperable, accessible, inclusive, and safe metaverse for everyone."-Evo Heyning

In this episode of Control the Room, I had the pleasure of speaking with Evo Heyning about her extensive experience working with the metaverse, creating immersive experiences, and developing the spatial web. We explore what the metaverse is and how it is being used to bring collective action to a larger population. We then discuss the distinction between collaboration and collective action. Listen in to learn about the mechanisms of collective compassion, digital twins, and prototyping a more protopian future.

"The number one foundational principle as a facilitator is to create psychological safety, psychological security, emotional security in the room by informing people and letting them know what the expectations are upfront. So what is the agenda? What is the goal? What is expected of them? Because that helps people relax, when they know what I am supposed to be doing here? Because otherwise they're tiptoeing around hoping that they don't stub their toe on something." -Madelon Guinazzo

In this episode of Control the Room, I had the pleasure of speaking with Madelon Guinazzo about how she became a Cuddle Facilitator, the importance of social agreements, and being more intentional about how we meet. We discuss the consent of self-care and trying to do the right thing for you and your . Later we discuss the distinction between implicit and explicit social agreements and why communication is all about context, context, context. Listen in to hear actionable tips for creating an opening in meetings that gracefully invites psychological safety into the room.

"Three-quarters of enterprise customers and around 67% of consumers primarily buy and compete on experience. And we kind of know that intuitively. Think about it, we pay extra for certain brands that we feel connected to. And it's one of the interesting things I've been talking more about. There's a great quote, not mine... "The best experience anywhere becomes the minimum expectation everywhere."" -Todd Allmond

In this episode of Control the Room, I had the pleasure of speaking with Todd Allmond about his years of enterprise experience, where he learned to better understand customers through quantitative and qualitative research. He used those insights to improve their digital and non-digital experiences and the role service providers play in Customer Experience. We discuss how a market research field studies trip led to his early career change and passion for all the humans involved in the customer journey. We then discuss why digital customer experiences should be treated as products. Listen in to hear actionable tips for mitigating blindspots in the CX research process.

"I think it's important to have silent time because each individual has something unique to contribute to the collective of the group. In order to not be influenced by what others are saying or contributing, it's important that they listen to their own thoughts or ideas or opinions or beliefs about whatever it is that is being shared, whatever we're trying to accomplish. So that you can have more variety, possibly more diversity, more genuine personal truth in what you're bringing to the table." -Paula Rosecky

In this episode of Control the Room, I had the pleasure of speaking with Paula Rosecky about her extensive experience working with daughters of immigrants and helping them create a sense of belonging in their personal and professional lives. We discuss how growing up in a community of folks who did not speak English formulated Paula's approach to facilitating safe spaces for people of multicultural backgrounds. We then take a look at three foundations for how people should approach facilitation. Listen in to hear powerful methods that help people move away from conflict and toward shared values.

"To me, [DevOps is] a collaboration philosophy. It's an ideology that is all about breaking down silos and getting communication flows, working through an organization. Starting with dev and ops, that's where the name came from, but really extending beyond that. It flows through the whole organization, you taking that product mindset approach to everything, continuous discovery, continuous delivery, a foundation of culture." -Tim Beattie

In this episode of Control the Room, Tim Beattie and I dive into the value of incorporating open innovation groups in your organization to gather customer feedback, as well as the benefits of having direct access to customer feedback when these spaces are created. We discuss the importance of having consistent showcase events, or as Tim's refers to it, a "walking of the walls," to invite conversation and feedback between customers and project engineers on upcoming projects. Tim's approach to gather these event outcomes can speed up the design process and provide customers with products they truly need. We then look at the power in creating your own culture your way, and we discuss Tim's perspective to apply the layers of development operations (DevOps) throughout your organization. Listen in to hear Tim's belief that implementing DevOps can be the evolution and journey forward to take your organization to new levels.

"We really pride ourselves as somebody that can go into a company and put on the team's jersey, so to speak, and act as the advocate for the person who hired us. In order to do that, you've got to know your environment. So we listen a lot. We take a lot of notes. We ask a lot of questions. And we very much try to keep an open mind.

In this episode of Control the Room, Jeff Marple and I discuss how innovation can sometimes appear taboo in the legal operations industry, and the opportunity the legal world has to embrace and expand upon it. Jeff shares how knowing "your client's environment" allows you to offer the most effective solutions to individual businesses' needs. He explains that setting the right intentions for group events can allow the audience to participate without fear. He also shared the challenges & insights gained from transitioning the Boston Legal Design Challenge,a former in-person event built for law students to explore design thinking methods, to the virtual landscape. Listen in to hear Jeff's point of view on "advocating for your customer" as your North Star and how to harness your unique value in your work, across any industry.

"That's what I nerd out on. I really love this idea of how...organizations create environments where they can push decision making down to the edges, so...they become a complex organism that's way better at engaging with the world and creating value in the world." -Teresa Torres

In this episode of Control the Room, Teresa Torres and I examine her diverse career journey centered in human-centered design, where she helps organizations embrace and optimize the complex dynamics of team decision-making. Teresa shares the benefits that organizations can gain when they embrace the "messiness" of collaborating in complex systems and the opportunity they then have to "empower the edges." We discuss Teresa's approach to the "decision making trio" that occurs during group decision-making and the value of listening to individual team member's unique perspectives Teresa also highlights how an organization can interview its customers using an empathetic approach, and the corresponding revelations that can arise when teams "do the work in their own research." Listen in to hear Teresa's take on how to work together as a team when complex problems arise in your organization and gain the skills necessary to make effective decisions for your team and your customers.

" If you really listen to people and understand what's happening, if you illustrate an image that they're actually describing in their mind, [while] reflecting back maybe a sketch of what they were trying to say, people love it. People absolutely go crazy being listened to. " -David Sibbet

In this episode of Control the Room, David Sibbet and I break down his unique career path in consulting and facilitating visual meetings and how individuals can use visual elements to amplify their learning (whether it's navigating new tools, company projects, collaboration, etc.) . From the installation of his consulting company in the mid-70s to present day, David's focus in design thinking continues to drive him to help companies achieve a "sophisticated level of systems thinking" in company meetings. David reflects on the components of his creation, the Group Graphics tool, and its effectiveness to help teams find focus during workshops.We examine the impact of using "clean language" in the workplace and the ability to have a metaphorical thinking mindset, which he believes can indirectly lead to inclusivity within your organization. David also shares lessons he learned through enduring the peaks and valleys of decision-making when working with past clients. We conclude by taking a closer look at his passion project and non-profit organization, the Global Learning & Exchange Network (GLEN) and the responsibility we must uphold to build a better world for humanity on both local and global levels. Listen in to hear David's perspective on leading with a visual mindset to thrive in your organization.