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The prevailing view in organisations (and among their leaders) is that change processes are rational challenges — a question of getting from A to B with efficiency and minimal interruption.

After 30+ years of facilitating change processes and training others to do the same, Rob Evans has learned that a great deal of the work to be done is anything but rational.

The emotional and political contexts in which groups exist matter. The decision-making structure around the team matter. The restrictions and fears matter.

Join us for a discussion in the depth and detail of group dynamics, participant empowerment, and the deeply human sides of facilitation.

Find out about:

• Why prioritising participants learning and growth is an ever-reliable foundation for workshop planning
• How to account for emotional and political contexts in your workshop and avoid over-rationalisation
• Why Rob believes successful workshops hinge on having a large enough group
• How to approach a problem that is too big for the group to fix
• Why it’s worth asking why a change hasn’t happened yet, before we ask how to make the change
• What Rob has learned form helping drug users to rehabilitate from their addictions

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

The Collaboration Code website.

Connect to Rob:

On LinkedIn.

Support the show:
Make a one-off donation and contribute to the ongoing costs of running the podcast.

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You can now find the podcast on Substack, where your host Dr. Myriam Hadnes is building a club for you to find fellow listeners and peers: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

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Alison Coward, Rebecca Sutherns and Sunni Brown are each exceptional facilitators in their own right, but that doesn’t mean they see things in exactly the same way.

They came together for this unique episode, a fireside conversation all about collaboration, and provided some incredible thoughts and reflections.

Pull up a chair by the fire and dive into the particulars of what it means to collaborate, how we can create the conditions for creative connection, and why the ‘right’ people will fail to collaborate without a deliberate structure.

Find out about:

• Why facilitators have a glaring gap in their CV when it comes to collaboration
• What happens when we leave collaboration to chance… and how to fix the results
• Why solo and group work are both necessary for effective collaboration
• How boundaries, responsibilities, and limits help us become better collaborators
• Why creating an appropriate context makes such a significant difference
• What the difference is between collaboration and ‘collective thinking’
• Why it’s wrong to assume that the best outcome from a collaboration should amalgamate every view that’s been shared

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Rebecca Sutherns Website

Connect to Alison, Rebecca, and Sunni:

Alison on LinkedIn.

Rebecca on LinkedIn.

Sunni on LinkedIn.

Support the show:
Make a one-off donation and contribute to the ongoing costs of running the podcast.

Support the show

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You can now find the podcast on Substack, where your host Dr. Myriam Hadnes is building a club for you to find fellow listeners and peers: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

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Kirsten Clacey is a facilitator and coach, currently Head of Facilitation at Automattic’s Learn Division, with some brilliant perspectives on process, content, and learning.

What’s even better is that she holds these ‘competing’ views with wonderful balance and nuance.

In this episode, Kirsten shares why she places so much value on process — without sacrificing content. The key, as she sees it, is to create a process that lets learning opportunities emerge naturally for the participants.

Learn how Kirsten creates integrated processes, makes learning happen fast, and adjusts her process and content depending on the circumstance.

Find out about:

• Why the outcome of a workshop is embedded throughout the process, not as a final lightbulb moment
• How a focus on process eventually leads to stronger, self-directed outcomes
• Why facilitators are experts in adapting — for themselves and the environments they create for others
• How to dial up and down the balance of content and process, according to the group and their needs
• How to facilitate with and around an ‘expert’ participant
• Why it’s critical for participants to apply the skills they’re learning in-situ, to embed the learning and create a snowballing sense of progress

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Kirsten’s website.

Kirsten’s new blog (coming soon!)

Kirsten’s book: The Remote Facilitator’s Pocket Guide.

Connect to Kirsten:

On LinkedIn.

On Twitter.

Support the show:
Make a one-off donation and contribute to the ongoing costs of running the podcast. 

Support the show

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You can now find the podcast on Substack, where your host Dr. Myriam Hadnes is building a club for you to find fellow listeners and peers: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

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We’ve had plenty of practice with online meetings by now; we have fallen into the common trapdoors and know how to avoid them in the future. But is effectiveness enough? Shall we really set the bar at running a ‘smooth and easy’ event?

Many attendees still report that they feel unheard or unable to contribute in online event spaces — we are still missing a critical ingredient in a genuinely meaningful event, then.

That’s why I felt so happy to speak with Tina Lyngdoh and Lux Narayan in this episode. As the co-founders of StreamAlive, they are at the very forefront of the push for universal involvement. Their work helps me to believe that we can still make meeting online connective and powerful.

Find out about:

• What StreamAlive is, why Lux and Tina founded it, and how it serves online audiences
• Why facilitators can lean further into assistive tools — and why it’s so important online
• How to move from monologue to dialogue in an online world that defaults to the former
• What we unlock when we visualise chat in ways beyond the typical scrolling sidebar
• Why in-person meetings benefit from audience-to-audience interaction as much as online ones
• How deepening the participants’ experience and communication can help the facilitator take their work further

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

The StreamAlive website.

Connect to Tina and Lux:

Lux on LinkedIn.

Tina on LinkedIn.

Support the show:
Make a one-off donation and contribute to the ongoing costs of running the podcast.

Support the show

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You can now find the podcast on Substack, where your host Dr. Myriam Hadnes is building a club for you to find fellow listeners and peers: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

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Activists are the fuel behind social change. Without them, we would stall and stutter and stop making progress. These are people who are driven by passion and strong beliefs — which certainly makes life interesting for facilitators who work in the space.

In all the energy and conviction of activism, facilitation can be crucial to turn grand plans for changing the world into something manageable, measurable, and achievable.

Anuschka Ruge has been doing this work for many years — in the climate movement, education, and beyond — and has invaluable experience to share with other facilitators. This episode is her platform to do so, so please listen closely and make the most of it!

Find out about:

• Why facilitators can be so useful in the big-picture world of activism
• How to facilitate groups that are high-emotion, passionate, and subject matter experts
• Why it can be so useful to make space for anger and how to lean in to the passion in the room
• What we can do to support and facilitate beyond the session, to embed ideas and change
• How to facilitate with an awareness of your subject-matter limitations and privileges
• Why it’s critical to prepare participants for leaving the space, and how to hold their passion with the wider public

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to Anuschka:

On LinkedIn.

Support the show:
Make a one-off donation and contribute to the ongoing costs of running the podcast.

Support the show

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You can now find the podcast on Substack, where your host Dr. Myriam Hadnes is building a club for you to find fellow listeners and peers: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

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Romy Alexandra is a one-woman revolution in Experiential Learning, driven by a passion for turning dull events into genuinely memorable and long-lasting trainings.

Combining the principles of Experiential Learning with the ‘unconference’ tool of Open Space Technology, Romy is at the forefront of the interactive and collaborative learning space.

The way she brings disparate threads and dry content together, parsing them through her creative mind and powerful approaches, is a true marvel. 

Enjoy this episode and learn how Romy creates collaborative, emergent, effective training that puts ego aside and brings everybody together — and how you can, too.

Find out about:

• Why seeing learners as vessels is antithetical to effective training
• What Experiential Learning and Open Space Technology are and how Romy brings them together in her work
• Why a feeling of being ‘struck’ by new information is critical to making learning experiential
• How prioritising community and connection can make any course experiential
• Why co-creation is a byproduct of shared ownership and how to prioritise it
• Why Romy sees trainers as actors — role-changing, shape-shifting, performative stars

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Romy’s website.

Connect to Romy:

On LinkedIn.

On Instagram.

Support the show:
Make a one-off donation and contribute to the ongoing costs of running the podcast.

Support the show

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You can now find the podcast on Substack, where your host Dr. Myriam Hadnes is building a club for you to find fellow listeners and peers: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

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Why is it that so many groups come together with a shared goal… and fail to make any meaningful progress?

This is the question that’s plagued Deb Mashek’s professional life — and it’s taken her to some fascinating places.

Deb’s work and the lessons she’s taken from it have made her a go-to speaker, author, and commentator in popular media, but she’s not one to sit comfortably on the sidelines. She still loves nothing more than diving into mission-critical projects that live or die by the strength of collaboration. As you might expect, she’s got some wonderful insights to share from it all!

Dive into the details of collaboration and how we can all take responsibility for better work together.

Find out about:

• Why the heart of collaboration lies in our personal skills 
• The most common causes for collaborative breakdown that Deb sees
• Why technology helps us collaborate… until it does the opposite
• How leaders can begin the long-term process of creating a collaborative culture
• Why ease, reward, and visibility are Deb’s three key markers for a collaborative culture
• How prioritising shared definitions and language makes collaboration happen faster

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Sign up to receive twice-monthly collaboration tips from Deb: https://debmashek.lpages.co/one_simple_tip

Download the Mashek Matrix poster: https://debmashek.lpages.co/mashekmatrix

Connect with Deb on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debra-mashek/

Connect to Deb:

On LinkedIn

On Instagram

On Twitter

Support the show:
Make a one-off donation and contribute to the ongoing costs of running the podcast.

Support the show

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You can now find the podcast on Substack, where your host Dr. Myriam Hadnes is building a club for you to find fellow listeners and peers: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

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Facilitation can be a messy business; what can we do to clean it up?

Judy Rees, who’s been working with groups for almost 20 years, thinks the answer lies in clean language. A focus on clean language in turn creates what Judy calls ‘clean facilitation’.

Specificity and neutrality is the name of the game, but can facilitators ever truly be neutral? Judy and I wrestle with the big questions of influence, manipulation, and communication in this episode as we try to clear up clean facilitation and explore how to apply it in our day-to-day work.

Find out about:

• What Judy means by ‘clean facilitation’
• Practical examples of how clean language can help facilitators dig deeper into a discussion
• Why getting out of the group’s way is a noble goal, but not always possible
• The ways in which we manipulate without ever realising
• How to use our influence with the group in a beneficial way
• How clean language can help us better understand a group’s idiosyncrasies and uniqueness
• Why focusing our influence on the process, rather than the content, is a valuable path to follow

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Free Clean Language ebook.

Judy’s Clean Language for Facilitators course.

Video guide for a Clean Language-based change process.

New Rules for Work experiment, applying Clean Language.

Connect to Judy:

On LinkedIn.

Support the show:
Make a one-off donation and contribute to the ongoing costs of running the podcast.

Support the show

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You can now find the podcast on Substack, where your host Dr. Myriam Hadnes is building a club for you to find fellow listeners and peers: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

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They say it takes a lifetime to build and a second to break… Trust is priceless to teams and the organisations in which they exist, so why is it so often overlooked as part of team-building?

Perhaps because after-work socials and lunchtime chats are easy and sound ‘right’; but high-functioning teams take work — deep, intensive work. They certainly don’t appear out of nowhere.

Leigh Ann Rodgers sees trust as key to building better teams, because trust can’t be faked, or phoned in, or achieved with a few drinks after quitting time. This episode will help you make trust a priority, understand why it makes such a big difference, and explain what you can do to build a high-trust culture.

Find out about:

• Why communication is the heart of trust
• How to identify a box-ticking approach to trust-building and why it almost always fails
• Why understanding others’ communication styles gives us a shortcut to empathy
• Which characteristics are most important to understand about your teammates
• How to treat trust and alignment as journeys, not destinations
• Which activities and actions you can implement to start building trust quickly

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Team Consultant Academy

Better Teams Blog

Connect to Leigh Ann:

On LinkedIn

Support the show

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You can now find the podcast on Substack, where your host Dr. Myriam Hadnes is building a club for you to find fellow listeners and peers: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

Send us a text

Keynote speaker, published author, zen student, innovator-in-residence, and facilitator — Sunni Brown has a whole village’s worth of knowledge, but, somehow, contains it all within just one conscientious and clever human.

Sunni’s fingerprints can be found on many resources and THINGS you’ll be familiar with as a facilitator: Gamestorming, The Doodle Revolution, and Deep Self Design.

Safe to say, Sunni is well-placed to discuss the finer details of collaboration — and to highlight some of the ways we might learn about it more deeply from unexpected sources. Explore the art of zen and facilitation, how to get out of our own way, and why a dispassionate facilitator can be more helpful to a group than an overly committed one.

Find out about:

• What Sunni has learned about facilitation since becoming a student of Zen
• How our work might change if collaboration was seen as a skill, rather than an outcome
• How to help a group walk the thin line of doable discomfort
• Why a saviour complex is a fatal flaw for facilitators — and how to avoid it
• Why you can recover from poor workshop design, but not poor trust-building
• How to take responsibility for our emotional responses, so we can remain in service to the group
• Why facilitators see big changes when they stop taking resistance personally

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to Sunni:

On LinkedIn

On Instagram

On Twitter

Support the show

✨✨✨

You can now find the podcast on Substack, where your host Dr. Myriam Hadnes is building a club for you to find fellow listeners and peers: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/