The Flipchart (August 2018)
Hello friends, Welcome to The Flipchart, your monthly First Time Facilitator highlights reel. This monthly (ish) email is includes a curated list of tools and resources to help you make a bigger impact at the next workshop you deliver.
The Flipchart
A resource for First Time Facilitators
Hello friends, Welcome to The Flipchart, your monthly First Time Facilitator highlights reel. This monthly (ish) email is includes a curated list of tools and resources to help you make a bigger impact at the next workshop you deliver.
Recent First Time Facilitator podcast episodes
When facilitating a workshop, how do you balance being present, with forecasting ahead to drive an outcome? This is one of the topics I explore this week with Mark McKeon, who spent 16 years as the high performance coach for the Collingwood AFL club. He's also an accomplished author, speaker and facilitator. In Episode 25, we talk about about the parallels between creating high performance on the footy pitch; and high stake situations in a group workshop facilitation environment.
In Episode 24, I'm delighted to introduce listeners to my colleague, Sean Lavin. We both recently gained Team Management Profile (TMP) accreditation, so this was a great opportunity to reflect on that experience, how powerful the TMP can be and learn more about Sean’s journey leading workshops. I've started to profile tools like TMP as there was a great response from my conversation with Adam Mustoe in Episode 16 about the Gallup Strengths Finder tool.
In Episode 23 I talk to one of the masters of facilitation, Lynne Cazaly. This one is full of facilitation gold. We talk about the power of visuals, strategies to retain attention, and we share opinions on the type of icebreakers they should have thrown out in the early ‘90s.
Energiser of the month: Drawing Twins
Time: 20-30 minutes
Objective: This should illustrate how hard it is to give clear instructions as well as how hard it is to listen, and can also show how things are easily misunderstood and misinterpreted.
Equipment: Pen, paper and simple line drawn pictures (eg. house, face, spider, various shapes on a page, tent, car)
Instructions
Divide participants into pairs.
Round 1:
Give one member of the pair a picture which must not be shown to their partner.
The person with the picture must give instructions to their partner so that they can draw it, but must not say what it is, eg, ‘draw a circle, draw two more circles inside the circle about half way up’. The person with the picture cannot watch the person draw it.
Compare the drawing with the original.
Round 2:
Hand out more pictures and ask participants to swap roles.
The person with the picture can give instructions in a similar manner as in Round 1 but this time the person drawing can ask yes/no questions and the person with the picture can watch as they draw.
Half the group can begin by telling the person what the object is.
Debrief questions:
Round 1:
Why don't many of the pictures look like the original? (Interpretation: everyone has a different interpretation, directions were not clear, not able to give or get feedback).
What were your frustrations as the source of the message (giving instructions), as the receiver of the message.
Round 2
Did it help to be able to watch the person drawing?
Did it help to be able to ask questions?
Did it help to know what the object is …your clear goal?
Relate this process back to communicating with your employees. Is your message always clear? Is there a channel to give and receive feedback? What noise is present that affects the message?
Let me know if you use this in your next workshop and how it goes!
Reading and listening
Have you ever thought 'I'm not creative?' I believe everyone has the ability to channel their inner creative genius and this was confirmed when I listened to this podcast on the Jordan Harbinger show. Listen to his interview (and share it with someone you overhear saying 'I'm not creative': Allen Gannett | You Don’t Have to Be a Genius to Be Creative
First Time Facilitator was recently named in the Ultimate L&D Podcast list for 2018. Unreal! Thanks for all of your support. This is a list of all the active, English-language, Learning & Development podcasts that there are, all in one place for your own learning & development.
Speaking of podcasts, I'm co-MC at this year's 'We Are Podcast' conference on October 18-20 in Brisbane, Australia. If you've ever thought about starting your own podcast, or meeting your podcast heroes, check out the page - tickets went on sale this week.
One more productivity hack...
I am sticking with the iPhone 6 for the moment as it's the latest version with a headphone jack - yes I'm a traditionalist in some ways! I wanted to share this tool from one of my favourite authors/thought leaders, Jenny Blake:
With my iPhone 6 now losing it's charge within the day, this lipstick-sized (a slight exaggeration - let's call it a jumbo lip gloss) Anker PowerCore+ mini portable phone charger is a must-have. I also put my phone in "low battery mode" every morning by default (you can add this as a quick "button" in the iPhone's Settings —> Control Center so that it's quickly accessible when you swipe up from the bottom). By doing this, the charge lasts all day (faaaaaar longer than when in regular mode).
Til next month,Leanne
If you enjoyed this #FTFFlipchart I'd be grateful for you to forward it to a first time facilitator friend!
We’re Still Standing! Drawing leadership insights from Elton John’s concert in Cairns
I travelled to Cairns this long weekend to see Elton John play at Cazaly’s Stadium. I was fortunate and excited to have a front row seat – Seat 1A! When the music started, a few of us began to stand and dance in our seats but were quickly told by security guards to sit down.
Crowd at Elton John in Cairns
I travelled to Cairns this long weekend to see Elton John play at Cazaly’s Stadium. I was fortunate and excited to have a front row seat – Seat 1A! When the music started, a few of us began to stand and dance in our seats but were quickly told by security guards to sit down. As the concert progressed, more fans were migrating closer to the stage and dancing along to the infectious tunes.It was becoming harder and harder for security to stop us. At one point, there were about 30 people at the front dancing along to Elton’s iconic songs – how could you not? Shortly after witnessing the security guards’ feeble attempts to control the crowd, Elton barked out “For goodness’ sake, let the people stand! This is a rock concert – not a protest!”
Well, when Elton talks, people listen.
Immediately that message from the top opened the floodgates. Hundreds of people swarmed to the stage and the atmosphere in the stadium amplified, with the band feeding off of the delight of the crowd.
How does this relate to leadership in business?
In Simon Sinek’s TED Talk, 'Why good leaders make you feel safe’ (video below), he discusses leaders setting the tone and the environment (or ‘level of safety’) that employees feel within an organisation. When employees on the ground have high trust/safe environments, they feel empowered and supported to make their own decisions.
The security guards were following their direct leaders’ instructions to ensure the safety of everyone at the stadium. They were doing their absolute best to prevent fans from swarming upfront. The ‘threat’ that we felt in the crowd was that if we were to dance/stand up too many times, we may be ordered to leave the event.However, it took only one sentence from the ‘organisation’s’ principal leader, Elton, to set a new standard. By telling us we were allowed to stand, he instantly changed the environment to one where we felt safe to dance, sway and twirl without the threat of eviction hovering over us.I spoke to the security guard following the event and asked how he felt in that moment. He laughed and shook his head, saying “It was impossible to reinforce our directions after Elton’s call”.It made me think about middle managers in organisations who believe they are doing the right thing (by reinforcing a directive they have been given) and the confusion and frustration they may feel when a more senior leader talks directly to their team and changes the environment they are responsible for.It’s almost as if the managers are stripped of their credibility to continue the job they were tasked with, as they have essentially been overruled and undermined. It may cause them to throw their figurative arms in the air, thinking ‘What’s the point?’ The other interesting question this scenario raises is, why are middle managers reinforcing behaviours that are not supported by the organisation leaders? Where/when/why is the message lost in translation?
What else did I learn?
Davey Johnstone's guitar pick at Elton John
Another thing I loved hearing is that the band’s 66 year old lead guitarist, Davey Johnson, has played over 2,800 gigs with Sir Elton. He and his band-mates are still having the time of their lives on stage, playing music together like it was their first time. You feel that energy and passion coursing through your own veins. It’s truly a joy to go to these gigs and watch people publicly display the love they have for their job – it’s their life’s purpose.And if you ever get the chance to see Elton play, do it! It was the best gig ever. Oh, and thanks for the guitar pick, Davey!