Welcome to Magical Meetings Stories, a series where I chat with professional facilitators, meeting practitioners, leaders, and CEOs across industries about their meeting culture. We dive deep into a specific magical meeting they’ve run, including their approach to facilitation design, and their tips and tricks for running meetings people thrive in. 

Today’s story is with Petra Wille, an independent product leadership coach and author of Strong Product People: A Complete Guide to Developing Great Product Managers who has been helping product teams boost their skill sets and up their game since 2013. Alongside her freelance work, Petra co-organizes and curates Mind the Product Engage Hamburg, Germany. 

“There’s a saying from the world of coaching: ‘You can’t push the car you’re sitting in.’ It’s the same principle – if, as a product manager, you spot patterns emerging before everyone else, it’s because you’re not really a part of the team. And that’s an advantage you should put to good use.” -Petra Wille

I spoke with Petra about a meeting she designed called Team Radar, the purpose of the meeting, what it helped accomplish, and why it was so powerful.

Showing is Better than Telling

Team Radar was originally prompted when Petra realized she was missing some of the tools and meeting structures she needed to be an effective lateral leader to her product development team. She was searching for a structure that could help her surface topics in a retrospective without dictating the group discussion or directly providing her recommended solution or ideal outcome. Rather, she wanted a way to have the team working on the project or deliverables be able to discuss and ideate, as the direct team can usually come up with workable solutions that work best for them. She wanted to provide the framework to productively discuss and show them that they could figure out the problem on their own, rather than her simply telling them a solution.

“You know that moment when you realize that something is not quite right in the team? Often you think you know straight away what needs improvement, but for some reason, the team can’t see what you’re seeing. What’s wrong with them? It’s so obvious!

There’s nothing wrong with them. There’s a saying from the world of coaching: ‘You can’t push the car you’re sitting in.’ It’s the same principle – if, as a product manager, you spot patterns emerging before everyone else, it’s because you’re not really a part of the team. And that’s an advantage you should put to good use.” -Petra Wille

Petra explained an Agile coach recommended she utilize a spider web graphic with eight axes, with labels for each “leg” (or axis) and a scale (1-7) for each of the axes. Each axis represents a topic to be discussed in the meeting as shown in the example below: 

This structure helps Petra set up some of the topics to have the team discuss them, but then also gives her a chance to observe their take on them rather than her influencing the discussion or decisions. “I was on the lookout for a facilitation method to actually bring this conversation up without me telling them what to do because there was no right or wrong. I was fine with either way, but I wanted them to discuss it to avoid this tension building up,” she said.

Petra has used the Team Radar meeting with various teams she’s coached and worked with. She explained that the meeting purpose varies depending on the specific team situation she’s working with, but that it is fundamentally designed around gaining alignment, understanding, and clarity. “The purpose of this meeting is that a team of people discusses several topics and that somebody else sees what’s in it for them. So, do they consider it a problem? Do they think they’re doing fine and it’s not something we need to tackle now? It’s a management tool, actually, more or less.”

Let’s take a closer look at Petra’s process to learn what made this meeting magical.

The Meeting

Pre-Meeting Prep

Petra’s outline for how to prepare for the Team Radar retrospective meetings:

1. The meeting leader or facilitator should plan the Team Radar graphic and topics beforehand on a flip chart – this way, it can be hung up afterward for reference (if you’re in a physical office with the team). Alternatively, more advanced teams can decide on the topics during the meeting. If the meeting is being held virtually, MURAL or Miro (virtual whiteboard collaboration tools) can be utilized instead
2. Bring pens and Post-Its in four different colors (if holding the meeting in person).
3. The leader, moderator or facilitator should also put some thought into how they want to open up and introduce the meeting. This is where they set the stage for the meeting.
4. Ensure to send a calendar invite blocking off enough time. Petra recommends 2 hours for an 8 axes exercise, or 1 hour for 4 axes.
5. If you’re having the meeting in an office, book a room with plenty of wall space for all those Post-It notes!

Exercise 

Petra recommends holding the Team Radar meeting once a quarter, depending on team needs, with no more than 10 people in attendance (but also depending on team needs and team size). Attendees are typically made up of a cross-functional group or the delivery team, including product managers, engineers, and designers. The meetings can be held in-person or virtually, and are typically structured in the following way:

1. The moderator or facilitator starts by introducing the meeting and setting the stage (as mentioned above).
2. Then they’ll take the team through the Team Radar infographic–either on the flip chart, a whiteboard, or virtual collaboration tool if the meeting is being held remotely. The facilitator should plan to cover the following:
   • Why were the listed topics chosen? Context should be given around reasoning. If the team is more advanced, the topics can be agreed upon by everyone together during this step instead.
   • Ask the team to assign and agree on a rating (1-7) for each topic. Ratings could be confidence level in the topic, future outlook, etc. This will vary by team and organization, and should be defined and communicated by the facilitator. Note: Don’t spend more than 10 minutes on each axis.
   • Decide who will write notes on the Post-Its. Petra recommends utilizing the different colors for organizational purposes, such as blue for positive comments and pink for negative.
3. Next, the team discussion occurs, starting with the first axis and working through all eight, topic by topic, rating by rating.
4. Once all topics have been discussed, connect any dots or determine which topics have scored negatively and why.
5. Gauge general sentiment from the team – ask the team to indicate via quick feedback or thumb voting if a topic is improving or if they expect it to get worse.
6. Finally, derive and assign action items for 2-3 of the topics. Start with topics that scored the worst (or lowest) and note what steps can and should be taken next.

Outcomes and Deliverables

I asked Petra what outcomes and deliverables come out of these Team Radar meetings. She mentioned the two key outcomes being “aha moments” and action items. The “aha moments” will come as a result of learning what others on the team think about particular topics. The action items are especially useful for future improvement, as the lowest-ranked topics should be prioritized in the discussion. 

Tools

There are a few tools Petra uses to create magic and connection in these meetings:

• Whiteboards or flip charts – this is how the Team Radar graphic is documented and displayed if the meeting is in person
• Post-Its: Used for note taking on each topic and rating (organize by color)
• MURAL or Miro – These tools can be utilized if the meeting is virtual or hybrid, in place of the physical whiteboards, flip charts and Post-Its

An Alignment Initiative

We also discussed what makes this meeting unique, along with what Petra is most proud of related to Team Radar. 

“I think it’s the only type of retrospective I know where you can set a topic. So if you as a product manager or Agile coach want to talk about something, then that is a way to really set the stage without influencing the team too much about their take on that,” she said.

She mentioned she’s most proud of the fact that it helps teams discuss underlying or broader issues in a productive way. Even if the meeting doesn’t end with a ton of action items that are being solved immediately, it helps with team building and is an alignment initiative. 

Looking Ahead

I like to end these Magical Meeting Series conversations by asking where there’s opportunity for improvement or what else could be done if the interviewee were to be really bold. Petra said she sees teams usually start with the obvious topics, but would love to encourage more philosophical or high-level topics on the axes. That, she says, is when the most interesting and productive conversations happen.

Do you have a Magical Meeting Story to tell? Share it with us!

The post Team Radar appeared first on Voltage Control.

Recently I was asked why people hate meetings. I responded that people don’t hate meetings, they hate bad meetings. 

Most ineffective meetings are a form of therapy

Let’s be honest, there’s a lot of collaborative dysfunction in the working world, and most of it happens in meetings. And that’s a major pain point for a lot of people. When they look at their calendars, they’re just inundated with meetings. And, shockingly, the goal of most of these meetings is to be cathartic rather than productive. 

I remember seeing this headline on BBC.com not too long ago: “Pointless work meetings really a form of therapy.” It’s a hilarious headline, but if you dig deeper into it, it’s actually fascinating. 

In my experience, as the pandemic has rolled on, I’ve seen people have this thirst for connection, and because they don’t have it, they’re self-medicating with a meeting. They’re self-medicating in a way that creates another burdensome meeting — and more disgust, if you will, for meetings and the whole Zeitgeist of work and collaboration.

In the BBC linked article above, Professor Patrik Hall of the University of Malmo also stated that meetings are becoming a vehicle for individuals to express their frustrations. He says that with fewer people making or doing things, those in strategic, consultative, and managerial roles don’t know what they should do. Because they’re unsure about their role, they call meetings to try and find a purpose.

Both of these instances create a vicious cycle of negativity. If everyone became more intentional about team health and points of connection, people would stop scheduling these random meetings for “therapy” time. We wouldn’t self-medicate, we wouldn’t overmedicate and we’d get just the right amount of meetings. 

So how do we get to this place of optimal meeting balance? I believe it starts by clarifying the purpose of a meeting. Doing so will put an end to the post-meeting refrain of “Why did I just spend my time doing that?” 

Giving your meetings a sense of clarity

A big part of my book Magical Meetings is ensuring teams come together for the right reasons, accomplish meaningful goals, and leave with clear next steps. In fact, the first of the ten meeting mantras I share is “no purpose, no meeting.” And while I’d love for you to read Magical Meetings cover-to-cover, you may not have time before your next meeting. To that end, I’m going to encapsulate the first couple of chapters and present a number of questions you should ask yourself before initiating any meeting request.

• Is the meeting necessary? Could it be replaced by an email?

If the answer to the latter is yes, send an email not an invite.

• Will this meeting be generative, explorative or decisive? 

A generative meeting generates ideas or artifacts, an explorative meeting considers options and reviews artifacts, and a decisive meeting makes decisions on options and artifacts. If your meeting isn’t one of the three — where there’s a clear purpose and work to be done — it may not be worth having at all.  

• How will the team know it’s been successful?

Consider the possible outcomes of your meeting and what you hope to achieve. These are benchmarks your team can utilize to gauge success. 

• Who needs to be involved and what are their perspectives?

Just because you can invite someone to your meeting doesn’t mean you should. Everyone’s calendar is littered with meetings, so be strategic about who you invite. Is someone a stakeholder, have relevant expertise or possess an outsider’s perspective that could be valuable? Include them. But don’t invite someone who won’t have much to contribute solely to be inclusive. They’ll appreciate being able to be more productive by instead having the time to tackle the tasks that are of greater importance to them.

• What concerns are likely to arise? What challenges might get in your way?

The more forethought that goes into planning your meeting, the more you (and your participants) will get out of it. You really don’t want to eat up valuable time by doing this kind of triage in the middle of your meeting. It’s counterproductive — and an annoyance. 

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Letting everyone know what to expect

Of course, it’s not enough to know what you want out of your meeting. It’s also important to let others know as well. Preparedness on the part of the organizer — and the participants — is what helps make a meeting magical. 

Key to this is drafting an agenda you can share in advance of your meetings. This should include an outline of the activities that will take place, the allotted time for each activity or topic, and when break periods will occur. Additionally, you’ll want to explicitly state what you need from each participant. To ensure a successful meeting, I recommend circulating all of this a few days in advance and sending a reminder about your needs the day before the meeting is scheduled to happen. 

I also suggest you record a short video of yourself going through the agenda, especially for “high stakes” meetings where you’ll be making important decisions. Creating and sharing this will make your requests seem more human. You’ll also want to provide a link to a shared folder where everyone can place their pre-work artifacts (if applicable).

When people know what’s required of them and what their involvement will lead to, there’s a lower likelihood of them loathing a meeting. By clearly communicating — and setting up systems — people will feel confident that their involvement will lead to something positive vs. just getting caught up in false checkpoints or busywork. 

To that end, Voltage Control can set you up for success with our robust resource library. You can download the Magical Meetings Quick Start Guide, The Facilitator’s Guide To Questions, and other coaching materials. We also have blog posts, workshops, templates, and our Control Room app, which is loaded with meeting activities that keep teams engaged. With our help, you’ll never have another bad meeting again. 

Want to ensure all of your meetings are magical?

Enroll in our Magical Meetings course and you’ll learn how to facilitate meetings that will have participants walking away with a sense of accomplishment. For information, check out the course details or reach out to hello@voltagecontrol.com.

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The post The difference between mundane and magical meetings? Preparation. appeared first on Voltage Control.

“I think there’s a real power in a community and having a community of diverse backgrounds.  I feel our unique position with the Facilitation Lab gives facilitators the opportunity to not only practice in a safe and inclusive environment with other facilitators of different backgrounds, but also that there aren’t a lot of unique spaces for and by facilitators to openly do just that.” -Kierra Johnson

Kierra Johnson is the Community Manager at Voltage Control and host of our weekly Control Room Facilitation Lab where she focuses on nurturing a network of facilitators. The Lab is a community space for facilitators to connect, ideate, and troubleshoot methods and activities in a virtual forum to gain real-time learning and feedback. Kierra connects hundreds of facilitators from around the world with a passion for practice and continuous growth in facilitation. 

In this episode of Control the Room, Kierra and I discuss the power of positivity, the Facilitation Lab’s impact, and how facilitators are connecting beyond the Lab. Listen in to hear how Facilitation Lab supports the needs of facilitators and the significance of experimentation.

Show Highlights

[00:54] Kierra’s Beginnings in Facilitation
[02:17] The Power of Positivity
[07:15] Core of Community: Inclusion & Diversity
[13:33] The Layers of Facilitation Lab
[24:36] Lab Moments: Magical Guests Memory Lane 
[30:02] Connecting & Learning Beyond the Lab
[35:54] Kierra’s Final Thoughts

Links | Resources

Facilitation Lab Slack Channel
Facilitation Lab Sign Up
Kierra’s LinkedIn

About the Guest

Kierra Johnson is the Community Manager and lead host of the Facilitation Lab weekly sessions for a one-of-a-kind community of facilitators. Kierra’s passion for community and bringing people together through the Facilitation Lab encourages long-lasting relationships alongside facilitators in the unique, virtual forum to lean into curiosity, ideation, and discovery in facilitation. Kierra’s unwavering positive spirit combined with her inclusive perspective lifts the community of facilitators across all backgrounds, to reveal the significance of experimentation in methodologies and activities of facilitation. By engaging our community with a space built uniquely for and by facilitators, she’s made it her mission to lean into discovery and innovation alongside facilitators across the world in the Lab. 

About Voltage Control

Voltage Control is a facilitation academy that develops leaders through facilitation certifications, workshops, and events. Today’s leaders are confronted with unprecedented uncertainty and complex change. Navigating this uncertainty requires a systemic facilitative approach to gain clarity and chart pathways forward. We prepare today’s leaders for now and what’s next.

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Contact Voltage Control

Full Transcript

Douglas:

Welcome to the Control The Room Podcast, a series devoted to the exploration of meeting culture and uncovering cures for the common meeting. Some meetings have tight control and others are loose. To control the room means achieving outcomes while striking a balance between imposing and removing structure, asserting and distributing power, leaning in and leaning out, all in the service of having a truly magical meeting.

Douglas:

Today, I’m with Kierra Johnson, the community manager at Voltage Control, where she leads and nurtures Control The Room, the facilitation community. Welcome to the show, Kierra.

Kierra:

Thank you so much for having me, Douglas. Thrilled to be here.

Douglas:

It’s great to have you.

Douglas:

So I thought we could start off by talking a little bit about how you found your way into this world of facilitation.

Kierra:

You know, my path to facilitation was a bit of a journey actually. I didn’t fall into facilitation right away. One of my values in everything I do is remaining true to yourself in authenticity, and I’ve always had a unique passion for authentic people and communities since I was very young. I believe there’s so much worth in bringing people together through collaboration, and there was such a unique opportunity that I wasn’t aware of through facilitation.

Kierra:

I’m a Southern girl, born and raised from Southern Louisiana, and I’ve completed my bachelor’s in communications and public relations at LSU. And my previous career was solely focused on making my mark within the community relations and customer service industry, but at the root of everything, my passion has and always will be building long lasting relationships through community, and the facilitation industry provided a unique opportunity for me to do just that.

Douglas:

You know, there’s something that I think it’s important to point out. It’s this positivity that I think just follows you around, that you exude positivity. I see it in all the stuff you do with the community, I see it in all of our interactions with the team and team meetings. And I want to just hear a little bit about, where did that come from? How did that become such an important part of your ethos?

Kierra:

Well, I think, for me, it’s all about amazing, incredible women that have been behind me and kind of shown me the way as I’ve grown up to be a young woman. And that falls back on my mom and my grandmother. They are two huge inspirations for me that have always instilled in me to remain positive through everything that you do and that it has a direct reflection and impact on people that you come across throughout your everyday life and experiences. So that’s something that’s always stuck with me and something that I’ve just lived by, you know, to exemplify hopefully. And it keeps me going, every single day, to have that positivity and to remain excited and hopeful for what’s to come, no matter what.

Douglas:

You know, that reminds me of the Culturati conference, when Mark from SailPoint was talking about how crises doesn’t make culture, it reveals it. It kind of reminds me of what you were just saying, because in those moments, adversity or whatever’s kind of coming at you, how we respond really defines us.

Kierra:

I completely agree with you. I think every challenge that we face, I feel like there’s an opportunity to find something positive in anything that we experience. And I think it’s important to take that with you and learn from it. So I one thousand percent resonates with me, and I’m thankful for the brilliant minds through Culturati that shared such incredible insights on what they’re doing to impact their communities and companies.

Douglas:

Yeah, no, I was really jealous because you were running our booth and there to help folks that were stopping in to learn about Voltage Control, as well as helping out with the Mural template we were running for the conference, and I was a little jealous because I had all this client work and things I had to go to attend to so I couldn’t listen to all the talks. And I was like, “Man, Kierra is getting a front row seat to all that awesome Culturati stuff.”

Kierra:

I was. I was. I was fortunate enough to be a fly on the wall of some incredible minds that shared their own experiences and insights as to how we can constantly improve our culture within our companies. And they had such inspiring experiences and perspectives on what they’re doing in their respective fields to pave the way and to continue that conversation forward. And it was just an unforgettable, rewarding experience, and just little nuggets of wisdom that I know I’m going to take with me throughout my role through facilitation lab and hopefully beyond. So definitely grateful to be a part of it.

Douglas:

You know, one big takeaway for me was this notion of systems and just the important role that systems play and how, if we want to enact change, we really need to look at the systems and think about the systems that are already in place and the ones that we might want to put in place. And it really spoke to me in a big way. I was really happy to hear that there was that thread there because, you know, that’s core to facilitation and the work we’re doing, because in facilitation, we can start to ask those curious questions and have dialogues around the systems that are in place and where things might go. And of course, we do a lot of work with meeting systems. So anyway, I remember hearing all of that and thinking, “Wow, it’s so great to see everyone moving in the right direction.”

Douglas:

So it makes me curious now. When did you notice? I was noticing the system stuff, and I’m kind of curious, anything surface up for you that you think is relevant for the facilitation community or just companies in general?

Kierra:

Well, I think, for me, something that really spoke to me was an emphasis on diversity and how that can be such a strength through communities and through companies to highlight what makes us different. And I think that speaks directly to our facilitation lab, with that experience of an opportunity of building that inclusion throughout our lab.

Kierra:

You know, I believe we’re champions for people across all industries, across all backgrounds to come to our lab and provide activities and methods that they’re currently working on. But we want people with all different perspectives to feel like they’re welcome to our community, to be able to openly practice and do just that in a safe space. So with that diversity, I feel it’s our mission to always remain inclusive at the facilitation lab.

Douglas:

Yeah, I know. We were just recording a little promo video for the community, and in it, I talk about how diversity is at the core of the community, because we created it out of an observation that so much about … You know, it’s interesting; facilitation is about inclusion, and we often talk about creating space. So there’s a deep respect about inclusion and understanding the need for diversity. And almost every facilitation discipline encourages bringing cross-functional teams together because nobody’s as smart as everybody and all these things.

Douglas:

Yet at the level of methodology, it’s very siloed. There’s not much diversity when you look at your average facilitator. They’re very focused on one methodology. And so the community at the core was seeking to cross pollinate and bust those silos.

Kierra:

Yes. I think there’s a real power in community and having a community of diverse backgrounds. And I feel our unique position with the facilitation lab gives facilitators the opportunity to not only practice in a safe and inclusive environment with other facilitators of different backgrounds, but also that there aren’t a lot of unique spaces for and by facilitators to openly do just that. So I think we’re in a really incredible position to allow facilitators to connect virtually with facilitators from all around the world and have the opportunity to unpack and to connect in more unique ways than ever before.

Douglas:

Yeah. You brought up an interesting point around the global nature of the community now, and it’s interesting how difficult and challenging the pandemic’s been; to have to reinvent our businesses, to think about supporting people in the virtual world. It’s just been really challenging, but perhaps one of the silver linings of it all is that we’ve now connected globally with our facilitation peers and the community has grown in ways that I would never have expected, because we had our monthly meetup, which was mostly folks from Austin, and then we had our yearly summit, which we had people coming internationally, but now every week, we’re doing facilitation lab and it’s people from all over the world.

Kierra:

Yes. It’s pretty exciting that through the pandemic … Of course, it’s been challenging for everyone to be able to adjust and pivot to this new normal that we’re kind of learning as we go, but with the unique opportunity with our virtual meetups every week, we’re able to connect with so many people that we wouldn’t cross paths with in our everyday life had the pandemic not happened. And I think it’s a real advantage for us to make those connections to contacts from voices in London, voices in South Africa. And this is just speaking to a few people that I’ve had the pleasure of connecting with in our facilitation lab. It’s such an amazing experience to be able to connect with people that you’d never have the opportunity to in a normal setting. It’s a real silver lining, as you said, to have the space to do so and connect with people from all across the map, which is so cool to be able to do.

Douglas:

I agree. I love popping into facilitation lab. I can’t make it to all of them like I used to, but when I do pop in, seeing folks from Kenya, folks from Paris-

Kierra:

Paris. Yes.

Douglas:

… Folks from Thailand, Australia. Some of these people are logging in and it’s like 4:00 AM their time. Someone just emailed me, she’s joining from New Zealand, tomorrow, actually, and Hawaii. They all bring different perspectives on what facilitation is and they have different thoughts around how they approach things, and it’s really fantastic to see everyone kind of coming together through this common goal and understanding.

Douglas:

So I’m curious what you’ve noticed through all this cross-pollination and folks showing up with different needs and different curiosities. Can you speak to what’s common across all of it? What are they all interested in? What value do they all share?

Kierra:

I think at the root of everything, people are just longing for a sense of community more than ever now, especially through the pandemic. And with our unique position at the facilitation lab, we’re allowing facilitators of backgrounds of all industries to be able to connect freely and safely in a virtual space where they can come together, you know, experiment, brainstorm together, figure out what works, what doesn’t work, and have the space to be able to connect openly, to come together and really just connect on a deeper level.

Kierra:

And I think too, as far as concerns, there’s a real need now to figure out, how do we move forward post-pandemic? There’s been a conversation of hybrid meetings that has come up and has been a theme across a few lab sessions that we’ve had the opportunity to kind of unpack; you know, how do we juggle this idea of working remotely and also feeling safe to go back into an office setting and kind of merge the two ideas together?

Kierra:

So that’s been a very common idea that’s come up throughout the lab pretty often.

Douglas:

Yeah, that’s definitely on the mind for facilitators these days, right? “Will I need to start traveling again to be on site with clients, and will some of their participants be remote, and how do we support everyone?” It’s a non-trivial challenge, and I think one that I’m tracking really closely, and I’m sure we’ll talk about it more in labs to come.

Douglas:

So I want to talk a little bit about how lab works. You’re the host of the weekly facilitation lab, and you mentioned it being a safe place, and I wanted to just unpack that a little bit. What is lab? How does it work? What does it mean?

Douglas:

And I’ll just point out that, from my perspective, it’s about practice, because to master facilitation, you need to practice. And it’s really uncomfortable, really scary to try new things out when the CEO is in the room, or your boss who might be short on time and very critical on how we spend our time and how we do work. Even though they might be the best boss in the world and super kind and supportive, you just might not be fully comfortable trying something new out when there’s a lot at stake. And so, to me, it being “a safe place,” it’s a judgment-free zone. We’re all going to critique and play and experiment together.

Douglas:

But from your perspective, as the host, I’d love to hear a little bit more about how it works and how you run it. What’s at stake? What do we make possible with the lab?

Kierra:

Absolutely. You know, when it really comes down to it, our mission for the facilitation lab is that we let facilitators have the freedom to hold the mic and troubleshoot with other facilitators. And that’s really the root of why we’ve built this community. They’re able to have 40 minutes of unpacking their methods and activities in real time that they’ve been working on and putting together, to test it out with a community of like-minded facilitators to gain real-time feedback and have some key takeaways in a safe environment, to be able to present and test out those methods to do so with, as you said, a judgment-free zone, and have people really experience the method and activities that they’re working on, to fully immerse themselves in the overall experience of having the role as a host or a lead facilitator.

Kierra:

That’s really our goal, is to give them the space to be able to practice.

Douglas:

And so if I were to show up at a facilitation lab, what would I expect to see?

Kierra:

So essentially, you would expect … We always start the sessions with an icebreaker activity. That’s kind of our overall goal, just to get people in a comfortable space and setting with an open networking exercise, where we really just have everyone connect with their neighbor Zoom in the Zoom.

Kierra:

And then from there, we discuss an opportunity of why we’re here at the facilitation lab, what our mission is. And from there, we introduce our peer facilitator, or our guest host, and give them the full freedom and rights to take over the session and present their method and activity that they’ve been working on in real time.

Kierra:

And at the facilitation lab, it’s always our goal to offer them the best support that we can behind the scenes. So we’re managing and making sure that their experience is as fruitful for the facilitator, or for the audience, as best as it can be.

Kierra:

So that’s our ultimate goal, is for the actual activity as a whole to go on without a hitch.

Douglas:

So you start off with an icebreaker to lean into that connection that you spoke about. That’s so important. People really are hungry for more connection and meeting other facilitators, and creating that sense of belonging and understanding with each other. And then after that connection piece, then you’re moving into your guests, your peer facilitator, who’s going to send us through a method. And then, what is this “rose, thorn, bud” I’ve heard about? It seems like that’s something that happens at the end. What is that about?

Kierra:

Yes. Our “rose, thorn, bud” framework is the opportunity for our guest facilitators and audience to unpack their thoughts and feedback to their response on the activity that the host facilitator has engaged with their activity throughout the session.

Kierra:

So it gives the audience the space to be able to openly share how they felt about the overall exercise in a sense of roses. It’s a metaphorical framework essentially, where roses are what they really connected with and what really spoke to them throughout the session, something that they loved, that they connected with as a whole, whereas thorns are constraints or pain points that they feel that they didn’t really connect with, or there was an opportunity there that just missed the mark a little bit. And with buds, we love to leave our lead facilitators with buds, and essentially, buds are those areas of growth and areas of opportunity that can kind of just use a little bit more nurturing throughout the method, that we allow facilitators to share how they felt about that overall activity.

Douglas:

You know, I love when buds too kind of provide an opportunity for the attendees, the participants to see opportunities for them. It happens from time to time, where people in attendance say, “Oh, I see. I’m going to borrow something that I saw them do,” or, “I’m not going to do something I saw them do.” Because seeing things that you don’t want to do can be just as powerful as things that you want to do. So I love when people turn the buds on themselves.

Kierra:

Absolutely. And I think it’s a unique take, where inspiration just sparks in real time for the facilitator that’s experienced this activity or methodology that they weren’t aware of or didn’t know much about beforehand, but in reality, they’re able to sit back and kind of determine how they can take elements of the method that they’ve experienced into their own individual work and bring it to their respective industries.

Kierra:

So it’s a really unique opportunity to have inspiration for them to immerse themselves, and also figure out what works and how they can adapt and change those elements in real time to their respective places and companies.

Douglas:

Yeah.

Douglas:

So I noticed that sometimes there’s an open lab, whereas other times there’s a special guest. What happens in the open lab?

Kierra:

Open lab is one of my favorite opportunities where we can openly connect in a deeper way through the facilitation lab. And our open lab sessions happen every single month, once a month, where we have an open dialogue between all of us as facilitators to network and connect on a deeper level about topics that we’re really passionate about as facilitators.

Kierra:

That can range from hybrid meetings, inclusion and diversity in the workplace. It could be about icebreakers; how to keep people still engaged throughout your meetings.

Kierra:

We always open it up to the community to give them the opportunity of what’s top of mind for what they’d like to discuss in the session. So we always start with, “What would you like to really unpack today?” And from there, we have about an hour of uninterrupted time to really just dive into breakout rooms and unpack those thoughts and ideas that are kind of bubbling up inside of us that we want to share, and kind of bounce off ideas just to be better as a whole and how we can do better.

Douglas:

Yeah. That’s a beautiful thing. And I love the moment after facilitation lab, where we just kind of … The After Hours. I always like to tell people, when we had in-person events, we had to pull the sticky notes off the walls and clean things up and tidy up, get the tables put back. And inevitably, someone would stick around and talk and chat. And so we always still reserve that time in our workshops for, I call it the cleanup time. And we do that during facilitation lab, and that’s some of my favorite time, where people are kind of a little bit more open and loose about how they’re kind of reflecting on what happened and what’s top of mind for them. And so open lab is almost an extension of that, right? We’re just doing that for the whole time, which is a lot of fun.

Kierra:

Exactly. After Hours is also one of my favorite opportunities in the lab, because it really allows us a less … It’s a less formal setting for us to really just connect deeper with other facilitators.

Kierra:

A lot of times, I’ve noticed people stick around who aren’t privy to our community or it’s their first time joining, and they really just want to immerse themselves in the whole experience, and they want to see what After Hours is all about. And really, it’s just us connecting with, “What did you experience today? What’s your day looking like? What made you smile throughout your day to day?” And really just having the opportunity to just openly connect a little bit more. “What are you working on in your industry right now?”

Kierra:

It’s a beautiful time for us to really just delve into open conversation.

Douglas:

You know, it’s fascinating too, how sometimes the learnings and the impact is often greater than the sessions where there was specifically content that was curated and prescribed, because the serendipity of folks sharing and being curious and asking questions and just letting things surface that are top of mind … I don’t know. It’s the randomness of those collisions and those intersections that create so much value. So yeah, the open labs are really fantastic.

Kierra:

Yes. There’s always a need from our community, and I’ve heard this voiced so many times, for us to further that connection with your fellow facilitator. And I think if we have the opportunity to make that happen in tenfold, then we’re doing our part to really just continue those connections with facilitators in our industry, because it’s so important to build those connections and nurture those relationships.

Douglas:

So I want to talk a little bit about some of your memories of prior facilitation labs and some of the guests that we’ve had. What do you think of fondly when you think about past facilitation labs?

Kierra:

The beautiful thing about our facilitation lab is that we have a wide range of guest facilitators who have allowed us to experience different methodologies and activities that are really meaningful and really impactful. At the same time, they’re really vulnerable and inspirational.

Kierra:

So just one that sticks out or kind of rises to the top would be, we had the opportunity to have Keith McCandless, the incomparable Keith McCandless, founder of Liberating Structures, who brought grief walking to our session. And I believe this was back at the end of last year. It was all centered about having that experience of walking through grief and what those feelings look like and really immersing yourself and diving into those emotions and not closing the door on those thoughts or feelings, and having a support system, a safe support system, to do so. That was super, super emotional, but an incredible session that I feel was really needed at a pivotal time. So amazing to have him walk through our facilitation lab and present something so impactful to our community.

Kierra:

Another session that I can think of is Brave Legend and Megan Rose, who are relational facilitators that led us in an activity called “Honing your relating superpower and curiosity.” And that was all about really immersing yourself in what makes you curious and kind of finding and investigating what your overall superpower is as a human through facilitation.

Kierra:

Another standout facilitator that we’ve had is Sunni Brown. She’s the founder of Deep Self Design. She led an activity kind of encompassing the circle of trust, which really just uncovered what trust means to us as people and displaying the layers of trust and how it can evolve into and through our personal relationships in our lives.

Kierra:

So those are just a few that I can think of that really just speak to the wide variety of what we have in our lab for the space and for the opportunity for our facilitators and our audience to be able to connect in so many different levels and areas.

Douglas:

Yeah, it’s been really humbling to see so many great facilitators come through and connect with the community and share. The value is so immense, as a facilitator, to come in and see these excellent practitioners.

Douglas:

And also even novices. I think about my friend who is a jui-jitsu black belt, and he said he learns more from folks who show up on their first day than he does working with other black belts, because they do surprising things. They do things that are unexpected. They’re not playing by the rules because they haven’t learned the rules yet. And so when we get newbies …

Douglas:

I’ve had folks ask me, especially really advanced facilitators, they’ll say, “Why don’t you want to curate the community to be more focused on advanced facilitators?” And, well, my first response is that it’s not diverse, so our opportunities of understanding and learning are more reduced. And also, how do we groom and grow the future master facilitators if we don’t include everyone? And also, these new folks with new perspectives and new ideas will bring us shocking things.

Douglas:

And so that’s why we also not only curate people who are well-known, who’ve written books, like Liberating Structures and Gamestorming, but we also curate folks that are just getting started or just have a new, fun idea they want to try out, because there’s so much to learn from everyone. And then the more master facilitators can really enjoy giving feedback to folks that are just trying things out for the first time.

Douglas:

So I think it’s a little something for everybody.

Kierra:

Absolutely. Echoing that, I believe that our lab provides a unique opportunity for new voices and seasoned voices alike to know that they’re just as welcome to come and present something off the wall or trying something different that they wouldn’t necessarily try in their own workspaces. But they know, with us leaning into curiosity and leaning into discovery within the facilitation lab, they have the opportunity to try out different activities and methodologies that they wouldn’t really do in another setting or environment. We create a space where we don’t turn anyone away for how wacky or wild their idea is.

Douglas:

So I want to switch gears a little bit here. We talked a little bit about the weekly facilitation lab, where the community comes together once a week to explore and learn together and try things out. How else does the community gather and meet and come together?

Kierra:

So we have a really unique opportunity and space in addition to the facilitation lab, where we continue that conversation through our Slack channel. And there is a really cool opportunity for you to connect further with your peer facilitator that say you’ve sparked a connection with someone that you’ve had the experience of connecting with in lab, and you really want to network and chat further with that person in a safe forum. And through that, we continue our conversation through our general Slack channel.

Kierra:

On a weekly basis, I always conclude our facilitation labs with a facilitation lab followup post, which kind of overall recaps the session if you’re unable to make it. And there, we can openly discuss different topics of conversation on a forum like Slack; to be able to think about new ideas or questions that we may have, share resources. It’s a really cool opportunity for us to connect that much further outside of the facilitation lab.

Douglas:

And in addition to Slack, are there any other platforms that they can find us on as well?

Kierra:

Yes, we are super active on LinkedIn, as well as Twitter and Instagram. We’re definitely going to be ramping up that conversation on social as well in the weeks to come. But we’re definitely very, very active through LinkedIn as well.

Douglas:

Yeah. And the LinkedIn group and the Facebook group are great places for folks to connect and commune with other facilitators. So hope folks can join us there. It’s really great to see all the work that’s happening and the cool stuff you’re doing for the community.

Douglas:

Before we wrap up, I want to just hear a little bit about, what is the Bring A Buddy campaign?

Kierra:

I’m so glad you brought that up. It’s an opportunity for us to encourage our audience of the facilitation lab, with our peer facilitators who join in with us every week, to really call on them to invite colleagues, coworkers, neighbors to come to our facilitation lab and kind of broaden that community that much more.

Kierra:

I feel it’s only in our benefit to have people join our community with multiple backgrounds and experiences. So with that, we really want to encourage everyone to be a voice, to tell friends, if they have the time and space to do so, to come in and join our lab. We really want to increase that connection and offer that inclusivity that much more, and the only way that we can do that is by having unique voices continuously join our lab. So we always are calling on and really shouting to the rooftops about the Bring A Buddy campaign.

Douglas:

Yeah, I love that because I know that, for me personally, if I’m going to something with a friend that I already know really well, that I see at work or at church or at other gatherings and things that we do, if we’re already connecting in other places, they’re going to hold me accountable to these things I’ve learned and these buds know that I might mention during a “rose, thorn, bud.” And so it helps integrate the work and carry it forward more. So it’s not only about the community growing, but it’s also having a better experience as an individual.

Kierra:

Absolutely. There is so much richness in us providing the best experience that we can through the facilitation lab and assuring that everyone has an unforgettable experience when they join in every single session. So if we can encourage that or just make that experience that much better, then let’s do it. Let’s go for it.

Douglas:

Kierra, maybe share a little bit about what people can expect if they start to engage more; if they’re bringing a buddy often or they’re contributing to the Slack channel or the LinkedIn group and the Facebook group. I think we’re going to be recognizing folks for their efforts and contributions to community. What might they expect?

Kierra:

Yes, Douglas, you are spot on there. We’re so excited to be able to start this initiative for our community of facilitators. And through that, we are going to be implementing a token system where anytime a friend or facilitator is bringing a new face to the lab, you’re able to win tokens and redeem those tokens for special prizes and unique opportunities as far as workshops, that once you reach a certain number of tokens, you have the opportunity to win a Voltage Control t-shirt and any assortment of prizes as well.

Kierra:

So definitely, we’re thrilled to be able to offer this. And once you’ve redeemed the pinnacle of tokens, you even have the opportunity to have a one-on-one workshop with our master facilitators, and even you Douglas. So we’re excited to be able to bring this to our community and encourage new faces and new voices to come into our labs.

Douglas:

Excellent. Yeah. I’m really looking forward to that, recognizing our ambassadors and the folks that are leaning in and doing the most to support the community and earn those tokens. I can’t wait to do a one-on-one with you.

Douglas:

I guess to round things out, Kierra, I want to hear a little bit about, after attending all of these facilitation labs and seeing lots of different things and getting more and more immersed in facilitation, whether it’s one of our big events like [SOCOM 00:36:10] or with the National Science Foundation, I would say, what is your favorite facilitation tool or method out of everything you’ve seen?

Kierra:

Wow, that’s a really difficult question because there’s so many that come to mind, but I would say one that sticks out above most is really just having the opportunity to humanize and connect with facilitators as humans. I think it’s important to connect with someone on an emotional level with breaking down those barriers, and I think Authentic Relating has such a huge impact on finding that connection and honing in on seeing that person for who they are. In fact, I would recommend checking out our facilitation lab with the founder of Authentic Relating, Sara Ness. She’s remarkable.

Douglas:

So Kierra, I’m going to start wrapping up now, and I’ve got a couple of questions left for you. The first one is, what are you excited about right now?

Kierra:

Goodness. There is something about the season of spring that really just excites me with an element of rebirth and curiosity to start something new. And I think with all the exciting new voices that we have coming up in the facilitation lab leading into summer, it’s something that really excites me, and seeing all the incredible new faces and voices to our community is something that really just kind of sparks me up and gets me excited to form new connections and have the opportunity to connect that much further throughout the lab.

Douglas:

Yeah. It’s exciting to see where it’ll go. For sure.

Douglas:

So Kierra, in closing, what would you like to leave our listeners with?

Kierra:

I would just love to encourage everyone to leaning into positivity, curiosity and discovery as a whole. I think that we really speak to those values in the facilitation lab, and knowing that we have created an environment where facilitators can come together and ideate and troubleshoot in a safe community to do so, with testing out their methods and activities that they’re actively working on, we’re excited to have this unique opportunity and to continue it forward that much further.

Kierra:

And I would encourage everyone, if you haven’t had the opportunity, to attend one of our sessions. You can register for an upcoming facilitation lab at voltagecontrol.com/events, and you can also join our Facebook group and LinkedIn group to connect on those platforms. I hope to see you there.

Douglas:

Kierra, it’s been a pleasure chatting with you today. I really enjoyed having you on the show.

Kierra:

Thank you so much for having me, Douglas, and cheers.

Douglas:

Thanks for joining me for another episode of Control The Room. Don’t forget to subscribe to receive updates when new episodes are released. If you want more, head over to our blog, where I post weekly articles and resources about working better together: voltagecontrol.com.

The post Episode 40: Exploring the Facilitation Lab Experience appeared first on Voltage Control.

At some point in our career, we’ve all walked away from a meeting thinking this could have been an email. Not only do unnecessary meetings waste valuable time, but they also breathe negativity into company culture. The ability to properly manage meetings is often an overlooked skill, a skill that’s put to the test in virtual settings. As offices shifted to remote work, companies quickly realized that many leaders were ill-prepared to set up remote work environments that were both collaborative and effective. Some teams defaulted to more meetings, believing that less face time meant more screen time. These unstructured meetings create distractions and suffocate productivity.

Meetings are still an integral part of a company’s workflow, bringing ideas to fruition. But the way you meet can hinder or advance the quality and speed of your team’s deliverables. That’s why well-designed meeting systems need to be addressed and thoughtfully curated. So how do you know if your meeting systems are malfunctioning?

Here are a few warning signs that signal your meetings are headed towards a mechanical breakdown.

1. Meetings are scheduled just because.

Your vehicle’s check engine light illuminates when there’s a possible issue with your vehicle. Consider a purposeless meeting your check engine signal radiating at you. Meetings should be designed with a clear goal. Lack of one is a sign that meeting systems need to be readdressed.  One of our mantras at Voltage Control is “No purpose. No meeting.” Without purpose, there is no tangible goal to work toward. Team discussions around a vague objective are wasted time and money. In fact, workday hours and the number of meetings scheduled have both gone up since the pandemic, according to a recent study. 

Instead of utilizing meetings as a channel to merely check-in, there needs to be defined and measurable goals. Map out your objectives whether it be developing new concepts or arriving at a decision. As soon as the purpose is clear, you can create an agenda equipped with the necessary structure to achieve it.

2. Recurring Monday meetings are on the calendar.

In theory, Monday morning meetings are a great way to start the week off with your team. In reality, Mondays are one of the worst days to hold a meeting, followed closely by Friday afternoons. Data suggests that Tuesday afternoons tend to be the best day and time of the week to meet. Meeting logistics play an important role in effective meeting systems. The when, where, and hows can make or break the efficiency and effectiveness of your meeting. In addition to Zoom, make sure you incorporate relevant collaboration tools like Nutcache or Pastel. Test out the software prior to the meeting so you are familiar with all the features.

3. You get an invite. You get an invite. Everyone gets an invite.

Inviting everyone might feel like a nice thing to do, but it may not be the right thing to do. In fact, it could be detrimental to your participants’ success. Considering the meeting’s purpose (see 1.), invite the participants who will be directly affected by the meeting’s content or who can reasonably contribute to the problem that is being solved. Another strategy is making your meeting optional in certain situations. This ensures that every participant in the room feels that the meeting is relevant to them and that they have something constructive to contribute.

4. Most meetings are all talk, no action.

So often, meetings are filled with ideas and visions that never translate into meaningful action. But what many may lack to acknowledge is that we can all be productive during meetings, not just after. If there is not a clear and tangible “prototype” or idea to flush out and explore, then there is no reason to have a meeting in the first place. Prototypes don’t need to be physical. They can take various forms depending on your objective. A designer could curate a mood board while a sales team could amend lead distribution guidelines. Whatever prototype best fits your needs, plan your meeting to present it and work through its formation with your team.

5. You communicate in one style.

You may sense a typically excellent team member become frustrated or flustered during meetings. This may be a sign of a mismatch in their communication style and how they are being communicated within the moment. It’s human nature to communicate in the style best suited for us. We do so subconsciously. However, for effective meetings to occur, it’s essential to identify and adapt to the communication styles of your participants. While various studies may label communication styles differently, generally individuals fall into four buckets: Personal, Functional, Analytical, and Intuitive.

Understand what your participants respond really well to and what they need extra help with. The communication styles will highlight approaches on sharing feedback, assigning activities, and redirecting focus. In order for each individual participant to have a positive and productive meeting experience, you will need to adjust to the needs of their communication styles. This may mean presenting and collaborating differently than you would naturally.

6. There’s no collection of feedback.

Every team has its unique combinations of personalities and preferences. Therefore, there’s no set meeting systems that will work for everyone. Instead, you must create systems that work best for your entire team. In order to do so, meeting facilitators need to constantly collect feedback from all participants. Rather than hoping people will provide you feedback after the meeting, you need to intentionally design feedback into your meeting systems. 

While we can recognize the importance of debriefs, there is a wrench in this procedure…ego. Many times, the ego gets in the way of building out a constructive feedback loop. We all have moments where we lack sufficient self-awareness. By recognizing when your ego is hindering your growth, you will be able to move forward. Involving your team members’ feedback and improving will also signify to them your desire to be a better leader.

Zen and the Art of Communication Maintenance

If you’ve never audited your meetings before or haven’t since the mass adoption of remote working, it’s crucial that you evaluate your current meeting culture and meeting systems immediately. This may be a good time to hire a consultant or attend a workshop that will properly walk you through a full analysis of your meeting systems.

If you’ve already set up your meeting systems, be sure you are regularly evaluating and fine-tuning. As data grows and the modern workplace evolves, new tools and methods constantly develop. Resources such as the upcoming book, The Non-Obvious Guide to Magical Meetings, will offer you the latest expert recommendations on building functional meeting systems and transforming meeting perceptions. 

To celebrate their much-anticipated book, Douglas Ferguson and John Fitch, authors of Magical Meetings, are hosting a complimentary pre-launch experience on February 1 at 2:30 – 4 p.m. CT. RSVP for the party today and you’ll have an opportunity to snag a copy before it goes on sale everywhere on March 1. 

The post Are Your Meetings Breaking Down? appeared first on Voltage Control.