Get outta the office (or hotel)

Think different to boost engagement

Not to put a dampener on hotel conferencing, when you do have to get people together, hotel function rooms are great for this.

But I challenge you to break the cycle ocassionally.

Meet in a different venue for a change.

Shift the agenda, change what people are expecting and reap rewards with renewed interest and connections.

Community Theaters

Not only are these great for practical activities - I use them for public speaking training and improvisation skills workshops - but they are unique and different to a stuffy auditorium. Try a team planning day with no PowerPoint. Use the stage, lighting, props, costumes and theatre setting to communicate and develop plans and strategies. I've used six different theatrical venues in Melbourne in the past year alone and love their rustic, creative and rich environment. 

How many characters have walked the boards there?

Theaters are great venues to talk about change, performance, stepping up, or running through or rehearsing large scale communication plans and strategies.

No catering hassles. Bring in your own catering or have the team eat local.

Sports of all sorts

Tennis courts, basketball courts, netball, volleyball... team building activities, sure. But these venues are wonderful creative platforms to stage and facilitate team events, meetings and planning sessions.

You can set tables up on the court - pending the venue's rules - but they help take the team out of the staid hotel environment and put them in another space, physically and mentally.

I've made great use of

• Football club rooms and social rooms
• Rowing clubs
• Life saving clubs
• Yacht clubs
• Golf clubs

Restaurants and cafes

We know hotels and clubs often have function rooms but so many restaurants do too. Depending on group sizes I've used a few different restaurants across Australia. The food is often very good (it’s what they do after all), and some venues can often have the most wonderful outlooks.

Get natural light into your rooms. You owe it to the humans participating.

Too many big function rooms are windowless, soulless, urgh, dull!

Museums, studios and galleries

When there are pieces of art or exhibitions adorning the walls, use the floor space. Set up tables in an environment reeking of creativity, history, intellect and inight.

So inspiring! Link in to a theme and you're away!

A memorable conference event and meeting in a motor museum comes back to my mind!

Community links

Connect to the local community by hiring community facilities like art centers, community centers and community halls, visit hospitals, child car centers and other community providers in your catchment area or local neighborhood.

We could get religious for a moment and that would open a whole range of other opportunities - and cans of worms - but many religious halls, churches and meeting spaces are brilliant!

If it's BIG...

If you're saying, yes but our group of 2000 delegates won't fit in a community theatre, then book out the CBD arts theatre that holds 2000! Book the sports stadium that seats 2000. A memorable conference dinner for me was in Barcelona, a gala dinner on the grounds that Olympic football had been played on just weeks earlier. Now that was BIG and it was tres cool.

Out there … way out there

Take your 2000 delegates outdoors. It can be done regardless of the weather. Like the financial institution that took its team of a few hundred into the harsh Australian outback. It can be done.

I’ve been to a wonderful training workshop and meeting in a shearing shed in regional Australia complete with flip charts and post it notes on the corrugated iron walls.

There was another rough outdoor community conversation held in a big wall-less shed in outback Australia. It was soon to be a cow shed, to keep the cows cool in summer and warm in winter so they could chill out and produce better prices at market. The cows weren't arriving for another two weeks. It was ours before it was theirs. Most memorable! And the topic need not be about cows or farming. It could be about expanding market, sustainability, connecting with our customers. Or helping our customers chill out so we get a better price at market!

Warehouses, factories, distribution centers, storage facilities

Think laterally and creatively. If you're going to the trouble to dress a hotel venue and theme up gala dinners and presentations, then create the meeting space wherever you like. A local venue that is vacant and up for lease proved to be a wonderful space for a design thinking, collaborative team workshop. They were able to work in an environment where 'anything goes'. We were able to break the conventions of how you need to behave when you're seated at a table in a posh hotel. 

Planes, trains and automobiles

There’s an old steam train you can hire in my city, Melbourne that is so cool for a team event – not just a party, but talk about the journey of change, shifting focus, stying on track… aaah the puns!

An old DC3 plane also takes off from our city airport for a wonderful perspective. Talk about a ‘helicopter’ view or taking a bigger perspective! Get the team up there so they can get the view!
You can always have a mobile meeting on a bus or a boat or enjoy a slow and strategic cruise up a river, across a bay or simply anchor in a safe harbour.

All quiet now...

Libraries, meditation retreat venues and other types of retreats in the hills can be inspirational, quiet, reflective. A pleasant shift from the ‘blah blah blah’ of all-talk workshops and conferences.

Anything is possible with some creative thinking and the willingness to get outta the office or hotel.

Go on! Inspirational environments are waiting for you and the team.

The 9 Elements of Collaboration - explained

Yes, here they are, the 9 Elements of Collaboration I presented at the International Association of Facilitators conference in March this year. While I spoke about seven 'continents' (it had a global theme after all!) there were an extra two topics I slipped in!

This visual of the 9 Elements is a real 'go to' for me. I talk through this visual whenever I'm meeting with a client, leader or team who are planning their strategic session, their team day or their 'get everyone on the same page' event. 

It's much easier to plan out an agenda when they know what they want to achieve, and I can be sure we design a session that's actually built for collaboration. 

Here's what the 9 elements are all about:

1. Kick Off : be sure to start the event, session or workshop with some pizzazz and energy. This does not mean a welcome speech from the leader or CEO ! That is not usually energetic - it may be, depending on the leader, but likely not. Kick off with music, an inspiring video, a creative performance or something energising that sets the scene for what this event is all about. I've used improv performers, musicians, drummers, actors... whatever you use, don't ignore the kick off. It's important to start with a bang!

2. Singular : help people settle in to the day with an activity they can do alone. Perhaps a reflection on what they want to get out of the session, what their expectations are, what they bring to the team, where they are at. This helps those who are slower to 'jump in' to group yee-ha activities. I particularly like using a singular activity because it goes against the over-used "let's all sit in a circle and talk - listening to one person".

3. Social : OK, now we can mix and mingle and get 'groupy'. It could be a networking activity, a meet your colleagues, a speed connections activity or some improv games. Whatever you do, ease in to the socialising aspects of the event. I never like to throw people in to a 'ok, everyone talk to everyone' activity. It can be a harsh shift from waking up in the morning to being thrust into group stuff. 

4. 5 and 6.

Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic : these are the must-have elements to any training, workshops, sessions, conversations. You can't just sit and talk and listen. Get people looking at things, hearing things and doing things. 

Visual: I'm a huge fan of visual thinking and graphic recording so I'll often provide visual facilitation as a standard part of my facilitation. Here I capture the unfolding story and content of the workshop, giving participants the threads to follow so they'll do better work in the session. But other visuals could be photographs, illustrations, videos, artwork, tangible objects and props. I make sure everyone has the tools for visuals at their tables - post it notes, markers, note books, photo cards...

Auditory: This is about hearing things - and other people's voices doesn't count! Unless they're singing! Introduce other forms of sound like music, music, music. A participant in a recent workshop said to me "I'd love to come to one of your parties; you have the most diverse music I've ever heard!" Yes, diverse people in the room so I was playing world music, jazz, country & western, pop, classical, blues... and with some teams and groups we trade pre-recorded music for live music. Why not try team drumming? Greg at Rhythm Effect is superb. 

Kinesthetic: Touching, feeling and doing things is such an important way for many, many people to learn and connect and contribute. It might not be your preference, but then it's not all about you! Be sure to have things for people to do like activities to work on, practical tasks to complete, space to move around in, things to touch and play with (Lego, Play Doh, props and items, tools, abstract objects, costumes, accessories, products... use your imagination)

And shift it around, shift it up. Go from visual to kinesthetic to singular, to a social auditory activity, back to singular visual... 

7. Logical: Give the agenda, structure and processes of the day some order and logic. For those who gather and sort information in this way, they'll be looking for the process. Give it to them. The 9 elements of collaboration - that's a logical process. Set up things with some logic, flow, step by step and order. I always start with the agenda on a flip chart - even if they have it written on a page in front of them - then we can tick off the chunks as we go through. Then I find the steps and chunks in the sub-topics so there is logic and process within logic and process. 

8. Verbal: I address verbal last because it's the thing that gets done the most - too often in fact. You cannot expect people to jump up and down for joy, wanting to collaborate when you hit them with a whole heap of verbal blah blah from the leadership team. Or worse, you make people sit in a circle all day and make them listen to everything everyone else has to say. You have to change it up. You can still talk, just mix it up with the other elements. When I'm providing graphic recording services I get to work alongside facilitators and leaders who are facilitating - there's way too much verbal going on out there. Talk at you, talk about you, trying to talk with you, talk talk. The balance MUST shift so that other elements can be incorporated so you'll engage and inspire and get better outcomes. 

9. Wrap-Up: When you started strong at the beginning of the day, you opened a loop in people's minds. It's time to finish with a bang too, so that you can close up the loop, link everything together nicely just like a beautifully wrapped gift. Help people make sense of it all. Give the a natural yet obvious conclusion to the event. I shudder and cringe when events run over time and the wrap up, conclusion, next steps and call to action is undercooked and people are left, flat. You must finish with air and inspiration and energy to build commitment and action. Otherwise the big bucks you've invested in getting people there has been diluted. Shame about that. 

9 Elements of Collaboration - there are certainly more and different things you can do but these are a base, a must-do and a must-think-about.

Just because you've finally found a date in the diary when everyone's available, don't think that's the most important thing about the day! What you'll do and how you'll help them collaborate is what's important. Give sufficient attention to that and you'll get much higher levels of engagement, deeper levels of commitment and you'll create a momentum that's unstoppable.  

Solo Operator : Diversify or Die

I'm mentoring some sole business owners through a 10 week program in selling your expertise and at the core of it are a few key principles. 

The principles are almost paradoxes, or ironies or those things that are true one moment and then untrue the next.

While they need to focus and target their efforts to serve a specific market, I'm also encouraging them to diversify or die. 

Of these business owners, one is a coach, one is a facilitator, another is a trainer. 

I'm encouraging the coach to stop being 'just a coach', start offering what they know through other modes of delivery, like writing and speaking and training. They know so much, they're so talented, but they're running out of puff. There are only so many people they can coach in a day and only so much a corporate client will pay them once they're on the corporate coaching panel. 

For the facilitator, a similiar thing is happening. They love working with community organisations but they're finding that despite some briliant positioning, they're running out of clients that have the cash to spend on a great facilitator. They're doing 'mates rates' and 'cheap days' and they're working very hard, for little return once they take out expenses. So it's time to diversify or die. They know great stuff - they can train others, mentor up and coming facilitators and speak on community engagement and change processes. 

The trainer is just plain tired. Full days of contract training, on their feet talking, thinking, walking, listening. All day, every day. They're not able to earn much more per day than the 'going rate' and they too need to diversify or die. They have brilliant skills and knowledge. They could be speaking on the topics they know about, mentoring leaders, or shifting into the facliitation space, given they work well with groups. 

The working world of today demands people with flexibility, insight and agility. You can't be everything to everyone - that dilutes your offer - but you will need to be able to deliver more than just one track, to survive when you're a solo operator. 

I think the expert model of selling your expertise through a number of modes is a winner. Just this week I've facilitated, presented, coached, trained and consulted. And it's only Wednesday. I love the diversity not just for the changing scenes, but for the longevity and flexibility it provides in the long run.

Diversify, definitely. 

Cross the silo

"Breaking down silos" : I reckon this action or need comes up in almost every organisational workshop I facilitate.

Teams and leaders want to break down the information barriers that exist across organisations and get some 'cross-functional love' happening! You know, communication, engagement, co-operation, collaboration. 

I like to simply start with communication. Let's communicate. 

Go find out what they're up to, who they are, how they do it. 

Do that before you start pushing your side of the world and what you want. 

Dr Stephen Covey said 'seek first to understand'; that's habit number five of his seven habits. He says once you understand, you can be understood.

I think you can be soooo much more persuasive and influential when you understand the other silo. You'll then know how to position or frame what you need to work or collaborate on.

It's foolish to leap out and try to cross the chasm over to another silo with your arguments and defences and workplace waffle jammed in a folder under your armpit. 

Go over there first. Cross the silo. Find out what's happening - with no agenda of your own but to find out. 

Then come back.

Cross the silo again. Take some more of your silo folks over this time. 

There is no leaping required. 

You can walk. 

Look! It's amazing! There is a walkway that connects silos. You just need to to walk over and start communicating. That's how you cross the silo.  

'Well that's nice but I don't draw'

If you've checked out any of the sort of work I do you'll see I help people communicate and engage with each other - better than they're doing now. 

Visual thinking is part of it. 

There's a lot of 'I don't draw' out there when I arrive in a workplace to run a half or full day session on visual thinking. 

Actually folks, it's not about the drawing. It's about the THINKING. 

Say it like this : 'I don't think'. 

Well... you do. 

If you don't think that visuals can play a part in how you engage or think or sell your message and thinking to someone else, you can read some more here and here.

When you use visual skills, you'll really 'get it' because the people you're communicating with 'get it'. The process of engaging with them will be so much sweeter - even if you're having a rip roaring disagreement with them!

And I think it's so selfish to say 'I don't draw' - as if it's all about you! When you're working to communicate with someone it's actually all about them! So it's time to move on folks....

Untangle Thinking

Get Things Straight

Make Something of It