What's your story?

I've just returned from some travels in far north Australia, to the 'pointy bit', the most northerly tip of the country - Cape York.

The main image above I took at the Split Rock Aboriginal Art Galleries near the town of Laura in far north Australia. The history in the area goes back 40,000 years and there are many stories and milestones recorded in these rock art galleries. It's an important way for the culture to survive. The images capture information, convey ideas and tell significant stories. They're like a storyboard of what was happening at the time.

Last century, Walt Disney used storyboards to capture his innovative thoughts and map out the flow of his productions. In current day, it's mainly the advertising industry that makes use of this tool.

What delierate tools do you use to engage and connect with others - to capture your thinking, to convey information, to collaborate? 

A rough storyboard can map out the stages of a project, the desired outcomes, the key people involved, the timelines. A corporate product team I recently worked with created this storyboard and many others around the room. The team was highly engaged, transfixed on the images, contributing throughout the day. 

Help people see the possibilities, identify opportunities and collaborate. I believe we all have 'visual mojo'; we had it when we were younger children, happy to bring our thoughts, stories and ideas to life and put them on show for passers by. 
Where did it go? Get your visual mojo back.  For trainers, speakers, facilitators and project leaders who need to unite a team to a vision or gather group input, storyboarding is engaging and captivating - and it need only last a few weeks or months - not 40,000 years.  

Engaging, Building Buy in?

Engaging, building buy-in?
Cut.
Take 2.

I had the wonderful experience of acting in a couple of scenes of a Paramount feature film recently. There were lines to learn, a costume and makeup to wear, actions to remember and a conversation to have with another actor. And the starter-gun pressure of having to perform when the director called 'Set..... Action!' After a few takes with a different tone in my voice, varying hand gestures, louder or quieter volume and emphasis, it was … ‘a wrap’!
 
The day after the film shoot I worked with a group of leaders to help boost their engagement and buy-in skills with colleagues and project sponsors. We talked through how we don't often give ourselves the opportunity to try a second or third (or more…) take with our communication. 
 
It is ok to have a few takes at our engagement and communication. If you’ve asked a question and you don’t get the response you’re after, ask another, try again.
 
“Another way to ask that would be…” or “How about…..” or “Let me try that again…”
 
It’s not live television. It’s not a game show. We’re working with other humans and sometimes we have to re-work and re-take things. It will be ok.
 
Just pause, rewind, go again. With a second or third take, you’re demonstrating your commitment to the role and you’re genuinely working to engage and build buy-in. In your meetings, conversations and workshops this week, have a 'take two'... or more. 
 
The feature film? It will be released in November so I'll give you more details closer to the time - if I make it beyond the cutting room floor!
 
And thank you for the big thanks and feedback on last edition's highwire walker metaphor for meetings and conversations. Great to see it playing out for real this week for Nik Wallenda completing the Niagara Falls highwirecrossing. What an inspiring feat!

Every meeting and conversation is a balancing act

Watching someone handle a meeting and conversation well, is just like the skill of a highwire walker. Balancing, woah over balance, back to centre, wait, steady, step forward, balance, wait...

The almost easy part is moving along the wire to achieve your outcomes. You can run across if you like. But you might lose people along the way. Or, everyone can be having a great time and participating, you'll achieve some outcomes but they won't be on topic or relevant.

So the balance is between achieving the meeting or session outcomes; involving and engaging the people who are there (in the room or dialling in remotely); and keeping things on topic. It's a balance and you need to let some slight overbalancing happen here and there, but get back to centre, steady and then keep stepping forward.

In a meeting, workshop, conversation today, notice how the balance is going. Is anyone really participating? Are you getting anywhere? Are you on topic? How are all three coming together to the applause of the crowd?

FYI or more? How involved will people be...

When you engage with people, to get input or feedback or work with them to reach outcomes, how involved will they be? This week I’ve heard phrases like ‘consulting with’, ‘socialising the strategy’, ‘run it by them’ and ‘keep them in the loop’.
 
It’s vital that you plan for, and position, how involved people will be in you project, workshop, consultation. Position it clearly and upfront. You don’t want people coming along thinking their view is going to count if the ‘consultation’ is really about information. Or you ask about views and concerns but you have no way of incorporating them into the final design.
 
“Today’s meeting is for information only, to keep you up to date with progress…”
“Here’s what we want your input on; this part, not that part…”
“I’m getting your views on the project today and the ultimate decision will be made by the project sponsor...”
“We’re meeting with you to find out what your key concerns are so we can make changes to address them…”
 
Note the distinct differences:
Informing – it’s for information only so people understand what’s going on
Consulting – you seek feedback on the information, the alternatives or what might be decided on
Involving – you work with people to understand their concerns, and of course, you’re going to consider them
Collaborating – you work with people at every step of the way, working on alternatives and finding the solution with them
Empowering – you're giving the decision making power to them; you’ll do what they decide on.

It’s a broad spectrum from information through to empowering. And it’s much easier to engage and collaborate with people when you make it clear where you’re at.

 
So this is for your information (FYI). It’s up to you where you’d like to take it from here!

When you bring a team together this year...

Facilitating as a Leader

2012 is off and running - so in the important first few meetings, workshops or catch-up conversations you have this year, remember to make use of some of the super-skills of the facilitator to help you handle group dynamics and decision making.

Late in 2011, I designed and facilitated a one-day program on Facilitation Skills to help a client's team boost their management and people skills – particularly when handling projects and meetings.
 
Some of the most useful outcomes were related to getting group buy-in or input to decisions, generating ideas and ... most of all, getting out of discussion mode and into decision mode.

How much of a facilitating manager or leader are you? There are some great skills to learn. If you haven’t checked out the International Association of Facilitators free starter guide to facilitation – and how to have more productive meetings – this great PDF can be found here…
 
What to start doing
1. Check the expectations of everyone in the group or meeting as you start; why do they think they’re there?
2. Have an agenda – even a rough one that outlines how you’ll begin, how you’ll run the middle bit and how you’ll wrap things up.
3. Listen. Facilitators let people talk … and then they use a variety of techniques to help people summarise, wrap up or focus in on their point.
4. Go where there might be a bit of tension, rather than avoiding or running from it. Get it out there and it can be dealt with rather than hidden. Progress will be easier.
5. Use visuals (words + images) – either on a notepad, a flip chart or a whiteboard – to help the group or team ‘see’ where they’re at and where they're trying to get to.
 
Most of all, if you're getting the team together, be clear about why. Is it for information only, discussion, debate, decision making, strategising or brainstorming? They're all very different reasons and need different approaches to achieve great outcomes.