To draw out from others

How are you at the skill of elicitation? Can you draw information and contributions out of people? 

Why elicit : because they’ve got something to contribute or expertise we need to tap into. 

Elicitation isn’t just asking one question and then waiting for the answer. It’s more often about an ongoing conversation, back and forth. It’s getting to the point, finding the key information, uncovering the challenge or problem or insight. 

We can’t wait until people speak up or ‘lean in’.

To elicit is to actively collaborate with someone to help them contribute and give. 

It’s asking, encouraging, clarifying, listening, hearing, repeating back, wondering, probing, asking, listening...

The problem is, we often don’t allow the time even though it’s a key component of engaging others and uncovering important insights.

Don’t wait for people to eventually feel safe enough to speak up. 

Take the time and plan for how and when you will engage, ask and elicit from others. 

‘Any questions’ isn’t the only question

If there’s silence, people may not know what to ask; perhaps they don’t have anything to ask!

Maybe they’d like to share a story or an insight or make a comment. 

Comments and opinions have had a bad rap over recent years. 

Remember what would happen at a conference? Someone would approach the microphone and they didn’t have a question; they had a comment. They wanted to add their view and we’d get snappy about that. “Hey dude, questions only please!”

Why don’t we want to accept comments and opinions? Why are we only after questions? 

Question and answer is an interview or interrogation. It’s not really a dialogue or conversation. 

It’s a limited view of contribution, participation and interaction. 

Let’s allow anything!

I’ll often say ‘so ... questions, concerns, comments, compliments, complaints?’ 

That usually brings a smile to people and opens up the scope for all that is invited and welcomed. 

And then come all of their wonderful contributions, stories, learnings and insights. 

Magic!

‘Any questions’ is not the only way we can engage and connect with people. 

Invite more. 

Who engages first

In a meeting or conversation, who goes first? 

Should I be actively engaged, in anticipation that you may or may not be engaging? 

Or should you be so engaging that you capture and hold my attention? 

Or can we both pay just enough attention to get by? 

So who’s job is engagement? 

The crowd says, “it’s everyones job!”, yet we still kind of suck at it. Engagement levels continue to remain low in Organisations the world over. 

Paying attention is one thing; being interested and connected to a topic, project, people or idea over a period of time is something else.

It takes work, energy and ongoing attention. 

How do we engage with people more effectively? 

Some say 
- Tell more stories
- Show more empathy 
- Have more conversations
- Ask more questions
- Focus on what’s in it for them. 

And what else?

What’s your tip - how can we be more engaging in these times?

What's important to 'capture' visually?

I'm often asked how I know when something is important to capture using visuals. This 'graphic recording' or visual approach to working with people in groups and teams is powerful in that for me, it primarily helps people hear each other. 

People get to truly 'see' what is being said. 

So out of everything being said, how do I know which parts are important to a group and which parts to leave out?

Context - What is this whole conversation about for this group - not for me, for them? Keep this in mind - it truly is about the 'big picture'. When you're clear about their purpose, reason, why... you'll be put in the picture about what is important. So take note of the title of the session, the role of the team or the speaker/presenter, the mission or purpose of the meeting or conversations. Whatever is important for them, needs to be listened out for.

Repetition - when topics, key phrases and content are repeated (by different people - in conversation, presentation, printed material or discussions) I know there is some importance there, so I'll capture it. 

Pause... talk. When people give a little pause before they present their important phrase or word, I'm listening out, in a BIG way. A common situation is when people say things like ... "I think what this team needs is <tiny pause> more accountability.' And often the words 'more accountability' are delivered a little louder, a little faster or a little slower or in a slightly higher or lower tone. Listen out for the pause or other voice changes outlined in my earlier blog post on what's important and what's waffle. They are a perfect indicator that the speaker is trying to say 'this is important' - so I'll capture that. 

You can't capture everything - you need to distill, delete, rearrange or economise, so these tips will help you on your way to doing this. 

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?