Responsible or accountable?

Who's accountable? Who will be taking the ultimate responsibility? Who do we need to consult with?

These were questions I heard a few times this week when I was facilitating large-scale workshops with businesses and project teams. Sometimes I was asking the questions and sometimes the participants were.

When it comes to the ACTION part of a conversation, meeting or workshop, all the things that need to be done may seem detailed and complex. I like to step through a series of actions that help a team build up to making big impactful decisions.

One tool I use often is known by the acronym RACI - you may be familiar with it : Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed. It's also known as a Responsibility Matrix.

Here's a visual RACI that I use in workshops and notes to help a team segment and separate out their thinking on responsibilities. (A lot of talk time can be taken up trying to work out the broad categories of action, let alone putting names next to them!) And identifying who is responsible and accountable early on in the process is a big help!

I enjoy help a team through their responsibilities and commitments stage of a workshop; I don't make the commitments for them, but I will provide a process that helps them work out the different types of responsibilities. 

Google RACI if you'd like to read up more on the process and be sure to print out my visual RACI (permanently on the Resources section of my website) and use it when you're next working out what needs to happen with actions and responsibilities. Now you're informed about RACI... you'reresponsible to do something with it!

Hey, it looks like this...

In a meeting with a client team this week, we were strugglig to understand the crux of a project, the keystone of a piece of work.

Then one of the managers jumped to his feet.

"It looks like this!" he said. His energy and enthusiasm shifted up a level. He stepped to the whiteboard, picked up a marker and drew a circle with two lines leading to it... he finished off with some smaller circles around the edge of the larger circle.

With this quick image, the talk and questioning of the previous 20 minutes were crystallised. So little effort yet with such a huge impact. The power of helping people see what you're thinking.

You've stepped up to a white board or flip chart before, but when you do, there are problems lurking.

My new whitepaper 5 Ways to more engaging flip charts and whiteboards explains how to avoid the problems and make your visual solution more engaging.

Download the whitepaper here and this week, step up, jump up and help people really see what you're thinking.

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?