Acknowledging the anxiety

Many people are feeling it; the anxiety of returning to workplaces, crowds, elevators and common areas. 

Do you ignore it? 
Do you say something? 

If you say something, might you make it worse or bring into focus something that’s better left as it is? 

In tough times particularly, we must spend time interacting, engaging, asking and listening. 

It’s a facilitation technique to acknowledge what is there - not ignore it. 

I recall I was facilitating a corporate workshop on the day of the 9/11 attacks. I may have been in Australia, half a world away, but it was a global event. 

Our workshop started later, slower, a revised agenda, more breaks ... and less expectations. We talked a lot about the events of the day. 

We worked with what was there, not pushing forward with previous priorities. 

In these times of increased anxiety, you’ve got to say something. 

Go slower. 
Ask. 
Listen. 
Wait. 
Pause. 
Reflect. 
Wait. 

That means the rush and push of people needs to slow a little while we adapt.

This article about the ‘spectrum of feelings’ people have in the return to offices from Digiday outlines what’s making people feel anxious and some tips on how to respond. 

Build engagement slowly

Starting with a bang in a meeting may seem like the way to get people’s attention - but the reverse can also be true. As we join the next meeting in our diary, we bring with us a hangover from the previous one.

The previous meeting could have been overwhelming with too much information, or frustrating in how decisions weren’t made. It could have been time wasting or unclear or .... highly entertaining, interactive and uplifting!

Every meeting leaves us with a kind of hangover that we need to unload or process. The guide then for facilitating or leading better meetings is to build engagement s-l-o-w-l-y. Slow and steady style.

That means:

> Not putting people on the spot at the start, or ever

> Not making them look foolish, and

> Not making them wrong.

It’s easy to put people off or get them offside in meetings - online or otherwise Ramp or build engagement with participants slowly, steadily ... even if you’re in a hurry to make things happen. There is plenty going on for people. Lead meeting speed safely.

Don't assume knowledge nor ignorance

When we work with others, collaborate, co-design, we don't know what other people's knowledge is, what they've experienced, what they know.

We make a great assumption if we 'start at the beginning' of a topic, or waffle on with giving people 'some context', telling 'our story' or flat out don't stop talking for 15-25-45 minutes.

What if they already know what you're talking about?

Oh but we can also jump ahead, speaking of things in ways people don't know; they aren't 'in the loop', don't know about this and can feel left out or left behind. This isn't pandering to snowflakes or patronising precious peeps. It's the reality of a world where we have incredible diversity, difference, and uniqueness - in a single group, gathering or team!

The answer is to... have a DIALOGUE, a conversation with people, rather than delivering a MONOLOGUE or preachy-presentation of information you decide to dump.

In that way you'll find out where they're at and therefore... where to begin. You can then adjust throughout the CONVERSATION, this talk between 2 or more people.

Enjoy your conversations today...

It’s not just a meeting

It’s an opportunity for consultation, collaboration, co-design. For information sharing, attitude adjusting and belief shifting. It’s an opportunity to make the workplace safer to speak up.

It’s an opportunity to have a conversation not a presentation. To turn the data show off, to pass on the PowerPoint deck and instead engage, ask questions.

It’s an opportunity to hear what would improve their experience as an employee, contractor or team member, colleague, customer, user or client. How you could support them more, better, differently.

It’s an opportunity to bring people together, not p*ss people off.

A meeting is a place and space where you can do work together, collectively. But when most meetings are poorly run, boring and unproductive, it’s up to you the leader, to get the development you need to make better work of every one of the meetings you lead.

Learn the subtle, nuanced, yet complex skills of facilitation. They’ll be so glad you did.

What reading will you do to prepare you for the future

The Institute for the Future continues to urge us to prepare for the future skills we'll require to cope with uncertainty, change and new ways of working. If you can't zip out of the office to complete a 'Future of Work Diploma', what are you doing to educate yourself so you're ready? Over the weekend, during the week, on holidays, people often find gaps in the day - after breakfast, waiting in the car, in airport queues, after dinner, waiting for the weather to change/clear/change again.

All of these times - and more - are opportunities to be taking on bite-sized chunks of insight and learning.

Our brain loves this; much better than cognitively overloading ourselves or filling up our sponges with too much information in one hit.

So, what are you reading... and planning to read?

Here are some ideas for you I've worked on over the past six years...

(Hey pssst! The purple one is available for FREE download via my website; the others, where you usually get your books or via my website).