Mints, water, agenda. Where are the outcomes?

There's coffee on arrival, mints in little bowls, jugs of fresh water and an agenda on the tables - a gathering of the team for a strategy or team session. Perhaps it's a day or two, or you're fortunate enough to escape off-site in an effort to get fresh perspective and avoid workplace distractions.

The strategy or team session is a big investment of people, time, preparation, accommodation, travel, catering, audio visual support, time away from your role .... and on and on.

But simply getting people in the one venue and heading into the agenda doesn't get the best out of the group or that investment.

There are 7 problems I see with strategy and team sessions and they can all be avoided with pre-planning, creative input and the right resources. When I'm facilitating high-value strategy and team sessions for clients and providing input into agenda design before the event, there are key things I work to avoid. The difference in the feel and running of the session is certainly noticeable ... but the impact on outcomes achieved can be extreme.

The problems are in my new whitepaper - The 7 Problems with Strategy and Teams Sessions... and what to do about them.

Read it and act on it before you get the team together. 

Opening a can of worms

When your team or group gets together for some strategy, planning or important conversations, often what you plan to work on or think you need to work on is not the real issue. Real issues can be sitting below the surface.
 
In a planning session with a client recently we talked about what might be below the surface. ‘I don’t think we want to go there’, ‘that’s a can of worms and it’s more trouble than it’s worth’, ‘if we go there we’ll never get out!’ they said.
 
There can be a feeling that some of those big issues or topics will be too big and you’ll never get back on track, or it will be too touchy or difficult. Sometimes you might think it’s not important for the work you’re doing anyway… or you can plan the strategy without having to go there.
 
But time and time again in strategic planning sessions, retreats and company fireside chats with clients, the value of ‘going there’ can be seen. 
 
A board team I worked with who had a bright and creative agenda mapped out for the weekend, needed to take a right hand turn early on to deal with some fundamental financial and strategic issues. We went there.  Our original agenda and plan shifted and changed. For some, that was uncomfortable. But we did what was needed… and we got back and continued on.

One of my clients recently said : “Lynne was indeed the glue that held the discussion together while at the same time allowing the conversation to go where it needed to go, as touchy as it was...”
  
Good facilitation skills will give you the confidence to go to that topic and work with the team to address it.
But if you're not going to open up the can, then at least name and say what the can of worms is - a bit like reading the ingredients label on a product from a supermarket shelf. And there's a lot more of that happening these days!
 
A helpful meeting tool to start with the facts, move to opinions, generate ideas and commit to actions is my Facilitator 4-Step from a few issues back. 

So go on, open the can. Most cans of worms only have a couple of worms in them anyway and once they’re out, so many other things are easier to address and clearer to tackle. And the energy you now have – because you’re not stifling or dancing around those worms – is better redirected to the real game, the other issues and the important work of the team. Now where is that can opener? Oh, it's got a ring pull top - great!

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!

A Presentation Unplugged

It was a brave and creative leader who took up the challenge I gave him recently when I said: 'turn off the data projector; deliver your entire presentation unplugged."

This leader of a national team was about to embark on the classic roadshow; you know, fly about the country or region at great expense (airfares, transfers, accommodation) and present to a room of the organisation's leaders. This room of leaders is there at great expense too! They've stepped away from their work, projects and teams and are about to give their time and attention to your message. You hope. 

So without the safety net of his slide show, he unplugged the technology and went with his prepared points, key messages, structures, stories and examples ... plus a flip chart and a thick black chisel point marker.

A 30-minute presentation was broken down to six flip charts that he created in the moment. They included: where the business was now, the challenges ahead, how the business was addressing the challenges and what the call to action was for the people across the organisation. His presentation was scripted and structured using this one-pager which you're free to use.

Rather than those good people snoozing in their seats, they listened and interacted with him. Best of all he said, "they came up at the end of the presentation and pointed to the flip charts; they talked about what I'd presented, they asked questions, they engaged!"

You know you need to reduce your reliance on that data show presentation and to stop that 'click and talk' syndrome, but what do you use instead? Start with a good structure to give your thinking clarity; clarity about key messages. Aim for less wordy content. Get yourself a thick black chisel tip marker and use some strong visuals, created in the moment. Get your thinking clear and they'll get your message. 

Getting to decision and action

You know when you're in a meeting or conversation and things don't seem to be getting anywhere, at the speed you'd like? You know the round and round thing? 'Didn't we just cover that?' 'OK, she said that before, let's move on!' 'When, if ever, will we decide on something?' 

I wanted to give you a valuable tool for meetings and conversations that helps you keep things moving, towards decisionmaking. I call it 'The Facilitator 4-Step'. It's simple, it's clear and you just need to signal with the group what stage of the meeting or conversation topic you're at. These four steps will help you everytime, if your meeting goes for five minutes or even for a full day. I've used it in team workshops, strategic planning days, community meetings, even one-on-one conversations. It was a part of some recent facilitation training I delivered for project management teams to help them move from talking about it, to acting on it!

Facilitator 4-Step
1. Facts and Evidence : what do we know? Deal with the facts first, whether you're reviewing what this is all about or you need to clarify the details. Hold back on opinions for now.
2. Discussion and Opinion : what do we think? Now you can let the discussion and opinions flow...! Identify common themes, capture thoughts and views. Hold off on solutions for now.
3. Ideas and Opportunity : what could we do? If you need to generate ideas and solutions, now is the time. Make sure you don't cycle back to opinion and discussion, unneccesarily. 
4. Actions and Commitments : what will we do? When there are decisions to be made, now is the time. The facts are out there, you've discussed thoroughly, come up with ideas, now act!

The Facilitator 4-Step is available here as a visual I created using Brushes on the ipad; you can save or print it. You can use the questions in blue to explain to the group where you're at. 

You can get to decision and stop the round and round. But make sure you capture views and opinions along the way too. No steamrolling ok? And if you're meeting to decide, decide to follow a process that will actually get you all somewhere...  phew!