How to Get Started: Introducing new Collaboration Methods at Your Company
This is what I did and it worked really well
Have you read about facilitation but have not actually applied much? I meet people like this in my coachings. They are worried about what colleagues will think and they are worried to look stupid.
Today I share a recipe with you that worked for me.
Seven years ago I had a product to design that needed a number of people to collaborate who had never really spoken with each other. I organized co-locations and “locked” everyone in a room for a day periodically.
If you also want to improve collaboration in your company, this is how you can start your first facilitated session:
1 Tell the truth: You want to run an experiment
Example: “I would like to try out a new way of running this session.”
2 Tell them why to try?
Explain what benefit you hope to get e.g. progress/align/decide faster.
Example: “My hope is that we will get a common understanding of the challenge faster and document better.”
3 Explain how it will be?
Explain what you invite participants to do, e.g. write on sticky notes.
Example: “I will invite you to write your thoughts on a sticky note in silence before we talk.
I will explain in more detail how to do it later. It is pretty simple.”
4 Describe what is the potential benefit of this method?
People want to know why they should leave their comfort zone.
Example: “The reason is that some people need quiet time to think. Others think while they talk. I want to give the quiet thinkers more headspace. Thinking and writing thoughts down in silence first is called parallel thinking.
There is a chance that we save time and everybody gets to share their thought-through perspectives.”
5 Ask for permission
There is something about explicitly asking people to buy into the experiment. An active ‘yes’ makes them feel in control. If you make yourself vulnerable by asking for feedback, even better!
Example: “Are you open to try something new with me today? Worst case scenario is that it feels a bit awkward and does not add value. I would also love to get your feedback in the end because I want to get better at running workshops.”
Explaining all this up front will reduce anxiety and resistance from your team.
There are MANY people who are book-smart about facilitation.
Don´t be one of them!
Try with your friendliest colleagues when stakes are low.
Will you?
If you don´t dare, DM me and we find a path that works for you. I am good at finding a way that feels doable for you. 😀