Thought Experiments: getting deeper feedback on ideas

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Scientists at the BioAirNet project were exploring the idea of producing a position statement on biological particulate matter as a component of healthy air.

“As a team we were agreed about the benefits of writing such a position paper but we were conscious of the dangers of being an echo chamber and before we developed it further we wanted to invite others from the global community to comment on the idea”

Professor Sean Tyrrel, Cranfield University, Co-Investigator BioAirNet

Co-Designing a Process

At this point the team engaged the services of Christine Bell, an independent facilitator at Centre for Facilitation, to co-design how they might approach this engagement.

The process needed to be:

  • Short – the target group would be senior scientists, researchers and policymakers who would be time poor.
  • Virtual – participants would be invited to join the session from around the world.
  • Secure – it was important to create an environment where people felt safe to share their opinions without the risk of being shouted down by others or having their opinions shared beyond the session.

The facilitator proposed a simple dialogue method and mapped out and developed the process with the team using a digital planning tool. The process included a short piece of preparation activity focused on reading and reacting to the position paper using a simple digital whiteboard (Google Jamboard)

“It was great to see that colleagues choose to engage with the Jamboard and this helped to deepen the conversation during the virtual session where time is at a premium”

Professor Sean Tyrrel

The Thought Experiment Session

The virtual session, termed the Thought Experiment, lasted two hours and featured Professor Tyrrel as project leader, so he could set the context and address any technical questions. The session was recorded, and a viewing session set up for the rest of the team for later in the day.

“Having a facilitator moderating the session was invaluable because it meant I could focus on listening to the comments without needing to respond or steer the conversation. Having developed the process with Christine, she knew what we needed from the conversation and made sure that the conversation was inclusive”

Professor Sean Tyrrel

The experts attending this event appreciated the professional facilitation and how this supported them to contribute and build on ideas thoughtfully and in a structured manner.

“A tremendously useful meeting. Good progress was made to understand the different perspectives we all have – and most importantly – how to move ahead”

Gareth wYN GRIFFITH – Chair in Mycology, Aberystwyth University

Results

As a result of the Thought Experiment, the team spent time discussing the issues raised. The experiment threw up mostly predictable challenges, BUT the team were struck by the intensity in the discussion at times.  

“The fact that the BioAirNet team was not steering the discussion was invaluable”

Professor Sean Tyrrel.

The participants gave more focus on outputs and next steps than had been originally planned, and this helped to shape the BioAirNet team’s response. The team recognised that what was important to them was the establishment of a shared consensus in the network that most felt able to support.

Photo by Riccardo Annandale on Unsplash

Co-Designing with Stakeholders

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Many research projects seek to involve external stakeholders in the later stages of the research proposal process, often very near to the funding submission date. This means that the projects often miss out on their valuable input.

However, our recent project with Dr Angelina Sanderson Bellamy, Associate Professor of Food Systems of the Department of Applied Sciences at the University of the West of England (UWE) sought to bring stakeholders involved with the co-design of the proposals at a much earlier stage.

Dr Sanderson Bellamy enlisted the Centre for Facilitation, in her words, “to access expertise to help with planning the workshop activities so that we could achieve our objectives and then again help with the actual running of the event, so that I could focus on the content of what was happening, rather than the smooth flow of the activities.”

The project team from UWE worked hard to convince stakeholders to participate in what was an innovative structure for this kind of work.

Group of people working around a table
Co-Design in Action

The project

After two virtual collaboration sessions that helped to scope out the project outlines, fourteen researchers and 12 food system stakeholders, including community activists, farmers, and representatives of the city council, joined us in co-design on the first day of a residential, with an open invitation to stay over and continue refining the work on day two.

One notable learning insight from a unanimously positive first day involved one of the research teams agreeing to rethink an original idea following insight from stakeholders who had already seen a similar approach fail. This was only possible thanks to the process providing enough time and space for all attendees to share their ideas, concerns and experiences.

The outcome

This inventive approach engaged stakeholders in a way in which they had never been involved before, developing proposals rather than being asked to support a pre-written proposal without time to properly scrutinize what is being suggested.

The client was delighted to have the benefit of professional facilitation, stating that one major advantage of using a facilitator was that they could “shoulder the burden of moving us through the agenda of activities and keeping participants on task.”

Dr Sanderson Bellamy reported that the sessions helped the stakeholders appreciate the value of working with UWE, whilst the University itself “now understands the value of the process that I proposed…and the value of building stronger connections between researchers across the network.”

The future

The projects resulting from the sessions are being developed, supported by small funding pots, with a view to growing and achieving further funding in the future. Of working with the Centre for Facilitation, Dr Sanderson Bellamy said it was “brilliant. Loads of experience to draw from based on what works and lots of ideas of different ways to organise activities to achieve objectives.”

What does it mean to collaborate with a facilitator?

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Facilitators are specialists at providing structure and stimulus that gets people talking together to get a result. People engage us when they have a critical event, conference or meeting where it is important that everyone is engaged and that conversations are open and creative

Gathering Opinions in Focus Groups

Stage One: Will A Facilitator Help?

Sometimes you are not sure if you need a facilitator at all. We are always happy to have an initial chat with you on an informal basis with no fees involved. You can tell us about your ideas and we can explore these with you to get a better understanding of what you want. We can discuss potential dates and put these on reserve in our diaries.

Supporting Speakers

Stage Two: What does it cost/involve?

If you are interested in continuing the conversation, we will draft a proposal. This will confirm our understanding of what you want and provide an outline of the structure for the event. We will provide details of fees and what is included.

Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com

Stage Three: Co-Designing the Event

We work with you to shape the design, developing the initial ideas discussed in stage two. We will come up with creative ways to generate the output that you want and shape the timings so that the event keeps to time. The process and timings are shared with you using a digital planning tool so you know exactly what is planned ahead of the event. We draft briefings for you to amend and send to participants and external contributors so everyone is clear what is planned and their role in it.

Creative Story Telling

Stage Four: Making it Happen on the Day

Whether virtual or in person we make sure that you get what you need from the event whether this is feedback on a plan, new creative ideas, an action plan or an honest conversation about changes in the organisation. We run the event, and any adjustments to the plan are discussed with you so we can amend the process in agreement. We recognise that a good design agreed in advance will make the event run more smoothly but we are also able to work flexibly to adapt on the day if required

Virtual Exhibition Halls

Stage Five: Review

After the event we will send you the outputs generated and arrange a follow up meeting to discuss how the event went and any communication to send out to participants post event. Once all the event details are complete we then invoice you for the project.

The Craft of Facilitating Online

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One of the questions I am exploring with a group of students at Aarhus University is how I have transformed my practice from facilitating groups face-to-face to the pandemic practice of being virtually based….what theoretical models have helped me to do this. Initially my response was that I do not really have a theoretical base for my work, and then I was baking, and I realized that much like a skilled baker, I can adapt, add spices, change timings, but there are certain things that have to be put in place for the magic to happen. So this is my attempt to explain some reasoning behind some of the things that I do as a facilitator (often without conscious thought)

Experience not Theory

Once you have opened your session just get started! If you need to deliver content and provide detailed overviews about your speakers why not do this in advance? People can choose to watch. Aim to get people talking and connecting with each other within minutes by using the chat, polls, breakout rooms or annotation tools (and thanks to Phil Walsh for his tip on using WordSearch as a way of helping break the ice!)

I learnt early on my career the importance of stepping aside so that people can get on and participate and the work of Christine Hogan and frequent inspiration from the World Cafe movement helped me to develop my thinking on this further. We must give groups the opportunity to experience virtual collaboration and provide easy to understand instructions and then stop talking and let the magic happen!

Photo by Tobias Bju00f8rkli on Pexels.com

Space to Think

Some people find it easy to think whilst they are talking. Many others need a bit of thinking time first. The advantage of providing a structured period of time in first is that you will get richer conversation and content. It is easier to do in the online room. I simply invite people to turn their cameras off and spend 1-2 minutes getting their thoughts prepared. Then move to the breakout groups.

The principles behind this hold true in the virtual space, and you can read more about it here in our blog Not Everyone Wants to Talk First

Hierarchical Planning

One of the first formal facilitation training sessions I attend was based on the work of John Heron. One of the models that has stuck with me from that session was the idea about different styles: hierarchical, cooperative and autonomous and how important it is to choose the right style for the dimension you are working in. You can read some more about the model here and for me the essence of this is deciding when I need to use my power over a group and when I can release that power. We often think that hierarchical power is wrong but in my experience the facilitator using that power initially in a facilitated session helps to create a safe working space so that the group can become more autonomous over time.

My facilitation practice is based on a process approach, I am not involved in therapeutical facilitation so having structure and giving clear guidelines helps the group to get their work done. Online collaboration is still unfamiliar to many and so in my experience we need as facilitators to use our hierarchical power to create supportive structures and to make the space feel safe.

Equality of Contribution

Online collaboration should provide a space where everyone can contribute. This is where timing on contributions can be so important. If your breakout session is only 15 minutes and there are 5 people and the first person talks for 10 minutes then the rest of the group have less than 2 minutes. I wish more facilitators would use their maths wisely and work out timings that make it possible for everyone to contribute AND then use an actual timer to make it happen.

For formal events I now have a set of neat timers that sit above my head to give a visual reminder of time

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Orientation: Positive and Possibilities

Online sessions are often short and can be very draining. We can help avoid the drain by choosing questions wisely. Go for questions that explore positive experiences and that encourage possibilities. If you are new to facilitation then explore the theory of appreciative inquiry to gain valuable insights into the power of positively framing questions

Harvesting Data

I love the idea of Harvesting and have borrowed it from the work of the World Cafe movement. What this means is thinking about what you want to do with the “stuff” generated at the end of the session. Sometimes harvesting can be left to individuals, they can take away new connections and ideas, but usually a more purposeful harvesting of the data can help people to see different connections than they first thought and can help a team to move forwards.

Using digital tools can really support the harvesting process. Tools like Mentimeter and Vwall mean that everyone can post their comments anonymously and you can quickly share the results at the end.

Building On Line Facilitation Practice

My experience has taught me that what is critical to the success of an online facilitated event is using the skills of a professional facilitator to help shape the process, humanize the technology and create structures that work. Being a digital expert helps but the thing that really stands out is the craft of facilitation and the core of this remains the same as it was during our face to face practice.

information@centreforfacilitation.co.uk

Avoiding the Facilitator Vanity Trap

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The new world of virtual facilitation has given us an ever-growing selection of shiny tools to choose from. It is easy to get over-excited about the options and create confusion for participants by adding more and more tools to demonstrate our amazing ninja skills in the digital world. I am definitely guilty of this at times. So…. how can we avoid falling into the facilitator vanity trap? How do we make sure that we are using the right tools that will support people get to their desired end point easily?

I am going to share with you five questions that will help you facilitate using a “less is more” approach

Five Ways of Swerving Facilitator Vanity

1. Am I competent in this tool?

Facilitators have a Magpie tendency. We hear someone else mention a tool or technique and we are off onto Google to look it up, sign up for a free trial and then find a way to use it.

Whilst experimentation is valuable we owe it to both our participants and the designers of the tool/process to have road tested it first. We run regular “Playshop” sessions in our team where any of our facilitators can test out a tool or process that they are considering. We do our best to “break” the tool and to simulate what happens when someone does something random.

We need to be sure that we know how the digital platform works, and have explored all the functions before we take this into a live group situation. It is very easy for groups to lose confidence in the virtual platform when the facilitator is stumbling.

Photo by Petr Ganaj on Pexels.com

2. Do we need a report or formal output?

Some times the purpose of an event is to bring people together, to facilitate them to build a connection and then to leave them to make things happen. These are the types of events where previously you might have just taken a few photos of the post-it notes, circulated these and that was the post-production work done.

On the other extreme we might be facilitating events that will help our client create a roadmap, complete a consultation or develop a new set of ideas for the company’s future innovation focus. In these situations it is vital to be able to capture information in the right format.

V-wall is one of our favourite tools for events where capturing the participants individual thoughts is important. It is one of the easiest tools for everyone to engage with and the report is generated within minutes post event into Word so that it can be easily read by other stakeholders. Mural, a tool we love for many events, is much harder to generate a quick report from, it is a more messy process and not ideal for sharing with other stakeholders. Mentimeter bridges the 2 tools and is an easy to use process with output that can be exported and added into a formal summary report.

3. Do we need to gain consensus?

After a process of idea generation it is easy for a group to be overwhelmed by the quantity of ideas. Most facilitators will help the group to navigate through the output with some kind of prioritization method.

Photo by Polina Zimmerman on Pexels.com

This will often start with clustering of similar ideas and then some form of prioritization will need to be put into place. This could be dot voting or it could be a discussion where participants use coloured cards to show whether they agree with the proposals.

We have found Dotstorming to be a useful tool for participants to post ideas, comment on ideas and finally vote on ideas. Vwall also has facilitator tools that help structure the clusters into voting. But just because you can cluster and prioritize does not mean that this is the most appropriate thing to do. It takes a lot of time, and you may decide to simply let participants to pick out verbally the elements that they find most relevant to the challenge being addressed or for some events we have left the participants to prioritise after the event.

4. Am I just using this tool to impress the group?

This happened recently when I wanted to impress a client by using Mural because they were data scientists and I knew that they would easily pick up the skills to use Mural and would enjoy interacting with it in the focus groups. But because this was a focus group process, reporting was vital and the project team needed a quick, robust report output. I know that Mural is awful at that!

We used Vwall which looks old-fashioned and did not have the “wow” factor with the group for being cutting edge technology, but it has an excellent reporting functionality, so we could quickly and easily share the content with all the stakeholders.

5. Can I make it any simpler?

The final question challenges us to review the process and tools again and to work out if we can make it any easier.

One question I often ask is whether it is possible to just use functionality within the meeting platform? I recently joined a networking session with other facilitators and the Zoom polls, the Zoom chat and the breakout rooms was enough tech for the purposes of this event.

I have supported a colleague who is a more traditional classroom based trainer to convert her programmes online. We tried various methods and decided that what worked well was using a physical flipchart in her Zoom window, so she could write up the feedback from her group and then share them as a photograph in the chat. She felt confident doing this, the participants like the change in focus and the end result was as effective as trying to use the whiteboard or other digital tools

Using these 5 questions will help you to check whether the tool/process is right for the group and what they want to achieve. It will help you to avoid falling into the facilitator vanity trap and choosing a tool which you are attracted to and which makes you feel good!

To find out more about our digital work check out our website: www.centreforfacilitation.co.uk

Using ORID for Team Reviews

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Today our team choose to sit watching the sunset from our respective home offices and to listen to each other talking through our reflections on the year. It was a structured and creative process.

Purpose

To provide space for each team member to explore their reflections on the past period using the ORID structure (Observation/Reactions/Insights/Decision)

Observations: What Happened

The initial phase of the ORID process is designed to capture initial responses – what you noticed happening, what the main differences were. This can often be the easiest way of starting into a reflective process.

  • What were the main learning insights for you?
  • What did you noticed changed for you?

Reactions: WHAT WAS THE IMPACT

The next phase in ORID takes us into a more personal reflective space by encouraging us to explore our reactions to the situation/changes

  • How do you feel about those changed?
  • What surprised/frustrated you?

Insights: so what?

The ORID process then encourages us to consider the value, meaning or significance of the this period of time and the wider personal implications of the changes?

  • What did you learn from this experience?
  • What options does this offer you for the future?
  • How might this affect the way you approach things?

Decision Questions: now what?

The final stage in the reflective process is to consider any decisions that you might want to take. This could be immediate decisions that you intend to implement, or it could be a longer-term decision about how you want to go forward in your work.

  • What will you do differently because of the insights you have gained?
  • Longer term what are some of your ambitions?

Learning more about ORID

Click to access PC_ORID_Questions_List.pdf

http://www.meeting-facilitation.co.uk/blog/files/focused-discussion.html

The Complexity of Virtual Collaboration for Large Groups

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Over the last month we have facilitated conferences for 40- 70 people that were planned as face to face event pre Covid19. In March 2020 we agreed with our clients that we would all take the risk and attempt to convert these planned events into virtual events. We were excited and a little nervous about taking this step but the option to postpone would mean that our clients would not be able to consult with their communities and this would hold up the planned strategy for 2020. We all agreed that it felt worth taking the risk and giving virtual events a go as “something would be better than nothing”.

Feedback Matters

It was a huge relief that the feedback from the events has been overwhelming postive. People have been surprised about how much was achieved and how engaging the virtual environment could be.

“You’ve set a new standard in terms of virtual workshops”

“It was an awesome interaction.  For me I benefited hugely and I look forward to future engagements”

“A really impressive event, I’m still thinking through many of the observations and learning points I took from it.”

Learning Insights

In March 2020 we were experienced at facilitating virtual meetings for small groups of people, usually for planning purposes, we had experimented with digital tools within face to face events and we had completed some training in virtual facilitation. Scaling up the process and finding ways of bringing to the virtual world the warmth, friendship and engagement that we generate in face to face collaborations would be a challenge, and we were excited (and a bit scared) about how to make this happen. Here are some learning insights we have picked up on the way that are helping us to raise the game for virtual collaboration, to make it both possible but also enjoyable.

  1. Keep it Simple

In our first event we were keen to capture data from people at every stage and we were guilty of overcomplicating things. We have learnt that initially having breakout groups with no more than about 5 people and providing a simple conversation structure is enough. Keeping it dialogue only allows people the chance to meet, to engage with each other, to get used to being together virtually, without the barrier of another technological tool to get used to.

2. Provide Support and Structure

The virtual space still feel awkward for many people and the usual cues that start and end conversations are not as evident. We have found that having a table host helps to smooth this process. The table host can help the group to focus on the question, can bring people into the conversation and keep an overall awareness of time.

The table hosts have been from our team of trained virtual facilitators or subject experts provided by the client. All table hosts need to be competent and confident in using the technology and so training and support for them in their role is critical. Time and resources for this has to be factored in.

3. Make Digital Tools feel Familiar

Our events have been collaborative consultations and our clients needed to capture information and share that information between people. We have been using Mural as our preferred interactive tool. The advantages of Mural is that the interface is relatively intuitive to use and people can view and edit without having to set up an account.

We have set up the Murals to look like a typical group flipchart space with piles of post it notes and arrows and some easy to follow instructions.

4. Sharing Feedback

In large scale events it is always a challenge to share information across groups. In our virtual space we have swapped groups around so that people can view and add to the flipchart Murals created by previous groups. We have provided space for groups to report back briefly verbally so that they can share their main highlights and we have used a shared polling tool like Mentimeter as a way of groups sharing insights across the groups.

5. Screen Breaks

The common complaint about virtual events is the concentration which feel more intense than in a face to face event. We have learnt to build in regular screen breaks and to give people permission to turn off their video whilst we take a reflective pause. The moderator will turn off their video to cement this permission giving and then will turn their video back on with 1 minute to go and gently ask people to turn their videos on again when they are ready.

We Need to Talk about Money

This is awkward for everyone at the moment, to be very honest most facilitators are glad of any work right now so it was great to be able to invoice something. The reality is that we are a business and going forward we need to make a living from facilitating events or our businesses simply will not exist. The cost issue also applies to internal facilitators and organizers

These large scale events were planned and contracted for before they went virtual. We agreed to deliver them for the same price as the face to face events. I think we all recognize that this is not sustainable as a business. The costs for these types of complex virtual events are DIFFERENT but not cheaper than a face to face event. These are not events where you simply have someone speaking at the group with a bit of text chat. These events involve complex participatory dialogue and are designed to develop collaborative communities.

There are huge savings from the hire of a venue, the food for the event, the travel expenses, the overnight accommodation and all the glossy event materials. Our team saved time by not needed to pack and travel to the venues. But any savings on physical costs will be spent on the preparation time for the organizing team. The planning has to be much more precise than in the face to face world, everything needs to be created and uploaded in advance. You cannot just whip out a flipchart and a few post-it notes. To make a process be really engaging you have to meticulously plan the process, test the process and ensure that everyone involves knows exactly what they are doing and when. You have to communicate more and engage participants before the event and post event.

As a rough estimate I reckon our team spent 4-5 times longer working on the design and planning of the virtual events as we would have spent in a face to face event. With experience, practice and the value of being able to use existing templates this time will reduce but it is probably higher than we and our clients initially expected and as a business this is something that we have to seriously consider and discuss with our clients when we are providing cost estimates for events.

Would we do it again?

We have loved the challenge of working virtually. It was great to find ways of making the virtual tools work for larger groups and to find ways of creating events that combine on line and “offline” contact and connection.

There are huge benefits to the virtual format. We are facing a global climate emergency, and we have to reduce the amount of travel and the waste that is generated at events – there was no wasted food or surplus plastic at these events!

We recognize that virtual events enable people to participate who cannot travel easily to events, particularly those people with disabilities, caring responsibilities or who live in remote places with inadequate transport links. This can create much more diverse, inclusive consultation processes.

Virtual events offer a way to collaborate in a more intimate close up manner than is possible in physical settings at the moment. Given the choice of a virtual event or a “living with COVID-19” face to face event… we believe that virtual events will make it easier to collaborate than sitting 2 metres apart, wearing face coverings and not sharing any materials.

The more we facilitate virtually the better we can make the process and this period of experimentation gives us the opportunity to really develop the work and to find a way of making virtual events a viable option beyond the current restrictions on social interaction.

Next Steps and More Learning

We are moving into the next phase of virtual experimentation with our next events being planned from the start as virtual events and supporting people to use theory of change in collaborations, to develop new networks and form collaborative teams.

If you would like to be part of this experiment in virtual collaboration then do get in touch to talk about ways in which you can continue to collaborate, consult and engage with others whilst living in the Covid reality.

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Things are Never Going to be the Same: Covid19 Facilitation

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Covid 19 is changing our world. How many of us thought it possible that the whole economy of the World would go into shutdown and that many of us can only leave our homes for a ever descreasing number of reasons?

We might yearn for things to get back to normal but things are never going to be the same as they were, the impact on our economy and on us will be profound and long-lasting. Seeing friends stranded many miles away has made us question whether we really want to embark on long journeys for work in the future when we now realise how fragile life can be. Will we want to risk going to an international event and finding it almost impossible to get back home? Will we want to plan large scale events, knowing that the virus could re-emerge and the lockdown process be re-instated? Will we want to return to noisy open plan working environments away from our family when the “impossible” homeworking option has miraculously become possible? Will we be able to keep our calm in challenging situations when underneath there lurks this unresolved grief for those loved one we lost but could not mourn for in our normal ways?

Every industry has been impacted by this and as a team of facilitators we are experiencing huge changes to our work and our income. Facilitated events were cancelled very early on in this time of change and yet the need for people to get together, to connect, to generate new ideas is even more needed now than it ever has been. The shutdown has given us time to regroup and consider what is needed and now we are starting to plan a way forward.

That way forward is not about just responding to the current crisis by quickly putting together virtual rather than real gatherings. Our team see this is an important opportunity to create long term change. We  want to find ways of connecting people together that allows more people to participate and that does not require hours spent travelling to make that connection. It is something we all knew needed addressing but this situation has provided the chance to experiment in a period where there will be some forgiveness for the virtual connection being less smoothly professional.

There needs to be a deeper exploration of this change and what it will mean but for the moment our team is thinking more practically about HOW do we make participatory dialogue viable using an online format and how can we bring the same openness, trust and engagement as we do to face to face contact?

Learning Insights

Our team of facilitators have been facilitating virtual meetings and using virtual technology for many years and have able to quickly get our creative heads around something we all thought would not be possible and to make large scale participatory dialogue work on the virtual level. There have been 3 critical elements in our regrouping and reimaging our world of participatory facilitation.

Risk Free Practice: The Virtual Pub

On the day of the UK shut down we were up and running with our first virtual pub for my local bike club in Otley. Since then our team have been helping their families and communities with virtual pubs, parties, film nights, games nights, pilates and quiz nights. These community sessions have helped us to feel useful in these times of isolation and are great practice as many of the typical “user” is not familiar with the technology and we have learnt a lot from helping them get to grips with the technology

Stress Testing: Virtual PlayShop

Some of the different tools need testing in a more work like environment so we devised the Virtual PlayShop so that our team and some other colleagues could play with the technology together and experience it as participants as well as facilitators

The planning for the PlayShop helped us to identify the design challenges of creating a virtual event that flows and how much time the preparation takes (more than you might think!) The PlayShop time was a fun way to connect with colleagues and to share our learning with the different tools.

Transfering Learning to Action: Virtual Lessons Learned

As with any new process it is important to share the learning insights and to bring this knowledge together. We did this in a virtual lesson learned session and from this session generated some actions for things that we needed to investigate further and some protocols that are the beginning of our good practice guide. This helped us move from Play to Practice and create a plan that would move us forward

Moving Forward

Many people reading this want some quick fixes to make virtual meetings go well. There are lots of these available and we are very grateful for all the other people who have graciously shared their learning. We have four important messages from our learning insights to share and for the pragmatic people out there who want to just get started we have provided our practical guide on Runing a Virtual Pub!

Settle on the Right Platform for your needs and Pay For it

We have got experience of facilitating using Adobe Connect, Microsoft Team, Skype and Zoom. Our events are focused on building trust and collaboration so for us Zoom was the best platform. The stand out features for us was the very visual way that you can see everyone “in the room” at the same time and the ease of organising people into break out rooms.

Once you have settled then pay for the platform! We have all experienced being in meetings where you have to log back in because the free account limit has been reached. These technology providers are providing a service and if you like it then just deal with it and pay for it!

Know Your Audience

One common assumption is that everyone participating in an online event has access to a keyboard and superfast typing skills. We have found that whilst for some people using the chat function is easy to do for others it is impossible to use because they are joining from their mobile or their typing speed is painfully slow. If we want to encourage participation and engagement with the virtual format we need to make it as easy as possible. We are starting by using our team to support the process by doing the note taking to harvest all the rich dialogue. This helps to build all our expertise at using the tools and keeps us out of mischief..

Find Ways to Help People Talk Nicely!

We choose Zoom as our platform of choice because of the breakout rooms. You can set up break out rooms for small groups in the same way as you do for a face to face workshop and once people are over the feeling of being “teleported” into a virtual room of strangers they will quickly start to connect and make conversation.

In the large group setting the desire to talk is so strong that unless you are running a social event it is easiest to mute all the microphones and ask people to use the “raise hand” function to contribute. This helps calm the conversation down and stops people interrupting. As groups get more experienced then it is less important to mute all and this can be very positive because the person speaking can often appreciate having some verbal encouragement as well as the non verbal nods!

Keep it Simple

We are going to be using Zoom in events with people who probably are not working in the virtual world, including many community users who are attending consultation events. We knnow that many people, even seasoned professionals, may come to the events with trepidation.

We want to be able to use other tools in the events to reproduce how we might brainstorm with post it notes in a face to face event. There are lots of tools out there to help with this including Miro, Mural and Padlet but we have realised we need to keep it simple in this initial phase. It is easy to get excited and then overwhelmed by all the different tools so just go back to the basic facilitation question: “What is the purpose of this intervention?” and craft your questions and then start exploring the best way to achieve your purpose.

….and finally as promised…..

How Do you Run a Virtual Pub?

This is our most frequent query from clients who read about our very early experiment with a Virtual Pub for Otley Cycle Club! The first thing we learnt is that whilst you might be the landlord of the pub it is not like normal facilitation!

  1. Set expectations low – we warned people it could be “really awful or really fun.  Invite people to join early – “before the bar opens” so that they can get their sound and video sorted, this helps for the people new to Zoom.
  2. We set the time between 19.00 – 20.30. We found that 1.5 hours which feels the right amount of time
  3. Open the “virtual bar” at the official start time and keep all the microphones on and videos on and just let the chaos start. You might want to put in a general question to get things started but resist the need to structure the conversation. People will talk over each other, you will not hear everything but chill – it is a pub not a facilitated workshop!
  4. After about 10 mins greet everyone and explain the rules of your bar – we got people to change their name because some joined as “Ipad” and some couples just had one person’s name so the other person was nameless. This will help in the smaller group sessions when people will be talking more together. We also set a rule to turn the video off if you go off for a natural break (by virtual pub 2 we had all seen THAT You Tube video)
  5. Once you have set out the rules of the bar you can move people into Cosy Corners in the pub (Break Out Room function) When you are working out the groupings be conscious some people are joining as a couple so try and balance the numbers out – 3 people could be 6 people if they are all in couples! As host you just join which ever group you want to join.
  6. Before you go into the Breakout Rooms shut down the Waiting Room function otherwise late comers just get stuck in the lobby and will start texting you to get in! Once the waiting room is closed, they will join in a kind of pub limbo and you can allocate them to the small group you are in.
  7. Set the first break out group for a short period – about 7 mins seemed about right! The timer automatically reminds people when there is 60 seconds to go so they can close down their chat.After that 10 minutes felt about right.
  8. Alternate between the noisy main bar and the cosy corners, finishing with last orders at about 10 mins before your closing time. This is a chance to talk about the week ahead and to share views on the virtual pub.
  9. Be careful that just because it is a virtual pub this does not mean any alcohol consumed will give you a virtual hangover!!

Feedback has been positive with some people who are in high risk isolated groups saying it has become the highlight of their week. Our team have a pro subscription anyway for our work so it is great to see people using it for social events too – you need the pro account for the break out functions and without this the virtual pub would just be a very noisy mess and would only be open for 40 minutes!

If your team would like our help facilitaing Virtual PlayShops, Virtual Events or you want to have deeper conversations about the future of leadership and organisations in the future we will be facilitating some Virtual Action Learning Sets shortly….just get in touch

www.centreforfacilitation.co.uk

Are Facilitation and Training the Same Thing?

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The term facilitator is used to describe people who may be doing very different roles. This confusion can mean that expectations are not met, and people find group processes frustrating. Our team of facilitators are experts in process facilitation, and sometimes we might facilitate some training but although the two things are similiar…they are not interchangeable roles at all.

Facilitative Training

Many clients seem to prefer the word facilitator to trainer and this can be confusing. We use the term “facilitative trainer” to describe situations where there is prepared content for the session and the trainer is using methods that are “facilitative”. This could involve participants working in groups on learning activities and will usually involve discussion sessions in the whole group that are facilitated so they keep on time and the task. There will usually be theoretical content, delivered in an interesting and engaging way so that participants can use the learning outside the workshop format in their working lives.

In a training session the participants will expect by the end of the workshop to have learnt something new and to have been taken through materials which have been designed in advance eg slides and handouts.  The learning could be related to the development of skills in leadership, diversity or learning how to solve problems.

Process Facilitation

By contrast a process facilitator has no theoretical content that they are expected to cover. They will work instead with a road map for the workshop. There will be a clear destination defined and the group will work together to find the best way to reach that destination. The facilitator will design structures to encourage participants to talk to each other, to reach consensus, to avoid group think and to make action plans together.

If a process facilitator was tasked to facilitate a leadership session the destination might be about making real tangible change in the leadership style in the organisation, however the facilitator will not defined what that change will be like, this is defined by the participants who will be supported to come to a consensus about leadership style. They could create a shared vision for leadership in the organisation and from this identify what needs to stop/start/continue happening so they can achieve this vision.

The facilitator will ask questions and suggest structures to help the group to share views and make some decisions, but they will not offer “models of Leadership” or present any theoretical overviews of Leadership approaches. The focus of the work is about how to create a change in the organisation and its leadership and the people in the group are the right people to make this change.

Not Better: Just Different

Process facilitation is different to training. Both facilitators and trainers focus on outcomes that are agreed in advance with clients. Both will design activities that will engage the participants in the outcomes. The difference is in the type of outcomes –process facilitators work with the group to achieve progress on an agreed challenge. The facilitative trainer is working towards outcomes that will help people to learn about the topic so they can choose to change their approach in the future.

Process Facilitation OutcomesTraining Outcomes
Agree on the focus areas for the next 6 months for the project teamUnderstand the importance of setting project targets and reviewing these
Create a draft of the 2025 team strategyExplore different methods for writing team strategies
Make connections with potential collaborators for ongoing projectsDevelop networking skills and reflect on techniques to build collaborative relationships

If you want to have a chat with us about whether a process facilitator or a facilitative trainer is best suited to your needs just get in contact with us and we can explore what is best for you.

http://www.centreforfacilitation.co.uk

Strategic Retreat: Using Theory of Change

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FORWARD is an African-led women’s rights organisation. The work of FORWARD focuses on responding to female genital mutilation (FGM), child marriage, and other forms of violence against African women and girls.

FORWARD have developed a new strategy and plan for the next five years and now want to focus on how to make this plan operational. A strategic retreat was arranged for 4 hours so that each of the operational teams could identify an area of activity in the new strategy and develop their theory of change route map to reach their agreed target.

An external facilitator was needed because of the ambitious plan for the strategy session. The five teams (22 people) would develop five distinctive road maps and they wanted collaborative sharing to be at the heart of the retreat.

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What was the impact of the strategic retreat?

Many of the team were familiar with theory of change but mainly through taught workshops. At this workshop they experienced creating their own theory of change for their area of work. This was a revelation as one team member commented:

“After many years I now understand the theory of change. So simply and well presented”

In the workshop each group identified their vision for their area of the strategy and then identified the current challenge that they were facing with achieving this vision. Step by step then they started to develop ideas about how to achieve the vision. The activity combined individual reflection, small group discussion and sharing of ideas in the larger forum. The final draft roadmaps were taken away by the team and typed up to form the basis of further team planning.

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What were the benefits of having a facilitated session?

The facilitator worked hard to provide a space where everyone could participate. There was time for individuals to reflect and time to share and talk. Everyone’s point of view had the opportunity to be heard.

The process encouraged everyone to read and understand the new strategy document. The ideas that emerged will support the teams to make progress towards the FORWARD vision.

“you got us to really think about our strategy and we were all engaged in the discussions. It’s a great start to our projects and a pleasure, as always, to work with you”  Naana Otoo-Oyortey, Executive Director

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Summary: Keys to Success

  1.   Setting time limits for activities so that decisions were made and ideas recorded and the task completed in the time allocated
  2.   Using a large charts to capture the theory of change so everyone could get involved and see the work evolve
  3.  Providing examples of what a completed theory of change could look like to provide clarity and structure

If you would like to find out more about our work and discuss a team strategy event for your team…. check out our  Website or send us an email info@centreforfacilitation.co.uk