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Coo-ee Collective

Living in the country for most of life I have often been envious of the professional development opportunities and professional association meetings available to my city counterparts. The ability to finish work and join an event with like minded professionals when you work in regional areas requires planning, travel and time.

For years I have been using web based “on line rooms” to deliver training, facilitate and run meetings with regional participants. My first attempt was in the early 2000’s when we ran a Government funded trial using the school of the air system to provide training for rural women in South Australia. The success of this pilot and the seeing the excitement for women being given an opportunity from the home office inspired me to persist with the technology – which still often lets us down.

As the technology is getting cheaper, easier and more accessible to use I have decided to combine my passion for mentoring and developing people with this virtual technology.

And so the Coo-ee Collective has been founded! Initially Coo-ee will focus on providing virtual mentoring for groups of people in agriculture and regions, other products will be added over time.

Our pilot mentoring group is well underway with seven rural women from across Australia and one from New Zealand meeting once a month to provide support, inspiration and share ideas with each other. Susie Green from SA is one of the participants – her comments are below…

“Coo-ee Collective has overcome geographical barriers to provide me with a unique opportunity to connect with like-minded rural women from across Australia and New Zealand. It provides a safe, structured and supportive environment to share experiences and emotions without judgement, competition or jealousy. It allows participants to be vulnerable without fear of shame and support each other as we work through challenges.” – Susie Green

For more information about Coo-ee Collective follow us on Facebook and to sign up for our newsletter

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Mentoring & Coaching, Our workshops, Uncategorized, Workshops with Wow

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A workshop too far

Using technology for workshops is something I have been doing for many years, running webinars and having guest speakers Skype into a workshop session. Earlier this year we attempted this differently with one of our participants, Jeanette Gellard, joining on Skype from South Korea for a full two days. Quite an achievement for Jeanette when the rest of the group were all face to face in a rather noisy room in a city hotel and the workshop was very interactive!

We simply connected the iPad to a speaker and had a headset on hand for practice activities. Fortunately the internet didn’t let us down and the participant enjoyed the experience and the interaction with the group.

Here are Jeanette’s comments about the experience…..

When is too far away, really too far way? Over the last few years I’ve come to realise that the answer to that question is, Never! Thanks to the development of our communications technology, distance no longer needs to be the barrier that it once was. Skype, Facetime, Viber, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin, GoTo Meeting and a plethora of other software programs and applications make it relatively easy to stay connected to others. Whether its video, audio, text or image based our capacity to communicate with others and participate in events is really only limited by our access to a good quality internet connection and a device that runs the relevant program or application.

Living in South Korea I have the privilege of being able to access some of the fastest internet connections in the world. What this means in a practical sense is that I get high quality video streamed through my computer or smart-phone which allows me to participate ‘virtually’ in a range of activities from workshops and study tutorials to conversations with friends and family ‘over a cup of coffee’. Over the past six months I’ve ‘attended’ two workshops in Adelaide, South Australia from the comfort of my apartment in Busan, South Korea, some 7,853 km away! Both events were successful from my perspective due to the following key elements.

The openness of the workshop organisers in considering the inclusion of a ‘virtual’ participant
The setup of the workshop area which enabled me to see presenters and also for other participants to be aware that I was ‘in attendance’
The delivery of presentation material prior to or during the workshop via email so that I had the same information as everyone else
Having a ‘buddy’ who checked up on me throughout the workshop (Could I hear? Could I see? Did I want to say anything?)
The acceptance of the other workshop participants in having a ‘virtual’ classmate and their willingness to engage with me on a one-on-one basis using the available technology. This included participants randomly ‘dropping by’ to chat with me during workshop breaks.
Being included in group photos!

From my end there were a couple of things that I put in place to ensure that my participation would be as positive as possible.

I set myself up in a quiet spot away from distractions and noise
Used the mute button on my microphone when I wasn’t speaking to make sure any background noise at my end (paper shuffling, typing, heavy breathing…..) wasn’t distracting other workshop participants
Kept my device on charge throughout the workshop

So next time you think something is too far away to attend, think again! Ask the organisers whether it’s possible to make a ‘virtual’ appearance. Jeanette Gellard, Innovative Influences jeanette@innovativeinfluences.com.au

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Helping Adults Learn

When planning any training or extension events for adults consider what’s important for them to learn. The pioneer of adult learning was Malcolm Knowles, he identified the six principles of adult learning provided below.

1. Adults are internally motivated and self-directed

Encourage adults to take an active role in their own learning. Recognise their individual motivations for participating and remember we resist learning when we feel forced to participate.
Time spent establishing the group at the beginning to build trust is time well spent. It builds rapport with you as the facilitator/trainer and with the other members of the group encouraging participants to be actively involved. It can also provide an insight into the individuals motivations for attending.
Encourage participants to share and explore ideas before providing the facts.
Give constructive useful feedback – however, before doing this check in with the participants to ensure they are open to receiving it.
Choose activities that are relevant to the participants work and life.
Consider preferred learning styles of participants and cater for all types –VARK Learning Styles

2. Adults bring life experiences and knowledge to learning experiences. This may include work-related activities, family, previous education and general life experience.

Ask them to share their experiences about the topic and help them to connect their learnings with their work/life experiences.
Listen carefully to the experiences shared and relate this to the theory.
Adults learn as much from others in the room as they do from the trainer – provide opportunities to talk and share experiences.

3. Adults are goal-oriented

Ask them about their personal expectations / goals for the activity. Record these and reflect back on them during the workshop – are their goals being met? Check in at the end of the workshop to see if they have been achieved.
Be clear about your goals and outcomes for the workshop/activity.
Show them how specific learning experiences may fit with their goals.

4. Adults are relevancy-oriented

Provide choices for participants where appropriate so they can choose what they consider to be the most relevant to their circumstances.
Explain the relevance of activities you ask participants to do.
Relate theory to practical experiences and outcomes.

5. Adults are practical. They like to be able to apply their knowledge

Provide them with opportunities to visit trials or demonstrations – get them out in the field.
Include speakers who have been successful in applying the theory to explain or show how it worked in their circumstances.
Include practical activities where ever possible.
No-one likes to sit and listen all day! Especially farmers who are used to being active and outside.

6. Adult learners like to be respected for the considerable life experiences they bring.

Treated them as equals.
Provide opportunities for them to voice their own opinions.
Let them plan their next steps and take responsibility for their learning journey.
Provide support through coaching and mentoring.

Finally adults come along to training events and activities to network and meet other like minded people. Ensure everyone has the chance to introduce themselves to the group, provide clear easy to read name tags and allow time in the breaks for networking.

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Extension and Adoption, Workshops with Wow

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The challenges of facilitating as a volunteer!

Guest Blog by Sharon Honner

Am I the right person for the job? This question is always at front of mind when accepting a facilitation role.

It can be a little more complicated when asked to facilitate a group you are part of as a volunteer. The complication or conflict occurs because a facilitator should be clearly differentiated from a participant.

When being asked to facilitate as a volunteer I ask myself the following questions:

What is more beneficial – for me to facilitate or participate?
- It is really important to spend the time to assess the impact of being removed from the group as a facilitator.
Do I have the right facilitation skills to be an asset to the process?
- There are many facilitation methods and processes, do I have what is required to meet the groups outcomes in a timely and professional manner.
If I do facilitate, can I leave my personal agenda’s at the door?
- When I am part of a group, I am there because I am passionate and have points of view I may wish to share.

It is not only being able to leave my personal agenda’s at the doors, there may be other concerns within the group to make it difficult to facilitate, for example:

Is there an air of distrust or bias exists within the group? When this exists individuals will be more concerned with having their point of view heard rather than understanding others
Do some members of the group feel intimidated and as a consequence will not participate?
Are there any personal rivalries?
Do set decision making processes are in pl, when a group has been together for a while they may already have processes that work well for them
What are the time restraints on the outcome
Some of the group believe coming together is often a waste of time as the meetings are unproductive

Filling the role with the right person will make decision making and problem solving go smoothly. If any of the above sound familiar, it is often preferable to use a facilitator who is not a group member.

Happy facilitating

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The facilitators tool kit

I was asked recently what a facilitator should have in their toolkit. Hence today I thought I would go back to basics.. what does the facilitator/trainer need in their tool box?

The basics

Permanent markers – I like Mr Sketch coloured markers
White board markers & eraser
Blu tack to put up flip charts around the room
Flip charts, or as I call it butchers paper
Masking tape – great for name tags, it stays on rather than falling off!
Post it notes
Highlighter pens
Coloured markers for participants
Spare pens for participants who forget to bring their own
Scissors
Data projector, power board and extension cord if required
A whiteboard that doubles as a flip chart stand

For the facilitation sessions

Cheap plastic table cloth
3M repositional glue
A5 paper
Black markers – enough for every member of the group
Coloured dots, helpful for prioritising and voting
Large post it notes can be very useful too

And the extra bits

Pipe cleaners for the kinaesthetic learners to play with
Balls and toys
A clear clock to put on the desk so its easy to keep track of the time without looking constantly at our watch!
A bell can be handy when working with large groups to get their attention or change tasks – be aware not to over use it
Timer for short activities
Note books/paper for participants if required
Camera/phone to capture some piccs or take photos of the information generated by the group
A speaker to play music in the breaks or sound for videos

And to easily move all of this about, a box on wheels is very useful.What else do people have in their toolkit?

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The impact of energy

In the last two weeks I have attended two very contrasting workshops. Both were delivered by internationally recognised speakers, both with very different energy impacts and outcomes for me, as the participant.

The first was delivered by a motivational keynote speaker. It was high energy and high impact, I left each day with my head buzzing, excited by what I had learned and looking forward to the following day. I even had trouble sleeping at night as the concepts were rolling around in my head keeping me awake. Since leaving the workshop (now nearly two weeks ago) I am still thinking about what I learnt and how I can apply into my work.

I left the second workshop feeling grounded and rather tired. The presenter didn’t provide energy from the front of the room and wasn’t able to extract the energy from the participants either. I’m sorry to say I would be unable to recall some of the main points from this workshop and it was more recent that the first.

There were some similarities between the speakers – both were passionate about their topic, both delivered a similar number of points in the same timeframe, both used stories and both asked us to discuss their key points with the person beside us. A similar workshop framework being used and yet such a different impact on me as the participant.

What did I take away from this experience – it was an important reminder that we learn and remember more when the learning is attached to emotion. Emotion for me is connected to the energy and enthusiasm of the presenter.

I’m not suggesting we should all go over the top and be “cheerleaders”. However we do need to think about our own energy levels and the impact we are having on our participants. What works for us will not work for everyone.

Experiment with your own energy level at the front of the room, watch and monitor the group reactions.

From now on when I develop my session plans I will include a new column “energy” and determine for each section the energy level I believe is required and how this can be achieved for the group. Varying the energy level throughout the day to maximise learning, I will also include this in my personal workshop review.

I would be interested in your comments about the energy levels of presenters – when does it become exhausting? what is too much or too little? How do you change your energy for groups?

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What about the participants?

“To lead a workshop we must first understand the people who are in it.” A wise quote from Brian Stanfield.

If we are asked to conduct a workshop for a client group one of our important tasks is to find out about the people who will be participating so we can prepare appropriately with their needs in mind.

The ORID provides a good framework for thinking this through, starting with the facts. How many people will be in the group? How long have they been associated with this organisation? What age demographic are they? What are their qualifications? What time of the day do they normally attend work? What is their knowledge of this topic?

Followed by some reflective questions; What is the mood of the group in relation to this topic? What are the personality styles of the members of the group? How are they feeling about participating? How cohesive are they as a team? What barriers may get in the way of their participation?

And some interpretive questions; How important are the outcomes to the group? What are they keys/influences to how the group operates? What previous experiences have they had with this type of process? How well do they respect each other and work as a team?

Armed with this knowledge a facilitator can then go through the decisional phase and plan the process to engage the group. How will I build the group rapport? How will I engage all styles? What processes will I use to engage the group? What behaviours will I need to be aware of and have strategies to manage should they arise?

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A reminder of what not to do..

Sometimes I need reminding by a group of participants about the “What not to do at the front of the room”. I recently attended a Australasia Pacific Extension Network (APEN) Roadshow – “Designing Effective Events … by understanding how adults learn” facilitated by Andrew Huffer. One of the discussion points was what are some of the things we dislike from presenters – the things we should take note of and change! There was nothing really new however some good reminders so we make all of our presentations “Wow”.

Some of their key points raised

Repetitious behaviour such as jiggling keys or coins in your pocket or swaying – something to be aware of when we are nervous. The key jiggling seems to be more common with males, because of pants with pockets containing the keys rather than handbags I suspect. Participants report finding this type of behaviour distracting.
Reading from the power point presentation, demonstrating no awareness of the audience and not connecting with them. The power point should be there as a guide not be “the presentation” the audience is looking for a personal connection with the presenter. We learn and remember when we are emotionally connected with the presenter or the material in some way, think about how you can connect and do this very early in your presentation. for a few tips on power points https://workshopswithwow.com/tag/powerpoints/
Not catering for various learning styles, perhaps the presenter is only considering his or her own learning style rather than being inclusive of all. I am a very visual learner and like to see colour and visuals as part of a presentation not just words and audio, others prefer activities. To review learning styles follow this link https://workshopswithwow.com/tag/vark/
Too many acronyms, only those in the know know them! Avoid acronyms were possible or write them in full.
Overload of too much complex data. Remember the famous quote “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler,” Albert Einstein. The complex data may be very meaningful to you, however, what are the key messages you need your audience to take away.

I’m sure my readers have many other “What’s not to do’s” and I would love you to add some comments to this blog. A big thank you to APEN and Andrew Huffer for making the workshops across the country a success.

After a slow time with my blog due to a busy workload and a trip overseas I am back on deck, you will be receiving more regular blogs once again. Thanks for your support and ongoing messages which keep me motivated.

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The ORID

The ORID technique came into my life during the first facilitation workshop I ever attended and I have found it to be an extremely useful tool.

As described by R Brian Stanfield in his book, The Art of Focused Conversation, the ORID provides a framework for conversations to solve a problem, make a decision, evaluate an event, generate commitment, explore options or to build on a vision. His book provides 100 examples of using the technique in our everyday life.

I find it particularly useful as a review or evaulation process and to assist with decision making. So how does it work?

O Objective question – these are the questions to analyse the facts and external reality. I often think of this as the ‘head’ or logic questions. Examples include :

What are the topics we have talked about today?
What is the financial position?
What are the key facts?
What were the most important facts in this report?

R Reflective question – this checks in with how we feel about the situation or the facts. It focuses us on the personal internal reaction. I think of it as the heart question – what emotions or feelings do we have.

What surprised you in the presentation?
What challenged your thinking?
Where have you been frustrated by the process?
What’s it like to be in this situation?

I Interpretive question – these questions aim to examine the meaning, the values and the significance of the topic. Interpretive questions provide the opportunity to draw out the significance of the O and the R. For me it’s the gut question – what does this mean for me?

What does this mean for the organisation
What challenges need to be resolved?
What are the key messages in the workshop?
What alternatives are worth considering?

D Decisional question – aim to bring a resolve to the conversation, a consensus, create an action plan or steps forward.

What will you differently as a result of this workshop?
What is the first step?
What kind of future situations could these learnings be applied to?
What would you do differently next time?

It is particularly important not to overlook the impact of the reflective questions – the feeling and emotions when we are making a decision. We are comfortable dealing with logic and often go straight from facts to interpretation without dealing with the feelings as we perceive them to be more challenging to quantify. Feelings and emotion are an important part of decision making and when overlooked actions are often not followed through on or decisions are regretted later.

For more information on the ORID I highly recommend Brian Stanfields, The Art of Focused Conversation – 100 Ways to Access Group Wisdom in the Workplace, (2000) published by The Canadian Institute of Cultural Affairs. My well worn copy has been a valuable facilitation and coaching resource.

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Extension and Adoption, Our workshops, Workshops with Wow

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Making happy sheets happy!

Evaluation sheets are often called “happy sheets”… often there isn’t anything “happy” about them! Participants groan and instead of leaving the workshop energised and reflecting of a great workshop they leave with a form to complete and a groan.

Evaluation is critical for the facilitator: to report to management, improve our skills, complete a project report, further develop the workshop etc. How can we lighten the process and make the happy sheets happy?

I thought I would share some of the techniques we have been using and would love to hear some ideas from others.

Make the evaluation a group activity. Write up 4 or 5 targeted evaluation questions on pieces of flip chart and put them up around the room. Divide the group into groups of 3 or 4 and ask them to discuss and complete the pages. A simple advantage of this is movement – often workshops involve a lot of sitting, getting people up helps the blood flow and increasing thinking. Everyone will remember different aspects of the workshop and have different perspectives, groups discussion allows the workshop to be reviewed by a team and further deepen some of the learnings.

If flips charts aren’t an option, or the rooms size won’t enable moving around, I often ask people to work with the person sitting beside them and complete the evaluation sheet together. Once again the discussion adds to the depth of feedback.

A dart board approach can be used where people rate various aspects of the workshop by putting a cross on a dart board – with the bulls eye meaning “the workshop was spot on”. A dart board can be drawn up on a flip chart at the front of the room and everyone files past and completes it. Once again some movement and interest at the end helps to keep the energy levels up.

A quick method with a larger group that works well with the sticky wall is ask participants to write their expectation on a piece of A5 paper at the beginning of the workshop, at the end they take their expectation off the wall and comment on how well this has been met.

A final tip is to ensure there is sufficient time in the agenda to carry out the evaluation effectively – don’t rush it or make it the final activity. Finish off with a closing comment or brief activity that leaves participants with a sense of energy so they head home saying “Wow that was a great workshop!”

How do you make evaluations “happy”? Please post or email me your ideas and I can include them in another blog.

I can be emailed on jeanette@agconsulting.com.au

May 2014 bring all you hope for!

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Workshops with Wow

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workshopswithwow

Practical ideas for facilitating workshops & people development

Archive for the ‘Workshops with Wow’ Category

Coo-ee Collective

A workshop too far

Helping Adults Learn

The challenges of facilitating as a volunteer!

The facilitators tool kit

The impact of energy

What about the participants?

A reminder of what not to do..

The ORID

Making happy sheets happy!

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