We just attended a half-day business booster mini-workshop, run by a friend, Terry Carney, on ‘Social Media Marketing’. The session was really informative around what’s out there, what works and what doesn’t, how to join up all your business related social media, to ensure it’s consistent, to the point, relevant and useful.
The session also high-lighted some really good do’s and don’ts, pitfalls and possibilities that can drive benefit and business to companies.
Terry, who ran the programme, also manages a Business Booster LinkedIn group which you can find at http://www.linkedin.com/groups/BUSINESS-BOOSTER-GROUP
29 November 2011
28 November 2011
Product Innovation Stimuli
We recently facilitated a product innovation workshop for a corporate client looking to break out of existing product paradigms.
We put a lot of effort into making sure we had both related and un-related stimuli on hand to help people see things in different ways and explore new and fresh ideas. This included a large table of related products, some of the clients and many from competitors, several mood boards of ‘what the future might hold and look like’ and a really good, varied selection of magazines and periodicals, a few related to the clients field but most not!
We also showed a couple of thought provoking video clips from You Tube which incorporated lots of stats, numbers and provocative statements about the future, this gave us additional food for thought!
With all this stimuli we were really able to stretch and pull the clients existing paradigms around products and generated some really great ideas to work up into full product propositions.
We put a lot of effort into making sure we had both related and un-related stimuli on hand to help people see things in different ways and explore new and fresh ideas. This included a large table of related products, some of the clients and many from competitors, several mood boards of ‘what the future might hold and look like’ and a really good, varied selection of magazines and periodicals, a few related to the clients field but most not!
We also showed a couple of thought provoking video clips from You Tube which incorporated lots of stats, numbers and provocative statements about the future, this gave us additional food for thought!
With all this stimuli we were really able to stretch and pull the clients existing paradigms around products and generated some really great ideas to work up into full product propositions.
18 November 2011
Combining Virtual preparation with Multi-Cultural Facilitation
We recently worked with a global corporate client to design and facilitate a 2 day global strategy workshop with 8 different multi-cultural regions, Russia, Ukraine, Europe, USA, South America, Asia, Africa and Australia.
Nearly all the pre-workshop contact, consultation, design and preparation was carried out remotely and virtually making good use of e-Mail, Word, PowerPoint and especially Skype! The workshop design went backwards and forwards several times and a ‘few’ Skype calls later we had our 2 days mapped out and the client was happy. Virtual working is definitely enabled and enhanced through the ability to see one another.
During the workshop, all geographic regions were represented; the challenges as we progressed through our agenda were not unexpected: language, communication styles (soft and hard, direct and subtle), misunderstanding meaning and perceived cultural hierarchy (in part influenced by the level of maturity of local markets) all had to be embraced.
To overcome these challenges some basic but critical techniques we employed were:
- collectively building meaningful workshop guidelines and actively using them;
- making sure we managed perceived and actual hierarchy in the room by making certain
- everyone was included, listened to and heard and NOT interrupted;
- giving opportunity for table discussion in native/first language;
- speaking clearly and slowly and asked others to do the same;
- asking others to help and support those who’s English was not as confident;
- summarising and paraphrasing more regularly
- seeking to use lots of praise and thankyou’s!
It was a really rewarding engagement. We’ve definitely seen an increase in the need for cross-cultural work in the last 4-5 years and we’ve found these basic ‘top tips’ help the group make good progress.
30 September 2011
Farewell to Sarah
Our recent public ‘Building Resilience’ event was also our last chance to work with our friend and colleague Sarah Willis before she moved on to pastures new. The event was a big success, with great feedback and was a fitting end to Sarah’s time at circleindigo.
One of Sarah’s central passions and themes in her life and work is about enabling and developing young people. So she is very happy to share the news that she is going to be the National Lead on a programme called Positive Futures for Catch 22 www.catch-22.org.uk a charity that enables young people to develop their confidence, skills and potential. She will carry her great experiences from circleindigo into her new role and will remain connected to the community of circleindigo clients and friends.
We wish Sarah every success in this new chapter of her working life, focussing on the area she has always had immense passion for.
One of Sarah’s central passions and themes in her life and work is about enabling and developing young people. So she is very happy to share the news that she is going to be the National Lead on a programme called Positive Futures for Catch 22 www.catch-22.org.uk a charity that enables young people to develop their confidence, skills and potential. She will carry her great experiences from circleindigo into her new role and will remain connected to the community of circleindigo clients and friends.
We wish Sarah every success in this new chapter of her working life, focussing on the area she has always had immense passion for.
Building Resilience Event
Based on the research ‘Being Resilient’, carried out with the University of Westminster, Business Psychology Centre (BPC) Business Psychology MSc programme we recently ran a public ‘Building Resilience’ event called ‘Resilience - Push Pause: Time to Connect, Learn, Think & Adapt’ at our friends space, headrooms (www.headroomsip.com).
With 20 participants from cross-sector and cross-industry organisations we facilitated a half-day event which was an interactive and participative exploration through circleindigo’s 5 key characteristics of resilience model (based on the research above). For each characteristic we ran a practical exercise designed to reinforce learning and extend competence and to get each participant to interact both with the model and one another: building resilience one characteristic at a time.
We had an enjoyable afternoon with our participants in the headrooms space, learnt lots and made new friends and connections, as did others. For more information on our Building Resilience work e-Mail us at info@circleindigo.com.
With 20 participants from cross-sector and cross-industry organisations we facilitated a half-day event which was an interactive and participative exploration through circleindigo’s 5 key characteristics of resilience model (based on the research above). For each characteristic we ran a practical exercise designed to reinforce learning and extend competence and to get each participant to interact both with the model and one another: building resilience one characteristic at a time.
We had an enjoyable afternoon with our participants in the headrooms space, learnt lots and made new friends and connections, as did others. For more information on our Building Resilience work e-Mail us at info@circleindigo.com.
20 June 2011
More than just sheep!
Ever open to exploring different ways unlocking new learning and insights we recently had the pleasure of facilitating an afternoon’s (2+ hours) team development activity with 1 corporate client, 2 groups of 12 people, 20 sheep, 2 shepherds and no sheep dogs!
We split the people into 2 groups and each had a shepherd and 10, one year old sheep that had never been herded before. The objective of the activity was for the 12 people to work as a team to herd 10 sheep in a (large!) field and get them in to a small pen, with little or no instruction form the shepherd! In the first sheep trial the groups were allowed to move the pen, and once this was ‘known’ the activity was pretty straight forward and successful, about 20-ish minutes to get all 10 sheep in to the pen. The second trial was a little more difficult, this time the pen had to be placed somewhere else in the field, this proved to be much more difficult and in fact after an hour and fifteen both groups had not achieved the task.
Now the shepherds came into their own, with a short instruction session, providing advice and answering questions, the groups were set a third trial, herd the sheep in to a pen, out in the field against the clock, 15 minutes! BUT following the instruction and advice the group Gary was working with at the time managed to get 8 out the 10 sheep in to the pen in 12 minutes, 2 sheep made a sly and last minute successful escape attempt, a massive achievement after trial 2!!!
And so to learning’s and application in the work place: someone has to be a shepherd, others have to be the ‘dog’: plan, communication, team work, belief in the task being achievable and commitment from all to the task at hand, and of course think outside the pen (box!).
We split the people into 2 groups and each had a shepherd and 10, one year old sheep that had never been herded before. The objective of the activity was for the 12 people to work as a team to herd 10 sheep in a (large!) field and get them in to a small pen, with little or no instruction form the shepherd! In the first sheep trial the groups were allowed to move the pen, and once this was ‘known’ the activity was pretty straight forward and successful, about 20-ish minutes to get all 10 sheep in to the pen. The second trial was a little more difficult, this time the pen had to be placed somewhere else in the field, this proved to be much more difficult and in fact after an hour and fifteen both groups had not achieved the task.
Now the shepherds came into their own, with a short instruction session, providing advice and answering questions, the groups were set a third trial, herd the sheep in to a pen, out in the field against the clock, 15 minutes! BUT following the instruction and advice the group Gary was working with at the time managed to get 8 out the 10 sheep in to the pen in 12 minutes, 2 sheep made a sly and last minute successful escape attempt, a massive achievement after trial 2!!!
And so to learning’s and application in the work place: someone has to be a shepherd, others have to be the ‘dog’: plan, communication, team work, belief in the task being achievable and commitment from all to the task at hand, and of course think outside the pen (box!).
31 May 2011
It’s part of how we do things around here
We’ve just come back from running an in-house Facilitation Skills training programme as part of a week of skills and competency building for 250 staff for an international client. Alongside our programme were Project Management, marketing and client-relationship training session offerings: demonstrating that awareness is growing in organisations of the need to develop facilitation skills as a core skill across many roles alongside other more established core competencies.
30 May 2011
Building participation in multi-stakeholder working
Recently we were asked to design and deliver a consultative workshop for a research organisation. The workshop was a multi stakeholder event and participants came from a broad range of backgrounds including health professionals, volunteers, service users, project managers and carers.
It was important to ensure the workshop was inclusive, accessible and engaging. It was also vital that the workshop process enabled everyone to feel they could contribute and that their opinions were heard and valued. We designed a workshop that began with an introductory activity that enabled ‘connection before content’ in order to create a safe space for the group to work in. Following on from this we used a number of methods throughout the day that covered different learning intelligence preferences including visual spatial, verbal linguistic and both intra and inter personal. This enabled greater levels of participation and engagement ensuring that everyone could contribute their ideas. For those of you who’ve trained with us you’ll be very familiar with this approach! For a useful resource to learn more about multiple intelligence theory visit http://www.multipleintelligencetheory.co.uk/
It was important to ensure the workshop was inclusive, accessible and engaging. It was also vital that the workshop process enabled everyone to feel they could contribute and that their opinions were heard and valued. We designed a workshop that began with an introductory activity that enabled ‘connection before content’ in order to create a safe space for the group to work in. Following on from this we used a number of methods throughout the day that covered different learning intelligence preferences including visual spatial, verbal linguistic and both intra and inter personal. This enabled greater levels of participation and engagement ensuring that everyone could contribute their ideas. For those of you who’ve trained with us you’ll be very familiar with this approach! For a useful resource to learn more about multiple intelligence theory visit http://www.multipleintelligencetheory.co.uk/
08 April 2011
Gamestorming – by David Gray, Sunni Brown & James Macanufo
We’ve recently read and appreciated Gamestorming): The cover states it’s ‘A playbook for innovators, rule-breakers & change makers’.
This is a good toolbox type book of structured group processes, tools and techniques for group work, collaboration, innovation and problem solving. It’s nicely laid out, easy to read, understand and apply when working with groups. There are well over 50 different tools listed in this book, with a good explanation of each and how to apply them. It has several well-known ones like brain-writing, cover story, fishbowl and dot voting and lots of others I had heard of but not used, I shall definitely give some of them a go though!
O’Reilly Media. ISBN 13 – 978 - 6596804176
This is a good toolbox type book of structured group processes, tools and techniques for group work, collaboration, innovation and problem solving. It’s nicely laid out, easy to read, understand and apply when working with groups. There are well over 50 different tools listed in this book, with a good explanation of each and how to apply them. It has several well-known ones like brain-writing, cover story, fishbowl and dot voting and lots of others I had heard of but not used, I shall definitely give some of them a go though!
O’Reilly Media. ISBN 13 – 978 - 6596804176
28 March 2011
Welcoming unexpected workshop participants
Many of the people we train ask us about good ice-breakers and energisers. Justine recently experienced her most unusual one yet in the shape of a very affectionate and bouncy dog that stayed for the whole workshop. It wasn’t a stray that just came in from the street…one of our clients has a ‘bring your dogs to work’ scheme (it’s nothing against cats, just that cats tend to do their own thing…) and one of her participants did just that. Whilst the workshop treats and goodies (for the participants) had to be locked away our canine friend certainly added lots of good energy and laughter trying to use one of the large marker pens as a stick to be thrown and fetched and offering doggie woof insight at certain parts of the session. Perhaps not an appropriate energiser to be used on every occasion it certainly was a new workshop experience.
18 February 2011
headrooms opening
On Tuesday 22nd February headrooms in Clerkenwell officially opened and circleindigo were pleased to be there to celebrate with their friends.
The people at headrooms are passionate about seeing people improve, create, innovate and do things better. They believe that people need stimulating environments hence they have created space in a great location offering a range of services from fully equipped meeting and training rooms, support from highly experienced management consultants, open development events in collaboration with People Tree and external support from facilitators including circleindigo as their best friends!
The people at headrooms are passionate about seeing people improve, create, innovate and do things better. They believe that people need stimulating environments hence they have created space in a great location offering a range of services from fully equipped meeting and training rooms, support from highly experienced management consultants, open development events in collaboration with People Tree and external support from facilitators including circleindigo as their best friends!
20 January 2011
Establishing a Internal Facilitator Resource Pool
Over the past 2 years we have been working with a children’s charity to set up a sustainable internal facilitation resource. We initially delivered a two day core facilitation skills training programme to senior managers followed by a practice period where they had the opportunity to facilitate internal sessions using their new skills. Six months later we delivered a further two day high performance facilitation skills for this first cohort. Then followed a consultation period and over a time the facilitation team was firmly established and a process was agreed for developing more facilitators. It was decided that staff from across the organisation should be invited to apply to attend the next round of training stating their objectives and identifying their skills. Successful applicants then formed the 2nd cohort and they too went through both the core and high performance programmes.
This programme of work has had a positive impact on both individuals and the organisation and this February several members of the first cohort successfully completed their International Association of Facilitator’s Certification (see http://www.iaf-europe.eu/ and http://www.iaf-world.org/) .
The charity now has a professional internal resource that is being used regularly throughout the organisation. The outcomes organisationally include increased capability and capacity, effective and productive meetings and significant cost reductions.
This programme of work has had a positive impact on both individuals and the organisation and this February several members of the first cohort successfully completed their International Association of Facilitator’s Certification (see http://www.iaf-europe.eu/ and http://www.iaf-world.org/) .
The charity now has a professional internal resource that is being used regularly throughout the organisation. The outcomes organisationally include increased capability and capacity, effective and productive meetings and significant cost reductions.
21 November 2010
Witherdens Hall opens new workshop and meeting space
If you want a secluded place to work, rest or play then explore what Louise Chester had created at Witherdens Hall www.witherdenshall.co.uk in Wingham, Kent. It is an intimate space to hold awaydays with food locally produced and sourced. You can arrange your own event or draw on her network of skilled coaches, facilitators and business leaders to apply some Breakthrough Business Coaching and Consultancy; arrange some holistic pampering at The Retreat or simply take a walk through the surrounding countryside. It’s an inspirational place and has innovative events on offer if that’s what you’re after. It’s also great news for those of us based in and around Kent. A real gem I’m not sure we should be letting you know about in case we can’t book it when we want to!
15 November 2010
Project Management - APM Conference
A productive place to run workshops is at key points through the project lifecycle: to bring the project team together to make qualitative decisions; achieve buy-in from the whole team to the way forward; and build commitment to achieving the project outcomes. For this reason we like to keep up to date with the latest in project management and recently attended the annual Association for Project Managers conference at The Brewery. www.thebrewery.co.uk
As I sat in the large Porter Tun room for the conference opening my heart sank as I saw that we had a one hour ‘Opening Speaker’ presentation and a huge screen that signalled powerpoint! I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Stephen Carver from Cranfield University www.cranfield.ac.uk was introduced to talk about Project Partnerships: Past Present and Future.
What followed was a master class in creative presentation and effective use of powerpoint! From the opening visuals of David Cameron and Nick Clegg symbolizing a new partnership the audience were engaged. There followed a whole narrative with visuals about the construction of the Pyramids and what type of project management was happening throughout. We were then treated to a short film clip from the Gladiator and subsequently tasked with a related activity to work on in table groups. And so it continued the whole presentation alive with visuals, quotes, stories, humour and activities and not an overcrowded, wordy slide to be seen! It was an excellent start to the conference. For more about the conference go to www.apm.org.uk
As I sat in the large Porter Tun room for the conference opening my heart sank as I saw that we had a one hour ‘Opening Speaker’ presentation and a huge screen that signalled powerpoint! I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Stephen Carver from Cranfield University www.cranfield.ac.uk was introduced to talk about Project Partnerships: Past Present and Future.
What followed was a master class in creative presentation and effective use of powerpoint! From the opening visuals of David Cameron and Nick Clegg symbolizing a new partnership the audience were engaged. There followed a whole narrative with visuals about the construction of the Pyramids and what type of project management was happening throughout. We were then treated to a short film clip from the Gladiator and subsequently tasked with a related activity to work on in table groups. And so it continued the whole presentation alive with visuals, quotes, stories, humour and activities and not an overcrowded, wordy slide to be seen! It was an excellent start to the conference. For more about the conference go to www.apm.org.uk
28 September 2010
Facilitation Camp
Sarah spent two days at FacilitationCamp in Vauxhall South London hosted by www.decisionlab.org.uk and www.LondonCreativeLabs.com. The venue was Vauxhall Gardens Community Centre. Originally an old bed factory it was recently rescued and reclaimed for community benefit and provided a unconventional urban conference space. You can see the team of visionaries who rolled up their sleeves to make it happen, if you watch this short film about it: http://s.coop/2l8
FacilitationCamp was described as an ‘unconference’ where participants could co-create the agenda on the day as well as co-create the experience they have. It was run using the BarCamp model based on Open Space Technology www.openspaceworld.com so that we as participants could design the agenda and convene sessions. It was an energetic and exciting two days with lots of interesting ideas generated.
Sarah convened two sessions on Saturday 21st Open Space 2: Mapping & Exploring your facilitation practice and Open Space 3: Visually Recording FacilitationCamp. To see more visit http://barcamFacilitationCampWhatHappenedp.org/
FacilitationCamp was described as an ‘unconference’ where participants could co-create the agenda on the day as well as co-create the experience they have. It was run using the BarCamp model based on Open Space Technology www.openspaceworld.com so that we as participants could design the agenda and convene sessions. It was an energetic and exciting two days with lots of interesting ideas generated.
Sarah convened two sessions on Saturday 21st Open Space 2: Mapping & Exploring your facilitation practice and Open Space 3: Visually Recording FacilitationCamp. To see more visit http://barcamFacilitationCampWhatHappenedp.org/
09 September 2010
Up and coming IAF Europe Conference: Paradoxes in Facilitation
Gary is currently the IAF Europe (acting) Conferences and Professional Development Lead and in a few weeks time he will be participating in the International Association of Facilitators (IAF) Europe conference 2010, 15th – 17th October, being held this year in Helsinki, Finland with the theme of ‘Paradoxes in Facilitation’; where we will explore paradoxes, magical tools, myths and rites in our facilitation practice.
The conference is on the picturesque peninsula of Kallahti, in a beautiful wooded area a few steps from the shores of the Gulf of Finland – it looks a fantastic place to spend some time catching up with old and new friends active in the field of facilitation.
The conference programme is offered by Facilitator colleagues from around Europe and beyond and contains over 30 concurrent sessions and 4 pre-conference sessions.
There will be formal networking sessions under the heading ‘Punainen Lanka’ (Red Thread) where people can organise gatherings of like-minded folk around a common topic of interest and more informal get-togethers as suggested by the local team; including a range of Finnish activities and offerings to try, as well as time to meet, network and socialise with Facilitator peers; sharing facilitation experiences, stories, tools and techniques with one another.
Have a look at http://www.iaf-europe-conference.org/
The conference is on the picturesque peninsula of Kallahti, in a beautiful wooded area a few steps from the shores of the Gulf of Finland – it looks a fantastic place to spend some time catching up with old and new friends active in the field of facilitation.
The conference programme is offered by Facilitator colleagues from around Europe and beyond and contains over 30 concurrent sessions and 4 pre-conference sessions.
There will be formal networking sessions under the heading ‘Punainen Lanka’ (Red Thread) where people can organise gatherings of like-minded folk around a common topic of interest and more informal get-togethers as suggested by the local team; including a range of Finnish activities and offerings to try, as well as time to meet, network and socialise with Facilitator peers; sharing facilitation experiences, stories, tools and techniques with one another.
Have a look at http://www.iaf-europe-conference.org/
30 July 2010
The first ed.space…watch this space!
Since my early twenties I have cared deeply about the educational experiences of children and young people. Over many years this was reinforced by my experience of working with many young people whose creativity had been stifled in an educational system that somehow alienated them. The breakthrough question that ed.space is posing ‘How do we create a learning experience that fully engages with the hearts of children and young people?’ has a particular resonance for me.Also I have a firm belief that gathering together with other people to share conversation, time and space in relation to issues that matter we can begin to change the world. That may sound a grand statement but by promoting connectedness in this way we can listen, dream, explore, sense and be present to greater possibility.
Being in ed.space felt different from the start; the virgin martini’s, just an olive in a glass gave a flavour of what the evening was going to be like! Held in the inspiring Engine Hall of the People’s History Museum in Manchester (http://www.phm.org.uk/) there was an excitement in the air.
Mark Hodierne and the ed.space team created an evening that had the perfect balance of input and varied activity. There were video clips of Sir Ken Robinson, opportunities to play with music technology using ipad, small group work and a systemic constellation to explore the wider education system. There was a high level of engagement, great conversations and some powerful ideas emerged.
ed.space is definitely a new venture to watch to learn more visit http://www.edspace.ws/
Being in ed.space felt different from the start; the virgin martini’s, just an olive in a glass gave a flavour of what the evening was going to be like! Held in the inspiring Engine Hall of the People’s History Museum in Manchester (http://www.phm.org.uk/) there was an excitement in the air.
Mark Hodierne and the ed.space team created an evening that had the perfect balance of input and varied activity. There were video clips of Sir Ken Robinson, opportunities to play with music technology using ipad, small group work and a systemic constellation to explore the wider education system. There was a high level of engagement, great conversations and some powerful ideas emerged.
ed.space is definitely a new venture to watch to learn more visit http://www.edspace.ws/
29 May 2010
Engaging Parents
Recently Sarah was asked to design and deliver a workshop for parents in a South East London borough. The parents all have children attending schools in a particular part of the borough and form what is called a school cluster group. The Local Authority Extended Services team were keen to engage with parents in relation to increasing participation in family learning as well as ensuring that parents had a voice and an opportunity to contribute their ideas for a large scale parent’s conference that would be held in July 2010.
Sarah worked with local practitioners to design a workshop that would encourage participation and inclusion. It was important to make the workshop activities accessible to all parents. Things for consideration were the wide range of cultural backgrounds and varying levels of literacy as many participants had English as a second language.
Sessions ranged from: a creative market place of information; a dot voting and marble voting series of activities; large graffiti walls that the parents could contribute their ideas to using words, images or symbols and small group conversation sessions facilitated by local practitioners.
There were high levels of participation, lots of great ideas for the conference in July and positive feedback from the parents plus a desire to be involved in the future. It was a wonderful session to be a part of.
Sarah worked with local practitioners to design a workshop that would encourage participation and inclusion. It was important to make the workshop activities accessible to all parents. Things for consideration were the wide range of cultural backgrounds and varying levels of literacy as many participants had English as a second language.
Sessions ranged from: a creative market place of information; a dot voting and marble voting series of activities; large graffiti walls that the parents could contribute their ideas to using words, images or symbols and small group conversation sessions facilitated by local practitioners.
There were high levels of participation, lots of great ideas for the conference in July and positive feedback from the parents plus a desire to be involved in the future. It was a wonderful session to be a part of.
29 April 2010
Volcanic ash enables virtual IAF...
Having been asked to facilitate an observed (goldfish bowl) keynote workshop on ‘The Future of the International Association of Facilitators (IAF) at the Chicago 2010 North American IAF conference, Gary’s plans, and session, were suddenly in disarray due to the volcanic eruption in Iceland which put paid to flying to the USA!
With a few days to go before the session and no let up on the volcanic ash cloud, Gary along with the conference design team decided that as leaders in the field of facilitation, the IAF should be doing something different and so it was decided that Gary’s keynote workshop would be run virtually with facilitation support from a fellow IAF colleague and friend, Nadine Bell, who would be in the room in Chicago.
So come the day, 16 participants and 12 observers in a hotel conference room in Chicago, Nadine Bell co-Facilitator in Chicago, a five hour time difference and Gary in his office at the bottom of his garden back in the UK, the workshop took place.
Having chosen to do this over Skype and Skype video calling, which all stayed up and connected, with the fantastic help of Nadine Bell in Chicago, a web cam, frantic note taking on post-its stuck up around Gary’s office and a webcam in the room in Chicago, 3.5 hours later virtual facilitation workshop completed, session went really well and feedback very positive.
Now to find more ‘virtual opportunities’ and good online tools and software to support it!
With a few days to go before the session and no let up on the volcanic ash cloud, Gary along with the conference design team decided that as leaders in the field of facilitation, the IAF should be doing something different and so it was decided that Gary’s keynote workshop would be run virtually with facilitation support from a fellow IAF colleague and friend, Nadine Bell, who would be in the room in Chicago.
So come the day, 16 participants and 12 observers in a hotel conference room in Chicago, Nadine Bell co-Facilitator in Chicago, a five hour time difference and Gary in his office at the bottom of his garden back in the UK, the workshop took place.
Having chosen to do this over Skype and Skype video calling, which all stayed up and connected, with the fantastic help of Nadine Bell in Chicago, a web cam, frantic note taking on post-its stuck up around Gary’s office and a webcam in the room in Chicago, 3.5 hours later virtual facilitation workshop completed, session went really well and feedback very positive.
Now to find more ‘virtual opportunities’ and good online tools and software to support it!
09 November 2009
University of Westminster – Resilience Research
Following many years of supporting client groups and individuals manage change and transition and building on our three year plus relationship with the Business Psychology Centre at the University of Westminster, London, this year we sponsored two research projects on resilience during major change.
The first was a theory based research project, researching the many (if not hundreds!) of resilience models and frameworks out there and identifying if there were common themes and characteristics, this project was carried out by Irene Xanthaki, a business psychology student at the university.
The second was a practical based project which researched how people handled major change well, what they did and what characteristics did they display or use. This project was carried out by Katie Roth, also an MSc student at the university and involved interviewing our client’s cross-sector and cross-industry and then reviewing and collating the findings.
Both research projects have now been finished and dissertation reports handed in!
Through reviewing the two reports we have built a ‘key characteristics of resilience’ framework that we are now using to inform our work to support both individuals and groups develop and build resilience to enable them to survive and thrive in turbulent times!
We already have a number of clients who are keen to take and extend this work further with us, and we thank both Irene and Katie for all their hard work and effort.
The first was a theory based research project, researching the many (if not hundreds!) of resilience models and frameworks out there and identifying if there were common themes and characteristics, this project was carried out by Irene Xanthaki, a business psychology student at the university.
The second was a practical based project which researched how people handled major change well, what they did and what characteristics did they display or use. This project was carried out by Katie Roth, also an MSc student at the university and involved interviewing our client’s cross-sector and cross-industry and then reviewing and collating the findings.
Both research projects have now been finished and dissertation reports handed in!
Through reviewing the two reports we have built a ‘key characteristics of resilience’ framework that we are now using to inform our work to support both individuals and groups develop and build resilience to enable them to survive and thrive in turbulent times!
We already have a number of clients who are keen to take and extend this work further with us, and we thank both Irene and Katie for all their hard work and effort.
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