Jussi Hermunen was brought in as a consultant on a multimillion-euro project when he discovered that his go-to tool was on the client's prohibited software list. He used it anyway. Not out of recklessness, but because a diagram reads the same on a factory floor as it does in a boardroom.

A clarity that a 70-page document full of acronyms that nobody in those steering group meetings would admit they hadn't read could never provide.

He has spent decades inside large organisations finding the people whose working lives are shaped by decisions they had no part in making, and asking the questions everyone inside stopped asking on day three. We talked about what happens when organisations become the very obstacle standing between themselves and the change they're trying to make and what changes when you stop delivering that change to people and start designing it with them.

Links to learn more about Jussi Hermunem:

LinkedIn

Personal Website

Company Website

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Tramaine has a rule for herself and everyone she manages: what you allow will continue. She learned by watching what happened when she didn't set a boundary, and what happened when she did.

With +15 years of managing teams across industries and seven countries around the globe, she spent a lot of that time being called difficult for doing things like putting her own phone number on an emergency contact list so her junior team members could have Christmas or pushing back against a request that would disrupt her team’s weekend.

Tramaine is a leader who runs toward the hard conversation, takes the consequence that comes with it, and has taken a demotion more than once because she decided the price of staying was higher than the price of leaving. We talked about what it costs to be called difficult as a woman in corporate, how she decides what's worth the fight, and why everything - every choice, every boundary, every stance - has a price. The only question is whether you've made peace with paying it.

Links to learn more about Tramaine Teo:

LinkedIn

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Mark McCartney showed up to facilitate a C-level team in Berlin on the hottest day of the year, drenched in sweat, and opened by pointing out his own stain marks. They laughed. The room shifted. That's Mark — someone who left a 15-year finance career, spent a year in Peru, and has since asked 300+ people the same question: what is a good life?

We got into why real vulnerability isn't the rehearsed trauma story but the small, mundane thing you say in the moment that reminds everyone they're sitting with a human. We talked about boundaries as a source of connection (not walls), why agreement is overrated in teams, and what happens when senior leaders can't admit they're overwhelmed even though it would be weirder if they weren't.

Learn more about Mark McCartney:

Newsletter

Website

LinkedIn

YouTube

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Starting your own facilitation brand can be daunting business. Thankfully, Jenny Millar, Kirsty Lewis and Michael Zipursky - three exceptionally wise and established founders - are here to teach you everything they wish they’d known sooner. The mistakes, the models, the pricing strategies, and all of the rich learning opportunities they’ve collected along the way.

As you might have guessed, our special fireside conversation this week is all about the business of facilitation! Around the fire, we dissect our own journeys in the hope of guiding you confidently on yours.

Expect empowering ideas, generous insights, tips, tricks and juicy business amuse-bouches that you can start implementing today.

Find out about:

• The considerations to make before starting your facilitation business
• The business mistakes, learning opportunities and things our guests had wished they’d known sooner
• How you can delegate while retaining agency over galvanising your community
• The Goldilocks effect of pricing: how to price with confidence
• The importance of niching down further than you might think
• How we define value, who creates it, and how you can prove your value to your first client

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Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to my guests:

Jenny Millar
Kirsty Lewis
Michael Zipursky

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Even as fully-fledged adults, there are many things about ourselves that we have yet to discover. Unexplored ideas, hidden pools of potential, and uncharted spaces we have yet to step into.

That is why coaching exists; to become aware of what we didn’t know, to move from a state of unconscious incompetence, into one of conscious incompetence, realising our blindspots and delving bravely, unreservedly into them.

Coaching mastermind and leader in education Dominique Mas has trained over 200 coaches, helping them to explore their blindspots, on a mission to bring the transformative power of group coaching to the world.

Episode 270 is a mushroom garden of epiphanies and burgeoning questions, as we unravel the difference between facilitation and group coaching, with many moments you’ll want to pause to commit to memory. Enjoy!

Find out about:

• The differences, symmetries and cross-sections between facilitation and group coaching
• The importance of understanding individual needs and experiences before a group coaching session
• Why thanking participants for their contribution invites in different voices
• Why we must choose our questions wisely in a coaching context to ensure positive engagement
• The art of not giving advice and the role of agency in coaching
• The important difference between trust and psychological safety

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Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to Dominique Mas:

LinkedIn

Website

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Fellow power-podcaster and community creator, founder of The Human-Centered Design Network, and teacher of the next generation of thinkers and doers, Gerry Scullion’s impressive list of founding projects is a true testament to his 21-year mastery of ‘service’.

Episode 269 is an education into this world; Gerry introduces us to the principles, theories and practices of Service Design, where it intertwines with facilitation, and why design and facilitation are in fact, one and the same.

We talk about ageism in design, bakery role-play, getting comfortable with uncertainty - and so much more!

Find out about:

• The difference between Human Centric Design, Service Design and Design Thinking
• Why service design is a holistic experience that must look far beyond the screen
• What it means to hold the pen in a workshop and why distributing it to the group is crucial for democratisation
• Why simultations like ‘investigative rehearsals’ help to explore the nuances and components of service business
• Why working with children is like training for a marathon in high altitude
• Gerry’s work in community building and facilitating supportive conversations

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Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to Gerry:

LinkedIn

This is HCD Coaching

This is HCD Training 

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Have you ever found yourself stepping on a dance partner's toes? That's a bit what co-facilitation can feel like without the right rhythm and rapport. Together with Cate Czerwinski and Florentine Versteeg, felllow faculty members from our leadership through facilitation course and peers from the NeverDoneBefore community, we unpack the symphony of co-facilitation, from the powerful duets of mutual support and blending ideas to the occasional missteps of clashing perspectives. It's more than just sharing a stage; it's about creating a performance that uplifts every participant, and in this episode, we share the secrets to that perfect harmony.

Navigating the dynamics between co-facilitators is akin to walking a tightrope, balancing offering support with giving space—no safety net included. We chat about the delicate intricacies of managing both our own and our fellow facilitator's egos, all while keeping a keen eye on the emotional undercurrents of our live sessions. With candid anecdotes and a spotlight on the importance of psychological safety, we share how transparency and self-awareness can make or break the co-facilitation experience. Spoiler alert: It's not always a walk in the park, but the insights we provide might just be your map through the woods.

And what about when clients wear the facilitator hat, too? We delve into the diplomatic dance of respecting their insights without letting them lead the whole show. From setting clear boundaries pre-workshop to managing real-time shifts in the process, we reveal the strategies that keep the facilitator-client relationship in check, ensuring the spotlight remains on collective goals. Wrapping up, we exchange tips on time management and adapting facilitation styles for both in-person and online environments. Join us for an episode that promises to leave you with a playbook for co-facilitating like a pro, ready to choreograph your next workshop with confidence and ease.

Find out about:

• The subtle nuances of co-facilitation dynamics
• Balancing support and autonomy
• Establishing boundaries with clients and co-facilitators
• The art of time management
• Strategies for both online and offline co-facilitation

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Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to GUEST:

Connect to Florentine Versteeg

Connect to Cate Czerwinski

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If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

Gather around my podcast airwaves for a special hour of meaningful moments and messages, as Lindsey Caplan brings us into her world of gathering.

A Hollywood screenwriter for Malcolm in the Middle, a Silicon Valley Organisational Psychologist and an educator for Dreamworks Animation, Lindsey is a miraculous mind with a showstopper of an oeuvre.

Along the way, she’s gathered a collection of learnings in her back pocket from these three disciplines, teaching her the simple power of bringing people together over a purpose. Her company The Gathering Effect takes a fresh approach to organisational change, crafting strategies to meet in effective ways.

Find out about:

• Lindsey’s definition of gathering and why it is a tool for change
• Why we mustn’t over-index on tools without fully understanding how to use them; instead we must first focus on the effect
• Why gatherings should be designed around one of four desired effects: compliance, entertainment, engagement and informing
• The role that environment plays in gatherings
• What we can learn about emotional connection, and therefore entertainment, from comedians and musicians
• The causality of company culture in gatherings: its ability to influence and be influenced in how organisations meet

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Connect to Lindsey Caplan:

LinkedIn

Website

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A constant, unchoreographed dance of tension and harmony, of structure and emergence, of psychological safety and sincerity, of client and group: facilitation is an artful balancing act.

And my guest this week Dr Jason Fox, is a master of equilibrium. A wise and mercurial keynote speaker and facilitator, he straddles the opposing realms of speaker presence and facilitator invisibility with shapeshifting ability, fusing deep philosophical thinking with meaningful future action.

We ride the facilitation see-saw in episode 266, exploring the alchemic balance of the facilitator, soaring from beautiful philosophies and the ideal conditions for achieving progress, dipping into Vipassana learnings and the potential of a spacious agenda.

Jason fills our conversation with such wisdom, charm and intrigue, I hope an hour with him leaves you feeling as inspired as I was.

Find out about:

• Why the alchemy of cooking is like that of facilitation, both requiring acuity, synthesis, and intuition
• The difference between meaningful progress vs. delusional progress
• Psychological safety: is there such a thing as too much? Can it lead the group into a state of toxic sincerity?
• The importance of seeking healthy conflict from a place of psychological safety
• Striking the balance of imperfection and friction, from the tools we use, to the environment we choose
• Jason’s teachings from meta-modernism, meta-rationality, Vipassana, and Indigenous Australian philosophy

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Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to Jason Fox:
On LinkedIn
https://foxwizard.com
https://drjasonfox.com/

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From free jazz and the musical echelons of piano concerto, to indigenous beats and the didgeridoo, this week’s episode is an invitation into the wondrous world of Music Thinking.

Christof Zürn is the inventor of this mindset; his storied background in musicology, creative direction and service design became the symphony to his brainchild. He now helps organisations to apply the principles of music to their daily lives, offering a new lexicon with which to interpret and understand business, leadership - and of course, facilitation!

Hear all about Christof’s musical mindset, how to apply it, and why it can be an inspiring scoresheet for effective work, collaboration, and productivity. Episode 265 is guaranteed to be music to your ears.

Find out about:

• The power of Music Thinking in helping to navigate organisational dynamics
• What the analogy of music means for business, leadership and facilitation
• Why the workshop is not a performance, but a rehearsal for the real-life production, allowing room for mistakes and exploration
• How music can help us to hear and understand simultaneous perspectives in an organisation
• The notion of ‘Design Thinking Theater’ and why it is a facade to endorse established organisational ideas

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to Christof:

Jam Cards

The Power of Music Thinking

Templates download

Epiphany Story 2024

Workshop with Leadership positions

Sonic Meditation / Pauline Oliveros

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Make a one-off donation and contribute to the ongoing costs of running the podcast.

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If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

It is wonder, curiosity and imagination wrapped up in one. It is both a suspension from reality and way of navigating the world, a problem solver, a flow of creativity, a creative outlet, a language and a state of mind. It is: play!

And true to its nature, we cannot possibly box play into one definition. Lily Higgins, Pauline McNaulty and Jules Gilleland join me in my digital playground this week to unpeel the many layers of play: purposeful play, play without agenda, play as the essence of human connection, and play as a curious and unexpected vehicle for conflict resolution.

Gather around for our special fireside conversation!

Find out about:

• Lily, Pauline and Jules’ multifaceted definitions of play, and why it is simultaneously a mindset, tactic, strategy, and metaphor
• The complexities and contexts of play as a facilitation tool
• How play can be used to navigate conflict, creating a safe space that diffuses risk
• How play can help us challenge our stories, and encourage us to see new perspectives 
• The difference between purposeful play, play as the experience itself, and play without agenda

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to guests:

Lily Higgins LinkedIn

Pauline McNaulty LinkedIn

Jules Gilleland LinkedIn

Find out more about our Facilitation Academy:

Live online courses with podcast guests

Support the show:
Make a one-off donation and contribute to the ongoing costs of running the podcast.

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If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

We are all made of stars. The elements of our bodies were first forged in celestial matter across the cosmos billions of years ago. As humans, we tend to think of ourselves as separate from nature, but we are of course, nature itself.

So when Life Guide, astrologist and founder of Happiness U, Alice Inoue introduced me to her fascinating psychometric assessment based on the five elements of ancient traditional Chinese medicine - water, wood, fire, earth and metal – I knew this conversation was going to be filled with earthly, enlightening wisdom for both facilitation - and life!

Alice teaches us about finding our natural superpowers in the elemental system, how to foster deeper group harmony, and how to see ourselves and others in a new dimension. Intrigued? Tune in to your element – and this week’s episode!

Find out about:

• Alice’s psychometric assessment Master Your Superpower
• The elemental archetypes, their qualities and challenges, and how each element might interact with another
• How to use the language of elements in the workplace
• What we can learn about facilitation from astrology, Feng Shui and traditional Chinese medicine practices
• The importance of getting comfortable with silence and asking the right questions

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to Alice Inoue:

LinkedIn

Website

Master Your Superpower Assessment 

Find out more about our Facilitation Academy:

Live online courses with podcast guests

Support the show:

Make a one-off donation and contribute to the ongoing costs of running the podcast.

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Support the show

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If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

Earlier this year, SessionLab published the second edition of their State of Facilitation report, surveying the ever-evolving landscape of our profession. 93 countries, 372 hours spent answering the survey and a generous 975 respondents later, and the NeverDoneBefore community joins together with the SessionLab community to put the 2024 report findings under a facilitation magnifying glass in our very first fishbowl conversation!

Together, we dissect three juicy and provocative, yet important questions: Do accreditations, or a lack of, harm or expand our profession? Do facilitators hide behind their tools? And how valuable is community in our world? Episode 262 is a special one, join us!

Find out about:

• Key findings from the State of Facilitation 2024 report
• The presence, weight and validity of accreditations in facilitation - can we learn on the job or do we require a professional certification?
• The role that tools play when facilitating small vs. large groups and how they can help us to navigate conflict
• Whether digitally-assisted facilitation is transforming the face of the profession – for the better or worse
• An exploration into how facilitators continue to learn

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

IAF Accreditation process

Connect to:

SessionLab

State of Facilitation Report 2024

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Sometimes, just sometimes, the rules are there to be broken. Because when you dare to break them, miracles and moments of beautiful humanity could be waiting just on the other side.

Rotem Kazir was trained never to let her coaching clients know anything about her. Keep distance. Stay neutral. That's professional. Until a founder she'd coached for two years said something that broke the rule for good.

She's spent 20 years working with startup founders — first in HR, then on the VC side, now as a coach — and what she keeps seeing is that the performance breaks down at the exact moment people need each other most. One founder walked into his board meeting and said he didn't know how to take the company forward. The room shifted from performance review to actual problem-solving. He went on to raise $100M. We talked about why that almost never happens, when vulnerability is strategic versus reckless, and why she now opens meetings with "What's hard?" instead of status updates.

Links to learn more about Rotem Kazir:

LinkedIn

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From her debut in episode 53, to episode 261 many years later, my guest this week Tanja Murphy-Ilibasic makes her return to the podcast this week! Tanja is a corporate coach, facilitator and communications specialist - and a master at manifesting potential.

But potential, the capacity for future success, is only possible with the right conditions at play and the energy to propel it forward. We unravel the dynamics of effective facilitation, the necessary conditions and questions we must ask, to design workshops that will outlive the confines of the workshop walls. After all, it is our duty to give the group the wings to make their potential possible – otherwise, we fail not only the group, but our entire profession.

Join us for learnings from workshop failures, the art of the gradually-invisible facilitator, the nuances of equal voice, and the importance of withholding our opinion.

Find out about:

• How to find the right approach for the best outcome and collaboration
• Navigating the client conversations needed for success; from budget availability, to motivations and post-workshop support
• Why you shouldn’t go into a collaboration with assumptions or predefined expectations
• How to physically manoeuvre a space so that the group is given agency
• Why facilitators should rarely disclose their own opinion to avoid being a guiding voice that would anchor the group
• How to acknowledge equal voice in a group, giving recognition to quick and slow thinkers

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to Tanja Murphy-Ilibasic:

LinkedIn

Website

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

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If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

The act of naming something gives it presence, it makes it visible. So how then, do we navigate something as infinite and nameworthy as facilitation, when invisibility is so often its modus operandi?

Scrum-master, agile-coach and chief explorer of Exploration Labs, Charles-Louis de Maere joins me this week for a juicy, macro-to-micro exploration into facilitation as we toy with this question. We discuss the power of surrender: why stepping back, ditching the instructions, and detaching ourselves from the rigidity of the process, can help us to co-create a playground that prioritises the outcome.

We cover a lot of terrain in this episode! From the deeper purpose of the facilitator, to practical try-it-yourself exercises, facilitating in different cultures, and why we can sometimes be magicians in disguise…

Find out about:

• Why the art of invisible facilitation abandons agendas in favour of co-designing towards a shared outcome
• Why the strongest tool in our toolbox is the question, and why vague questions
• The power of playing with ambiguity
• A lack of instructions can facilitate trust in a group through the discomfort that emerges
• Finding the right level of appropriateness for exchanges in different cultures
• How to navigate the wants and needs of the group, with the expectations of the hiring client

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to Charles-Louis de Maere:

LinkedIn

Website

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

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This week we take a look through the iridescent, rainbow lens of leadership, with Dr Steve Yacovelli, aka ‘The Gay Leadership Dude™’, to ask the question: what does it mean to be a truly inclusive leader?

Well beyond the DEI acronym and its all too often tick-box allyship mentality, we explore the essence of inclusive leadership and what every impactful leader can learn from the six competencies that naturally show up in the LGBTQ+ community: being authentic, leading with courage, having empathy, effective communication, building relationships, and influencing organisational culture.

We talk all things pronouns, bringing your full self to work, managing your unconscious bias, and finally, we pull at the seams of diversity, to reveal a single beautiful truth: every single human on this planet is diverse!

Find out about:

• Learnings from Steve’s 25 years in the leadership, development, change management, and diversity and inclusion consulting space
• What it means to lead with a Pride Leadership mindset
• Why inclusive leadership must go beyond the superficial celebration of the DEI acronym to foster belonging for all
• The five dimensions of diversity and what it means for leadership
• Why a feedback-rich culture is critical to creating belonging in the workplace
• Why learning in a group of 3 can have greater success than learning in pairs

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to Steve Yacovelli:

LinkedIn

Website

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

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Can I get your attention? Because this week, I have none other than Colonel Walt Holmes with me on the show, Air Force Commander, author, and master facilitator of community-based education.

Walt has been helping individuals to progress through the ranks of military units – and of life – since the 1999s, designing the systems for success in both soldiers and students. His 5 levels of achievement offers a unique gamified approach to change: encouraging meaningful metric-based accountability, collaboration and autonomy in his squadron of students. His belief: if we can impact someone’s behaviour, we can change their attitude.

Walt’s passion is undeniable - it radiates through the airwaves of our conversation and I’m positive you will feel it too! Tune in to learn all about community, attitude, behaviour and the cogs of organisational change.

Find out about:

• Learnings from Walt’s military career as a cultural change facilitator
• What it takes to change an entire organisation through the introduction of structure, autonomy and collaboration
• Why the success to community-based education lies in a marriage of individual outcomes and metrics
• The inner-workings of community models: why people taking ownership creates a system that is self-enforcing
• What Walt’s book ‘Lead From The Middle, Lead From Behind’ can teach us about leading groups in disarray

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Connect to Walt Holmes:

Website

Email

Website

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

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Dominant, supportive. Immediate value, gradual value. Explicit, implicit. Scarcity, abundance. Consultant, Facilitator.

It might be tempting to view the roles of a consultant, and that of a facilitator, through these opposing dichotomies, but nothing is ever really that black and white. And as Benjamin Taylor and I speak about this week, there’s a great deal to be learnt from the intersection of the two!

This episode takes a look at facilitation through the meta-lens; from afar, we inspect it as a movement and dig up some uncomfortable clichéd truths, and up-close, we unravel the intricacies of manipulation, shallow vs deep facilitation, and the most daring tool of all in our toolkit.

Find out about:

• Where facilitation shows up in consulting and the interplay between the two disciplines
• What Benjamin has learnt from decades spent as a consultant in the public sector
• The distinction between shallow and deep facilitation and why it is critical for an effective outcome
• Why the key to impactful facilitation lies in fostering an environment of connection, collaboration and empowering each participant’s strengths
• Why consultants must resist the urge to prove instant value; instead taking a more measured, facilitative approach to collaboration

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Connect to Benjamin Taylor:

LinkedIn

RedQuadrant

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

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If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

Dialogue is a form of sense-making in motion. Thoughts become words become ideas, and ideas then enter reality splintering into fresh, new routes of discussion – a map begins to form, ready to be navigated.

Although, that map might not always have the right people reading it, it may even have dead-ends along the way, or the wrong starting point entirely. This is where Amanda Harding comes in! As a Curator of Conversation, she designs a third space for deliberate dialogue to be held between a blend of actors, so that entangled, wicked problems can be unravelled with purpose, made malleable, and actionable.

As you’d guess, mine and Amanda’s own dialogue surfaced some big, juicy themes, considerations and musings for the facilitation process.

Find out about:

• Why dialogue can fail when it lacks the right blend of participants – often, those with conflicting opinions have the best conversations
• The importance of making power dynamics explicit to achieve inclusive participation
• How tension can be embraced and managed within a space by ensuring all participants can constructively engage
• How to craft questions, or conversation-starters, for impactful dialogue
• Why dialogue can achieve alignment on a higher common ground, in contrast to a shared consensus, which can lead to diluted, compromised ambitions

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Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to Amanda Harding:

LinkedIn

Website

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

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If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

Is there an art to creating human connection? My guest this week Yaniv Rose, would certainly say so. As an Authentic Relator, his craft lies in facilitating deeper, more meaningful connections - transforming the relationship we have with ourselves, and the one we have with others.

It’s a tool for life: a grounding practice that asks us to consciously observe, fine-tune, and recalibrate our human interactions by showing up unequivocally as our truest selves. And when we rewire ourselves to honour authenticity? We can seek out new depths of intimacy, and ultimately, we learn how to be more human.

Find out about:

• The five core practices within Authentic Relating
• Why Authentic Relating is a transformational foundation for how you approach connections with yourself and others, and how you can start practising it today
• How to connect participants to an organisation’s core values through roleplay
• Why Authentic Relating as a facilitation tool can create a safe space for participants to feel seen and heard
• Why workshops can fail if we stay within the realm of safety, and don’t try to make the implicit explicit

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to Yaniv Rose:

Website

Instagram

LinkedIn

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

Support the show

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If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

Master-manipulator, con-artist… facilitator? When we think of manipulation, facilitation is probably the last thing that springs to mind. We are neutral, we are trusted shepherds, we encourage emergence! So where does the line between manipulation and facilitation start, and where does it end?

This week, my brilliant colleagues Thomas Lahnthaler, Cate Czerwinski, Shamir Joseph and Florentine Versteeg sat down with me to examine this ethically grey, but endlessly fascinating area.

We explore manipulation in its many, inconspicuous guises: mysterious agendas, influencing the process, the facilitation tools we deploy, practising self-awareness, power dynamics and navigating participant consent.

Find out about:

• Where manipulation and facilitation meet, overlap, and the ethical danger zones to be cautious of when facilitating
• Why manipulation in a facilitation context becomes a causal sequence of: purpose, presence, power, process, participants and play.
• Why practicing self-awareness and presence is crucial to be able to navigate the needs of the group, the client, and yourself
• The power we possess as facilitators, and why obtaining consent at the beginning of a workshop is crucial to earning trust
• Why the predefined roles that participants adopt can stifle the process and prevent new perspectives from being explored.

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect with the guests:

Thomas Lahnthaler

Cate Czerwinski

Shamir Joseph

Florentine Versteeg

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

Support the show

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If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

Motivation is a complex, elusive creature. We either have it, or we don’t, right?

But what if I told you, there is a science to motivation, after all? And motivation mogul Ahmet Tamtekin has cracked its code! His passion project for coaching led him to discover his life’s purpose: motivation, how we experience it, how to read it as a language, and how to inspire it in others. He now uses the wonders of neuroscience to tap into our wildly differing motivators, to boost team performance and get the best out of people.

In this episode, Ahmet brings his passion and charisma into every corner of our conversation, sharing curious new tricks, tools and avenues to explore in both our facilitation practice and everyday lives. I promise that episode 253 will be a real treat for your mind!

Find out about:

• Where motivation fits within the practice of facilitation
• Why a good facilitator can both read and feed the nuances of motivations in the room for the greatest impact
• Personality tests can reveal how you naturally behave, while motivation uncovers why you behave that way, giving us the power to change our behaviours
• Motivation can be an expression, or a language, that we speak to our loved ones – and sometimes, we must look beyond to understand their language

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to Ahmet Tamtekin:

LinkedIn

Website

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

Support the show

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If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

And, action! This week, Stoyan Yankov takes us on a journey from behind the clapperboard to discuss the fascinating symmetries between movie production and facilitation.

The world of cinema can be unpredictable, filled with plot twists, creative agendas and diverse characters, and when the metaphorical smoke-machine breaks, it requires a sixth sense for when to keep the camera rolling, and when to end scene.

Stoyan joins us with all the learnings, stories and curiosities he’s collected in his back pocket from his career to date - from movie producer, to facilitator and talented TedX speaker. Sit back and enjoy!

Find out about:

• What a movie producer can teach us about facilitation – from managing a diverse array of personalities, to mastering adaptation, and being vehicles of transformation
• The best movie productions – and workshops – are often the ones when the producer is most invisible, giving everyone else a platform to feel seen and heard
• Just like move producers, master facilitators should sense when a tangent is worth pursuing, and when to redirect the conversation
• Why the early stages of our career are rich playgrounds for learning, growth and experimentation
• As facilitators, circumstances will always lie beyond our control, but it’s our attitude towards what is within our control, that counts
• How a 1-hour speech can transform someone’s life, giving them new perspectives to consider

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to Stoyan Yankov:

LinkedIn

Website 

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

Support the show

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If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

Jon Berghoff walked into a room of C-level executives from billion-dollar companies and noticed they'd all filled the back rows first. He spent two hours debating whether to say something. Then he got on stage and asked them to move to the front. The looks he got said: nobody has ever told us where to sit. Three Fortune 50 companies in that room ended up hiring him.

Jon is the founder of Xchange and one of the most in-demand facilitators in the world. He also spent five years running global conferences in a suit on top and barefoot on the bottom. We talked about why that's not a gimmick — it's connected to something he's learned about nervous system regulation and what happens when the person holding the room is actually relaxed. We got into the inner work behind facilitation, why the moments that go sideways are the ones that build the most trust, and what it actually costs to keep performing a version of yourself the room didn't ask for.

Links to learn more about Jon Berghoff:

LinkedIn

Website

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

Support the show

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If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

We all speak the language of music. It’s life’s medicine, a beautiful escape when we need one, and it feeds our soul in ways that feel, somehow, inexplicable.

But there is of course method to the magic. Musician, vocalist, singer, and songwriter Sam McNeill has been singing all his life – from the Sydney Opera House, to the heavyweight headquarters of Spotify - he now works as a musical facilitator for SongDivision, bonding teams all over the world through the science of music.

In their songwriting workshops, deep reflections take place, honesty emerges in the lyrics, and teams are given a new voice to creatively express values and reveal the unspoken.

Press play and treat your ears to this fascinating episode with Sam as he shares his personal experiences as a performer, offering a unique platform for us to examine the intersection of music and facilitation. 

You’ll learn:

• Why songwriting is a powerful tool for teams to express themselves, encourage discussion and strengthen bonds
• How music can remove hierarchy, putting employees on a level playing field in a workshop setting
• The science behind music: how activating the prefrontal cortex can enhance creativity and set the scene for fruitful collaboration
• Why failure is a better outcome than impartiality, offering us learnings for improvement
• The parallels that lie between an artist’s performance and that of a facilitator
• Why a lack of clarity around what success looks like in a workshop can cause failure
• How musical genres can help teams or organisations to better define themselves

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

The episode with Rich Goidel we referred to on the show.

Connect to Sam McNeill:

LinkedIn

SongDivision

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

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If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

From the US Military, to the world of professional coaching, my guest this week is not only an ex-army officer, but an executive coach, leadership mentor, facilitator, and an inexorably passionate learner.

At aged 17, Pat D’Amico was enlisted into Valley Forge Military Academy where he went on to serve in multiple humanitarian and combat deployments around the world. But it was here in military training, that his personal leadership journey began. It shaped him into the exceptional facilitator that he is today, teaching him the lifelong discipline of continuous learning, the importance of being passionate, and why knowing your stuff should be approached with military precision.

Pat takes us on a fascinating expedition this week into powerful course design, the world of leadership training, why practical training will always triumph over classroom learning – and much, much more!

Find out about:

• Pat’s learnings from his time in the military and how army training has helped him to become a better facilitator, mentor and coach
• The importance of mastering your content, and how facilitation mastery and content quality complement each other 
• Why it’s important to listen to the high performers, instead of the low performers to understand organisational challenges
• Learn practical tips on how participants can retain and apply key learnings after a workshop has concluded
• Why creating a safe environment for participants to make mistakes is so valuable
• Passion, content customisation, and relatability are crucial for a workshop to succeed

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to Pat D’Amico:

LinkedIn

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

Support the show

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If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

This episode is a special one! You’re invited to time travel back to the NeverDoneBefore Festival, and join me in my virtual podcast boat where I speak to six of our talented facilitators over the 24-hour event: Becky Sawle, Sonja Sinz, Mirjam Leunissen, Célia Rene Corail, Etrit Shkreli and Marianne Oh. 

It’s a jam-packed journey, full of rich, multifaceted wisdom; each conversation offers a fascinating and thoughtful perspective, making the next hour and a half an exploration into facilitation as a whole, in its many wondrous forms.

We talk about the balance between structure and emergence, we find unexpected learnings in a Christian Andersen folktale and teachings from a Hindu goddess, we delve into embodiment, trust, costumes, language and neutrality, and how we can support neurodiversity in workshop settings. Phew, it’s a whistle-stop tour!

Find out about:

• How costumes can create a safe space to tap into our creativity
• The balance between structure and emergence that appears through co-creation, and how to navigate the two
• Why conflict isn’t necessarily a bad thing; when you lean into it, we can strengthen relationships
• Why as a facilitator, we are the ultimate source of energy, transferring our feelings and emotions to the group
• How to use embodiment to shift moods, develop new behaviours, and why observing a deeper connection with our body is a journey into self-discovery
• Why we can draw inspiration from Shiva and Kali in Hindu mythology, to find the balance between presence and action
• How facilitators can balance diverse needs and preferences to support neurodiversity 

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to the guests on LinkedIn:
Becky Sawle
Sonja Sinz
Mirjam Leunissen
Célia Rene Corail
Etrit Shkreli
Marianne Oh

Support the show:

Make a one-off donation and contribute to the ongoing costs of running the podcast.

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

Support the show

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If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

My guest this week is not an artist, nor a designer, but a facilitaper. A self-confessed chaotic creative, Matthias Lenssen has honed his craft over the past 10 years, finding creative freedom and wonderous new ways to facilitate with a bare wall and simple rolls of coloured tape.

His workshops spark curiosity among participants, encourage exploration of movement, illustrate stories and ideas, and establish creative parameters. In the process, Matthias transforms his spaces into an interactive playground that becomes a Third Facilitator, masterfully assisting him in his delivery.

Many, many rolls later, we are lucky enough to share in his art. In this episode, he generously offers his tips on how you too can become a facilitaper, and why tape is a versatile and expressive tool to add to your facilitation toolbox.

You’ll learn:

• How the physical space of the workshop rooms can become a Third Facilitator by establishing spatial boundaries, guiding participants and setting the atmosphere
• How the role of tape can transform workshops into creative, interactive playgrounds, by illustrating stories and ideas, and turning walls into immersive canvases
• How to use tape for team building exercises, such as The Triangle of Common Things
• Why tape can be a powerful tool for prototyping your own workshops

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to Matthias Lenssen:

On LinkedIn

On Instagram

Explore Matthias' business

Support the show:

Make a one-off donation and contribute to the ongoing costs of running the podcast.

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

Support the show

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If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

Most of us live our lives in a natural, psychological state of comfort. It’s cushioned, it’s safe - it’s what we know. But what happens when we dare to seek out the unknown? When we raise our heads above the parapet of comfort?

Jenny Theolin dares to live her life in this space. As a facilitator, she braves the difficult questions, has a sixth sense for when to change course, and has curated a toolkit of techniques that intuitively challenge participants to yield the greatest impact. After all, it’s in the pivots, in the furrowed faces, in the zone of discomfort, that we grow. And the more we dare, the further we go!

She joins me in this episode as we explore the possibilities that unfurl when we test our perceived limits, the concept of innovation mashups, and why effective workshops are challenging, and dare I say, uncomfortable.

Find out about:

• How to become more daring as a facilitator by seeking out experimentation
• Where to find new inspiration, brave ideas, and facilitation techniques
• Why workshops can fail when participants feel too comfortable – often, the best facilitators know how to explore discomfort in fruitful ways
• Why adhering to rigid timelines, processes or schedules can stifle the organic, fluid nature of meaningful learning experiences
• Why workshops can produce a ripple effect of value – the true benefits manifesting themselves to participants weeks, months, or even years later

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to Jenny:

Jenny’s studio

Jenny’s book

Instagram

Dare to Facilitate Instagram

LinkedIn

Support the show:

Make a one-off donation and contribute to the ongoing costs of running the podcast.

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

Support the show

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If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

The fundamental skills of leadership have changed in the 2020s. Whether you’re brand-new to a leadership role or a seasoned veteran, the remote work boom has added a new layer of complexity to your work.

What does it mean to lead in a virtual space and how can we connect, communicate, and inspire others without that face-to-face contact? Stephan Dohrn has been asking these questions for longer than most. In fact, they have been key to his work with Radical Inclusion, Remote-how, and his own consulting business.

He joins me in this episode to explain and explore the changing face of leadership in the age of remote work, the new skills that are needed, and how we can facilitate teams and their leaders into happier, more productive remote working arrangements.

Find out about:

• Why leadership — and the work of those under leaders — is more habitual than we realise
• How to make a team gel because of (not in spite of) their different working styles
• Why traditional, ‘static’ teams are becoming outdated
• How remote work has made leadership easier and more fruitful, as well as its challenges
• What to do when ‘team building activities’ don’t appeal to individuals within a team
• Tools and tips for facilitating team conversations without in-person connections

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to Stephan:

On LinkedIn.

Explore Stephan’s business

Support the show:
Make a one-off donation and contribute to the ongoing costs of running the podcast.

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

Support the show

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If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

A sense of belonging is one of the incalculable elements of a healthy, happy team. It’s either there or it’s not, right?

Not so, as Kate Spacek explains in this episode.

Kate’s work, for many years, has been in the realm of belonging: how we feel it, generate it, and nurture it. That work has brought her closer and closer to a strong thesis: that movement, sensing, and awareness are foundational to the whole process.

In this episode, she shares the journey of discover she’s been on, the most valuable tips and tricks she’s learned, and where she sees movement fitting in the wider world of facilitation. It’s a fascinating tool to add to one’s toolbox — don’t miss out.

Find out about:

• How Kate works to generate and amplify a sense of belonging in her facilitation
• Why building a workshop on foundations of humour, playfulness, and levity creates a more accepting environment
• How movement helps us access ourselves and others in a deeper way
• Why moving without feeling is an incomplete process
• How corporate work gets our brains and bodies out of balance
• What we can learn from our bodies that our brains can’t tell us

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

The Movement of Belonging website.

Follow Movement of Belonging on Instagram.

Follow Kate on Facebook.

And find Kate's podcast, Movement of Belonging, anywhere you listen to podcasts. It offers movement recipes you can try at home or as a fresh way to start your meeting or class.

Connect to Kate:

On LinkedIn.

Support the show:
Make a one-off donation and contribute to the ongoing costs of running the podcast.

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

Support the show

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If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

From the basketball courts of Northern Ireland to the C-suites of tech giants, Tony McGaharan just can’t stop coaching!

After a decade at Google, Tony set up his own training and people development company, People Playbook. Calling on experience from Sweden to Singapore, Tony’s honed his skills worldwide and with a huge range of groups.

In that time, he’s found some common truths and universal experiences. He shares them in this episode — dribbling between basketball and facilitation, coaching and learning design, and more.

Find out about:

• What Tony learned from a decade in Google’s People operations
• Why he set out to create People Playbook at the onset of the pandemic and how he grew the business
• How his qualification as a basketball coach has helped him grow as a facilitator and coach
• What facilitators can learn about sustainable performance and why financial incentives are never enough
• Why authenticity and humility are so important — for modelling to the group and as a principle of practice
• How to facilitate in the margins to help a successful, effective group continue developing

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

People Playbook.

Connect to Tony:

On LinkedIn.

Support the show:
Make a one-off donation and contribute to the ongoing costs of running the podcast.

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

Support the show

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If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

Changing behaviour is something of a holy grail in our line of work. It’s one thing to help a group see things in a new light, but to integrate it in a way that creates lasting change… that’s the ultimate goal.

As one might expect, its not the easiest task.

Shamir Joseph’s approach to this challenge is especially interesting to me — because he isn’t focused purely on one variable. He looks at the full picture of facilitation: frameworks, methodologies, inner game, repetitions. It’s refreshing and hugely informative. There’s a lot to learn in just one hour with Shamir.

Find out about:

• How the ‘knowing, doing, being’ framework relates to our work in the room, as well as our role
• What sustainable behavioural change looks like and how to avoid the fallible, ‘easy’ versions
• Why, sometimes, facilitators are well-advised to rein in their creative, experimental tendencies
• Differentiating the ways trainers, coaches, and facilitators are involved in behaviour change
• How adaptability is a symptom of empathy
• Why independent teams follow wherever effective leaders and facilitators go — and how to discern the impact of both
• How Shamir practices self-reflection and the framework he uses to do so

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Shamir’s Linktree.

The Leadership Through Facilitation course, co-created by Shamir and others in the NDB community.

Connect to Shamir:

On LinkedIn.

Support the show:
Make a one-off donation and contribute to the ongoing costs of running the podcast.

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

Support the show

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If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

The corporate world can feel like a theme park — a place that’s recognisably ‘of our world’, with all the normal features (people, furniture, work), but an unshakeable feeling that something is… unreal.

People aren’t quite themselves, conversations and relationships don’t work the way they do elsewhere in life, and the coffee often tastes strange!

Göran Hielscher notices it, too, and his work in corporate workshops looks to undo this unrealness and bring something more authentic to the room. He explains his approach, experiences, and tactics in this value-packed episode.

Find out about:

• Why we can — and should — dream a little bigger with corporate workshops
• How to be ‘professionally human’ — and why it benefits everybody in corporate workshops
• What DJs and spiritual leaders can teach us about corporate transformation
• How to remain intentional in the design process, as well as the workshop itself
• Why corporate resistance to facilitation isn’t about facilitation, but a misunderstanding of it
• How to encourage embodiment, using body language as a primary communication tool

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Göran’s company, The Inspiracy Group.

Connect to Göran:

On LinkedIn.

Support the show:
Make a one-off donation and contribute to the ongoing costs of running the podcast.

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

Support the show

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If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

Early in her career, Tieren Scott was told she needed to sound more "bubbly" when presenting. Her manager pointed to a colleague in the room as the example. Tieren's natural voice — grounded, measured, clear — wasn't the problem. It just wasn't the default. That moment taught her something black women in America already know: professionalism was never a neutral standard.

Tieren has a doctorate in organisational leadership and a decade of experience as an instructional designer and coach. We talked about what it actually costs to mask every day — adjusting your tone, reading the room before you've even opened your mouth, teaching your kids to do the same. She was honest about the exhaustion of it, and honest about the risk that comes with stopping. This conversation changed something for me: the freedom to be "unprofessional" is itself a privilege. Not everyone gets to drop the mask and call it brave.

Links to learn more about Tieren Scott:

Website

LinkedIn

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

Support the show

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If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

Workshops bring the best out of their participants when they are experiential. Which person wants to sit in a workshop that is indeterminable from a lecture? We do not enter these spaces for dictation, we enter them for learning and feeling and experience.

And so that has become Cate Czerwinski’s priority: to design memorable, unique, experiential workshops… and what a success she has found!

On the other side of memorable experiences are long-lasting learnings and change. Which, when we boil it down, must surely be the priority for facilitators of all kinds?

Join me and Cate for an invigorating conversation about experience, experiences, and how it all translates from facilitator to participants and back again.

Find out about:

• What Cate’s ‘failures’ have been and what she learned from them
• How to transform team dynamics — in a workshop and beyond your immediate reach
• Why Cate plans herself, in the persona role of ‘facilitator’, as part of her overall workshop plan
• How to work with the room practically, physically, and emotionally
• Why transforming energy has become one of Cate’s most-treasured and -used skills
• How to help teams integrate feelings and the language of emotion into their measure of success

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Cate’s website.

Connect to Cate:

On LinkedIn.

Support the show:
Make a one-off donation and contribute to the ongoing costs of running the podcast.

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

Support the show

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If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

If you ever feel like facing a challenge as a facilitator, take on a large corporate client. Even better: work in-house as their facilitator!

Such environments present many challenges, from the practical logistics to the messy social elements. To dissect and understand the unique approach required in this situation, it makes sense to host a unique episode.

A fireside conversation, before a live audience of NeverDoneBefore community members, between three expert facilitators with varying backgrounds and a beautiful history between them.

So, join us for a deeper look at the art of facilitation in corporate settings. You stand to learn a lot!

Find out about:

• Why facilitators aren’t usually hired to ‘fix’ things, even if that’s the original purpose
• How to get an organisation ready to change, before any change process begins
• Why it can be valuable to enter the room as a clear ‘difference’ to its established norms
• How our physical environment impacts our presence, emotions, and activity
• Why groups inherently seek balance — and how to use this with awareness in your work
• How to play with emotional, physical, and mental ‘balance’ in a safe and agreeable way

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:
Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to the guests:
Breeze on LinkedIn.
Gabor on LinkedIn.
Tobias on LinkedIn.

Support the show:
Make a one-off donation and contribute to the ongoing costs of running the podcast.

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

Support the show

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If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

Joost de Leij has delivered over one thousand workshops, from informal group sessions to extensive work with the largest businesses worldwide. In that time, he’s learned a thing or two about effective facilitation.

This episode looks at the micro and macro of effective facilitation and how we can design workshops to deliver maximum impact. Sometimes, that can mean negotiating complicated power structures. Other times, it can mean choosing the right activities for the group. The rest of the time, it’s something we never expect or plan for!

Join us for an interrogation of power; a host of practical tips and advice; and some remarkable reflections, stories, and predictions for the future.

Find out about:

• The unique challenges of working with leadership teams
• Why non-attendance always damages the group, but can prove fatal when done by a leader
• How facilitators can use AI to complement their preparation and in-workshop phases 
• What changes when you encourage conflict to emerge in the room
• Why Joost often asks groups to imagine themselves as a sailing ship — and how you can adopt this activity yourself 
• How Joost uses approaches including LEGO Serious Play in his workshops
• Why asking participants to write their own workshop summaries can be a shortcut to action

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to Joost:

On LinkedIn.

Support the show:
Make a one-off donation and contribute to the ongoing costs of running the podcast.

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

Support the show

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If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

How can we make an informal brainstorming session, full of possibilities and quick thinking, into something more formal… without squeezing the life from it?

Alexandre Eisenchteter believes deeply in the power of brainstorming sessions — and that most of us undervalue them. It’s a fair point: the prevailing view does seem to be that brainstorming is a chaotic and unstructured process. But, when Alex is facilitating, the opposite is true.

When facilitated with care, brainstorming can provide us with a deeply collaborative and creative approach to problem-solving. Alex explains his approach and how you can adopt it in this episode.

Find out about:

• Why brainstorming is an untapped goldmine for facilitators
• What many of us get wrong about brainstorming
• How to use a number of different tools to optimise and enhance your brainstorming session
• Why it can be such a struggle for clients to translate the outputs of a workshop into day-to-day changes
• How an initial ‘scope meeting’ can prevent misalignment further into the workshop process
• Why good things happen when we stick with ‘bad’ or unpopular ideas for a little longer
• How to prevent a workshop being a mess of ideas and, instead, a greenhouse for big changes 

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Here is the link to the scoping questions:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jSLxBnI0Jtbq_WRQ1raEBtRveSwuOn6-sFuFCLYBaKw/edit?usp=sharing

Connect to Alexandre:

On LinkedIn.

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If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

Joe Weston has been helping individuals, teams, and companies look deeper within themselves for 30+ years. His unique mind-body approach — prioritising empowerment and resilience, but also great empathy and inclusivity —  has taken him around the world and back again. And, now, it brings him to this podcast!

There is so much to ask Joe, it was a struggle to keep this to just one episode. Thankfully, we were able to cover a lot of ground.

We set out to try to understand how conflict can still be so prevalent, given all we know about our minds, bodies, and relationships. In the depths of that complicated question, we encountered even more to enjoy — from martial arts to somatic resonance.

Tune in and learn new ways to see your body, brain, relationships, and more.

Find out about:

• What Joe has been practicing for the last 30 years and how his approach has evolved
• Why we still find ourselves in conflict, even with more knowledge than ever about how to navigate ourselves and our relationships
• How to understand your nervous system and how it relates to others’
• What respectful confrontation is and the four steps to follow if you want to try it
• How to approach a difficult conversation and navigate it healthily
• Why a conflictual situation needs us to go deeper into ourselves, rather than the other person

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Weston Network Facebook.

Weston Network LinkedIn.

Sign-up for Joe’s Newsletter.

Connect to Joe:

On Facebook.

On LinkedIn.

Support the show:
Make a one-off donation and contribute to the ongoing costs of running the podcast.

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

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If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

Learning is a lifetime’s adventure, but, for many adults, a few bad experiences or a little bit of overconfidence can see them set in their ways and losing their love for learning.

In fact, this can be one of the greatest challenges we face as facilitators — entering professional environments in which participants are not primed or prepared for learning.

Joyce Matthews joins me in this episode to discuss the theory, practice, and nuance of adult learning. You may not be surprised to hear that facilitation plays a central role in it!

Find out about:

• Why a shift from pedagogy to andragogy is the first step in improving adult learning
• What makes adults more complex learners than children
• How facilitation and emotional intelligence interact in the context of adult learning
• Why training is fine for theory, but facilitation is required to embed deeper learning
• How to make learning an exploration of the self, using inner and outer resources
• Why adults benefit so greatly from ‘eye-level learning’ and how you can adopt it in your work 

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to Joyce:

On LinkedIn.

Support the show:
Make a one-off donation and contribute to the ongoing costs of running the podcast.

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

Support the show

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If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

Want to turn your passion for facilitation into a full-time, thriving, scalable business? Or are you already facilitating as your main job, but want to take it to a new level?

Michael Zipursky is one of the best people to turn to, if that’s the case. As a coach for consultants, bestselling author, and prolific writer and podcaster, Michael is at the top of the game when it comes to practical, actionable advice for developing your career to the place you desire.

Turning his expertise towards the world of facilitation, we found that some of his advice is near-universal… and that there are some novel and exciting applications specific to facilitation.

Unlock the next level of your facilitation business with this episode!

Find out about:

• How to turn your passion for facilitation into a viable business — but why passion alone isn’t enough
• Which processes and structures can make the best foundation for your business
• How to identify, enter, and own your niche and perfect clients
• Why Michael recommends using specialised content to sell your services
• The two things Michael believes we should prioritise to build a successful business
• How to work for free without devaluing yourself or your work

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Michael’s website, Consulting Success.

Myriam on Michael’s podcast

Connect to Michael:

On LinkedIn.

On Twitter.

Support the show:
Make a one-off donation and contribute to the ongoing costs of running the podcast.

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

Support the show

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If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

You leave school and enter the ‘real world’ of work. That’s the process, that’s the plan. But who’s to say that they should be so distinct? What if we brought knowledge from educational systems, such as Montessori, into corporate settings?

Benedikt Schmaus joins me in this episode to discuss how can take the best of education and use it to improve work. We explore what it takes to keep facilitation fresh, how to create a literal ‘heartbeat’ in an organisation, and how the MG Taylor method influences his work.

This conversation ended up being a much bigger inquiry into complex organisations, knowledge-sharing, and ideation and iteration. A wonderful way to spend an hour, I’m sure you’ll agree!

Find out about:

• Translating best practice from educational systems into complex organisations
• How to unlearn top-down leadership, even in places where it’s never been challenged
• What the MG Taylor approach is, how Benedikt uses it in his work, and why it’s so effective
• How to embrace novelty and avoid getting caught in the ‘same old’ processes
• What it takes to bring human-centred, participatory processes into any organisation
• Understanding organisational maturity, self-organisation, and problem-solving
• Why facilitation is a skill of bridge-building

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to Benedikt:

On LinkedIn.

Support the show:
Make a one-off donation and contribute to the ongoing costs of running the podcast.

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Support the show

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If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

The remote revolution is underway. Accelerated by the pandemic and snowballing ever since, the future of work is fast becoming our present day default.

But is it all going to plan? Lisette Sutherland flies the flag proudly for remote work, but readily admits our approach might be a little off-course currently.

Has our focus been misplaced, so intently on tech and tools rather than communication styles and new etiquette?

Lisette joins me in this episode to discuss it all — from the tips and tricks that make the switch to remote work smooth, all the way to psychology and group dynamics.

Find out about:

• Why a work from anywhere policy has such a huge impact on quality of life 
• The etiquette of virtual offices and why we cannot just transplant our in-person culture
• How to work with ineffective remote tools, when you don’t have the freedom to choose
• The value of embracing your personal style and signature — and those of your colleagues
• What matters most (and what’s overrated) in the transition from office to remote work
• Which systems, processes, and information management approaches have worked best for Lisette

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube

Lisette’s website

Connect to Lisette:

On LinkedIn

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

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If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

How would you facilitate something that doesn’t exist? Or, more to the point, how you would facilitate a group in a way that something inexistent could emerge?

Complexity and uncertainty make up most days for Jason Frasca and Iain Kerr. As co-founders of Emergent Futures Lab, they wouldn’t have it any other way.

The opportunity to hear from two experts in emergence, innovation, and facilitation felt like an early Christmas present! We explore what it takes to create space for genuine innovation and novelty, why collaboration and creativity are natural partners, and how to take our focus off of ‘ideas’ and onto experimentalism.

Find out about:

• How facilitators can create a space for emergence, rather than ideas
• Whether we can teach something that doesn’t yet exist
• How to integrate provocation and perturbation into your facilitation toolkit
• Why power structures need to change for novel ideas to emerge
• How creativity, emergence, and collaboration feed each other
• How to get comfortable with experimental thinking and step back from our obsession with ‘ideas’

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Emergent Futures Lab publishes a weekly newsletter answering the questions: What is Innovation? and How to Innovate? Subscribe here: https://emergentfutureslab.com/newsletter

Connect to Jason and Iain:

Jason’s LinkedIn.

Iain’s LinkedIn.

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

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If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

A software engineer fired a test missile and watched it cartwheel into the ocean. He looked at the code and thought: that looks like what would happen if I hadn't loaded all the microcode. Did I load the microcode? Oh God. Did he tell anyone? No. So they fired three more. Same result. He was too afraid to speak up. That, says Mike Parker, is what professionalism encodes: fear dressed up as competence.

Mike spent 35 years in consultancy before founding his liminal coaching practice, and he's been thinking about where that fear comes from — Taylorism, factory floors, a management culture that treats "I don't know" as a career threat. We talked about why daydreaming might be the most productive thing a knowledge worker can do, how asking "why" gets read as insubordination, and what his mother once told him about the word "amateur" that reframes the whole conversation.

Links to learn more about Mike Parker:

Website

LinkedIn

Substack

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If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

Say cheese, dear listeners! This week, Else Kramer joins me to discuss the creative and connective power of photography in a facilitation context.

Through the camera lens, we can see our environment and problems in new ways — and, as a result, can find new solutions. And the really magical thing? Photography isn’t an individualistic activity; when shared as part of a group it can be connective and attuning.

There is a huge amount to learn about the specifics of photography and the broader picture of facilitation in this episode. Enjoy!

Find out about:

• How to enhance any workshop with photography and specific advice for photography work
• Why photography is an open door to vulnerability, connection, and progress
• How a daily photo sharing practice can transform a group and the individuals within it
• Why simplifying a concept isn’t about ‘dumbing down’, but making it easier for participants to invest their energy in a topic
• How facilitation skills flow naturally into coaching, especially in creative pursuits
• Why ‘fun’ workshop design helps the group… and why it will eventually prevent real progress

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to Else:

On LinkedIn.

On Twitter.

On Instagram.

Support the show:
Make a one-off donation and contribute to the ongoing costs of running the podcast.

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If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

Everybody in the workshop process experiences some element of vulnerability.

The client is taking a risk on your skills and the outcomes that might emerge from using them. The participants are taking a risk in showing up, bringing what they bring to the room, and trusting (or fighting) the process. You — the facilitator — is taking a risk on your work, reputation, and ability.

So why should we expect any of us to be the perfect picture of confidence throughout?

Michelle Howard helps me understand the value of vulnerability (and its inevitability) in this episode, explaining the dance between power and vulnerability that happens in workshops — no matter who you are.

Find out about:

• Why vulnerability and courage are two sides of the same coin
• Understanding how our individual actions can be responses to and prompts for the collective
• Why a facilitator built of 100% confidence is unlikely to produce great results
• How community acts as a crucial filter for the shiny new objects/tools/trends in facilitation
• Why addressing individual needs makes a big difference to the whole group
• How to help clients relax their desire for the safest route and embrace the risk of empowering the group

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Collaborations, Michelle’s company.

Connect to Michelle:

On LinkedIn.

Support the show:
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If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

Jo Nelson is one of the founders of ICA Associates Inc. and the International Association of Facilitators, as well as an IAF Hall of Fame inductee. All of which is to say, this episode is special. To speak with a founding mother of the organised practice of facilitation is a rare privilege.

As a result, this episode is one that zooms out a little, so that we might trace the growth of facilitation as a movement. Jo walks us from facilitation’s roots as a modular component of training to its blossoming as a unique and powerful resource for leaders in every corner of the world.

We didn’t just stay in the macro view, though. We had (and enjoyed) plenty of opportunities to talk about some micro learnings and specific takeaways. There’s lots to learn, reflect on, and enjoy in a conversation with Jo — it’s a delight to share it with you. 

Find out about:

• Jo’s view on the evolution of facilitation, having been involved from the earliest days
• Why listening is fundamental to facilitation and how it touches so much more than our work
• How Jo learned to leave her ideas and preferences at the door — and how that improved her facilitation
• What it means to master the art of facilitation
• Why a binary search for ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ is incompatible with facilitation
• Jo’s five Working Assumptions that guide her workshops and approach to facilitation
• Examples and resources from ICA and Jo’s own toolkit

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Jo’s website.

ICA Associates website.

More on ORID/ Focused Conversation Method.

Working Assumptions resource.

Connect to Jo:

On LinkedIn.

Support the show:
Make a one-off donation and contribute to the ongoing costs of running the podcast.

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

Support the show

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If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/