How to Move from Crossed Arms to Creativity and Commitment

We’ve all been there – at worst, required to attend a meeting where our failings are likely to be exposed, or at best choosing to join a workshop where we’ve “already heard” what’s going to be said and are mentally multi-tasking as the facilitator tries hopelessly to rally our enthusiasm.

On the other side of the table, as a facilitator or manager how do you move your cynics and saboteurs from a scenario of defensiveness (sometimes outright hostility), distraction or inertia to creativity, open minded thinking and commitment to positive action?

After decades of managing, parenting, training and facilitating I have had plenty of practice at getting it wrong (from over-running meetings to full blown threats of tribunal, tantrums to uncontrolled rages), and often as a consequence of dealing with those challenges with as much growth mindset as I can muster, I’ve come across some approaches that work brilliantly.  

The most consistently successful of these has been Appreciative Inquiry. It’s a process originally developed by David Cooperrider and is premised on having a “positive core” – shifting from the usual focus on the “problem to be solved” to the discovery of strengths as a foundation for creating and working towards a shared dream or vision. It aligns neatly with coaching and consensus driven decision making. Here it is in a nutshell:

Credit: Paula Hansen, Chart Magic

In this article I’m going to write from my experience as an independent facilitator – a role I have had many exciting and uplifting experiences of, along with innumerable learning experiences when things didn't quite go to plan!

While I use the first person in the step by step account below, co-facilitating with someone who has a different experience of privilege, discrimination and background is always more powerful and effective than when I do it alone.  Keeping co-design at the centre of the process means that there are also plenty of variations of this model in practice.

Preparing the Ground

There are always some insecurities and distrust between participants, and sometimes much stronger feelings of hostility or resentment. There will be structural power imbalances, discrimination and varying levels of knowledge and confidence.  

Bringing appreciative inquiry principles into the preparation stage can help overcome obstacles and make sure that everyone feels as safe, ready and positive as possible.   

Even if I am expecting a room full of enthusiastic participants with high levels of trust and a common, clearly defined goal in mind (reviewing our values and purpose; planning our 2 year strategy; developing a new product or service) this preparation time is as important as delivery on the day.   

To begin with this means giving the person who has commissioned me time to think. Establishing the right conditions for them to explore the topic they’d like to set for the day is critical. (See The Thinking Environment for more on this powerful method of supporting independent thinking). We set uninterrupted time to do that together (at least 30 minutes initially, then further 30 minute sessions at regular intervals during the preparation phase) and I also ask if there are likely to be any other interruptions at the start of the call (especially if we’re on line). Making time for “what’s on top” and not expecting them to have a fully formed brief gives them space to bring what’s important and set aside anything they need to let go of or pause to make the group work process a success. It helps build trust and warmth between us as client and facilitator.

Asking about their past experiences of working with an independent facilitator is gold dust in terms of understanding what they want more or less of; and helping them to remember what they appreciated and achieved most from previous similar processes helps them feel confident about the outcome of this process too. This is the ‘discovery phase’ of appreciative inquiry in miniature.  

The next question I ask is what their best hope for the day is. This generates a positive, optimistic vision (‘Dream’ phase during the day itself). The ultimate goal here will be to come up with a really perfectly worded dream question which will form the centrepiece of the day. It also opens the route to talking about what might stand in the way of that hope if it hasn’t come out of the “what’s on top” part of the conversation. Thinking about the widest possible set of options for making that hope a reality (Design phase) and overcoming barriers can then help inform the design of the day itself (sometimes adding some steps that they may have been tempted to short cut). This is the destiny phase - the commitment to what will actually happen on the day. For strategy planning days my experience has been that a full day really adds a huge amount of value, but half days can still achieve some transformative results.

Once I’ve co-designed with the commissioner, I find it incredibly helpful to do a pre-brief with each participant separately, using the same framework of what’s on top, previous experiences, hopes for the day and adjustments that will help them to fully participate. This only needs to take 15 minutes per person by phone or online, and really helps people feel reassured about what to expect and properly heard by me as the facilitator. As a result of these conversations I talk again to the commissioner and make any necessary adjustments to the programme for the day. This might include a rewording of the dream question. Getting sign up to this wording in advance of the day is really helpful.

On the Day

There are some essentials for getting ready as a facilitator, and I always regret it if I don’t do them properly - setting the room up in a way that makes people feel welcome and able to work constructively (cafe style tables and break out spaces are usually great); making sure the IT is functioning (I usually keep it to the minimum required, it always sucks energy and time); making sure I’m feeling at my best (good content preparation the day before and leaving 5 minutes for mindfulness and yoga poses in the loo before the programme start usually do the trick) and finally of course making sure that there are tasty refreshments that meet everyone’s dietary requirements.

The Session

- Set the scene: This is delivered by the commissioner of the process - usually the manager, chair of trustees or founder. I encourage them to be really concise - 8 minutes maximum, covering the housekeeping essentials, the topic to be addressed, introducing the facilitator and setting a positive and authentic tone for the day ahead. 

- Mental readiness: For teams who are used to using mindfulness this is a great investment of 5 minutes to help people mentally process and clear distractions. If it’s not already accepted I don’t try it ‘cold,’ but developing this habit in the workplace is really worth exploring in more depth - I can recommend some excellent mindfulness facilitators. 

- Identify hopes for the day: Before setting ground rules, I ask participants to pick an image (usually from At My Best’s brilliant card pack) to represent their hope for the day. I ask each person to introduce their card and tell them we will revisit them at the end of the session. It keeps everyone concise but immediately opens up imaginative creative thinking in a very safe way.

- Agree ground rules: I nearly always run this as a two stage process, talking in pairs about what they will commit to and ask of each other and then negotiating as a whole group. Investing time in this is hugely valuable, in self regulating people’s behaviour during the session but also in setting longer term norms for team values and behaviours. It needs to be a live document, up on the wall and revisited, gently for the odd ‘slip’ or more fully if breaches of it are threatening to derail the process of the day 

- Discovery: The timeline is a fantastic way to approach this. At its most succinct (in small teams where there’s a high level of trust and knowledge of each other, and time is short) this can be a series of post-its of the team’s proudest moments - each dated and agreed as a group. A richer version of the exercise asks people first to come up with their individual ‘proud moments’ including personal achievements, along with ones in their professional roles over time and finally their best memories of the team/service’s achievements. They need to be dated and labelled with their names.  After a short time of individual thought and writing, I ask them to get in to pairs and tell each other about their examples. While one person is speaking the other listens intently, identifying the skills and qualities that the speaker demonstrated in each of their proud moments, followed by the team strengths demonstrated by the collective proud moments. Each of these are then agreed (or changed) and written on individual post-its. This might spark other memories to generate a few more post-its as well. When this is completed everyone sticks their timeline post its on a wall mounted timeline (very, very long roll of paper) in chronological order. The team achievements are read out. The personal moments make for excellent conversation starters over break or lunch (probably for many weeks to come). Each pair then presents the skills and qualities demonstrated by their partner & the team to the whole group. The post its are put up on a flip chart and the facilitator clusters them during a break to show where there are particular strengths, and perhaps where there may be gaps to fill in future recruitment.

- Dream: this is the centrepiece of the day, and the feelings and memories that it creates will last longer and generate more change than any of the design and delivery phases that come afterwards. So taking time to craft a really exciting, powerful, incisive “dream” question is an incredibly good investment up front.  It might be “What will we be like as an organisation if we are at our boldest and best in two years?” “how will it feel to work here in a year if we are all able to be at our most productive and creative?” or “how will our happiest customer feel if our new product reaches it’s true potential?” The brief is to work in small teams to come up with answers using creative tools (absolutely no laptops and powerpoints allowed!). I usually provide play doh, lego, post-its, flipcharts, image cards, and I encourage poems, headlines, role play or dance. Participants invariably get out of their comfort zones and take some risks, buoyed by the confidence of the discovery phase. People spend some time thinking and creating individually and then share their ideas, often finding common ground and adding some collaborative art or performance to the mix. Cynicism and sabotage fall away and each team shows off the product of this element of their appreciative journey. With permission this is the part of the process which I capture on film, because it will be something to come back to on the messy road of reality in the days and months ahead.

- During a well deserved break after the dream phase I work with the commissioner to identify 2-3 themes that have emerged from the discussion so far: it might be internal (team communication, work environment etc) or external (brand reputation, client outcomes etc), and forms the basis for the design phase which happens next 

- Design: this phase is the exploration of the current reality (ground rules at the ready everyone….), a time to reflect on some of the obstacles that might stop the team reaching their ‘dream’ state. Acknowledging those that are out of their control but focusing on the ones that they have a total or partial influence on. What has worked before? Either for the team or in other settings, what research or information can we draw on? What are the widest possible options for action? It’s important here to stay imaginative and open, hearing everyone’s ideas does not mean agreeing to action them. It offers a well of possibilities to draw on. Once everyone has really had an opportunity to think and contribute (probably again in small teams of 3 or 4 members who pick the theme that most interests them), it’s time to prioritise those options which are likely to have the most consensus. The last action is to identify someone to feedback on behalf of the team to the whole group, with a summary of options and priorities

- Delivery: While the magic of a good appreciative inquiry process is the foundation of optimism and trust it engenders, it’s also good to have some firm commitments to action while the momentum is at its peak. I tend to divide these into “Quick Wins” which can be done within a month or so, and have an obvious outcome with a lead individual taking responsibility for implementing. There will also be “Major Projects'' which require follow up discussions to refine, and these too should have a lead and regular dates for review and progress.

- Review: The final action for the day is to revisit the images shared during ‘hopes for the day’ - everyone takes it in turns to assess how their expectations matched the reality of the day. It provides for individual reflection and often generates the kind of testimonials Amazon can only dream of 🙂. 

Feedback and Evaluation: 

- Within a week of the event I create a presentation of all the day’s findings - using photos and film from the day to provide a permanent record of the steps that they took during the day, along with the commitments to action from the delivery phase. If they ask for my recommendations or reflections I also offer these in confidence to the commissioner, ideally through a follow up conversation and short written report

- I request feedback on an evaluation survey a few days after the event to allow participants time to reflect more fully on the process and give considered answers about the outcomes from their experience, and how I can improve the facilitation process in future. With the right prompts I get incredibly valuable learning from this final element of the process, and the foundation for future work with the client. 

I’d really appreciate feedback and challenge on the steps I’ve described here, especially if you have had experience of receiving or delivering appreciative inquiry.  

If you’d like to talk to me about facilitating your away day, please get in touch on ann@bloomsburybeginnings.org  

Rates for a full day’s facilitation including preparation and feedback start from £750