Recently, I was given the opportunity to facilitate a workshop for two companies that wanted to find initiatives to collaborate with each other.
Even though they belonged to the same group of companies, working independently, each one is its own entity with its own rules and regulations.
Preparation
This is the first time they would be meeting in a more intimate set up to work closer together, so preparing the environment and activities that will make them feel comfortable was absolutely essential.
With that goal in mind, I decided to forego the usual ideation and brainstorming meetings and decided to try the activities presented in Liberating Structures.
It was a huge challenge for me!
I had never used Liberating Structures before, and it was also my first time facilitating such a high stakes event where the participants are all senior leaders. Even our COO would be present!
We had only three hours for this session, to come up with the desired outcome.
After some experimentation and exploration, I settled on this structure for this high stakes session. [ Items marked with * are from Liberating Structures ]
Impromptu Networking*
Impromptu Networking is the first activity I chose for the workshop. There are several considerations for this:
First, I feel it is important to have each participant consider why they were there, what they could contribute, and what value they wanted to get out of it.
It’s more comfortable to talk to someone one on one than to start as a group. You are able to connect to 3 people immediately in a span of 10 minutes.
Notes: We had an almost equal number of participants from both entities. So I explained that the participants should pair up with another entity (not from the same company), or it would be a little silly!
Gathering of Ideas
Now that the participants are more comfortable with each other, I let them sit in groups (which they converged naturally) to start formulating ideas in preparation for
Open Space Technology
- Open Space Technology*
- Action Priority Matrix
- Agreement Certainty Matrix*
There were two main themes of the workshop: Technology; and PPC [People, Process, and Culture]
After the ideation phase, I explained the concept of Open Space Technology. Each theme/marketplace should have a volunteer facilitator and the audience can move from either space freely.
I also explained the Law of Two Feet to all participants.
While the discussion is on-going to fine-grain the ideas generated, I asked them to place them on the [Action Priority] matrix to have a rough estimate on the priority and how complex the initiatives would be.
Notes: Some participants chose to stick to the same marketplace all throughout the Two of them were on the side watching both groups and when I asked them if they had any concerns, they were just torn which marketplace they would like to be in, I suggested they can split and come back to share what they have learned.
Wrap-up and Closing: Feedback Wall
After we closed the marketplace, each facilitator explained the summary of gathered ideas, and I wrote the keywords on the board. I asked them to kindly write their feedback and place it on the wall.
We ended the session with a group picture of all the smiling faces!
Lessons Learnt
Indeed, the risk of using something new certainly paid off. Not only did they formulate the initial ideas for collaboration, everyone was engaged and having fun doing so. The feedback they left was all I could hope for as a facilitator:
- great organization and support for communication
- well-structured
- excellent facilitation
- efficient, dynamic and engaging
- Opened their eyes to new ideas
- Next session, please!
I would definitely recommend using the activities of Liberating Structures.
There are 35+ structures in total and I have only used 4 of them! I cannot wait to have the opportunity to try out the rest.
Liberating Structures have certainly helped me as a facilitator to unleash the creative potential of the people.
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