Reflective Knowing Vs Doing

I was recently thinking about (WOWs) the ways of working that we create in our sessions (whether process facilitation or training). As you know the WOWs are about agreeing how the participants and the facilitator / trainer would behave for the duration the session / workshop. We are familiar with the regular ones like Participate, Listen, Switching off the phone / laptop, etc., where the overall idea is to co-create an environment  so that some focused learning can take place.

Credit - pexels-pixabay-247819

Here is something additional that I thought of which can and probably should be applied by trainers, facilitators and participants.  I call it "Reflective Knowing and Doing".  The text (sound byte) to the participants could go like this:

"During this session, you may come across items of information about knowledge or behaviours or ways of thinking, that can trigger this thought in your mind "Yup, I know / knew that".

When this thought "Yup I know / knew that" comes up in your mind, I'd request and encourage you to make a quick note of the point and consider:

• How well do I really know this information / topic?
• What have I actually done with it after realizing that I know this?
• What results have I got from applying this particular piece of knowledge or insight?
• Is there another way of looking at the topic? i.e. another perspective that I am not aware of or have dismissed?

This curious, learner mindset approach would definitely help enhance our learning on that topic.

Credit - pexels-srijonism-32074781

Here are some more questions you may want to reflect on when considering the topic that you know:

• Were the results (after I applied this learning) in line with my / boss's / organization's expectations?
• What else might help me apply what I know in a more effective manner with improved results?
• Where else can I apply this bit of knowledge that I had already known? 

Please let me know what happened if you try this.

P.S. What if we try this outside the office in other areas of our lives? What difference would it make?

Happy Learning / Training / Facilitation / Living!

Workshop work - Influencing Mindshift

The world moves with conversations and decisions.  Some of these decisions happen with internal conversations with oneself, some with external conversations i.e. with other people.  (Pic Courtesy - pexels-isaquepereira-394377)

Making a decision or getting people to decide involves change - which is easier said that done.  Most of the time, people hate change because change is hard, because even though the change is in their best interests, they love their comfort zone more, among other reasons for loving or hating people, things, directions (sometimes based on conscious or unconscious biases).  

As most people are aware, convincing someone to change their minds is not as easy as it sounds, and takes lots of time and effort. You have to carefully craft your message. Why? 

You don't want to come across as pushy and dominating

Whether as a leader or a parent,  people do use their own minds (in ways you haven't fully considered or predicted), so you have to plan to predict and how to manage the objections that inevitability come up.

All of this mostly increases your blood pressure before providing a modicum of tangible results.

Because of these factors, I consider convincing or influencing to be the most superior form of communication.  

In organization's speed is of the essence, hence I put together a workshop that consisted of exercises and activities including roleplays, around Robert Cialdini's Principles of Influence, Levers of Change by Howard Gardner, and Nudge by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein, and spent some time around building a growth mindset (change is easier when you can influence that in others). 

I used a mix of reflective activities, facilitator-led discussions, personally designed facilitation processes and group discussions to enable participants to arrive at a deeper understanding of influence and mindset.

Here's some pics of the action including participant's insights and actions of this workshop titled "Influencing Mindshift" that I conducted for leaders of a consulting organization:

Deep Dive Into Influencing

Participants' Insights

Action Planning

Want to know more about the session, or want to run this for your organization or team, let's talk - call on +919820155778.

Learnings from Stress Management Training

 The next step in the Leadership journey for this client's leaders focused on managing their stress levels.

In the world we currently have, and with AI speeding things up and creating all sorts of FOMO with people at all levels, it's really difficult to control external sources or causes of stress.  With this understanding, I designed a one day workshop that combined aspects such as EQ basics, Time Management, along with tools for 

• Mindful stress management and 
• Journaling for Gratitude 

These would allow participants to manage their own reactions to external situations, and keep their stress levels lower.

Here are pics from the session  that was held in person.

Expectations

Their understanding of "Living In the Present"

Causes of Stress in their context

Learnings that they will action

From the hybrid batch, here's what came up for the participants.

I had a wonderful time doing the sessions.  Do get in touch on+91+9820155778 if you would like me to conduct similar workshops for your organization.