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.

Pics from Building Relationships (Conflict Management) Workshop for Leaders

We know that for a team to be able to deliver extraordinary performance, they should be extremely capable and coordinated, and be able to understand each other.

My insight - A key for teams to build sustainable relationships is how the team is able to manage disagreements and conflicts. This came out clearly during the facilitated discussion on what makes a High Performing team.  The participants got this realization through the facilitation processes they underwent, because "Conflict is inevitable but combat is optional."  

Here is some of the action captured for a workshop on Building Sustainable Relationships through Conflict Management for Leaders.  The workshop topic was covered over 2 days for different sets of leaders of the organization and is a part of the leadership journey program. 

Participants got an understanding of the Thomas Kilman Model, The Conflict Continuum and Conflict Circles Model of Patrick Lencioni.  They also applied the model to situations they were facing at the workplace and got ideas on how to address similar situations in future.  A combination of training, lecture and facilitator-led group discussions were  designed to achieve this.

They also understood that disagreements are good for the growth and performance of the team, as long it doesn't get personal.

In case you are wondering, they are reading the quotes that I had put up on the wall on coloured paper.

What they feel a high performing team consists of.

Overall it was an engaging session that all participants were actively involved in.  Do contact me on ryanbbarretto@hotmail.com or +919820155778 if you would like your teams to positively improve their performance.

Workshop Action - Behaviour Styles for Leaders

This is the next part of the Learning Journey for the two batches of Leaders, where Behaviour (Social) styles, The Tuckman Model, and Team management were covered.  We also worked on how to make performance discussions effective and discussed how to make our teams more effective and productive.  This organization is in the field of HR outsourcing.

This was the participants first experience of a workshop where a PPT was not used.  Participants felt more engaged and enthusiastically shared their perspectives during the discussions - thus enhancing their own learning.  This was made possible through some facilitative processes and lots of simple interactive discussion questions.

Here are some pics of the action from the workshop with the HODs:

Here are some pics of the action from the workshop with the direct reports:

The workshops ended with participants committing to ensure that they do their best to create environments where their teams are able to perform effectively and have effective performance discussions.

Do contact me on +919820155778 if you would like to have Leadership Development Workshops for your organization.

How I realized I made a positive impact with my workshop

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This happened to me during a recent series of Leadership Development workshops with a client, and a participant informed me that another participant would reach 30 minutes late because it was their birthday, though the company policy permitted them to stay home and celebrate with family.  Let me also mention that all the participants held work experience of 15 years to 22 years.

In my workshops over the years, I have always had participants come to me at the end of the workshop thanking me for helping them get their insights or results. This workshop too was no exception. 

But I was quite blown away by this revelation, more so, because the participant also offered me chocolates during the break and mentioned that they attended the workshop today because of me.

This gives me much confidence as a trainer and facilitator, since it tells me my workshop design met their learning needs, and my delivery approach made them want to attend the next session, even though they had a choice to take the day off.

I am extremely grateful to my mentors, clients and participants and the International Association of Facilitators who have been with me on this journey and provided these opportunities for me to perform, learn and grow.

Pics from Stress Management Workshop

 Here are a few pics of a workshop on Stress Management that I conducted for my client in the BFSI space.

The participants from the middle and junior levels from different functions of the organization.  I am thankful for their whole-hearted participation in the exercises and for their insightful questions during the workshop, which made the entire experience wonderful both for them and for me.  

While they identified the causes of stress on their own, I shared with them a guided meditation exercise, and a journaling method  both of which they found very useful.

Participant Expectations

Reviewing the Causes of Stress

Journaling

While they built their action play, they also shared on the sticky wall, specific things they will put into practice.

Learnings that they will put into practice

Pics from Conflict Management workshop

 Here are the pics from my recent workshop "Growth Through Conflict Management" for an organization in the BFSI sector.

Due to situational reasons, the start was delayed, so I had to adjust time for some of the activities. Some of the topics covered were the Thomas Kilmann model, Patrick Lencioni's Conflict Continuum and Conflict Circles models, how emotions impact conflict, and the Ladder of Inference. The topics were  partly facilitated and covered through self-reflection exercises, facilitator-led discussions, group discussions, and role plays.

The participants were enthusiastic and fully involved in the group discussions, asking me questions wherever they needed to, during the day.  Here's how it looked:

Expectations

Strategies for Managing conflict

Qualities of an Effective and Ineffective Listener

Participants summarized what they learnt during the day

Do get in touch with me on +919820155778 or ryanbbarretto@hotmail.com if your teams want to resolve some conflicts and collaborate effectively for success. Or any other topic you have in mind.