Author, Consultant, Executive Coach - Helping people and organizations grow into desired results

Wednesday 29 September 2010

Facilitation workshops in Melbourne & Sydney

In association with Melcrum Australia, I'll be presenting two workshops on facilitation skills for professionals in all fields. The first will take place in Melbourne (Tue 19 Oct) and the second in Sydney (Wed 03 Nov).


Fantastic Facilitation is a one-day workshop that gives you practical "how-to" techniques to facilitate meetings, conferences, workshops and other group sessions.

Facilitation comes from the Latin facile or facere meaning "to make easy." 

Good facilitation involves making interventions and applying processes that help the group move towards its goal more directly, enjoyably and quickly. A great facilitator is one who can bring the best out in people and promote positive group engagement with the task and each other - and who does so in a way that is largely invisible and seemingly effortless.

As a result of the training you will:
  • Discover how to set yourself up for facilitation success in every situation
  • Know what questions you should ask before you even enter the room
  • Identify when and how to make skillful interventions
  • Understand how to engage effectively with different groups
  • Have a better understanding of group dynamics and how to affect them
  • Gain confidence to handle "problem participants"
  • Learn how to channel powerful emotions into productive outcomes
  • Create your own toolbox of practical facilitation tools and techniques
  • Produce a personal list of next three steps to further your facilitation
Register here for the Melbourne and Sydney events.

Tuesday 7 September 2010

Tips from the Undercover Boss: What does "they" tell you?

If you're up for a bit of Reality TV (the kind that won't rot your brain or leave you feeling unclean and in need of a bathe), I'd suggest the series Undercover Boss. In the next few posts, I'll explain why. For today, let's look at the sinister use of "they" in organizations. 

I've lately become a fan of the American TV series, Undercover Boss*. Yes, it's "reality" TV but its redeeming quality is that it highlights the major and continuing disconnect in organizations between the folks who make strategy and the people who actually make it all happen every day.

Can you see your CEO mopping toilets?
In each episode, a TV crew follows the CEO of a major company while he poses as an entry-level worker to see what life's really like on the front lines of his own organization.

Leaving behind not only the C-suite but also their (usually large) homes, families and pampered lifestyles, the human side of each CEO is revealed. Each struggles to deal in his own way with his new transient reality of temporary, insecure jobs and moving around from one motel to another.

The situations are predictably hilarious, as these high-powered execs push mops, clean out horse (and human!) shit, try to keep up with the inhuman pace of modern assembly lines and, in more than a few cases are actually told: you're fired!

A whole new take on "bottom line"
What makes it good TV are of course the human interest stories that emerge as the Undercover Bosses learn first-hand what effect their decisions (often driven by cost-cutting and "efficiency") have on the daily lives of their staff.

The bosses also hear staff using phrases like "Head Office" and "Corporate" and "it's policy" as they do things that clearly don't work and often actually make their job a lot harder.

These employees (even if unwittingly) have the chance to "speak truth to power" and let the Big Boss know, in no uncertain terms, that there is a very real "Us versus Them" divide in the organization.

And in case you think that doesn't matter, read on...    


What "they" tells you, and why you should listen

In "They" have a lot to answer for Richard Branson writes:
A company's employees are its greatest asset, particularly in service-based operations where your people are your product. When a company fails to grasp this simple business tenet, the result is invariably an oppositional "us and them" divide between management and front-line staff.

Managers and business leaders should watch for this tendency. A company where the staff consistently overuses the word "they" is a company with problems.
If employees aren't associating themselves with their company by using "we," it is a sign that people up and down the chain of command aren't communicating – and if that turns out to be the case, you'll usually find secondary problems throughout the company, affecting everything from development to customer service.

Repairing an "us and them" environment is a cultural challenge that usually calls for greater employee involvement and improved internal communications from the executive suite to the shop floor. In my experience, middle management is a good place to look for the source of the problem. Feedback from up and down the chain often hits a wall in the person of a midlevel manager who has fallen victim to the "knowledge is power" syndrome.

Identifying such blockages and unclogging corporate arteries will bring huge payoffs.

Watch for my next post, which will include tips and practical ideas for handling these stubborn and unhelpful middle-management communication blockages!

Where you can find Undercover Boss

In Australia, full episodes are available to replay on Ten's website: scroll down in the right-hand window until you find Undercover Boss, then select from recent episodes.

Outside Australia, you can try YouTube or your local network's website. (In fact, if you're a reader and you find a link to episodes of the show, please be sure to share the URL in the comments below - thanks!)

* - big hat-tip to Andrew & Sascha Rixon in Melbourne for letting me know about the series

Friday 3 September 2010

Chair of Change Comms & Dialogue Conference in Sydney

What does it take to create employee engagement, promote dialogue, enhance communication, and achieve sustainable change? Find out at next week's Change Communication and Dialogue Development conference in Sydney.


Next Wednesday and Thursday (08-09 September) speakers from organizations as diverse as Sanofi-Aventis, Energy Australia, Bankwest, Australia Post, ANZ, Microsoft Australia, Kraft Foods ANZ, NAB, Sydney Water, and Suncorp will share their stories and practical tips at the Change Communication and Dialogue Development conference, being held this year at the Citigate Central Hotel.

I'll attend both days and will be Chair for Day Two of the event. Be sure to ask about the special promotion that tmc is offering to conference participants!

Thursday 2 September 2010

September is "Save the Koala" month

September is Save the Koala month - please pitch in and help out these endangered little battlers. Buy a sticker (like the one below) and for only a buck, you'll help make a difference. Or make a donation at the Australian Koala Foundation website. Thanks in advance for helping out.




Regular readers are aware of my ongoing support (and that of my company, tmc) for environmental causes, particularly those devoted to animal welfare and habitat preservation. One of the best things about living in Australia is having the chance to enjoy her natural beauty and native wild animals...which makes it all the more alarming that an inconic Aussie animal is under grave threat - and nobody's talking about it.


September is Save the Koala month

On the cute-and-cuddly-scale, koalas do pretty well: easily a 12 out of 10 in most people's estimation, as this video reminds us.



They are not, however, known for their ninja-like speed and ability to fend off threats to their native environment. That's why the Australian Koala Foundation (AKF) started the No Tree, No Me campaign to protect koala habitat by promoting public awareness and sustainable development.

According to AKF estimates, in 1788 there were around 10 million koalas ambling around Oz; today less than 1% of that population remains (that's fewer than 100,000 koalas left in Australia). The main reason for the decline is lost of habitat.


Australia has one of the highest land-clearing rates in the world. Since European settlement in Australia, 80% of koala habitat has disappeared. Of the remaining habitat, 80% is on privately owned land. The AKF estimates that as a result of habitat loss around 4,000 koalas are killed each year by dogs and cars alone.

What you can do - buy a sticker/make a donation

tmc supports the ongoing work of the AKF to promote habitat preservation, sustainable development, and the long slow process of getting legislation in place (see below) to protect these beautiful animals.

You can help too - this month if you see a display for the No Tree No Me stickers, buy one - for just a buck you'll help make a difference. Find out more about how to help koalas at the AKF website.



UPDATE: Hung Parliament means koalas left hanging in the balance

While the political squabbles in Canberra continue, the AKF reports:
Last week the Government’s Threatened Species Scientific Committee met and presumably discussed koalas. Because the process is so secretive, we really don’t know this, but the former Government’s Minister Garrett has said that the decision will be made by September 30th. The incoming Government, irrespective of which side wins, should also meet that deadline. There are two options – “vulnerable” which is what the AKF wants, and “conservation dependant”, which appeared out of the blue in Government documents earlier this year. If the latter is chosen then nothing will change and koalas will continue to decline because of State Governments and their inability to protect the koala, which is well documented.