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Client Success Story: An Application from the Digital Technology Industry
"I looked at the workshop agendas and itineraries for the IAF annual conference in Portland and decided Leadership Strategies' The Effective Facilitator workshop was a great fit, since facilitating is such a large part of what I do." Mike Dugas, an internal consultant for a digital technology industry giant in Portland, realized immediate success when he leveraged tools he gleaned in The Effective Facilitator workshop.
How did you hear about Leadership Strategies?
When a colleague of mine, a longtime member of International Association of Facilitators, suggested I attend the IAF annual meeting in Portland this year I decided to take advantage of it, since it was right in my own backyard.
Had you taken other facilitation courses?
I'd taken several courses in the past, but hadn't in some time. In any course, you virtually glean some level of facilitation experience just by the way the class is designed. The Effective Facilitator course, however, was specifically about facilitation, so I thought it was an excellent opportunity to take on some specialized training.
What were your goals coming into the session?
I facilitate several business process reengineering meetings and do strategic visioning with groups of 10-20 participants. I also facilitate many leadership assessments, so the main goal was to increase my knowledge of leading facilitation tools in addition to improving my own facilitation skills.
What stood out about this course, and how did you apply it inside your organization?
I was actually able to apply some techniques between day one and day two of Michael Wilkinson's (Leadership Strategies' Managing Director) seminar.
What happened?
I'd been working with the VP on this organizational assessment project and had redesigned the project to fit his critiques of this assessment. We were piloting a new way to do the work, so in essence this was his baby. I was asked to present at the staff meeting where we would roll out the project but it turned out that the Vice President (who was the main champion of the organizational assessment) wasn't able to be at the meeting. This meant I would be presenting to the staff without him there to lend his support and backing for the project. The Vice President's number two person was present, yet I had the impression this person wasn't entirely sold on moving forward with the project. That was significant because he had the clout to have a huge impact on how effective the assessment would be. The Effective Facilitator course talks about different ways to engage this type individual. I took the risk of having the staff decide not to do the assessment or postpone it, by using an engagement strategy with the person towards the beginning of the session. I knew if his response was positive, we'd have a successful meeting. If it turned out his response was negative, I was prepared to recommend we table the assessment for a later date. I was willing to take a risk because even if things went awry, at least the underlying issue would be out in the open.
How did you set it up?
First, you need to realize that the meeting culture in our organization is one where you walk into a meeting and everyone has their laptops up and running. In some business arena's this is considered rude, but in ours it is a very common practice. About 10 minutes into the presentation I used one of the techniques that I had just learned from Michael's course. I wanted to be sure I was making it personal so I paused and said to the group, "For the next 5 minutes I really need your attention because this is going to personally affect you and your credibility within your organization."
I then said to the number two person, "Picture yourself in an elevator with an engineer who works for you. The engineer looks at you and says, 'Why are we wasting our time completing this assessment? We are already swamped working on several process qualifications and now you're asking us to participate in this assessment. What gives?' "
What was his reaction?
I knew his response would set the tone for the rest of the presentation. He did surprise me with a very humorous wisecrack! It was extraordinary because I'd never seen him even crack a smile in a meeting before. He responded by insisting there was great value to the group in doing this assessment work and went on to explain in detail what their purpose for being there was. In essence, this exercise literally gave him the opportunity to deliver an 'elevator speech' as to why we were having this meeting and how their participation would impact the organization. Once this key person was on board, the rest of the meeting went very smoothly. That was a personal breakthrough for me, having this individual respond like he did, because in any other meeting I've been in with him, he was consistently tough to convince.
He delivers his opinions with a deadpan seriousness that leaves the impression that he is not with you. Using the WIIFM (What's In It For Me) model helped focus the group on the goal itself and highlighted the importance of their involvement with this project. Each person present had a stake in the outcome.
Anything else?
Yes. This course also took the design and preparation phases of facilitative sessions up a notch for me in terms of delivering information to let people know how the flow of the meeting is going to go, different transitions to use and how to communicate where we are, where we've been and where we're going.
How did the Leadership Strategies' Effective Facilitator course improve your overall work performance?
Based on work we did with personality types (DISC) on Day 1 in The Effective Facilitator workshop, I questioned the assessment I'd made of this particular individual. It's important to gain an understanding of the classic personality traits. C-type personalities are not going to give you a lot of feedback. They are more analytical by nature and it can be challenging to try and read what they're thinking. I'm very much an "I" (Influencer) personality and not a "C" (Compliance, details) yet most of the staff I work with is C-type personality, including the person I was trying to get on board with the assessment. The take away for me is realizing the importance of understanding the way people present themselves is part of a person's style and that he or she may have blind spots to the way the information they give others is received. Their delivery may not be indicative that they're not supporting your position. When you assume non - support, your response is likely to be off target and you can miss the opportunity to come to agreement. Being reminded that everyone processes information differently has helped me re-examine my own assumptions about people, and discover some wrong conclusions I had made about them. The tools The Effective Facilitator course gave me were very timely.
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