Delivery Matters

Stories behind workshop plans,
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Tag: Guides - page 5

How to design a learning and development strategy

Workforce development is increasing at a faster rate than ever before, especially with the shift toward digital processes. People’s working lives are far longer, and remote work and hybrid scenarios are becoming increasingly common. As the necessary skills in business are constantly evolving, staying ahead of learning and development is a must for companies today. Having a great learning and development strategy is not only important for the companies themselves but for employees too. People are not only working to make a living, and value investing in their personal growth and overall job satisfaction. Whether it’s improving soft skills in developing team emotional intelligence, or cultivating practical skills to adapt…

Our Guide to Facilitation Week 2022

Where focus goes, energy flows. And in October, the world of facilitation’s focus is on the rich calendar of co-created events of Facilitation Week! Facilitation Week is a yearly marathon catalyzed by IAF, the International Association of Facilitators. This year, it will run from the 17th to the 23rd of October, in all time zones, live and online!There is always a lot to learn and you can expect every session to be lively and participatory. But before you go check out the entire event list, heed a word of warning! The week is absolutely packed with great events running for free, online, and open to anyone. There is so much…

A guide to virtual facilitation (with tips for being a great virtual facilitator!)

In a world of remote working and online meetings, there has never been a greater need for effective virtual facilitation. Studies show that remote workers are happier and more productive than their office working counterparts and the benefits for companies moving to distributed workforces are great too. But what does it take to run effective online gatherings and be a great virtual facilitator? Learn how you can create engaging sessions that deliver results and connection, wherever your team is located in this guide to virtual facilitation! As teams and organizations have transitioned to working online, the need for well-designed and effectively facilitated remote sessions has risen. Unstructured or poorly run…

How to have a more productive team meeting (that staff and managers will love)

The team meeting. A necessary evil, an exercise in wasting time, or your organization’s secret weapon? At it’s best, a team meeting is a way to ensure your staff and management teams are aligned, that no obstacles stand in the way of company progress, and to create an open forum for dialogue and discussion. At their worst, team meetings can frustrate and cause more problems than they solve with many employees facing meeting overload. Can you afford to have bad meetings that could lose clients or cause friction with internal stakeholders when there is a solution? As organizations develop more dynamic ways to communicate, the tried and tested team meeting…

Design thinking for beginners – workshop agenda and guide

Design thinking is a great methodology for bringing human-centered thinking to your team. But how can we make it easier for newbies to grasp the five stages of the design thinking process and see how they can apply them in their day-to-day work? In our design thinking for beginners guide, we explore how you can introduce design thinking by asking a group to solve the simple challenge of baking a cake. You’ll find a complete workshop template alongside tips to help you engage a group new to design thinking. What if I told you that Design Thinking really is a piece of cake? Have you ever started a workshop where…

How to run an effective feedback workshop

Giving effective feedback is an important skill for leaders and teams. Managers who learn how to give (and take) feedback effectively are better positioned to solve problems, improve team performance and create a happier, more productive workplace. Running a feedback workshop to help your team understand how to give and receive constructive feedback. In this guide from Skye Suttie, a facilitator with over 10 years of experience in people management, you can see how to run a workshop that will give your team the skills to process and provide great feedback more effectively. Let's dive in! This guide is designed to walk you through facilitating The Art of Effective Feedback…

How to train new facilitators – a step by step guide

Training new facilitators in the use of facilitation skills is essential as the profession gains recognition and organizations come to realize the advantages of having facilitative leaders and team members. But how to begin? In this piece, IAF endorsed facilitator and new SessionLab team member Deborah shares tips and tools from her experience of 5+ years introducing students and professionals to facilitation. She leads us through the programme of a half-day introductory workshop session in which participants experience facilitation tools first-hand, reflect on them, and collect methods and skills in their first facilitation toolkit. As a facilitator and trainer, you may sometimes be asked to reveal what is going on…

How to run a hybrid board meeting – an example from Daniel Unsöld

Hybrid meetings have become more common but integrating even a single online participant can be a challenge. In this facilitation story from Daniel Unsöld, you'll see how he and his team set up and ran an interactive, 4-day hybrid event with 40 live and 10 online participants. Daniel takes us behind the scenes, exploring the tech set-up and planning of the conference. He also explores how a large scale hybrid meeting plays out in practice, what activities he used to bridge live and online participants, and shares some of his learnings too! For in-house company meetings, great solutions are available from big names like Microsoft or young start-ups like Owl…

How to design and run engaging virtual training

Virtual training has been the way of the future for a long time — until the coronavirus pandemic hit, and it very much became the way of the present. Suddenly, people from all around the world had to adapt their in-person training sessions to the virtual space — and the transition has been anything but smooth. Remote workers believe training is important to their career development. So how can traditional trainers help? Luckily, there are plenty of ways to make sure your online training gives value to your clients, even in a virtual environment. Facilitators and trainers are a creative bunch, and adapting to the new normal has been productive and…

How to use the 5 stages of team development (and build better teams!)

All groups are composed of individuals with different needs, communication styles, and working practices. When bringing those individuals together and engaging in team development, leaders will need to find ways to help everyone work together effectively and grow as individuals and as a group. Helping a set of people progress from being strangers to becoming a cohesive, well-oiled team can be a tricky process but thankfully there are team development frameworks, activities, and exercises that can help! In this post, we’ll explore Bruce Tuckman's theory of team development while also offering practical advice, actions, and team building activities you can take to help your group grow and work together more…

How to improve your problem solving skills and build effective problem solving strategies

Effective problem solving is all about using the right process and following a plan tailored to the issue at hand. Recognizing your team or organization has an issue isn’t enough to come up with effective problem solving strategies. To truly understand a problem and develop appropriate solutions, you will want to follow a solid process, follow the necessary problem solving steps, and bring all of your problem solving skills to the table. We’ll forst look at what problem solving strategies you can employ with your team when looking for a way to approach the process.We’ll then discuss the problem solving skills you need to be more effective at solving problems, complete…

What is an Agile coach and how do I become one?

Have you ever felt lost in a conversation because people were talking about a topic with such confidence and jargon that you were afraid to ask for clarification? This is how many people first encounter Agile coaching and development concepts and it can be a little overwhelming! This post was created as a roadmap for anyone interested in Agile roles or methodology. Here, we’ll answer some common questions - like why you’d need an Agile coach - and to show you how you can apply this knowledge to your role and maybe even become an Agile coach yourself. What is an Agile coach? An Agile coach helps teams and individuals…

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