What do you need to think about when planning a team workshop?

The Thinking Focus team have facilitated workshops all over the world.  We facilitate thinking for companies large and small, as well as charities, and government bodies; if you have something that you need the team to think about, then the team can help.

In this short series, Paul talks to Richard and Rob to understand how master facilitators work, giving you some inside tips on how to be a better facilitator, so you can get better outcomes in the meeting you are running.

This first podcast explores the thinking of the facilitator when they are planning the workshop, from the goal to the group; what do you need to know?

How do you switch off autopilot?

We spend most of the time with our brains on ‘autopilot’.  We are thinking at a subconscious level, causing us to act without being truly aware of what we are doing.   This handy little trick helps us get through the day, making the most of the energy available and freeing up our conscious mind to work on the more important stuff, like ‘what’s for dinner?’.

Rob and Ricky explore in this podcast how you can turn off this automatic process, so you can take conscious control of the things that you really need to think about, not just respond to.

Why is reflection so important for embedding learning?

Every time we learn something new we have to connect that to our world, to understand how that new piece of information or skill will work for us.  Knowing is not enough, we have to integrate the new into our existing understanding of the world.  That takes reflection.

In this podcast, Ricky and Rob explore why reflection is so important and offer up different strategies that will help you reflect, and therefore embed, your learning.

Is it time to stop time-management and manage you instead?

Someone, probably a past manager, will have talked to you about time management at some point in your working life.  You won’t be alone if these conversations have left you feeling that if you could just organise your time a little bit better, you would suddenly become so much more successful.

In this podcast, Rob and Paul explore this idea and pull apart the myths behind time management, suggesting that the alternative might be just to be better at managing your attention and choices.

Why ‘carrot and stick’ is no longer relevant?

In this episode of the podcast, we explore motivation. 

Ricky and Paul consider why the typical motivational strategy of rewards and consequences (Carrot and Stick) might not be getting the best out of your team.  They consider why this approach is so common when it has such a limited impact, and discuss alternative strategies that will create more engaged and motivated team members.

By the way, sorry about the audio quality on this one. Even though it sounds like it, we can assure you that Paul was not recording from the toilets!

How can you get s**t done?

Have you ever wondered why sometimes you try and do things and it works, and sometimes you try and things just don’t come together for you?

In this podcast Ricky and Rob talk about three steps in our thinking that leads to getting stuff done. If you can create Clarity about your outcome, be more Creative in your ideas while using Critcial thinking to ensure you focus your energy on the right areas, then you increase your chances of getting stuff done.

At the heart of this is our thinking model Fooodo; you can find out more about FoooDo here
You can also download the O! ideas worksheet

Why do people underperform in Sales (or other roles)? Part 4 – Mindset

People underperform in sales (and other roles) for several reasons, in this podcast we will explore how mindset can be one of the biggest reasons why people underperform. 

Sales can be easier than other roles to spot when people underperform given the metrics available but identifying the factors behind underperformance is not so easy.   

What do we mean by mindset?  Our experience of psychology points to limiting beliefs and assumptions that cause people to get in their own way.  Mark Davies and Ricky Muddimer explore the topic in more detail asking how you can unlock the mindset of your people to free them up to perform. 

Why do people underperform in Sales (or other roles)? Part 3 – Environment

People underperform in sales (and other roles) for several reasons, in this podcast we explore the environment we create.   

Sales can be easier than other roles to spot when people underperform given the metrics available but identifying the factors behind underperformance is not so easy.   

What do we mean by environment?  It may sound obvious; in our experience, it’s not, which is why Mark Davies and Ricky Muddimer explore the topic in more detail and what we mean by creating an environment for your people to perform.