How Daring to Dialogue Improves Performance and Creates a Culture of Agility
A keynote presented at AGILE AND SCRUM 2021 Online Conference #agilecon2021
Enjoy!
~Marsha
Cultivating Great Leaders and Effective Teams
A keynote presented at AGILE AND SCRUM 2021 Online Conference #agilecon2021
Enjoy!
~Marsha
Upholding the agile mindset is the fifth principle of the Agile Team Facilitation Stance.
The five principles include:
If you are responsible for helping a team become more agile, and are looking for a way to assist a team adopt agility without telling them what to do, this is a good place to start.
Agile facilitation is not unique because of the skills of facilitation it requires. What sets you apart as an agile facilitator is the unique position you hold as a part of the team.
As a member of the team, when facilitating, your role is to stand apart from the team.
This ‘dualism’ causes tension for many new facilitators.
Therefore it is important to acknowledge that if you are standing solidly in the other four principles of facilitation, you’ll be just fine – even if you don’t uphold the mindset of agility. You are still facilitating, you just won’t be supporting agility.
Facilitating while upholding the agile mindset starts with one simple premise:
“You are the guardian of the values and principles of the agile mindset, not the adjuster of the agile practices.”
Telling people what to do, forcing process, or not listening to what’s happening on the team is not what upholding the agile mindset is about.
Upholding the agile mindset does not look like defending the use of retrospectives as a tried-and-true method of starting conversations.
So, what is and what does upholding an agile mindset look like?
When a team gets bored, or things aren’t working when leaning on practices in a particular agile framework, it’s time to look beyond what you know.
Lead the team and find inspiration in the practices that others have created, and try them.
You can’t ‘break agile’ when trying something new.
In part, your job as a facilitator is to help teams adapt by inventing their own framework for agility!
In David Kantor’s “Reading the Room” he observes that we all model build.
When we learn a new process, theory or skill set, we imitate first, then we feel constrained, and finally we create something new. We make it our own.
Focusing on upholding the agile mindset means learning how to bridge the divide between principles and practices. It’s what we do in the moment. As facilitator, you’re the one who is able to help a team see where they might be living into the agile values – and where they might not be.
In my book ‘The Art & Science of Facilitation’ based on the five principles of the Agile Team Facilitations Stance, I take a deep dive into each of these lessons.
Upholding the agile mindset is not about convincing a team to buy into agile. It’s about helping a team focus on how they work.
It’s about looking for ways to improve how they work so that they can be more effective, empowered, enjoy their work, and experience better outcomes.
Agility in action can look different for different teams. What’s needed is a critical reflection about how well we’re doing at any given moment lives into and upholds the core values and principles.
With the recent publication of the book ‘The Art & Science of Facilitation How to Lead Effective Collaboration with Agile Teams’ TeamCatapult is proud to present the Virtual Book Tour to promote this new book and its important message.
This Virtual Book Tour consists of several online ‘Virtual Book Tour Stops’ where casual conversations about facilitation take place with guest speakers.
Each speaker invited to participate in any of these virtual events is knowledgeable about both Agile and Facilitation and an expert in their field. We invite you join us for this book tour and learn more about ‘The Art & Science of Facilitation’
During the first stop of the tour, we met Teamcatapult faculty as they told personal stories of facilitation.
The full conversation with Marsha Acker, Antoinette Coetzee, David Levine, Jeff Hackert, Kari McLeod, Kay Harper, Larissa Caruso and William Strydom can be watched in its entirety via this link.
These stories of facilitation yielded not only a vibrant and stimulating conversation, but also several follow up questions about facilitation. As is common with webinars, virtual events or panel discussions limited on time, the speakers didn’t have an opportunity to answer all questions in the moment.
However, we believe these questions need to be answered. The team thought so too!
Thanks to TeamCatapult faculty, we now have not just questions, but amazing insightful answers as well!
Here are 7 FAQs questions about facilitation!
Question: I’d be curious to hear folk’s opinions on facilitating outside of work – as a parent, as a spouse, at my book club?
Answers:
Jeff: I find these skills to be useful in nearly every act of group communication.
Marsha: I agree with Jeff, I use aspects of facilitation skills in almost every aspect of my life – home, work, girl scout meetings, volunteer efforts, etc.
Kari: Yes, and being clear about your role when you do so is key. For example, facilitate a discussion as a parent, if you’re truly willing to be neutral. I have to remind myself of this one! I attended a virtual memorial service in November, and there wasn’t a facilitator. It was awkward. So, I asked if I could help guide the discussion. Once there was some process and people started speaking, I stepped back as a facilitator and the conversation was more organic.
David: Me too. Recently, at a Home Association meeting, I found myself recognizing a structural dynamics pattern and was able to steer the conversation to something more collaborative and productive (Science over Art…)
Question: Why do you think this book is necessary at this time, how would you distinguish these books from countless books on communication?
Answers:
Marsha: There are hundreds of books out there on facilitation and communication techniques – and they are very helpful (I have many of them on my shelf). The intention of this book is more about what beliefs, in our own mindset, will support those endless amounts of techniques and make them more effective. In the agile movement I think we are at the place where there is a general understanding of the need for collaboration, that coaching skills and facilitation skills support this, and I see many teams that just apply the techniques without doing the mindset work that would allow them to make those techniques more impactful and meaningful. I think we are at the place to collectively deepen our work on how we collaborate together.
Antoinette: The reason why I love working with Marsha is because I resonate so much with her belief that facilitation is as much who you are and how you are being, as it is about what you do. I have a number of really great books on facilitation that have helped me in my own journey, most of them have a section of how you show up, but the majority of the book is devoted to the act of facilitation. The combination of Agile, facilitation and Structured Dynamics is where I think this book really helps facilitators grow awareness of what is happening in them, in the room, and in the group they are facilitating.
Kari: I echo both Marsha and Antoinette, and I’ll build on what they wrote to say that this book grows how we’re being as facilitators which is the foundation of what we’re doing as facilitators.
Question: I know that the book is targeted to Agile Teams but do you feel it is applicable beyond Agile Teams and why?
Answers:
Larissa: I would argue that this is even more important for non Agile teams. Because Agile teams are somewhat used to concepts of collaboration, co-creation, and facilitating meetings. If you can bring a little bit of that mindset you find in the book to meetings, you will see a huge 180 in productivity and engagement.
Kari: Much of the foundation of this book lies in professional coaching and facilitation as well as Structural Dynamics–none of which have Agile as their foundation. The facilitation mindset you’ll explore in this book uses Agile teams as a lens, and I encourage you to adopt the mindset and look through other lenses.
David: Only you need to be Agile to make this stuff work. I have facilitated many many meetings using the concepts from this book without the “A” word ever coming up.
Question: I am curious what folks think about intentional “distractions” – ie pipe cleaners, legos, snacks
Answers:
Antoinette: These items are really useful for people (like me) who need to be kinetically busy in order to concentrate. Completely voluntary of course!
Marsha: For me, it depends on the topic and work to be done in the meeting. If it’s detailed thinking work and I’m using tables, then I might use ‘fidget items’. If the topic is more about how the team is working and relationship based or if I think there is a certain level of ‘heat’ in the conversation I remove tables (if we are in the room) and really ask people to be present to the conversation and give their full attention to reading the room and what’s happening for them and others.
Kari: David, you probably know I love having these manipulatives in training, MeetUps, and certain meetings and events. I have had participants thank me for bringing them, saying they wished they had had things to fiddle with in school, college, and at work. I have learned to make it clear that they are on the table for them to use (i.e., we’re not saving them for an activity), and, as Antoinette pointed out, that they can use them or not. I also point out that they can take whatever they created with them (I don’t want the Play-Doh back!). And, I agree with Marsha, I don’t use them if it’s a meeting where participants need to be IN the conversation.
David: A tool in the kit, best used in service to some purpose. Useful for some meetings, not for others.
Question: What are your thoughts on organisations wanting to measure the effectiveness of a facilitator, defining some sort of goals and KPIs for facilitation? How could or should we measure performance?
Answers:
Jeff: Focusing on outcomes and measures will help to improve our practice. Of course you have to be careful that the focus is on improving communication, team participation, and process vs say moving a leadership agenda. Make sense?
Marsha: I would suggest asking the group to evaluate how well they think they currently do in: hearing all voices; talking about difficult subjects; raising concerns; meeting deadlines; making decisions; etc. Ask them what they want to improve and what that would look like. Then in 6 months ask them to rate these same items again and see where they are. Getting the team to take ownership of their communication is critical, facilitation will help you (and them) achieve the outcomes they want to achieve.
Antoinette: I would also add that looking at the quality of solutions and the stickiness of decisions and whether they are improving might be useful.
Question: There is a chapter in the book on upholding the Agile Mindset while facilitating. I would love to hear everyone’s perspective on that.
Answers:
Antoinette: I will answer by defining the Agile mindset as consisting of three beliefs : the Complexity belief, the People belief, and the Proactivity belief:
As facilitator I both plan an agenda with activities that creates the opportunity for all of the above to be possible, as well as be present to what is happening in the moment to change tack if necessary.
I would actually argue that, maybe with the exception of the last belief, facilitators have been doing this all along. Traditional facilitators just tended to be a little more heavy on the documentation! 🙂
David: It is as good a practice as there is. If you haven’t been exposed to it, please read Carol Dweck’s little book called Mindset.
Question: Can you provide some tips to read the room when facilitating virtually?
Answers:
Jeff: My tips: mics on, cameras on – make it safe for folks to be present
Marsha: I agree with Jeff, these two things, when practiced by everyone in the meeting can significantly change the nature of ‘safety’ in the meeting. We have several blogs about this as well. Check these out:
How Do You Facilitate for Unexpected and Unplanned Magic?
How To Best Guide Your Team With Virtual Team Facilitation
How To Lead with Virtual Team Facilitation
Why We hold Check-in and Check-out as a Sacred Space
8 Tips to Successful Virtual Team Facilitation
Antoinette: Yes! I also contract with people explicitly to make their wishes known more openly than when they are in a physical space. And it is good to ask for DISAGREEMENT rather than agreement, eg. “who has something else” instead of “does everyone agree”. Knowing you, Naresh, I can also say trust your intuition and don’t rely on your eyes: 🙂 And that is actually for everyone – we rely too much on our eyes when our hearts tell us more about what is going on in the virtual space. It’s a muscle we need to develop more.
David: Agree. I find that scanning the gallery view is helpful. People get tired more easily when virtual. Don’t confuse fatigue with lack of interest.
Don’t miss out on reading the book, or the tour: If you lead teams of any size, it’s time to become a true facilitator — in every sense of the word.
Learn how to lead effective collaboration with agile teams!
We will leave you with these last words about the book:
The Art and Science of Facilitation is your guide to moving your team further forward using the groundbreaking Five Guiding Principles of the Facilitation Stance. For anyone ready to lead with self-awareness and group insight, this book is designed to help you navigate group dynamics so that your team can work more efficiently and effectively in a truly collaborative environment.
We were scheduled to take the horses, Cranberry and Faust, out for the weekend to get fitted for new saddles. Saddles that will fit them better and simply make it more enjoyable for them when they are ridden.
So these plans for the weekend were very exciting. The weather was amazing and all the stars seemed aligned.
Except for one thing…the horses were having nothing to do with it.
No matter what we tried, no matter how long we spent with them, no matter how we asked, they would not get into the trailer.
Horses are well known for their ability to teach leadership. Working with a horse provides an incredible metaphor for leadership. It’s about learning to lead through partnership, relationship, trust and communication – it has very little to do with the words you speak and a lot more to do with the space and relationship you create.
I learned (or re-learned) a familiar lesson this weekend, you cannot make a horse do anything. We have two beautiful creatures who have come to be part of our family but this weekend they were a combined 2500 pounds of, “Nope. Ain’t gonna do that.”
It was super frustrating because we knew what was in store for them. We had this perfect vision of what a great experience we had planned for them. With an outcome that had their best interest at heart. But the thing is, they had another agenda. Their agenda was driven by fear and uncertainty.
We lost hours, and Saturday was gone. We tried again on Sunday. Even brought in our horse trainer. An expert we were certain would tackle this problem and convince the horses to trust us and let us guide them to a new experience that we were sure they would enjoy.
Except for one thing…the horses were having nothing to do with it.
Cranberry finally decided she would give it a try on Sunday but Faust made the choice to stay home.
As humans, we are always at choice, even if it doesn’t feel like it. We make choices of ‘this’ not ‘that’, all day long.
I’ll be honest, there were moments during these two days that I was tired, hungry, worn out and just plain wanted the dang horse to get in the dang trailer so we could make the dang appointment we made. I hate being late and making others wait.
The more frustrated I got the less patience I had. And I’m quite certain they could tell!
Where do you find yourself impatient with change? Are there times when you just want to tell your team to ‘get on with it’ or when someone asks why should I do it this way you feel like saying ‘because I said so and I can see so much potential here if you would just do what I tell you to do’.
In organizations leaders can be lulled into thinking that they can make people do something by offering consequences to saying no – like firing someone or not offering them the next opportunity that comes. In reality if people don’t buy into what they are being asked to contribute to they might go through the motions to make you believe they are compliant but oftentimes the real conversation goes underground. They look like they are compliant but the real conversation becomes covert.
All the convincing, cajoling or influencing in the world will not make someone take an action they don’t believe in.
Faust was the same way this weekend. He wasn’t ready.
This weekend became a lesson about leadership that I will hold onto. About trust. About what I bring to a situation. About accepting that I cannot change someone’s mind. That it’s not about me, but more about how I arrive as a leader, with horses or with humans. It speaks volumes about my notion that I can make someone do anything…just because I want them to and I’ve laid out this great outcome that everyone should want to be a part of it.
Leadership is so many things and one of the basics is How You Show Up. Building trust. Learning to communicate. Listening to the other. Getting clear about roles and responsibilities. Setting boundaries. Letting go of my agenda. Inviting others into a conversation. Listening. Seeking to understand the other. Seizing the opportunities from past experiences and learning from them. And as a Team Facilitator, how to honor the facilitation stance.
If any of this resonates with you, we have many opportunities on the horizon for enhancing your leadership journey. Take a look at our upcoming workshops.
Thanks to Faust and Cranberry, our whole family had a leadership lesson this weekend and I know I’m a better leader today because of it.
What’s your journey stepping stone looking like?
Marsha
How we choose to show up and how we choose to engage as leaders directly affects the outcome of becoming an agile organization.
Leaders are the KEY to transformation—they are at the center of the change. To be successful, the change has to begin WITHIN leaders. The job of leadership becomes owning the culture, setting a vision, enrolling others so it becomes a shared vision, and helping support what’s needed in the culture to fuel that vision.
Everything you say, do, reward, or focus on sets the culture. The job of leaders is shifting away from shaping the work and shifting toward shaping the culture. How am I, as a leader, contributing to the culture we have?
The question to answer is this: How can we put into practice the characteristics of agile leadership and the structural components of conversation in order to lead cultural change?
Deepen Your Awareness.
Awareness precedes choice precedes change. How do you engage with your team? What’s the impact you have in the team? How do you know? The more we are able to deepen awareness of our own behavior the easier it becomes to make choices that align with our intentions.
Grow Your Leadership Range.
True innovation and transformation happens when leaders create the space to learn and think together rather than acting on their preconceived ideas about the best way forward. There is common trap that leadership looks like having the answers, and moving things forward. What if leaders had range? the ability to advocate for an action when needed, but also to create space for inquiry and deepened understanding? Adaptive challenges do not come with roadmaps, they require new ways of engaging and leading through the process of dialogue.
Imagine a company that is experiencing tough times in a competitive market. Now, compare the examples below—they model two different responses to the situation.
In the first scenario, the leader makes an assertion, observes the current state and makes a move about what’s needed next. In the second scenario, the leader makes an observation (Bystand), names a concern (Bystand), and then inquires of others. The leader in the second scenario signals that there is space for exploration and resists the impulse to jump right into action.
Growing range in leadership is about learning to make space for other voices, to seek to understand, to be open to hearing things that might be hard. It is about resisting the inherent tension to be the “solver of problems” and instead be the seeker of collective intelligence. Leaders with range are far more likely to discover a clearer path and lead more sustainable change.
Practice the Four Actions.
Move, Follow, Oppose, Bystand. We all have one that we will do more often than the others. What actions might you be overusing? Which are underutilized?
Pay attention to your conversations. Where do you remain silent or inactive in the conversation? What do you see that you might not be saying?
By practicing all four competencies you build awareness around how you engage and help your team create collectively.
Grow Your Collective Leadership Culture
Leaders create the culture. What we say, how we respond, what we reward… these are all are signals about the culture we’re creating. Team coaching helps leaders learn and grow together so that they become more aware of their actions and more intentional about what changes are needed.
Moreover, team coaching helps leaders learn together, collectively, in their real-world day-to-day challenges. It’s the most effective way to help leadership teams see the patterns in how they engage so that they can take action—and change the outcomes they’ve been getting.
Team Coaching helps leaders develop, together.