Make the most of your breakouts

Part-way through the February Train-the-Trainer / Facilitator, I was prompted to create a new slide on the topic of breakouts. We agreed that it would be helpful to add it to every training or workshop deck – hidden by default and kept in reserve, it would be there as a reminder to the host, and available as a resource if needed. Its four key points (which I’ll expand on) are easy enough to remember, and they apply both to remote and in-person events:

Don’t let tools get in the way of a good conversationDon’t wait to get startedDon’t let yourself get stuck too long in one roleHelp each other enjoy a productive conversation

It will seem in what follows that I am writing to breakout participants, but of course the message is to hosts too. There were some wry smiles and chuckles as we discussed it!

1. Don’t let tools get in the way of a good conversation

Disguised perhaps as a warm-up exercise, a fact of life now is the necessary chore of familiarising ourselves with the event’s Miro or Mural board and learning where its most important tools are hidden. But this tip is even more basic than that. Quoting from my new slide:

Put the sticky notes aside until you are ready

At a training event held abroad shortly before the pandemic, the first exercise was getting underway. On each table was a supply of pens and paper (and little else). I watched first with satisfaction as the conversations on each table began, then in dismay as one participant dug out their personal supply of sticky notes and handed them around the table. That group fell silent, the conversation killed.

Sticky notes are great and so are Miro and Mural, but in their place. None of them is capable of capturing a conversation that never happened. Don’t let them get in the way.

2. Don’t wait to get started

You might remember this from 15-minute FOTO:

If a minute passes without progress, something is wrong
– a meta conversation or some other distraction

Often the hardest thing is to get started. Time spent clarifying instructions or objectives might seem time well spent, but often the best way to get started is simply to get started. Don’t confuse the conversation that needs to happen with a conversation about the conversation, and certainly don’t let the latter displace the former.

If you are genuinely stuck or confused don’t hesitate to ask the host for help, but better still, deal with it before the breakout starts. If you’re unsure about something, likely others are too. Don’t carry that uncertainty into the breakout!

3. Don’t let yourself get stuck too long in one role

From the Lite edition of 15-minute FOTO, but it applies to most breakouts:

Anyone can ask, anyone can answer (including answering your own question), and listening is good too

In the worst car crash of a breakout I have ever been embarrassed (as the host) to witness, one participant lined up the other participants on the other side of the table and proceeded to interrogate them. That’s an extreme example, but when we get stuck in one mode for too long, we make ourselves unable to contribute in other ways. Leave yourself open to describing what you are thinking or feeling, to being respectfully curious, to serving the group as observer, scribe, or encourager – but none of those to the exclusion of the others. The more freely you and others can move between those roles, the richer the conversation.

4. Help each other enjoy a productive conversation

• Curious, descriptive, inclusive, safe, generative
• Ready to share key points, captured as appropriate

This final point brings together the three “Don’ts” into something more positive. A productive conversation is one that is actually happening, actually underway, everyone able to contribute in multiple ways. Part of “productive” is also to be able to relate key points back afterwards, but let’s keep that in perspective. Speaking to myself here (I still get this wrong), clarity from the host is especially helpful where the guidance is not what participants might be expecting. Especially in those more tentative early exercises, enjoy it. One way or another, the threads that matter will be picked up again.

Related updates:

Watch this space for a new version of 15-minute FOTO, its Classic and Lite editions (rotating roles and “anyone can ask, anyone can answer”, respectively) integrated into one deck, plus other enhancementsThe next Leading with Outcomes Train-the-Trainer / Facilitator will be in May. See the upcoming events below, also the Store page for subscription options and discountsUpcoming events (most of them free)

With Mike Burrows unless otherwise specified. Recent changes:

12th March, as guest of ValueGlide, new talk Wholehearted Strategy

February

22 February, online, 15:00 GMT, 16:00 CET, 10am ET:
Experience/practice session: Agendashift Delivery Assessment (mini edition) 26 February, Online, 14:00-16:00 GMT:
The Featureban Flow Experience
Mike Burrows, Allan Kelly

March

07 March, online, 15:00 GMT, 16:00 CET, 10am ET:
Free webinar/AMA: Obstacles Fast and Slow 12 March, online, 16:00 GMT, 17:00 CET, 11am ET:
Wholehearted Strategy 21 March, online, 15:00 GMT, 16:00 CET, 10am ET:
Experience/practice session: Outside-in Strategy Readiness Assessment

April

04 April, online, 15:00 BST, 16:00 CEST, 10am EDT:
Free webinar/AMA: What if we put agreement on outcomes before solutions? 18 April, online meetup, 18:00 NZST, 07:00 BST, 08:00 CEST:
Between Spaces, Scopes, and Scales: What the scaling frameworks don’t tell you 18 April, online, 15:00 BST, 16:00 CEST, 10am EDT:
Experience/practice session: Organise the strategy

May

14 May to 22 February, online, Tuesday & Wednesday afternoons (UK time):
Leading with Outcomes: Train-the-Trainer / Facilitator (TTT/F) *

*For TTT/F, ping me for coupon codes if any of the following apply:

Past TTT/F participants can join again for free (a popular perk)Past participants of Leading in a Transforming Organisation get 60% offEmployees in public sector, education, and non-profit organisations get 40% offMembers of the old partner programme get 30% offLast but not least, Agendashift Academy subscribers get subscription-specific discounts also

Leading with Outcomes from the Agendashift Academy
“Leadership and strategy in the transforming organisation”

Leading with Outcomes is our modular curriculum in leadership and organisation development. Each module is available as self-paced online training or as private, instructor-led training (online or in-person). Certificates of completion or participation according to format. Its four modules in the recommended order:

Leading with Outcomes: Foundation Inside-out Strategy: Part I: On the same page, with purpose Part II: Fit for maximum impact Adaptive Organisation: Part I: Business agility at every scale Part II: Between spaces, scopes, and scales Outside-in Strategy: Positioned for success

Individual subscriptions from £24.50 per month after a 7-day free trial, business subscriptions from £259 per month for 15 individual subscribers, with discounts available for employees and employers in the government, healthcare, education, and non-profit sectors.

Save 25%! More details on the store page.

To deliver Leading with Outcomes training or workshops yourself, see our Authorised Trainer and Authorised Facilitator programmes. Our next TTT/F training takes place in February (online).

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At every scope and scale, developing strategy together, pursuing strategy together, outcomes before solutions, working backwards (“right to left”) from key moments of impact and learning.