on Systems Thinking

In a recent article, I shared that every written or verbal communication needs a structure. Aristotle believed that every poem or theatrical performance should follow a three-act structure. The three-act structure stands the test of time in all forms of writing and performing arts. It is also a straightforward and extremely efficient structure. More importantly, it works subtly but effectively with our human thinking processes.

The three-act structure is alive and well in the series “Communicating with FINESSE” on Accendo Reliability. Act One – the Opening – frames what is to come in Act II and lays the foundation of Systems Thinking needed for effective communications. Check out the building story of Act One in these articles: The One Thing Your Approach to Communication & Facilitation is Missing, Effective Communication Is The #1 Thing That Changes Your Life, and Do You Know These Dirty Secrets of Effective Communication? 

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We had met at the same place, at the same time, and in the same format every month for the past six months. The team still had eight months to go to complete the master plan. For the past three months, half of the sessions included breakout groups where participants worked together to develop key aspects of the final document. Everything was being performed just like everyone had agreed in the project charter. However, the burnout could be seen in their eyes and heard in their voices…

A seasoned team had designed a week to do Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA). We would spend a slow-paced Monday afternoon working through the plant overview and a low-intensity Friday morning reviewing what we had done over the week. Everyone was committed to an intense, action-packed middle three days where we would get most of the heavy lifting done. However, by mid-morning Thursday, it was apparent that interest was fading fast…

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I knew not to ask the question. I was almost certain I had heard the exchange correctly. I asked anyway, “Jim, I am not sure I understood you. Can you clarify that?”

“I said Ray is a dick,” blurted Jim at a tone that all 30 people in the room clearly understood. “He knows he is. He thinks he is being funny, but he’s not.”

So much for allowing Jim the opportunity to walk it back. Now, as the lead facilitator of a public decision-making group of twenty, I had to get things back on track. There was a deafening silence, only broken by a few smirks. Most of the group looked horrified.

Anticipate Disruption

Disruption is a reality. Disruption will occur. Great facilitators embrace the reality of disruption and are prepared to move through it.

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Think about the three best-facilitated sessions you have ever attended. I will bet the facilitator used some type of activity that you remember. The exercise was unexpected, exciting, and effective.

Now consider the worst facilitated session you attended. If there were any, the exercises were as boring and uninteresting as the rest of the facilitation effort. My bet is that standard PowerPoint presentations and a traditional sticky dot exercise were part of the worst sessions.

Engaging Exercises Defined

Engaging exercises are that draw favorable attention or interest. Some synonyms for engaging make the point better: alluring, appealing, captivating, charismatic, enchanting, entrancing, fascinating, glamorous, magnetic, and seductive. From experience, a facilitated session has a good chance to achieve its outcomes if its exercises rise to the level of ‘engaging.

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I knew it was going to be a long week when my co-facilitator asked the group, “So, what happens when a submersible pump fails.” Their eyes spoke louder than the deafening silence. The skinny guy on the front row responded, “Don’t YOU know?” “You are an idiot!” exclaimed the old guy on the left side with a deep stare. The slightly heavy woman in the middle, who looked like everyone’s big sister, retorted, “why don’t you just tell us.” The fat guy in the back looked around, cut his eyes back at me, and said, “Where are the doughnuts?”

Yup, it was going to be a long week. Facilitating Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) is never fun. Tag teaming the facilitation usually helps everyone stay fresh. But as Forrest Gump said about the box of chocolates, when you co-facilitate in a Fortune 500 company you never know what you are going to get.

Powerful questions are enablers of better facilitation. Using powerful questions takes awareness, discipline, practice, and self-appraisal. Facilitators need powerful questions to get better participant answers and create better results.

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“I really liked the pre-workshop survey,” responded an executive team member. “It enabled us to have a fast start and it helped everyone get on the same page.”
No one wants to waste their time. As the leader of any workshop or series of meetings, it is crucial to understand what is effective and what is not. A well-executed pre-session exchange is one of the most frequently cited things that make a facilitated session more efficient, more effective, and more collaborative. [Read more…]

Things get a little dirty when humans get involved. In any system, human behavior and human understanding “gum up” the process. These are a few of the dirty secrets for effective communications.

Communication

Communication is the exchange of information from one person to another.

Communication requires a sender, a receiver, and a message. Technical professionals (sender) usually believe the decision maker (receiver) cannot understand the message because the decision maker is not as smart as they are. Most of the time, the lack of understanding comes from the noise generated by the sender. The burden of effective communication is on the send (technical professional), not the receiver (decision maker). [Read more…]

Effective communication is the one thing that makes your life better, more fulfilling, and more rewarding. That is equally true in personal relationships and in business.

Keep it simple. If you can convey the same information in fewer words, do it. If you can use fewer sentences, use fewer. If you can avoid tangents and parenthetical comments, avoid them. Only about 20 percent of what you normally communicate provides 80 percent of the influence on others.

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