That was the scene last week, on March 17, when I facilitated a group of 60 women who needed to brainstorm what they need out of their leaders for the coming year. The conference was in Richmond over three days, so I got to travel back and forth on Harbour Air – returning to Victoria on Wednesday so I could teach at Camosun, then returning for a conference debrief on Thursday. It was a whirlwind week but it boosted my confidence and passion for this work.
Having a group of 60 gathered around me while I worked on the wall was daunting at first. There were so many faces! They were a very respectful group, however, and we did use breakout sessions to allow for more in-depth participation.
Things I did well:
- Kept my cool and my confidence!
- “Stacked” the speakers when there were multiple voices calling out at once
- Allowed every idea to be heard and recorded during brainstorming, not allowing a judging filter to come into play.
Things I can do better:
- Write down my plan in more concrete detail and figure out how to explain the whole process at the start of the meeting, so people feel more secure and supported in the exercise
- If I’m going to ask non-experienced people to lead break-out sessions, I need to give them more training and tools ahead of time.
During the plenary sessions before and after my segment, I did graphic recording for the speakers. Those recordings got spotted by the leadership team and I ended up scanning them and submitting them to be included in the conference proceedings. There were also a number of “muckamucks” in attendance who saw my work and were impressed, which will hopefully lead to more doors being opened for me within this Ministry.
We’re drawing close to the end of the government fiscal year, and this month has been a real test. I’ve been insanely busy, learning and growing a ton… and I’m ready for a break. On April 2 I’m going to clean and organize my office, top-to-bottom, and if I have time left I will make a graphic game plan for the next three months.
My Business Leaders Summit is coming up on Tuesday - we have 100% of our spaces booked and may even be packing in a few extra attendees. I’m so psyched! I’ll post again after that, when I have some more charts to show off.
Here is the final, completed outcome of the big facilitation session (this was done as a custom chart):
Purpose and agenda items for this team for the coming year
