Ironically, in a session about inclusion, I felt excluded. I attended an international group workshop on systems change last Sunday and left disappointed, however, took away 5 great lessons on facilitation and inclusion I'll share with you today. Here are my observations: 1) Never leave a concept floating, always anchor it. This will reduce the feedback that concepts are 'airy fairy'. When participants say a framework feels "fluffy", they aren't critiquing the theory. They're saying, "I don't know how to use this on Monday." Intellectual depth without relatable references creates more distance than people realise, that's the opposite of connection and often gets facilitators and leaders further than what they wanted to begin with! - Bad: "Let's sit with the energy of this system." (actual quote) - Good: "Notice the tension in your chest right now. That tension is great data for you. In a board meeting, that data often signals for you to pause before you answer." 2) Close the loop on every comment. The worst feeling for a participant isn't being disagreed with, it's being ignored or dismissed. When someone speaks and gets silence in return, they feel invisible, confused or dismissed. An input that isn't acknowledged divides group morale and trust. The facilitator must ensure every comment lands somewhere, even if they disagree with it. - Bad: [Silence after a participant shares] ... "Okay, who wants to go next?" - Good: "I noticed the room went quiet after you shared that. I want to repeat back what I heard to make sure we really got it." 3) Safety isn't comfort. Facilitators often mistake "keeping it light" for positive progress, often wanting to show their participants that the workshop or session went from bad to good. This assumes way too many things: - That feeling bad at any stage of the workshop is a bad experience. - Which in turn assumes the participant doesn't have the emotional maturity nor intelligence to gain an insight from negative feelings - It also assumes that learning needs to come from a place of safety, ignoring the fact that learning new things means sitting in uncertainty, failure and confusion to gain new insights. Learning by default sits outside the comfort zone.