Ho! Ho! Ho!

Am I allowed to say that? The rumour that Ho Ho Ho has been banned reached me the other day but after a quick Google check it seems that as long as I am not dressed in a red suit, seated in a shopping centre I should be ok.

Unlike many of the shopping centre Santa’s who have been banned from this term, I love the sound of the jolly old man in the red suit because of the spirit that is attached to it. When you peel the layers of commercialisation back, Christmas is a special time to reflect and be grateful for all that we have.

2007 has been a fabulous year for Brave. In our second year of operation we have celebrated a number of great new clients, spunky new offices, and fabulous new team members.

A special thank you to our clients. We are continually astounded by what you and your teams are able to create and we feel privileged to be a part of what you do. We can’t wait for next year and the fun that awaits us.

Thank you to everyone who reads and supports Brave New World. The feedback, the questions and comments are hugely valuable and the contributions from other writers are priceless.

This month I have decided to feature an article that will help you to reflect on your own year that was, some tips on keeping your To Do list under control and some priceless principles on running great workshops.

Wishing you and yours a magical Christmas. See you next year!

Best of life,

 

 

 

By Belinda Cordina

There is a definite buzz in the air in the lead up to Christmas. We toast the year gone by, we join the queues for the Christmas shopping rush and we catch up with as many of our loved ones as we can. Christmas is a time to eat, drink and be merry, right? In the flurry of energy that is the month before Christmas, it’s a great time to stop and reflect on what this year was all about for you.

Women’s glossy magazines are notorious for publishing pictures and stories on ‘the year that was’. The highlights, the lowlights, the surprises and the controversies. Imagine that you were the publisher of your own magazine, and wanted to capture in a double-page spread what this year was all about for you. What would you put on this page?

We will be toasting the start of 2008 before we know it, so why not take 15 minutes out of your routine to reflect on your accomplishments and learning’s this year? Here are some questions that will get you started:

What are your proudest accomplishments for this year?

What were your biggest lessons at work this year?

What about love? What did you learn about love this year?

What skills have you refined?

What were the goals you set early in the year? How far have you come toward achieving them?

What photos would you collect for your double-page spread? What imagery would reflect how you have spent your year? Would there be an abundance of work images, of late nights in the office, or would the page be balanced with smiles and other pursuits? How would this year’s page differ from last year’s page?

Positive reflection is something that typically we don’t do enough of. As soon as we are finished one thing, we tend to move straight onto the next. When we do this, we sometimes miss out on crucial opportunities to learn and grow.

If you’re a little stuck for material, flick through your diary. I am sure you will be pleasantly surprised.

“Christmas, children, is not a date.  It is a state of mind.”
- Mary Ellen Chase

By Belinda Cordina

Are your workshops energising and effective or do they become a frustrating mixture of clashing agendas and debate with unclear outcomes? The collaborative leader can achieve superb results when they are able to harness and ignite the collective brilliance of their team through a workshop, but often, this is not the case. When planning your next workshop, consider the 10 principles below and you will be well on your way to achieving more success.

1. Product.
   The first thing to decide is what you would like the workshop to produce. What are the specific outcomes that you would like to achieve? Write them down and make them measurable, so when you have achieved what you want you will know it!
2. People.
   Once you know what you would like to achieve, decide who should be at your workshop. Consider who the key decision makers are. Do you want a broad cross section of participants to increase the breadth of your thinking? Consider people in your organisation that might bring some new thinking to your challenge.
3. Place.
   Find the best place to hold your meeting. It’s always best to get out of your normal environment because this signals to participants that they are encouraged to think differently. Hire a creative meeting space like The Brave Space to ensure you get the most out of your meeting.
4. Professional.
   You don’t have to battle through planning and running your workshop alone. Expert facilitators are available to help. Engaging a Brave Facilitator means we look after the design and delivery of the process, so you and your team can concentrate on delivering the content. You become a valuable participant, rather than playing the role of contributor and facilitator.
5. Prepare.
   The effectiveness of your workshop is driven by the quality of your planning. Map out an agenda and ensure you allow more time than you think you need for discussion. Give participants pre-reading and pre-tasks. This ensures that 1. You use your time together in the most efficient way and; 2. Participants come to the workshop already having invested some energy in the topic.
6. Process.
   There are lots of processes and tools available to help you to achieve your workshop outcomes. Brave Facilitators are equipped with a robust toolkit, tools designed to inspire creative thinking and problem solving. Tools are designed to help participants view the challenge at hand in a new light and encourage innovative thinking. Assign someone as the note taker for the meeting and agree on what they will send to the team following the workshop and by when.
7. Pleasure.
   Did you know that we learn more when we are having fun? Managing the state of your participants is crucial to your outcome so ensure you build opportunities to have fun into your agenda. The saturated environment of a workshop is a great way to consolidate relationships so use the opportunity to grow as a team, united by a shared purpose.
8. Possibility.
   Setting the tone of the workshop is up to you. Depending on what you would like to achieve, ensure that you guide your participants toward the kind of thinking you would like them to use. If the workshop is aimed at generating new business ideas, allocate some time for ‘black hat’ or critical thinking and don’t allow discussion that will stop the flow of ideas until the allocated time.
9. Progress.
   Stick to your plan as best you can. To keep the progress of your workshop moving toward your outcomes, set up an area where you can write topics that are related but outside of the scope of your workshop so that you can interrupt these discussions when they arise and respectfully get back to the agenda.
10. Possession.
    I have saved the most important to last. Before you leave the workshop the most important thing is that every participant agrees on what they are accountable for and follows through. A clear outline of who has responsibility for all of the next steps must be agreed.
    
    

Workshops can generate fantastic thinking and innovative solutions. Brave facilitators specialise in design and delivery of inspiring workshops that get results. We use our toolbox of language, creative thinking, problem solving and communication and coaching tools to achieve improved thinking, decisions, accountability and commitment.

If you are sick of your meetings going off track and not achieving the objectives you've set, Contact us today!

By Kristine Geimure

When preparing a "to do" list you should also consider the things you should not be doing during your day. It's fine to have a well planned to do list each day, but if you are easily distracted then it will be the things that you are doing in-between completing your list that will be the big time wasters.

Must do List!

First, get clear about what is really important and what must be done during the day. Try to only have one or two really major tasks that you have to do for the day and make them an absolute priority. Obviously you will have more time to do other thing during the day, but the Must Do list is the list that has to be done before we even think about leaving the workplace.

To do List

After you are clear about a couple tasks that must be done, list several other jobs to do of lesser importance. These tasks should be done only after you have completed your Must Do list. That doesn't mean that they should be taken lightly or treated as a wish list. List a sensible amount of tasks to complete and perhaps an extra one or two things to challenge yourself. But do not go overboard with way too many things as you will only be setting yourself up to fail each day by never completing all your set jobs.

Must Not do List!

Now that you know what should be done, work out what should not be done, or what should be given the least priority. These are the tasks that we find ourselves doing when we lose focus or have a lapse in concentration during the day. Things like checking your E-mail every 10-20 minutes, checking statistics too often, browsing the Internet, watching hourly news reports, or whatever it is that you do to escape from your real work!

You can also use some of these time wasting tasks as a form of motivation to increase your productivity. For example, after completing a Must do task you could reward yourself with 15 minutes of browsing the Internet or writing E-mail to friends. Most people that are actively trying to increase their productivity are aware of the importance of a To Do list, but many people forget to include the Not to do list. For those of us with wandering minds or restless feet it's easy to get distracted and caught up in doing very low priority jobs while our highest priority jobs continue to pile up. Get clear about what you should be doing AND what you shouldn't be doing to get the most out of each day

Kristine Geimure is the author and editor of several successful online businesses. She also writes business articles for the Woopidoo! business success portal.

Looking for a fun, creative and affordable space for your next workshop?

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