Morning briefing

I saw (fl)awesome facilitation in action on our bike tour last month. And there was no whiteboard, flip chart or post it note in sight.

We were in good hands with our guide, Colin.

He facilitated our small group of riders, effortlessly.

🚲 Before we hit the road.

🚲 On the road—that’s where we put in all the effort.

🚲 And every evening after our ride.

Take the morning briefing before we put foot to pedal.

Colin had three different ways to show us how to get to our destination.

🗺 First up, every morning, he showed us the route we’d be cycling on a map.

A real, paper one.

Photo by: Jacinta Cubis

This was for the cartophiles and visual thinkers in the group. They liked to see the route that we were taking that day.

My partner loves maps. I didn’t really pay attention. I took photos instead.

No disrespect to Colin or his map. I was confident that someone in our group would have photographed that map in their memory.

Just like when you’re in a group in a workshop. There is always someone who knows where we’re headed.

Back to Colin.

📱 His second way was for people who love detail, tracking progress and reaching goals. One click on a link in our e-itinerary, and they could enough topographical details to satisfy the most intrepid explorer.

Like Flavia*, a participant who wanted a detailed workshop agenda. She was not satisfied with the visual itinerary I’d drawn on the whiteboard. Fair enough. I added a few words to give her more comfort and explained that this was not a business meeting and there was no agenda to share.

I ignored this topographical map too. I prefer not knowing how big the hills I’m about to climb on my two wheels are. And there were A LOT of them.

🗣 Lastly, Colin would give us a few directions in his laconic style. It went something like this.

‘Pedal along this road for about 15ks. Turn left at the t-junction. Ride for another 10 or so. Meet me at the park for lunch. It’s on the left, after you get into Neville.’

Hear that? Imperatives. Four essential instructions that were easy to remember. It might just be my facilitator’s ears, but this one, I listened to and remembered.

This way is good for people in workshops who are happy with some direct and concise guidance. They don’t need the detail and just want to get cracking.

Consciously or not, Colin had accommodated our potential preferences and cognitive styles without having met us.

Remarkable. And (fl)awesome, because it was so authentic. He didn’t make a song and dance of which ‘way’ was for ‘who’. It was all over within a few minutes.

It struck me that Colin is one of the (fl)awesome facilitators I encounter in daily life. And now I know I’m going to notice them everywhere. My own red car syndrome. 

By the way, the map readers would have clocked that Neville is right near Barry 😃. I found out when we were on the road. When you’re puffing up a hill into a headwind, you welcome the little things that make you smile.

Thanks for reading this far.

Stay (fl)awesome!