5th Edition: Building in Public, Zoom Timers & Converging In Coaching Conversations
Thanks for being here
Hey L&D fam, hope you’re having a wonder-full week!
Terasse season is on its way out - but I managed to swing one last outdoor dining experience with two of my oldest friends (on a rare occasion where we were all in one place at the same time). We’ve been pals since we were three and though we sometimes go months without seeing each other, we always fall right back into step the minute we do.
This particular night was no exception. We set up camp at a rustic Italian place in the heart of Monkland Village - a charming area in the neighbourhood where we all lived during college. Hours flew by and we barely noticed the plummet in temperature. We chatted feverishly over warm food and laughed about how we’d gone from drinking juice boxes to fine wine, as we basked in the comfort our trio has been providing for nearly three decades now.
All this to say, I encourage you to reach out to one (or two) of your oldest friends. Whether it’s for a quick phone call, lengthy face-time or a nice meal. I guarantee it’ll boost your week!
Okay, back to business: here are three gems I want to share with you:
An Experience To Inspire: Building in Public
Last week I attended Kevon Cheung’s Build in Public workshop and I can’t recommend Kevon or the workshop enough.
Kevon leads with empathy and knows how to command a (virtual) room with high energy, while making big group discussions feel like conversations amongst friends. And his activities provide actionable steps for how you can leverage building in public to smash your goals.
👇 Click on the Tweet below to register for one of his upcoming workshops:
P.s. That’s me waving hello from the Brady Bunch photo above! 👋
A Resource To Consider: Zoom Timer For Breakouts
One of the biggest pain points with Zoom has been maintaining a universal sense of time when it comes to breakout activities. Until now, anyway!
📽️ Watch the demo below to find out how you can share a countdown timer that’s visible in both the main room and breakout rooms:
A Question To Ponder: Converging In Coaching Conversations
On Monday I kicked off my week with an improv workshop designed to help coaches be more present in their work.
The session was hosted by Misfit to Maverick (run by Maven instructor Allegra Stein) and the most interesting activity was a role play we did as coaches and students. We could only use three words at a time. So as a coach, I’d say three words or less, and my (pretend) student would reply with three words or less.
Spoiler alert: it’s a lot harder than it sounds!
Here’s an example of how a conversation might go:
“What’s up today?”—Coach
“I feel overwhelmed.”—Student
“How so?”—Coach
“Choosing learning activities.”—Student
“Try to categorize.”—Coach
“Individual or group.”—Student
“Get more specific.”—Coach
“I’ll add subcategories.”—Student
“Such as?”—Coach
“Breakouts, brainstorms, solo-activities.”—Student
“More manageable now?”—Coach
“Yes. Breakdown’s helpful!”—Student
“Next step is?”—Coach
“Making decisions confidently.”—Student
“Great. Begin now!”—Coach
The takeaways? It’s hard to be concise - there was a lot of pausing and staring off into the distance to generate intentional responses. And as a coach, it was extra challenging to steer the conversation to a desired outcome.
But what was miraculous? With minimal words shared at a slower than average conversation pace, we got to the root of things quickly - there was no room for fluff.
💭 So my question to you is, how can you use less words to help your students define action items faster?
P.s. Allegra is kicking off her new course on Maven today so let’s send her plenty of positive vibes!
Thanks for reading my *fifth* newsletter
My goal is to prompt reflection within this vibrant community of ours, so I’d love your feedback on how I can make future editions beneficial.
Got an idea or burning question I could address? Hit reply and we’re off to the races!
Have a wonder-full week,
Love this! I forwarded the video to a few colleagues here at the university. My oldest friends here in New Zealand are my retired manager and retired assistant manager. We go and have coffee and pastries regularly <3 It makes a huge difference to my day to day sanity...