Group InteractionPatternsThe keys for Highly Productive Teams

Michael R. WolfMichaelRWolf@att.net

@LearningWolf

206-679-7941

Bring life to meetings and other gatherings

Including and unleashing everyone

visualize learn improve

All live in greatness

All Mammals Learn by Playing

Liberating Structures

Here we are…. Let’s dig in!

Why care about Group Works? Lead a more fulfilled life.

Honestly!!! I’ll personally attest to it.

You don’t have to tell “The Boss” why you’re doing it….… but it’s an open secret. It’s all inter-related.

Why update current processes?Pete Peterson NCDD (National Coalition for Dialog and Deliberation)

Seattle 2012 Biennial Conference

http://ncdd.org/10232 Amazing 17 minute plenary speech

What processes are better?1. Liberating Structures

“… the practices they have all learned are neither adapted to today’s realities nor designed to achieve the ideals…”

2. Group Works Card Deck“Good process builds strong communities. Our work is an act of love in

service to the world”.

3. The Core Protocols

4. Personal Kanban

Why should I listen to you?

I am not the moon…

Presentation Overview You Experience the techniques

- “Technique Slam”1. GW - Group Work Pattern Language

2. LS - Liberating Structures

3. CP - Core Protocols

4. PK - Personal Kanban

I Facilitate your learning- “Guide on the Side” (my preferred style)- “Sage on the Stage” (only when “necessary”)

Closing (FKA Q&A)

I want to leave you wanting more…

Flight of beers Speed Dating

LS - Liberating Structures

“Including and unleashing everyone”

33 liberating structures, each includes- What is made possible?

- Micro structures & Design Elements => Min Specs

1. A structuring invitation

2. How the space is arranged and what materials are needed

3. How participation is distributed

4. How groups are configures

5. A sequence of steps and time allocation

Keith McCandless & Henri Lipmanowicz

1-2-4-All(from LS)

What is made possible?- Ideas: more, better, faster

- Involvement and buy-in

Make an Invitation

- What practices produce Better Software? Distribute Participation

- I will be timekeeper, facilitator

- You will think, write, listen, share and refine

Configure Groups- Group of 1 – think & write

- Group of 2 – listen & share

- Group of 4 – listen & refine

- All - facilitated – collect & display

Arrange Space- Face-to-face. Knee-to-knee. Groups of 4.

- Disregard “Space Police”

Sequence & Allocate Time- Listen for sound and directions

PK – Personal Kanban

Authors: Jim Benson & Tonianne DeMaria Barry

Two simple, main points (printed on alternate pages)- Visualize your work

- Limit your Work In Progress

Jim co-founded Seattle Lean Coffee 2-3 years ago

Kaizen Camp also founded by Jim and Tonianne- “Discussing the Future of Work”

- Seattle in 2011 & 2012

- Coming to NYC, SoCal, Boulder, DC, Atlanta, San Francisco, Boston

- Plans for on Tel Aviv, London, Berlin, and Australia

Every meeting aKanban (from PK)

Very Simple Every meeting starts with a purpose No meeting starts with an agenda Everyone creates agenda items

- Written on stickies

- Placed in “Backlog”

Every item is briefly introduced Everyone distributes 2-4 votes across all items

Voila! A prioritized backlog. Timely. Relevant.

Work commences as item moves from “Backlog” to “WIP” Limit WIP (Work in Progress)

Move item to “Done” when finished- … or time box is exceeded

- … with consensus on extensions

- Happy Dance! Celebrate!

Every meeting is a Kanban. I mean it!!! Business

- 1-on-1 meetings with Supervisor- Status meetings (until replaced by task board)- Working meetings

Civic- Ballard Greenways- St Luke’s Urban Garden (TheSLUG)- Ballard Urban Gardeners (BUG)

Personal- “Wolf meetings”- Special projects (i.e. IRS audit, yearly taxes, weekend getaway)

Kanban board during Seattle Lean Coffee

Kanban for Weekly “Wolf Meetings” & Special Tax Project

Kanban board for Michael - Old

Kanban board for Michael - New

Coming from Wolf Enterprises Kanban R&D…• Tablet form-factor UI

• Easy upload/download• Light weight• Portable• Front & back lit

• Solar, AC, DC, Candle, &c• 0% opacity• Landscape & Portrait• Doubles as book holder and

paper weight

…trend setting• Double sided• Ambidextrous

… multiple after-market styli• Color• Width• Line pattern• Shapes• Very extensible

… object manipulation• Tactile• Digital• Intuitive• Extensible

Kanban board in ScrumMaster class

Event Planning Board at Kaizen Camp

TRIZ(from LS)

Make an Invitation

- What can we do to reliably get the worst result imaginable?

- How does this compare with current procedures?

- What can we stop doing? Distribute Participation

- <As in 1-2-4-All>

Configure Groups

- <As in 1-2-4-All>

Arrange Space- <As in 1-2-4-All>

Sequence & Allocate Time

- <As in 1-2-4-All>

GW - Group WorksPattern Card Deck

“A pattern language for bringing life to meetings and other gatherings” 3 years of design, writing, and layout from “core team” Each of 91 Cards in 9 Categories has:

- Title

- Image

- Heart

- Related cards

- Category glyph

First printing 4Q2011

“Steward Circle” is getting wisdom out to users, and also listening to how they’re being used

Common uses- Pre-event planning & Post-event evaluation

- Individual & Team skill development

- Breaking out of a fixed mindset

Core team: Tree Bressen, Dave Pollard, Sue Woehrlin

Needs “stewards” and early adopters. (Contact me!)

Group Works Card Deck Support your process

- group convenor, - planner, - facilitator, or - participant

Years in the making Collected from best meetings

Design Pattern -> “Things that work in groups…” … across size … across context

What you get… 91 Full color cards … a few blank cards A 5-panel “key” to categories A history and selected uses

The whole deck

Group Works Card Deck Categories1. Intent – Why are we here? What are we aiming to accomplish?

2. Context – Circumstances of place and culture.

3. Relationship – Connection with others. Emotional needs.

4. Flow – Rhythm, energy, pacing.

5. Creativity - Multiple intelligences and a variety of modes.

6. Perspective – Watch, understand, and appreciate divergent viewpoints.

7. Modeling – Enable personal and collective self-management

8. Inquiry & Synthesis – Gather, explore. Create shared meaning, consensus.

9. Faith - Trusting the mystery, synergy, and ineffable, complex magic of emergence.

Case Study(from GW)

Situation- Regular meeting felt like it was getting in a rut. Power

dynamics of de-facto leader seemed to be excluding perspectives. I saw opportunity for group as training lab to gain experience at facilitating, not merely content.

Experiments- Facilitate input from quieter participants

- Balance the interruption dynamic

- One-on-one discussion about group/individual values

Group Work Cards (examples for case study)

CP – Core Protocols

Jim & Michelle McCarthy

Collected, refined, codified 16+ years’ teamwork laboratory (bootcamp)

11 Commitments1. I commit to engage when present.2. I will seek to perceive more than I seek to be perceived.3. I will use teams, especially when undertaking difficult tasks.…11. I will never do anything dumb on purpose.

11 Core Protocols (Structured Conversations)1 & 2. Pass (Unpass)

3. Check In

4. Check Out

5. Ask For Help

6. Protocol Check

7. Intention Check

8. Decider

9. Resolution

10. Personal Alignment

11. Investigate

Perfection Game

(from CP)

Perfectee: - Presents an object for perfection

Perfector: - “On a scale of 1 to 10, I rate this object X based on how much value I can

add.”

- “What I liked about the performance of object X was…”

- “To make it a 10, you would have to do yada, yada, yada”.•Integrates best ideas•Improves some object

Get Involved… Liberating Structures

- Immersion Workshop Series (in Seattle) Group Works Card Deck

- Early Adopters’ sessions (like this one)- Collection of scenarios for using cards

Personal Kanban- Periodic seminars around Seattle, U.S., and Mundo- Kaizen Camp

The Core Protocols- Online discussion group via FaceBook

NCDD (National Council for Dialogue & Deliberation)- National gathering – Seattle – Oct 12-14- Pre event – Mapping Methods with the Group Works Cards

Caveat “Talking abut Music is like dancing about Architecture.”

-- Elvis Costello

That is, the “knowing” is in the “doing”.

Learn by doing… - … playing- … because “All mammals learn by playing!”

Closing (FKA Q&A)

1-2-4-All- What is your biggest take away?- What is left unanswered?

Go learn. Go play!- “All mammals learn by playing”

About…

Michael R. Wolf MichaelRWolf@att.net 206-679-7941 @LearningWolf

LS - Liberating StructuresLiberatingStructures.org

GW - Group Works Card DeckGroupWorksDeck.org

PK - Personal KanbanPersonalKanban.com

Bring life to meetings and other gatherings

Including and unleashing everyone

visualize learn improve

All live in greatness

All Mammals Learn by Playing

LOL Cats!We don’t need no stinkin’ LOL cats. Here’s a cutie Wolf!