Why this is the most important workshop

Why this is the most important workshop

Why this is the most important workshop

A quick google search on “team definition in business” yielded 518 million entries. The first 20 of these had two things in common:

A team is a group of people,  two or more, with a shared goal.

Most likely, all other 517,999,980 entries will have had these two things in them.

The Lift-off is where a group of people become a team. The group walks into the workshop with a Challenge, and they leave with a shared goal: something they committed to accomplishing in 100 days! By definition, they become a team by the end of the workshop.

And what is so special about becoming a team?

Conventional wisdom and a lot of research suggest that teams get things done. They get things done because they trust each other, they rely on each other, they support each other, they encourage each other, and they help each other grow and develop as professionals and as human beings. Not all teams are blessed by all these attributes, but the most productive and successful teams are. 

The Lift-off workshop is designed to mould groups, often strangers, into the most effective kind of teams – ones that have all the attributes above – and more. We will call these for short 100-Day teams.  Remember the enabling environment we talked about earlier? The Lift-off workshop is designed and facilitated with this enabling environment in mind.  

100-Day teams not only have shared goals, they get to decide what these goals are. So they own them because they create them!

They set goals that border on the impossible. This creates a sense of “mission impossible” that binds them together and builds trust and interdependence. 

They elect their own team leader and decide how they will manage themselves during the 100 days. They experience self-governance and autonomy.

They do self-reflection and they give each other honest feedback, which helps them grow in a relatively safe environment.

This makes the Lift-off workshop a very powerful determinant of the success of the 100-Day Challenge. And it explains why the design includes things like talking about past 100-Day Challenges, doing the tennis balls exercise, telling stories, agonising over what the goal should be, and so on. Versus simply jumping into the task of creating a plan. 

Thought starter reflection questions

Jot down thoughts on these questions – to the extent they are relevant to your experience at the session:
  • When did the mood in the event shift from “why are we here?” to “this could be interesting – I am excited to be part of this.” What triggered this shift? 
  • When did you have to go “off script” on the agenda or to change the agenda? What triggered this? What did you adjust? How did it go?
  • What was most surprising to you at the event?
  • What new insights did you gain about the issue at hand, and about the way leaders in the system interacted with each other?
  • Where did the conversation get stuck? What got it unstuck?
  • How would you characterise the level of trust among participants in the meeting? To what extent did this shift as the meeting progressed? To what do you attribute this shift, if indeed it happened?

Thought starter...

Reflection Questions 

Jot down thoughts on these questions – to the extent they are relevant to your experience at the session:

  • When did the mood in the event shift from “why are we here?” to “this could be interesting – I am excited to be part of this.” What triggered this shift? 
  • When did you have to go “off script” on the agenda or to change the agenda? What triggered this? What did you adjust? How did it go?
  • What was most surprising to you at the event?
  • What new insights did you gain about the issue at hand, and about the way leaders in the system interacted with each other?
  • Where did the conversation get stuck? What got it unstuck?
These are 100-Day Challenge Mentors. 

They did some work before you received the Challenge Note. This included:

  • Writing the Challenge Note, and making sure that the leaders of all the organisations represented on the team are comfortable with it – and committed to supporting the work of the team
  • Helping the leaders of these organisation recruit you and your colleagues to the team
  • Gathering some baseline data and other information that will help you and your teammates set your 100-Day goal and develop your plan.
  • Making sure all the preparations are made for a successful Lift-Off workshop, when you and your teammates will meet and get your 100-Day Challenge started. This includes venue, facilitation support, food, swags, comms, travel arrangements and whatever else is needed.

 

Mentors will participate in all or part of the Lift-Off Workshop, mostly at the start to provide context and answer questions, and at the end to give you and your teammates feedback about the goal and plan you develop.

During the 100 days following the Lift-Off Workshop, here’s what the Mentors will do:  

  • They will check in every two weeks with the team leaders to see how the team is doing and what support they and the team need.
  • They will keep other organisational leaders informed and engaged during the 100 days, and pull them in to help as needed.
  • They will participate in the last part of the Refuelling Workshop, halfway through the 100 days, to see what additional support the team needs, and to begin to plan with the team for sustainability and scale-up.
  • They will work with the team at the Sustainability Workshop to finalise recommendations on sustaining the results and building on the work of the team.