The workshop was great, everyone was buzzing, the speaker was a genius (at repackaging basic stuff). And he left. The problem is that virtually nothing has happened since. Very few (if any) people will have applied any of the learning and the organisation still has the same issues. So was the workshop that great?

From my observation point at the back (trying not to look too critical...) I started to notice some very subtle behaviours in the group. There was lots of seeking-permission eye contact from less senior people towards the most senior people in the room. It was like kids – they do things bit by bit to test out when their behaviour will be disapproved by the parent. It was amazing – this highly scientific research proved that there are subtle behaviours which give people permission NOT to act!

We’ve all seen it and experienced it before. We hear about a new change initiative or we receive some “training” that is positioned as being the company’s saviour. Admit it or not this always causes some uncertainty deep inside and, ashamed to admit it you may be, but you probably secretly wish it would all go away. If you’re a manager just reflect on that for a minute and bear it mind the next time you come up with another great idea for change....

What was happening in the situation I describe was a combination of things. Next time you’re in a meeting or training workshop see if you can spot them:

1. People make jokes which have juuuust a hint of cynicism to suggest that the joke is really aimed at the message/speaker/initiative. They don’t openly challenge or discuss, but make a nervously delivered “joke”.
2. People, especially managers, start to discuss completely different topics. This is an elaborate ruse to avoid getting into the difficult discussions around what the workshop content means in terms of actually doing things differently. All of a sudden the group is back into comfort zone and will spend ages talking about something they want to talk about rather than talking about what they need to talk about.
3. Everyone watches the boss’s behaviour. If they make notes, everyone makes notes. If they whisper into colleagues’ ears (usually the second in command) then everyone else immediately loses focus and starts to wonder what they were saying. If they leave early you may as well take the course evaluation seriously as thank god that the food was good, the venue adequate and the session not too long.
   

Subsequently, there were two pieces of interesting feedback from the workshops. The first was that not enough action planning was being done, there was too much deliberation. The second was that there was not enough time for discussion. Hmmm.