The Art of Collaboration Workshop , an IA/CS Vancouver Meetup Review

The November event for our Information Architecture / Content Strategy (IA/CS) Vancouver Meetup— The Art of Collaboration — An Interactive Workshop — was conceived by our co-organizer, Ksenia Cheinman, who collaborated with Jonathan Kahn, from #dareconf in London, UK to make a very interesting session on how to become better at collaboration and how to become a more active listener.

Introduction

Ksenia began the event with a short personal story about a challenging 3 day meeting with an internal client that required months of planning and preparation. When the first day did not go as planned, Ksenia modified the approach on the second day, and on the third day, all the participants left the meeting feeling that their time was not wasted. The takeaway for Ksenia was that it was important to step back, evaluate failures and successes and try something different. However, knowing that normally we only have a split second (rather than a day) to make changes, this workshop was meant as an opportunity to experiment in a safe space and share experiences from which everyone can learn.

Part 1: Elements of successful collaboration — Workshop

The session began with a workshop on successful collaboration. Ksenia asked attendees to form groups. Attendees had to provide examples of times when they:

• Encountered challenges collaborating with clients, and
• Successfully collaborated with clients

The attendees were then asked to identify elements that contributed to successful collaboration, based on the situations discussed.The groups brainstormed ideas and presented the following solutions for successful collaboration, which were arranged according to the typical meeting stages.

Before a Meeting

Be organized — even over-prepared; Narrow the focus; Ensure there is an agenda and a good facilitator; Establish ground rules at start; Ensure there is clarity of purpose; Account for different personality types; Ensure a safe space/environment for sharing ideas.

During a Meeting

Time management; Keep items on track; Find common ground; Confirm understanding; Praise excellent work; Clearly define who does what; Define clarity of purpose & goal of project; Use active listening & confirmation; Ensure everyone is on same page; Build empathy; Appreciate different points of view; Build mutual respect; Create a parking lot for obstacles or stalls.

After a Meeting

Create accountability with action items & to-do lists; encourage synergistic collaboration; Be willing to move on. Check in often; Summarize and provide meeting minutes.

Attendees were then encouraged to use these ideas for the basis for their own successful collaboration.

Part 2: Active listening — Activity

The second half of the evening entailed an active listening activity. According to Jonathan's definition:

Active listening is a technique where you give someone your full attention and empathise with their situation without trying to fix, deflect, or convince. By reflecting back on what you heard, you meet the person’s need to be understood. By asking clarifying questions you give the person space to explore what’s important for them now.

Attendees were paired up where one person was “A” and the other person “B.” Attendees then took turns as speaker or listener with the following activities.

Stage 1 — Deflecting

1. Ask the other person: “What would you like to achieve today?”
2. Wait until person has finished speaking.
3. Share relevant experiences from your own life.

If person says more, repeat #2 and #3

Stage 2 — Fixing

1. Ask the other person: “What would you like to achieve today?”
2. Wait until person has finished speaking.
3. Immediately offer suggestions, fixes or advice.

If person says more, repeat #2 and #3

Stage 3 — Active Listening

1. Ask the other person: “What would you like to achieve today?”
2. Wait until “A” has finished speaking, count to 5 before you respond.
3. Say one of the following: “Tell me more about that” or “It sounds like…” and paraphrase what you heard

When person says more, repeat #2 and #3

Attendees wrote down if they were speaking or listening and how each stage felt. At the end of the activity, everyone debriefed and shared their experiences as a group by answering the following question: “ How did it feel?”

Although there were many disparate points of view, the consensus was that listeners who used Stage 3 — active listening techniques — enabled the speakers to feel that their ideas were heard and valued. The activity also enabled the participants to become more aware of their comfort zones, personality types, and inclinations — unexpectedly increasing self-awareness.

Additional Resources

Ksenia also posted additional resources for workshop attendees.

Dareconf videos https://2015.dareconf.com/london and https:
//2015.dareconf.com/usa

Dareconf mailing list http://togetherlondon.us1.list-manage.
com/subscribe?u=fb0d03f2703bd41ea91f36bb2&id=547e117ea9

Nonviolent communication by Marshall Rosenberg http://www.
nonviolentcommunication.com/aboutnvc/aboutnvc.htm

Time to think by Nancy Kline http://www.timetothink.com/meet-
us/nancy-kline/

Improv classes in Vancouver http://www.vtsl.
com/education/classes-workshops/