workshops work
Welcome to “workshops work,” the podcast that transforms how professionals engage, inspire, and lead groups. Hosted by Dr Myriam Hadnes, a behavioural economist and facilitation evangelist, each episode dives into facilitation techniques and mindsets that make workshops successful.
Join us every week as we sit down with world-renowned facilitators and uncover their secrets to creating psychological safety, fostering collaboration, and sparking innovation. Whether you’re a Facilitator, L&D professional, HR leader, manager, coach or trainer, you’ll find practical tips, inspiring stories, and actionable insights to elevate your group dynamics.
From navigating conflict to unlocking creativity, “workshops work” blends theory with practice, ensuring you walk away with tools you can immediately apply. Dr Myriam Hadnes doesn’t just interview; she facilitates enriching conversations that shift perspectives and deepen understanding.
Let’s democratise facilitation, one workshop at a time.
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Visit https://workshops.work/podcast for a free 1-page summary of each episode.
workshops work
029 - Culture matters! How to apply Design Thinking across organisational cultures – with Bernhard Ferro
In this episode, I talk to Bernhard Ferro, a Senior Design Thinker and expert in user experience (UX) design with a background in behavioural sciences. We talk about Design Thinking and how its strict methodology can help us when dealing with difficult organizational cultures.
Although Bernhard believes that "Design Thinking cannot fix a broken team", he shares how a Design Thinking workshop once contributed to the team-building process. In the show, you will learn how you can prepare teams who have never experienced a co-creation workshop and what it takes to effectively manage expectations.
Don’t miss the part in which Bernhard shares how a CEO turned into a "prototyping machine" and what exercise triggered the magical effect.
"Everything can be prototyped.
Prototyping is a mindset."
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Feeling inspired by the conversation in this episode? We can have our own - take a seat at my virtual table as part of a Mastermind Group.
Questions and Answers
[1:16] What's your story? How did you get into Design Thinking?
[3:50] How would you summarise your vita in one hashtag?
[4:38] What have you learned from behavioural sciences that help you to design workshops?
[5:38] What's your strategy to remove distraction?
[8:17] Does the application of the Design Thinking methodology depend on the organisational culture?
[12:13] Within the workshop process, when are you more designer and when are you more facilitator?
[15:15] What is "interaction design"?
[16:25] How do you use your knowledge in UX in the workshop design process?
[18:29] Do you adjust your workshops depending on the group's culture? What would you do if you know the group tends to lengthy discussions?
[19:40] Can you have a successful Design Thinking workshop with a toxic team?
[21:33] Through the eyes of a behavioural scientist, what makes Design Thinking so favourable for team building?
[22:57] With whom are you aligning in the workshop preparation process?
[24:55] What's your role in terms of expectation management when it comes to expected results or outcomes?
[29:02] What does it take for a team to have a successful Design Thinking workshop?
[31:24] Why do workshops fail?
[35:40] How would you prepare a participant for a potentially difficult workshop situation?
[37:38] What's wrong about "group discussions"?
[41:27] What's your favourite exercise to get groups become familiar with prototyping?
[45:18] How do you prioritize ideas?
[47:51] What advice would you give someone who wants to run Design Thinking workshops?
[54:13] What shall a listener remember from our conversation?
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