Writing about how teams talk to each other at work.
Short pieces for the people who book training and the people who sit through it.
What buyers mean when they say 'something interactive'
Four different requests hide behind one phrase, and they need four different sessions.
“If the only thing you want changed on Monday is that people know each other, a day out might be the better buy, and I will tell you that on the call.”
The conversation your first-line managers are avoiding
They know what to say. They've just never said it out loud.
How teams get to the point where people say the hard thing
You can't announce a culture where people speak up, but you can give people somewhere to practise it.
The difference between blocking and disagreeing
Teams get told to say yes, and. Most of them need permission to disagree properly instead.
Why difficult conversations training for managers doesn't stick
A course can tell a manager what to say. It cannot give them a first attempt, and the first attempt is where the conversation goes wrong.
How to talk to an underperforming employee who doesn't see it
The hardest version of this conversation is with someone who thinks they are doing fine. Here it is, played one line at a time.
How to push back on your boss when the answer is no
Most managers say no to someone senior by not quite saying it. Here is that conversation, one line at a time, and the line that replaces it.
Why the same people talk in your meetings, and what it costs you
Meetings sort themselves by who is ready to speak first, and that is rarely the person with the most useful thing to say.
How tone, posture and pace decide who gets heard in meetings
Being heard in a meeting has less to do with rank than most people think, and the things it does depend on can be changed on purpose.
Failing cheaply: why the fourth mistake is easier than the first
The fear of making mistakes at work is set by what a mistake costs, and most of the cost is in the recovery. That part can be practised.
Team building or training: how to tell which one you're buying
Both are worth the money. They do different jobs, and the enquiry form rarely says which one you mean.
What to expect from a two-hour improv workshop for work
The Taster, walked through in the order it runs, so you know what your team is going into before you book it.
Nobody performs alone: what opt-in means in improv training
The question every buyer has and almost nobody asks on the call, answered in full, including the two places where people do watch.
In-person training for a hybrid team that is only in the office on Thursdays
I don't run sessions online. Here is how a hybrid team books one on the day everybody is already in, and what to do about the person who never is.
Giving critical feedback to someone who is doing well
The better they are, the more the manager softens it, and the softer it gets the less of it arrives. One scenario, played the way the Lab plays it.
Running an incident review without looking for someone to blame
The meeting after something broke has a pull towards one name. A scenario, played the way the Lab plays it, on how the first line decides where it goes.
Why I publish every price
You can find the cost of a two-hour session on this site in ten seconds. Here is why that matters to you, and why it matters more to me.
The fifteen-minute pre-call: what I ask and why
Everything that happens before a training session here fits in twenty minutes of your time. This is what I need from you, and what I don't.
Applied improvisation: what it is and where it comes from
A plain explanation of the field this practice belongs to, for anyone who has to justify the spend to somebody who has never heard of it.
How to tell your team about a decision you don't agree with
Two lines managers reach for, why both cost them the room, and the plainer one that keeps them in it.
When two employees are in conflict and both want you to take a side
Each conversation on its own goes fine. The trouble is the second one, and the line that can't survive being said twice.
What the feedback form tells you about a training session, and what it doesn't
A form filled in before people leave measures the afternoon. Here is what that is good for, and where to look for the rest.
Why your away day didn't change anything on Monday
The activity is rarely the problem. Nobody in the room had to practise the thing you wanted to change.
New pieces, by email.
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