How can we facilitate meaningful change in a sector that is infamous for being rigid and slow-moving? (Though I am not sure I agree with that position!)

Sara Huang is the person to ask – so that’s exactly what I did! Sara is an expert in facilitation within the public sector and governmental organisations.

Join me in this episode of Workshops Work, in which Sara and I discuss the differences in facilitation within the public sector, the secrets to success in this field, and what all of us can learn from this unique perspective.

Find out about:

• What it means to ‘twist’ in the public sector and why it produces great results
• The importance of play if we want to create movement and possibility
• How to encourage creativity and open-mindedness
• When transparency can be useful (and not)
• How to flatten the room in an organisation with strict hierarchies

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Questions and Answers

[01:21] When did you start calling yourself a facilitator?

[03:44] What’s the difference between being a facilitator and an advisor, and where does neutrality come into it?

[06:23] Can you explain the name of your company?

[08:02] How does your vision of ‘twisting’ fit into working in the public sector?

[10:39] What do you mean by ‘play’?

[12:25] Do you work with visual facilitators?

[14:25] How do you encourage a workshop mindset in a rigid public sector environment?

[18:24] Is it true that, in government, people like to conform and, if it is, how do you challenge that to encourage new ideas?

[21:19] How do you encourage people to assess every side of an argument?

[27:14] How do you facilitate when there are so many layers to decision making processes in the public sector?

[30:02] How transparent are you about the limitations within an organisation?

[31:19] What is your favourite exercise?

[34:19] How do you flatten the room in a patently hierarchical organisation?

[37:19] What makes a workshop fail?

[43:12] Is there anything else you wanted to share today?

Links to check

• Sara's website
• Mastermind

Connect with Sara

• Sara's Twitter
• Sara’s Instagram
• Sara's LinkedIn

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

Support the show

👉 What happens when being “professional” gets in the way of being human? My new podcast Unprofessionalism explores the rules we’re taught to follow at work, and what happens when we break them. Listen here: https://unprofessionalism.buzzsprout.com/  👈