157 - Beyond Hybrid: Facilitating in the Phygital Space with Thomas de Ming

We meet online, we meet in-person, and sometimes we combine them to host hybrid meetings.

But what happens when we bridge the gaps between physical and digital spaces and merge them together?

Thomas de Ming is the person to ask - with his ongoing explorations of and research into 'phygital' meetings.

The meteoric rise in popularity of the metaverse is plenty proof enough that more and more attention is being paid to what lies beyond 'hybrid'. It's an exciting space with huge potential, but plenty of question marks still to address.

In this episode, we explore how to host workshops in liminal spaces, the costs and benefits of doing so, and the practicalities of making this nascent opportunity a common tool for facilitators to turn to.

Find out about:

• Why 'phygital' is nothing to do with 'hybrid', despite their concurrent rise in popularity
• The practical realities and common trapdoors when combing digital and physical spaces
• What we're missing when we talk about 'remote' work and why language matters
• Easy introductory exercises to explore 'phygital' collaboration
• How to manage and mitigate a workshop with mandated attendance
• How Thomas uses tangible thinking tools to expand his groups' ranges of perception

Don’t miss the next show: Subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player. 

Thanks to our sponsor Deckhive. Click here to find out more about the new platform for using card decks in online facilitation. Use the code workshopswork to get the first month for free.

Questions and Answers

Part one

[01:20] When did you start calling yourself a facilitator?

[02:10] What have you learned from TV and radio that informs your work today?

[08:03] I think of you as the person who comes up with new names - does that feel like you?

[12:46] What changes when you facilitate a range process, rather than a change process?

[15:32] That brings us to our topic for today: the 'phygital'.

[17:58] Can you give an example of a phygital space in action?

[21:24] It sounds like a great way to skill-share and to create new levels of abstraction?

[23:19] How much syncing work is needed beforehand?

[25:17] Could you do this tandem exercise with two people?

[26:53] What's the difference here between remote, hybrid, and phygital spaces?

[30:12] What is the benefit of bringing physical elements into our solely digital spaces?

[35:03] What are we overestimating about hybrid and underestimatong about phygital?

[40:45] What is the difference between a digital twin and a humatar?

Links

-

Connect to Thomas:

On LinkedIn

On Twitter

On Instagram 

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/  👈