Method Tag: begin with

  • Empty your brain

    Empty your brain

    Quick introduction

    The Empty Brain method is about getting everything out of your head and down on paper so that you can stop thinking about it!  It’s a method you can use everyday, or when you feel it’s needed. The empty brain method can be done in a group as well as individually.

    Purpose

    This method is helpful when you need to start up an idea session, giving your brain a fresh new sheet to start from. It can also be used as a way to structure your thoughts and tasks gathered in your mind, where the output can be a to-do list or a timeline with tasks mapped to it.

    Instructions

    The empty brain method contains 2 steps.

    Step 1. You need a sheet of paper, a pen, and a moment to sit down.

    Start by writing down everything you need to get done. Continue by writing down everything you’re thinking off, i.e. not only task related thoughts. This can take a while, but can also be fairly quick, depending on how much stuff you got spinning around in your head. When you work in group, this part of the method could preferably be done all together in a discussion, sitting around with one large piece of paper. Note the input of all participants of the group on the same paper.

    When all the ideas are written down let the paper take over the responsibility for them, so that your brain no longer have to keep track of those things.

    Step 2 is about how to organize your data.

    One way of doing this is to find the 10 most important things you need to get done immediately and focus on results. Another way is to categorize and prioritize the tasks (example themes could be: business / home / friends), map them to a time schedule as a to do or you can just store them for later on.

    Now, when it’s time to work, you can use the task-prioritization and go through the tasks one by one. When finishing, write a big line through each task after completing them!  (Satisfying!)

    Depending on how you use the method – this could also be the moment to do another Empty Brain session over the new task you have ahead.

    Do

    • Make sure to write up every little thing that comes to mind, everything from “buy bread” to “book a meeting with Mrs. X”
    • Remember it’s important to let go of things once you’ve put them on paper!

    Don’t

    • Make it to complicated!
    • Hesitate!

    Facilitator role

    If driven by a facilitator, the role is to be responsible for setting up the method for how to empty the brain. E.g. choose between mind mapping/timeline/other.

    Reflection questions

    • How was it?
    • Did you feel that this was valuable for your work? In what way?
    • Could other methods for structuring the ideas once they are on paper work better for you?
  • Feedback for dummies

    Feedback for dummies

    Feedback Staircase

    Taking feedback from other people can sometimes be difficult. One way to illustrate how different people can react on feedback is showcased by the Feedback Staircase model. There is a line between the 3rd and the 4th step in the model, showing where the individual starts to take criticism on board instead of sending it away. When one is located in the top part of the staircase one also utilizes the given feedback.

    Take a look at the model and give it a thought : where do you see yourself in the model today? How would you like to receive feedback from now on?

    Instructions

    This task is one version of how an easy feedback session can be held. Gather your group (could also be a feedback session between two persons) in a place where you will be undisturbed. You will need one pencil per person and post-it notes.

    Write your feedback in keywords for every person on three post-its, and split them after the three steps. Every step is based on how you’ve perceived the other person during the project or during work. Your feedback should consist of what you think the other person should:

    • Continue with …
    • Stop with …
    • Start with …

    Start with the first step, Continue with … and write one post-it note for every person in the group.Then do so with Stop with … and Start with …

    Once everyone is ready cluster yourself two and two, and give your self a little bit of space so that you two can give each other feedback without being disturbed by the others. Then do so with everyone in the group until they all have given and received feedback from everyone.

    Then gather in the big group again and have a discussion about the task, see the Facilitator role and reflection questions.

    Do

    • Take your time, phrase the feedback in a concrete way, think about how would you like to get feedback yourself
    • Formulate the feedback with I messages, starting every item with ‘I’

    Don’t

    • Rush, give every possible irritated feeling time to calm down before questioning the feedbacker (see model of Staircase)

    How to deliver it

    Think about how you yourself would like to get feedback delivered to you, and talk from your own experience. Use ‘I’ when you give voice to feedback. For example:

    • when you have this behavior I perceive it in this way..
    • and that makes me feel …

    Criticism vs. feedback

    “Criticism is driven by the frustration and fears of the giver, not from the needs of the recipient. The underlying assumption is that the recipient somehow “should know better” and needs to be set straight. The implied message is that the recipient’s intentions are questionable, that there is something wrong with the recipient that the giver of criticism knows how to fix. In criticism, the problem is all in the recipient.

    In contrast, feedback has an air of caring concern, respect, and support. Far from being a sugar cookie, feedback is an honest, clear, adult to adult exchange about specific behaviors and the effects of those behaviors. The assumption is that both parties have positive intentions, that both parties want to be effective and to do what is right for the company and other people. Another assumption is that well-meaning people can have legitimate differences in perception. The person offering the feedback owns the feedback as being his reaction to the behavior of the other person. That is, the giver recognizes the fact that what is being offered is a perception, not absolute fact.”

    – Gary R. Casselman & Timothy C. Daughtry

    Facilitator role

    Inform the participants of the structure of the task and when the feedback session is finished gather the group and go through and reflect over the task.

    Reflection questions

    • How was it?
    • Did you feel that this was valuable for your work? In what way?
    • How could the assignment be designed to fit you better the next time?