Think Tank facilitation

Think Tank & Thought Leadership Sessions

Lessons learned through practice

Presentation summary •

Before you start

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Thinking about the right Thought Leaders

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Establishing expectations

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Convening thought leaders

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Always something new

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Harvest the rewards

Before you start What do you want to accomplish with a Think Tank or Thought Leadership session?

Start by asking 5 fundamental questions •

What are you going to do and what do you expect to accomplish?

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Why are you going to do it and what makes you think you are the right person/organization to do it?

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How are you going to do it and when?

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Why now?

Answer those fundamental questions…

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Firstly on your own and write down your thoughts.

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Then share them with others in your team.

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Compare notes and find a common answer to these 5 questions.

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This would be the core of your team's vision and joint action it is a very important step to ensure your success.

Thinking about the Thought Leaders Why are they so important for your session?

Ask the following questions •

What are the relevant key stakeholders in the field of content you are running the session about? Identify a closed list.

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Why would they bother to contribute to your proposed theme? Would they be available to travel to your venue?

Why?

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Would the Thought Leader Session still be valid if anyone of them would not show up? Why? Mark these "must be" as VIP Thought Leaders you need to make sure they attend.

Establish the expectations rightly The art of convening starts at the heart of the matter and ends with commitment to action.

To convene is an art and you need to master it •

Knowing yourself as a host or convener allows you to be in authentic engagement. How well do you know yourself to hold space for others?

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Who are you as a person and how will you be in relationship with others?

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What is the purpose of our gathering and what does success looks like?

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Convening is the art of relationship, what are your intentions? Are they in line with who you are?

Convening a Thought Leaders session Being a host or facilitator in a Thought Leadership session is a rewarding task that prepares you for the unexpected.

Hosting check list •

Once your intentions are clear it is important to manage the right expectations from others:

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The sponsors of the gathering, what can they expect and what do you expect of them?

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The participants (Thought Leaders) what can they expect and what do you expect from them?

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Are you designing the session with them in mind?

Hosting check list (2) •

Extend a sincere invitation with genuine hospitality and conviction, explain why participants should attend.

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Communicate clearly the function and purpose of the gathering so participants have all the context information to fully participate.

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Create a relaxed and attractive space for the gathering and establish the right meeting protocol for participants to feel safe and be fully present.

Something new Flawless execution is always the result of a well prepared session but the participants always bless us with the creation of something new.

Authentic engagement always pays off •

The emergence of something that did not existed before is at the core of any innovation and results from participants' meaningful contributions.

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How will you recognize and harvest the wisdom being created in a Thought Leaders group?

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What combination of methods should you use to keep everyone engaged as creation happens? Brainstorm, take turns, list, categorize, evaluate and synthesize.

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What to do in the absence of alignment? Treat every surprise with neutrality and let the group handle it.

Harvest the results The combination of process technology and meeting productivity software is a blessing.

Shared visions are by default a driving force •

Yet, we need to have process tools and techniques that make the harvesting of the wisdom of the group really effective.

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Dialogue is the natural result of a well hosted meeting where the welcoming and the protocols (rules for participation and interaction) are well established upfront.

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But the implicit experiential learning that emerges cannot be captured without a conscious effort to make it explicit in writing.

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If you need to present a Thought Leadership report then a 'journaling' method is required.

Reporting •

There are many options for generatingg of a Thought Leaders session report, my favorite is a combination of the following:

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Have a journalist or graphics recorder in the room to capture in writing or in graphics the bulk of the discussion.

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Have the participant to write down their thinking with a meeting productivity software that they can use with anonymous inputs.

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Present the anonymous results to the group for further verbal discussion that is captured by the journalist or graphics recorder.

In conclusion •

The benefit and value created by a group of Thought Leaders convened together in a purposeful way is immense.

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The conclusions produced can be edited, further commented by the remainder of the community and crowdsourced for more contributions.

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Most professional associations can take advantage of this meeting format but it is important that they rely on an external consultant that brings expert knowledge in the art of convening a group, normally a group facilitator.

About the author •

Paul Nunesdea is the English author name of Paulo Nunes de Abreu an organisational psychologist, MSc in Information Management and PhD in Management Science.

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As an IAF (International Association of Facilitators) Certified Professional Facilitator, he has hosted the Iberian Summits of Healthcare Leaders in Spain and the Hospital of the Future Forum in Portugal. https://www.linkedin.com/in/nunesdea/

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He specializes in group decision support systems and designs interventions to optimize change and innovation in healthcare and education within regional and national governments with leading consulting firms.

Paul Nunesdea Paulo Nunes de Abreu

col.lab | collaboration laboratory https://www.architectingcollaboration.com/