The Blogworld of Poppyfish People Development

Old Bill Shakespeare knew a thing or two about most things, but not even he dared to combine theatre with performance management.  Forum Theatre is a style of drama pioneered by the radical, innovative and influential Brazilian dramatist Augusto Boal. First created as a way to explore how people can change the world around them Forum Theatre is used to allow audiences to take over the direction of events, allowing the audience to direct the actors in an attempt to change the outcome of events on stage. In its purest form an audience member interjects at any time in the play and steps up to take the place of the characters, or to suggest what the character should do next. The play then goes on following this new approach.  Radical? Possibly. Chaotic? Definitely. Applicable to organisational development and learning? Absolutely! At Poppyfish we can apply Forum Theatre in any context where individuals are attempting to ‘learn’ a new process or technique, especially wher...

We know that if we are to make 1-to-1 meetings a habitual part of our management style then we have to get practising. But how do you get started with 1-to-1’s ? Well, try this.  Next time you are in a meeting with your team tell them that you want to give 1-to-1 meetings a six month trial. Ask each of them to take responsibility to arrange their own 1-to-1 sessions with you. Ideally these will be face to face, once a week, at a regular time if you can. Giving the responsibility for arranging the meetings to the subordinates is a great way to empower them, just make sure that you are honest with them with the booking arrangements and make sure that you honour the meetings. If you don't turn up you are letting them down and they will certainly think less of you for it. How long should each meeting be? Half an hour is fine. A general rule is 10 minutes for them, ten minutes for you and ten minutes for everything else.  Do the meetings need to be in private? Not necessa...

The Neanderthals sat huddled round the fire. The soft orange light reflected from the walls of the large cave in which they were gathered, giving an eerie light to proceedings.   From the walls of the cave the dull handprints and paintings of the top mammoth hunters from all ancestry hung over the group, reminding them of just why they were here.      Ugg gruntedfirst. He grunted of how he and his team of hunters had worked all day to corner the great mammoth whose carcass now filled their bellies. It was the first time they'd eaten mammoth in many moons. The other hunters sat and listened as Ugg told the tale of how he, newly returned to the community from sabbatical work with the tribe on the other side of the stream, demonstrated how he had used his new "cat-a-pult" process to maximum effect to bring down the giant beast. They listened in awe. "Cat-a-pult". What a strange device.   The hunters glanced uneasily at each other as Ugg handed round the n...