Your company probably has a strong set of values around things like inclusion, diversity, and sustainability. And like most companies, with a few positive changes, they can do a much better job living those values. That’s where you come in!
For an organization to transition from solely preaching its values to living them, there must be people within who facilitate that initial change, especially around social initiatives like diversity and sustainability.
Change is one of the hardest things to implement within an organization because of a myriad of barriers, often cultural, operational, and political. Yet without change, the survival and future growth of your company are in jeopardy.
So how can you become a facilitator of change?
We caught up with Joost de Leij to find answers. Joost is the Founder of Limelights, a company with a mission to train and coach people like you to become facilitators of change within your own organization.
Joost and his team use Miro to facilitate virtual summits, sprints, and training programs that are radically aimed at interacting with participants and helping them to transition their companies to a more inclusive and sustainable future.
Are you ready to become a facilitator of change in 2022? Here’s how Miro can help.
Where to start your change journey
The team at Limelights often starts the change process using a template called Kotter’s 8 Step Change Model. Kotter’s Model is a framework that breaks down the process into eight clear steps and provides guidance on how to do them properly to achieve results.
Joost explains, “Change is hard, yet Kotter’s Model is quite simple with really nice steps if you want to fundamentally change a company.” In addition to being easy to understand and to implement, Kotter’s Change Model works well because it has a strong focus on employee buy-in and communication making it
Companies don’t change. It’s people who change companies.
You can use this Miro template that Limelights created based on Kotter’s Model, to facilitate your change journey and get others involved in an organic way. By using Miro to bring colleagues together in an engaging space, the individual ideas for change become a collective movement for change.
In the video below, you can learn how to get the most out of the Miro template.
How to take that first step toward change
Developing a plan for change is essential, but a good plan is nothing without action. Figuring out where to begin is not always clear. One way Joost and his team help others take action is to use this SDG Impact Jam canvas in Miro.
The goal of the exercise is to make quick decisions without overthinking them. You choose one of the Sustainable Development Goals and use the structured, fast-paced process to get everyone collaborating towards a solution.
LDJ Problem-Solving Process
Step 1: Select one of the SDGs you can positively impact with your company.
Step 2: Discover how you can help and what are bottlenecks holding you back from making a positive impact.
Step 3: Define what the biggest bottleneck holding you back is.
Step 4: Ideate a bunch of solutions (be creative or go for really obvious ones that might have been overlooked). Find the best solution/next step, based on identifying the effort and impact of the best solutions.
Step 5: Decide on the best solution/next step, based on identifying the effort and impact of your ideas.
Step 6: Arrive at clear action steps (and their owners) to engage in immediately.
According to Joost, one of the most important aspects of this process is to ensure everyone has the opportunity to be heard. He adds, “We think a lot about inclusivity and I think Miro’s voting tools are really powerful to have more inclusive decisions.”
In one session, Limelights had 180 people participating in 12 live impact jams happening simultaneously in Miro. After a few hours of creative output with lots of ideas, it was time to identify the best solutions. They used Dot Voting in Miro to allow everyone to choose their favorites. In the end, Joost received a private message from one participant saying, “This is the first time I’ve ever felt heard.”
This feedback was powerful because we often only let the extroverted “talkers” in the meeting make the final decisions. By letting everyone have a say and being explicit about it, the results are stronger and the participants feel more ownership to help take action.
Change is possible (a success story)
Limelights has worked with dozens of companies, both big and small, to help facilitate change. Over the years, they found that a key to success across all companies was in challenging the participants in an engaging way while still keeping it fun.
Joost mentioned one inspiring project working with Royal Haskoning DHV, a 6,000-employee engineering consultancy with the purpose to harness the power of data to deliver the environments of tomorrow. They faced complex challenges and wanted to accelerate finding solutions using the design sprint process.
With teams spread across time zones and disciplines, the challenge was to empower the employees at scale with the essential 21st century skills, tools, formats, and coaching to enhance society together.https://www.youtube.com/embed/i_cH47zckSs
Find the right Miro Expert for your project
After a two-day online learning experience for 150 people, powered by a team of 10 freshly trained in-company facilitators, they collectively cracked 10 business challenges through 10 parallel sprints delivering 10 prototypes.
This resulted in:
- Alignment on the strategic ideas and solutions for moving Royal HaskoningDHV Digital forward at scale
- A team of young high potentials trained to facilitate online sprint workshops expanding their leadership potential and toolkits for direct application in their teams and client projects
- A community of employees connected by a shared vision of the future of Royal HaskoningDHV Digital
Focus on impact and make it happen
One of Miro’s values is to dream big, prioritize outcomes that matter most, and own our commitments. This is the same mentality you need to facilitate change at your own company.
Whether you are passionate about diversity, sustainability, or something else unique to your company, the change you desire won’t just happen. It takes the initiative of a few to inspire the masses. Gather like-minded colleagues, devise a plan, and get the ball rolling by quickly solving smaller issues that will lead others to get involved.
Become a facilitator of change.
Good luck!
