I am a great fan of Working Out Loud – John Stepper’s published approach to working in the open, transparently and with authenticity. As he describes it:
Instead of networking to get something, you lead with generosity, investing in relationships that give you access to other people, knowledge, and possibilities. Part of the process is learning ways to make your work visible and frame it as a contribution.
The core community framework that sustains Working Out Loud is the Circle:
Circles help you develop a mindset and habit you can apply to any goal. These small peer support groups are now in 16 countries and in organizations ranging from multi-national firms to universities to humanitarian groups. The thing they all have in common is wanting their people to feel intrinsically motivated to be more collaborative and effective.
John’s book covers this well, but really there is nothing better than experiencing the power of WOL Circles in person. Obviously you could just go ahead and set up a circle in your workplace (I’d love to assist you if so), but a better plan is to be part of a training circle in order to understand the potential, and the pitfalls, of Working Out Loud. The good news is that there is such an opportunity coming up in just a few weeks:
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN
You will both experience a Working Out Loud Circle, where you will decide on a goal to work on over the 6 weeks, and will be supported to use a step-by-step process to move towards this through expanding your networks, deepening your relationships and increasing your influence.
As well as being part of a Working Out Loud Circle, this course will give you the tips and tools you need to be a WOL Circle facilitator in your workplace or community.
HOW THE COURSE WORKS
The course runs over 6 weeks, each Thursday from 4 – 5.30pm. We’ll stay in touch throughout using Slack, a free App that you can use on your smart phone or computer. The Slack group will be open for 8 weeks – a week before the course to meet people, and for a week after the course ends.
All you need is a computer with internet and video connection, and a headset/headphones to take part. You need to participate in all 6 sessions.
BOOK YOUR PLACE
7 WAYS THIS COURSE WILL HELP YOU LEARN ABOUT WOL CIRCLES
- By experiencing a WOL Circle for yourself – with 4 or 5 other people (as part of the 90 minute sessions)
- By practicing facilitating a WOL Circle meeting
- By hearing directly from John – his top tips and insights on how to lead WOL Circles
- Through the weekly question and answer sessions, both online and through Slack
- Through reading and using the new updated WOL Circle guides
- Through reading Working Out Loud by John Stepper. This will be sent to you as soon as you sign up and pay.
- And by joining a growing international WOL community who are sharing their experiences and learning as they go
The course is being run by John Stepper and Helen Sanderson Associates, and the dates for the sessions are as follows:
Thursday 9 June – 4pm-5.30pm (BST)
Thursday 16 June – 4pm-5.30pm (BST)
Thursday 23 June – 4pm-5.30pm (BST)
Thursday 30 June – 4pm-5.30pm (BST)
Thursday 7 July – 4pm-5.30pm (BST)
Thursday 14 July – 4pm-5.30pm (BST)
The course cost is £350 including VAT, and you can register via EventBrite.
I will be attending myself, and would love to work with you in the WOL Circle that will result! See you there?
The Social Business Toolkit (SBT) SDK is a set of extensible tools and resources for developers who want to incorporate social capabilities into their applications and business processes. Social capabilities include features and functionality that tap into the power of social interactions, business networks, community-based problem solving, and more.