Sharing Experience, Techniques and Tools

The first Working With Groups event took place at The Storey in Lancaster. Participants ranged from leaders of Friends Groups for green space projects, a Scout Leader, youth workers, a cultural social enterprise that co-designs projects with communities and staff from Lancaster and Morecambe Libraries

Date Published: 16 May 2014

Through the event we wished to share ImaginationLancaster’s techniques and tools and at the same time learn from others about how they go about inspiring lively, creative group work. To deliberately draw out their motivations and fears for attending the workshop facilitator Leon Cruickshank led the group through a process which make good use of the ‘Scenario Tool’.The group consensus wished for a workshop where they by the end of the day they had gained new techniques, tools and also a network of contacts to support improved group work in future.

The groups then used Hexagon tool to discuss and capture the times they had led or experienced amazing group work. Going onto explore the times they had been involved in a group working disaster. This inevitably involved the sharing of inadvertently tales and lessons learned the hard way, especially where facilitators had tried to ‘too personal, too soon’ with the group.

In the afternoon the group explored and tried out six of ImaginationLancaster techniques and tools for efffective group work:

1) Hexagons – Connectable cards for mapping problems, generating ideas or modelling shapes.
2) Giant Timeline – A table sized timeline for planning projects and activities
3) Scenario Tool – A mini comic strip for revealing peoples motivations and fears at the start of an event / project
4) Meeting Organiser – A tool that enables people attending a meeting to design the agenda as a group
5) Stickers – Circular stickers to help great group work for highlighting issues, areas to explore etc.
6) Commenters – Circular foam shapes for generating ideas, discussion and reaching collaborative consensus

Everyone was invited to spend time considering how each tool could meet the needs of their role / organization, and whether the tools could be used as they are, or if modifications are required. It was really interesting for the PROUD team to listen to the different suggestions for different, creative ways and situations the tools might be used. Everyone then ordered the tools they would like to receive and use in their organisations, either as they are or modified versions.

We’re now working on delivering people’s requests for tools and preparing for the second Working With Groups event in Eindhoven in early June.