At the opening session of Agile Consortium Belgium online conference 2021, I created a space for connection and interaction, facilitating with Liberating Structures Impromptu Networking, Appreciative Interview, and 25/10 Crowdsourcing.

1. Online interactions using
Facilitator: Frederik Vannieuwenhuyse

2. Goal of this session
* Online networking, meet some people
* Learn by experiencing
https://imgflip.com/i/4e8616

3. Structures in this session
Impromptu Networking
Appreciative Interviews
Crowdsourcing
https://imgflip.com/i/4e8616

4. Impromptu Networking
Rapidly share challenges and expectations while building new connections

5. Instructions & Steps
1. You’ll be put in pairs. Share your thoughts on the
invitation/ prompt and mutually shape the ideas for 5 mins.
2. 3 rounds of paired conversation total, 5 minutes each round
(2-3 mins per person) -> using breakout rooms in Zoom
3. The invitation:
• What does Agile mean to you personally?
• What’s your main challenge to being agile?
4. After three rounds, we will debrief together.

6. Impromptu-Networking: what’s made possible?
❖ sparking deeper connections
❖ productive pattern of engagement is established if used
at the beginning of a working session
❖ midst of session
❖ closing a session
>> write in chat or speak up what’s made possible
>> what applications can you think of?

7. Use of Zoom
Use of Breakout rooms

8. What are
liberating
structures?

9. Different Structures for Different Purposes
Conventional
Presentation
Managed Discussion
Status Update
Brainstorming
Open Discussion
Liberating
Menu of 33+ alternate ways of
organizing that make it
possible to include & engage
more people
Same micro-elements & DNA
Inherited Invented
Seriously Dreadful Seriously Playful
Expected Results Novel Results

10. ● a documented library of
facilitation techniques
● easy-to-learn microstructures that
enhance relational coordination and
trust between people
● an anti-dote for conventional
organised meetings
http://www.liberatingstructures.com/
http://www.liberatingstructures.be/
Join Liberating Structures on Slack
Creative Commons Licensed
What are Liberating Structures? (1)

11. What are Liberating Structures? (2)

12. What are Liberating Structures? (3)
The five design elements of a microstructure

13. What are Liberating Structures? (4)

14. Appreciative Interviews
Discovering and Building on the Root Causes of Success

15. Sequence of Steps & Timing
1. Form a triad (breakout rooms with 3 persons) and
reflect on a story you want to share in response to
the prompt/invitation (2 mins)
2. First person is the storyteller, he/she shares
their story while one partner is the interviewer –
helping the person explore the full territory of
their experience - the second partner is the
reporter, writing down interesting details,
meaningful insights etc (5 mins)

16. 3. Switch roles and repeat (5 mins)
4. Switch roles and repeat (5 mins)
5. Debrief as a triad looking for assets and
conditions that enabled success (2-4 mins)
6. As a full group, collect important insights about
what assets & conditions enable success (5-10 mins)
Sequence of Steps & Timing

17. Appreciative Interview Hints
❖ Ask about the context (When, Where, Who, How)
❖ Be curious!
❖ DO NOT share your own experience
❖ Collect details of the journey (status quo,
barriers, action, reversals, powerful discoveries)
❖ Try to find a moment that sums up the drama and the
deeper meaning
❖ Take notes for your partner. Look to identify the
assets and conditions that enabled success!
❖ Practice guided discovery
❖ Be appreciative!

18. Appreciative interview invitation
Tell a story about a time when you
worked on a challenge with others and
you are proud of what you accomplished
using Agile principles and values.
What is the story and what made the
success possible?

19. Appreciative interview debrief
In the stories:
❖ What made the success possible?
❖ What elements or conditions did you
identify that contributed to
success?

20. Appreciative interview: what’s made possible?
❖ Generate constructive energy by starting on a positive note.
❖ Capture and spread knowledge about successful field experience.
❖ Reveal the path for achieving success for an entire group
simultaneously
❖ By expecting positive behaviors, you can bring them forth
(Pygmalion effect)
>> write in chat or speak up what’s made possible
>> what applications can you think of?

21. 25/10 Crowdsourcing
Sift-and-Sort a Group’s Most Powerful Actionable Ideas

22. 25/10 Crowdsourcing: How?
❖ Goal: Rapidly Generate and Sift a Group’s
Most Powerful Actionable Ideas
❖ How?
➢ Group write downs ideas
➢ People mingle and pass ideas (written on a card)
➢ Stop! Everyone read idea and gives a score
➢ Repeat 5x
➢ Sum scores, and sort

23. 25/10 Crowdsourcing
❖ What's your bold idea for the
future of Agility?
❖ What first step would you take to
get started?
→ Link: https://twenty-five-ten.herokuapp.com/

24. THAT’S IT FOLKS! THANKS ALL!
Frederik Vannieuwenhuyse
@vfrederik
frederik@ilean.be
www.ilean.be
http://value-first.be/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/frederikvannieuwenhuyse
www.liberatingstructures.com