Our values

These are some of the core values that underpin our approach to facilitation:

• Purpose & positive impact. People’s time is precious, and every invitation to meet should come with a clear purpose in mind. We believe that getting really clear on the “why” is an invaluable investment of time that paves the way for much greater clarity, engagement and positive impact down the line. 

• Active engagement & inclusivity. Our view is that you shouldn’t invite someone to a meeting unless you want to hear what they have to say. This sounds basic - but so many meetings and gatherings are dominated by a handful of voices and cast everyone else in the role of passive listener. As well as being disempowering and frustrating for people, it is a huge waste of potential. Making space for everyone’s contribution is at the heart of what we do. 

• Connection & skilled communication. People will bring the best of themselves when they feel seen, understood and appreciated. Conversely, the impact of poor connection and communication is very real - research suggests that 65% of start-ups fail due to founder conflict. For this reason, we have a strong orientation towards nurturing a culture of connection and supporting people to hone their listening and communication skills.

• Enhancing physical energy. Humans feel and work best when we recognise and embrace our fundamental biology. We are living beings that need natural daylight, fresh air and nourishment, and who experience different levels of energetic abundance at different times of day and at different times in the year. We are healthier, happier and more productive when we work with (rather than against) our biology. Cal Newport, bestselling author of Slow Productivity, calls this “working at a natural pace.”

• Boosting mental energy. Our mental energy impacts our ability to participate in cognitive work, including our ability to plan, make decisions, pay attention, evaluate information and manage our emotions. We need to design meetings in a way that restores and boosts our mental energy, rather than depleting it.

• Creativity, appreciation and fun. Being effective doesn’t have to be boring. In fact, we can accomplish much more when we’re feeling creative and enjoying ourselves. Our experience has shown us time and again that inspiration and creativity prime us for more focused activity - and celebrating successes can fuel our motivation to keep going. That is why we build creativity, appreciation and fun into our programmes - and encourage others to do the same.

The Meeting Compass: A purpose-driven meeting framework

The Meeting Compass is our unique framework which helps you chart a course for effective meetings and helps you stay on track to meet your goals. This helps staff at all levels to boost prodcutivity, effectiveness and organisaitonal success. This includes:

1. Defining meeting effectiveness. Ensuring clear objectives and outcomes, active participant engagement, time efficiency and value creation.

2. A “meeting necessary” toolkit including criteria for meeting justification and processes for early closure if necessary.

3. Setting up for success. This includes defining values, roles and responsibilities, timeboxing and decision-making protocols.

4. Enhancing attention and focus. Tools for on-going inspiration and engagement, ensuring sufficient pauses and breaks through mindfulness, movement and/or energy activation practices, reducing tech distractions and tending to environmental factors.

5. Feedback mechanisms to ensure ongoing engagement and success.

Creating more inclusive meetings by valuing all contributions, leveraging everyone’s insights to avoid groupthink, and being open to new ideas could reduce the rate of unproductive meetings from 35% to 15%, saving firms an estimated £29 billion in the UK each year.