Interaction Associates

Looking to elevate your leadership & facilitation skills this year?—Look no further: our 2025 workshops are HERE! ?? From Essential Facilitation? to Facilitative Leadership?, and, back by popular demand, Managing With Impact? our programs are here to equip you with the skills to lead, facilitate, and inspire your teams. Whether you're just starting or looking to deepen your expertise, these workshops offer tools for better collaboration, decision-making, and inclusivity. To learn more about each program & to sign-up today, visit the link below: https://bit.ly/3W3wI6E We hope to see you there! And please reach out to us if you have any questions at all about our programs and events! ?? #2025Events #LeadershipDevelopment #ProfessionalDevelopment #FacilitationSkills #Workshops #Facilitation

Being an effective leader is about more than just setting goals – it’s about guiding your team with intention, increasing collaboration, and celebrating success along the way. These 7 practices can help you build trust, inspire action, and lead with impact: ? Celebrate accomplishments ? Share an inspiring vision ? Focus on results, process, & relationships ? Seek maximum appropriate involvement ? Facilitate agreement ? Coach for performance ? Design pathways to action Implementing these practices creates a more engaged, empowered team and drives long-term success. Which practice do you focus on most as a leader? Let us know! ?? #Leadership #EffectiveLeadership #TeamSuccess #InteractionAssociates

"Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become. – James Clear This powerful reminder from James Clear shows how every decision, big or small, shapes who we are. Whether it's how we show up for meetings, the way we lead our teams, or how we approach challenges, our actions are the building blocks of the person we’re becoming. Start today by taking intentional actions that align with the leader or collaborator you want to be. The choices you make now are shaping your future success. #Leadership #GrowthMindset #Teamwork #Action #InteractionAssociates

Ever been in a meeting where ideas flow endlessly, but decisions feel impossible? Or worse, when a final decision gets reopened unexpectedly? It’s frustrating, right? In this episode of Water Cooler Wisdom, hosts Jake Blocker and Rachael Grail dive into the Open-Narrow-Close framework, a tool that will change the way your team collaborates and makes decisions. They’ll break down how structuring conversations into three distinct phases—Opening (idea generation), Narrowing (organizing and prioritizing), and Closing (final decision-making)—keeps teams aligned and productive while avoiding decision fatigue. If you’re ready to make your meetings more efficient and less overwhelming, this episode is a must-listen! ?? Click the link in our bio to listen now and streamline your next team discussion: https://lnkd.in/gEk2TfGz #WaterCoolerWisdom #Leadership #DecisionMaking #Collaboration #TeamEfficiency #InteractionAssociates

A good story sticks with you. It grabs your attention, sparks emotion, and sometimes even inspires action. But at work, how often do we use storytelling to its full potential? On March 27th (1:00-1:45 pm ET), we’re diving into how great leaders use stories to influence, engage, and communicate with impact—PLUS, we’ll answer your questions on all things storytelling! ?? To learn more & to sign-up, visit the link here: https://bit.ly/3DLmJwL #Storytelling #FreeWebinar #LeadershipDevelopment #PersonalDevelopment

Remote work has reshaped how we work, live, and even how we feel. It doesn’t seem like it’s going anywhere anytime soon. While it might not be for everyone, here are some reported benefits of working from home: ?? Save Time: U.S. remote workers save an average of 55 minutes daily by skipping the commute – globally, it’s 72 minutes! ?? Environmental Impact: Remote work reduces emissions by up to 54%, even just working from home 1 day a week. ?? Cost Savings: Remote employees save up to $12,000 a year, and companies save $10,600 per employee annually by cutting office-related expenses. ?? Health Benefits: 93% of remote workers say it’s improved their mental health, with decreased stress as the top benefit. ?? Freedom to Move: 36% of remote workers are planning a move in 2024, often to be closer to family. The future is remote, with all these amazing benefits. What’s your favorite part about working from home? Let us know! ?? #RemoteWork #WorkFromHome #EmployeeWellness #Sustainability #InteractionAssociates

Our wonderful group from last week's Essential Facilitation? training in San Francisco! We loved meeting and collaborating with you all!! ?? #EssentialFacilitation #SanFrancisco #LeadershipDevelopment

Ready to take your facilitation and leadership skills to the next level? We're excited for our spring and summer workshops that can help you do just that! ?? Whether you're looking to improve your leadership capabilities, enhance your facilitation techniques, or learn to manage with impact, we’ve got the perfect workshop for you. Check out our schedule below and secure your spot for one of our upcoming events: ? April 23-24 – Facilitative Leadership?, Raleigh, NC ? May 13-15 – Facilitative Leadership?, Houston, TX ? May 19-21 – Essential Facilitation?, Boston, MA ? June 2-24 – Facilitative Leadership?, Live Online ? June 11-12 – Managing With Impact?, San Francisco, CA Don't miss out on these amazing opportunities to develop key leadership and facilitation skills. Register today: https://lnkd.in/eCwxQsN3 #PublicWorkshops #Facilitation #Leadership #ManagingWithImpact #InteractionAssociates

Collaboration across distances and differences can be challenging, but it also opens up amazing opportunities for growth and creativity. Here are 6 key insights to help you and your team work more effectively, no matter where you are: ?? Utilize Stakeholder Mapping Understanding who’s involved in the decision-making process is key. Identify your stakeholders and know where they stand – this helps guide your decisions and influences the right people. ?? Practice Desired Outcomes Before every meeting, think about the outcome you want to leave with. Sharing these goals in advance helps keep everyone on track and ensures you’re moving toward a clear objective. ?? Work Together When faced with resistance, take a step back and understand the other person’s interests. Collaborate to find solutions that benefit everyone, and avoid pushing your way through. ?? It Starts With You Trust and rapport start with YOU. Be transparent, dependable, and considerate, especially in these challenging times. Leading by example builds stronger, more cohesive teams. ?? When You’re Triggered, Pause We all have moments when emotions run high. The key is to pause, understand how your reaction might affect your relationships, and choose a response that’s productive, not reactive. ?? Rethink the Question During stressful times, it’s easy to get lost in quicksand questions like “How will I finish all this?” Shift your mindset to problem-solving: “How can I handle this more effectively?” It’s a game-changer. By putting these insights into action, you’ll build stronger relationships, improve your decision-making, and lead your team toward success. #Collaboration #Leadership #EffectiveTeams #GrowthMindset #InteractionAssociates

As leaders rise higher in an organization, one element rises naturally as well: the frequency and importance of decision-making. Leaders are challenged to make wise decisions. It’s not easy. Decisions are rarely clear-cut. Looking back, you will have made some good decisions (yes!) and not so good decisions (hopefully becoming lessons learned). Regarding decisions, employees often express frustration with two things: 1. lack of transparency with how decisions are made and 2. lack of their valuable insights or involvement. The responsibility of clarity and involvement falls squarely on leaders. Without a decision-making framework, people will be unclear with how decisions are made, who is responsible, and thus finger-pointing and blame-shifting begins. The problem with most alternative decision-making methods is they employ a ‘one-size fits all’ approach or set up winners and losers. At Interaction Associates, we teach a decision model called “Levels of Involvement”. This framework helps a leader make a choice about how to involve people. This is done after considering various factors such as time, expertise, importance, and desire for others to ‘own’ and ‘implement’ the decision. Why this works: it speaks to two things about people. First, people want to be involved in decisions that affect their lives. And second, people tend to support what they create. By increasing the level of involvement in a decision, people take more ownership and buy-in. If you’ve ever been part of a technology implementation or large system change effort, you know what I mean. Selecting a new technical system without a thorough understanding of the required features, the user workflow, or involvement by end-users is a recipe for disaster and push-back. As you reflect on the various levels, it is important to mention that not all decisions need to be made at higher ‘levels’ such as consensus or delegation. All levels in our framework are equally valid and should be utilized. An emergency situation might involve a leader ‘deciding and announcing’. Likewise, a decision to align around the company investment decisions in the next 12-months might be best served by ‘consensus’ with the top leadership team or ‘gathering input from a select group’. I love what we can all learn from world-class organizations. One of these principles is to push decision-making authority down to the lowest reasonable level, to the person who is accountable and can ‘own’ the decision and where the work is being done. It’s a powerful way to cascade engagement and leadership all across the organization.