WEAVINGTHREADS
Anexplorationofkeyprinciplesandthemes
thatunderpinallPBAtraining1
Ourworkingassumptionisthateffectivepartneringis
invariablytransformationalbecauseitentailsmovingaway
fromdoingbusinessasusual.Achievinggenuine
transformationrequiresawillingnesstocritique,reflectand
envisionnewpossibilities.ThetrainingthatthePartnership
BrokersAssociation(PBA)provides–whethertoindividuals
orentitiesoperatinginthepartnershipbrokeringrole–aims
toembedanumberofcorevaluesandprinciplesalongside
impartingkeypartnershipbrokeringconcepts,tools,skills
andmethods.
Asaprofessionalassociation,PBArecognizesthatpeopleare
informedandinfluencedbytheirownexperience,
backgroundandknowledgeandwillreflectandchangeat
theirownpacewhenthecircumstancesareright.Our
approach,therefore,isnottopushthosewetrainintoforcing
change,whichtendstoleadtolittlemorethancompliance
and/orbeshort-lived,buttoenablethemtosupportthose
theyworkwithtoprepareforchangeasandwhenthetimeis
right.Weencouragethosewetraintobetterunderstand
theirownprofessionalstrengthsandweaknessesandalsoto
decideforthemselveswhat,howandwhentheyarereadyto
changeinthewaytheyundertaketheirpartnershipbrokering
work.
Someunderlyingthemesareemerginginthedesignand
deliveryofourcoursesthatreflecttheapproach,skillsets,
fundamentalprinciplesandvaluesthatPBAseekstonurture
inallpartnershipbrokers.
Thisshortpaper2seekstocapturethe‘threads’thatwehave
agreedtoabidebyandtoattempttoweavethroughoutour
trainingworkforPBA3.
1ThispaperoriginatedatthefirstPBATrainingCommunityofPractice(CoP)inSeptember2013.Itwaswrittenbyone
personandreviewed/revisedcollaboratively.Theintentionbehinditwasthatitshouldprovideafoundationforall
PBA’strainingcourses.Itwillbesubjecttoannualreviewandrevisionsothatourworkremainsfreshandup-to-date
2Akindof‘PBAAuthorisedTrainersManifesto’
3TheillustrationisaweavingbyEtaIngham-Lawriewhoseworkwashangingintheroomwhereweheldourfirst
TrainingCoPmeetingandthatinspiredthetitleofthispaper(www.trigonos.org)
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POSITIONINGOURSELVESASTRAINERS
Learningasacollaborationbetweentrainersandparticipants
Adheringasbestwecantothecorepartneringprinciples4,ourapproachastrainersistoshare
knowledgeandexpertiseamongthegroupbyenablinggenuinedialogue(‘conversations’)about,
reflectiononandchallengestothatknowledgeandexpertise.Astrainers,weareopenaboutour
ownframesofreferenceandtransparentabouttheconceptualframeworksthatweuseinthe
training–beinggenuinelywillingtochangeourviewsandconceptsandwarmlywelcomingcritical
comment.Differencesofviewpointareseenascentraltotheprocessandnotadiversion.
Ourtrainingmaterialsandconcepts5areall,rightly,introducedbyusastrainerswithenergyand
confidence,butnotbecause‘weknowbest’butratherasajumpingoffpointforcreatingnew
knowledge.
Balancingprocessandcontent
AllPBAtrainingcoursesaredesignedanddeliveredwithasstronganemphasisonprocessason
content.ThisisanexactmirrorofakeythemeinourPartnershipBrokersTraining(thenotionthat
partnershipbrokersneedtospendasmuchtimeonthepartneringprocessasonachievingproject
goalsiftheyaretobuildrobustandeffectivecollaboration).Astrainersweaspiretobeingequally
comfortablewithbothelementsaswellaschoosingtoco-trainwithsomeonewhocomplements
ourpreferenceforoneortheother.
Being‘reflective’trainers
Astrainersweneedtopracticewhatwepreachbyadeepcommitmenttoreflection,selfobservationandcritique.Wecontinuouslyaskourselveswhenweareinthetrainingrole‘whatis
needednow?’6.WeknowthatPBAtraining,whenundertakensuccessfully,canbeexhaustingasit
requiresacontinuousstrivingtomeettheneedsofthetraineesandtobeopentochallengeandthe
needtore-consider/changedirection.
Wealsobelievethatitisimportanttogiveandreceivefeedbackduringthetraining(between
ourselvesasco-trainersandwiththegroup)aswellastakingthetimetoreflectandde-briefafter
eachtrainingcourseiscompleted.Weshouldhabituallyaskourselvesastrainersanumberof
questions,forexample:Ismytrainingstill‘alive’?Whichsessionscouldhaveachievedmore?What
didInottakeaccountof?WhatcanIlearnfrommyco-trainer?WhatshouldIprepareforbetter/
improve/changenexttime?
Commitmenttoco-trainingandcontinuouslearning
Inlinewithourbeliefincollaboration,ourcommitmentto‘co-training’iscritical–bothbecauseit
allowsforadiverse/complementaryapproachbutalsobecauseitactuallymodelsco-facilitationin
practice.Astrainers,wecommittobuildingourcapacityasco-trainersandasaCommunityof
4Equity,transparencyandmutualbenefit–asarticulatedinThePartneringToolbook
5ThesearesubjecttochallengeandchangeyearonyearbythePBATrainingCommunityofPractice
6Again,thisisparalleltooursuggestionduringtrainingthatthisisakeyquestionforpartnershipbrokerstoask
themselves
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Practicebyexchanginglearningandexperiencewithourfellowtrainers,buildingourcapacityto
co-trainandseekingopportunitiesforpeerreview/feedback.
CREATINGALEARNINGENVIRONMENT
Physicalsetting
Weconsidercarefully,whereverpossible,thechoiceoftrainingvenue.Isitpeaceful?Removed
fromthehustleandbustleofthetrainee’sday-to-daylives?Istheregoodnaturallight?Isitinor
nearanaturalenvironmentthatwillencouragereflection?Istheresufficientroomforparticipants
tomoveabout,workinsmallergroupsandmingleinformallyduringbreaks?Ifthevenuefallsshort
ofthesethings(thismaybeoutsideourcontrolastrainers)whatcanwedotocompensatefor
thingsthataremissingandtomakeitworkoptimally?
Creatinganenvironmentwherethosewetraincanchallengethemselves
PBAtrainersseektocreatea‘safespace’inwhichparticipantscanlearneffectively–which,we
believe,involvesthenintakingsomelevelofrisk.Encouragingparticipantstobebraveenoughto
stepoutoftheircomfortzone,establishinggroundrulesandbeingwillingtotakerisksoneselfasa
trainerareallimportant.Thismayinvolveexploringwithtraineeswhytheyfeeltheyneeda
comfortzone–somemayneeditforcontextualreasons,someforgenuinepersonalprotection
reasons(ietheyareespeciallyvulnerableatthispointintheirlives).
Valuingdiversity
AsPBAtrainerswearecommittedtorecognizingandrespectingindividualdifferenceandto
buildingonthediverse,andsometimesdivergent,valuesofthosewearetraining.Suchdiversity
canbeintermsofgender,culture,sector,experiences,worldviewsandknowledgeandshouldbe
exploredthroughoutthetraining.Thiscansometimesbechallengingfortrainers(asitcanbefor
partnershipbrokerswithaverydiversegroupofpartners),butatitsbestitcanprovidethe
foundationfortransformationallearningopportunitiesandinnovation.Thisisfundamentalto
effective/innovativepartneringandpartnershipbrokering,socriticallyimportanttheourtraining
offersopportunitiesforthisexperience.
BUILDING&MODELINGCOREPARTNERSHIP
BROKERINGSKILLS
ReflectivePractice
By‘reflectivepractice’,wemeantakingthetimetotakeastepback,think,analyse,question,
critiqueandinformfutureworkthroughadeeperunderstandingofexperience.Allourcoursesare
designedtoencouragebothstructuredandunstructuredreflectivepractice.Trainersshould
familiarisethemselveswithTheImaginedConversation(RosTennyson)andtheReflectivePractice
GuidelinesinthePBTworkbook.Sharingourownreflectionswiththeparticipants(perhapsatthe
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startofeachdayonatrainingcourse)demonstratesourcommitmenttothisapproachand
illustrateshowourtrainingapproachisalsoinfluencedbythosewetrain.
Observation
Weprovideseveralopportunitiesinthetrainingforparticipantstopracticeandfurtherdevelop
theirobservationalskills.Weencouragepeopletousealloftheirsensestounderstandsituations:
whattheysee,whattheyhear,whattheysense(aswellaswhattheydon’tseeanddon’thear)as
thesearecriticaltounderstandingthenuancesofasituation.‘Takingthetemperatureofaroom’
anddevelopingempathy(theabilitytoexperiencethingsfromanother’sperspective)arebuilton
goodobservationalskills,whichshouldbeevidence-basedandbackedupbyspecifics,andnot
basedonpotentiallyincorrectassumptionsandinterpretations.
Activelistening
Linkedtoobservationalskillsistheabilitytoreally–actively–listen,andtogenuinelyhearwhat
anotherissaying;tohearboththespokenandtheunspokenandtoaccuratelyunderstand(andifin
doubt,tocheckout)whatisbeingsaid.Thismayinvolverephrasingorreflectingbackwhathas
beensaidtoclarifythespeaker’smeaningandintent.Italsoinvolvesconcentratingonthespeaker
andtheirpoints,andnotbecomingdistractedbythinkingaboutourownresponsesandreactions
towhattheyaresaying.
Givingandreceivingeffectivefeedback
Thereisasessioninourtrainingcoursesongiving&receivingfeedback,andtherearealsoample
opportunitiesforparticipantstoputthisintopracticeduringthesessions.Itiscriticaltomodel
giving/acceptingfeedbackeffectively(wherefeedbackisfocusedonaspecificsituationand/or
behaviorinorderforittobeuseful),bothgivingandreceivingitwellandthoughtfully,ratherthan
defensivelyiscritical.Trainersneedtohelpparticipantsunderstandthateffectivefeedbackgiven
withgoodintentisagenuinegift.Ifawareofanyonenotreceiving,givingorreactingtofeedback
wellweseektoworkfurtherwiththem–moreinformally,perhaps.
Challengingandchanging
WhilePBAtrainersneedtobewillingtoacceptchallengesfromtrainees,theyalsohavea
responsibilitytochallengetheassumptions,mindsetsandpatterns/frameworks/habitsof
participantsandtohelpthemtolookbeneaththesurface.Thepurposeofthisistohelptraineesto
openthemselvestonewknowledgeandnewwaysofthinking/behaving.Astrainers,weare
preparedtochallengeparticipants’assumptionsandframeworks,andtodelvebeyondthesurface
ofwhatparticipantspresent.Thismaymeanthatsomesessionsare‘uncomfortable’butour
assumptionisthatifallsessionsare‘safe’thetrainingisprobablyhavingverylittleimpact!
JulieMundy
Director,Training
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