Resources

This article explores the difference between choices and decisions, why awareness of choice matters, as well as the different levels of networks & systems and how to navigate them with agency. We offer reflective exercises and actionable ways to engage choice for creating systemic impact.

Planning an event or workshop can be daunting as there are so many details to think about. That’s why we’ve put together this list of questions which we ask ourselves and our clients when we design a gathering.

A clear focus and intention supports you to not overload your workshop, event or conference with tools and methods, but cut down to those you really need and which are actually supportive to your participants. And in doing so, create time and space for them to really engage. 

Moderators and facilitators play a crucial role in the success of online workshops and events. They create the atmosphere, make sure participants feel welcomed, keep the time and the discussions on focus and create clarity for everyone joining. That’s why we have put together this list of go-to phrases for each step of the process. 

We want to offer you some powerful questions to guide you in starting out the year. Join us in reflecting on your intention, vision, desired contribution, learning, acting in uncertainty and your personal strengths.

Trust and psychological safety are foundational for empowered and effective teamwork. Why are they so important and how can we build them intentionally?

For us at Unity Effect, listening is a core capacity for facilitators and leaders. It supports us to create spaces and cultures of trust and appreciation, to discover new insights and ideas, and to connect with others on a deeper level.

In the context of facilitation, and in particular in online spaces, the ability to create psychological safety is really important. This includes creating a space where your participants feel safe to share and contribute, as well as feeling safe yourself. 

What are your associations with words such as “measurement”, “evaluation” or “indicator”? For many people these words sound annoying at best, and there are good reasons for it. Yet it can be a deeply empowering process that reveals hidden opportunities and structural challenges, creating empathy between groups of people. 

The times are certainly changing, and leadership is too. We have been faced with a lot of change and uncertainty in the past year and it has taught us a lot about what is and isn’t working in the way we lead.

In 2020 we had the opportunity to guide 12 members of the Bosch Alumni Network through our Changemaker Journey, developing inner capacities to create meaningful change in uncertainty.

Together with the Skills Innovation Facility of the International Labour Organization we worked to build a network of innovators around the topic of skills innovation. In this case study we will share our most important learnings for setting up and working with networks in a collaborative way.

If you are a leader, or a human, or a human who is leading, you have probably experienced this in some form or other. It’s there in the moments when you think: How the heck did I get myself into this position?

How do we lead in the face of so much uncertainty, when there’s no best practice to draw from, when there’s no single best solution and when even our top level leaders are out of their depth? How can we provide clarity to others about which direction to take when even knowing what will happen in one week’s time seems like an unsolvable mystery?

You know that moment when someone asks you for a favour and you immediately feel it in your belly: no. No way. I have way too much on already. Or maybe more simply: I do not want to do that. I just don’t.

As we at Unity Effect have already been running our workshops and programs online for a while, we have put together this practical guide to share some of the simple tips and tools you can use to make your online gatherings more engaging and productive.

Our experience of conceptualising and running a digital barcamp for change agents across Germany with the teams from Engagement Global and Bonn.digital.

Whether it’s an internal team meeting, external event facilitation or any event that involves bringing people on the same page, it is important to start on the right note.

Can you imagine if someone back in January had described our current reality to you? Would you have believed that things could change so quickly and that – weirdest of all – it would actually start to feel normal.

This year brought us some unimagined challenges. Our workplaces shifted towards online spaces in a glimpse of an eye. How can you bring your team together and create a sense of connection and trust while working online?

It is part of our company philosophy to seek strategic and mutually empowering partnerships that go beyond individual projects. FLOCERT is one example.

Have you heard about strange attractors? In this new post, our co-founder Jannik Kaiser explores the world of chaos, dynamical systems and complexity.

As an Action Partner of the The Global Festival of Action 2019, organised by the UN SDG Global Action Campaign, the Unity Effect team conducted a live social network mapping of festival participants as well as a network analysis.

A live social network visualisation and analysis of the local sustainability ecosystem in Bonn, Germany.