Pat’s Point of View

I’ve recently been helping a client with needs analysis, including using interviews, focus groups and touching on a technique called ‘anecdote circles’ (for an excellent introduction see the Ultimate Guide to Anecdote Circles, published by a company called Anecdote funny enough). I read with interest the following with regard to the technique:

The facilitator [of an anecdote circle] takes a low profile. That can mean reducing eye contact with those sharing their stories, though remaining present and listening. Subtle twiddling with recording equipment knobs can be a good ‘low status’ behaviour. The use of silence is another ‘low-status’ technique. When there is silence, savour it, let it hang. This can help the group to develop its own sense of pace as well as reinforcing that you are here as a guide, not a leader.

That’s me! I think I perform that role with ease, as my natural tendency is to lurk, observe, be silent and generally be a wall-flower. And I’m an expert twiddler.

I’m also reading the Tao of Coaching by Max Landsberg, which among other things, shouts the virtues of listening and questioning as opposed to telling and leading. Again, being the quiet guy is a useful personality trait.

I always knew being an introvert would come in handy.

See what people are blogging about: anecdote circles, story listening, storytelling, focus groups

The last few months have been a bit of a blur for me, with lots of work keeping me busy. But soon I’ll get a break.

First I’m off to UPA 2007 in Austin, Texas. It’s going to be a hectic ten day trip during which I hope to learn lots and network a bit. I won’t be presenting at the conference (might have to work my way up to that one) but it will be great to just be there.

I’ve promised to get Jenn a proper 10 gallon hat, but I fear she may disappear if she were to put it on! Maybe a slightly smaller souvenir would be better.

Then straight after I get back to Sydney, we’re off on a nice relaxing holiday in tropical Queensland. As odd as it is, seeing as it’s winter and all (and it’s snowing!). Whatever keeps the Mrs happy :)

As the year progresses there will be more conferences (mostly in Sydney) to punch holes in my consulting workload. A few I’m looking forward to are:

• Open Publish in August
• OZ-IA in September
• Web Directions South also in September
• OZCHI in November (Adelaide)

(There are a few unconfirmed too, including a Webstock-mini and FullCodePress)

See what people are blogging about: UPA2007, OZIA, OZCHI, Web Directions South, Webstock, FullCodePress

I have ten days to take seven flights in order to attain Qantas Gold Frequent Flyer status. I have only two flights booked, and it’s unlikely I will get to go anywhere else in the next two weeks. So close but so far!

I’ll be giving a talk at the next Web Standards Group meeting in Sydney, on the 31st of May, entitled “Intranets, why you should care”. This will focus on some of the things I have blogged about recently.

Whilst there will be an obvious skew toward web developers and techies, hopefully the topic will be interesting for other people to. This event may prove to be a practise run for several talks later in the year, including OZCHI, OZ-IA and Open Publish.

Also presenting on the night will be Shane Morris from Microsoft Australia. In such company I only hope I don’t embarrass myself :)

Refer to the WSG website for more details on the evening.

It’s worth noting that the date has been moved from the 24th to the 31st due to some hassles with the venue.

See what people are blogging about: web standards group, intranets

It’s quite apparent that the lowly intranet is a surprisingly unpopular thing among web designers and developers. Why is this? I’ve done some thinking, in an attempt to get under the skin of the issue.

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I’m on-site at a client today, using one of their PCs, and I’ve discovered that I’m quite out of touch with the latest in desktop computing. I say that because I was taken by surprise by a new feature of this particular PC, an audible indicator for resource utilisation.

That’s right, when ever the processor utilisation went up, so did this whirring fan noise! It easily drowned out all other noise in the room. Who needs Task Manager when you can tell by the pitch (not to mention the futile desperation) of the sound your computer makes.

This came in very handy each time IE crashed. The browser would freeze up, and whoosh off the fan would go, struggling to deal with the burden. I kinda felt sorry for the poor little machine, it sounded so upset. You could hear its relief as I killed the offending process. (That’s a first for my blog…audio!)