What WWF and Learning to Achieve have in common

At the risk of sounding like a beauty pageant contestant, the answer is: trying to make the world a better place.

When we hear about global issues in the news, ‘making a difference’ feels like a vague, insurmountable task. With stress comes stagnancy; the more pressing an issue becomes, the more we tend to bury our heads in the sand. 

So what’s the answer? 

Collaboration and collective action. 

When big-thinking, enterprising individuals and organisations come together to tackle an issue, progress unfolds. 

Enter nature conservation giant, WWF. Back in 2018, they formed a partnership with Tesco, setting a goal to halve the environmental impact of UK shopping baskets.

Just a few years later, in 2021, through the WWF Basket and WWF’s Retailers’ Commitment for Nature, a wider group of UK retailers – Co-op, M&S, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose as well as Tesco – have come on board and have committed to work with WWF towards this target.

“So, what was your role in all this, Phil?”                                                                                                                                           

Initially, I was brought in to run facilitation and presentation training for the WWF partnerships team, which comprised thirty people with various areas of expertise.  

Over the course of three months, I devised a series of online sessions, tests and programmes to train the WWF team on some of the best ways to facilitate effective working within and across complex organisations with multiple stakeholders. 

In a nutshell, they came to me with the ‘why’ and I guided them on the ‘how’. For instance, how to design engaging and productive meetings, rather than waffly corporate talkathons that don’t contribute to meaningful progress. 

But it didn’t stop there.  

Learning to achieve 

I was originally brought in to train the team on how to deliver these outcomes. But one discussion led to another, and I was asked to run the engagement project on their behalf instead, which is ongoing.

I was given the content and the desired outcomes. My job was to wrap it up in an accessible, achievable, and exciting way. A hype man, if you will (sans microphone and shades). 

We didn’t want attendees to be ‘passive passengers’. In other words, treating the webinars as a forgettable tick-box exercise while daydreaming about weekend plans and what’s for dinner.

No, no. Yawn-worthy content was not on the agenda. I needed to hone in on the core message and think carefully about what WWF wanted external stakeholders to think, feel, and do differently as a result of the webinars.

In the world of facilitation, we call this the TIE approach. 

T - Technology. Making the best use of the technology  (and timeframes) so it works for us, not against us. 

I - Interactive. Ensuring participants are playing an active role and interacting with the content. 

E - Engaging. Capturing dwindling attention spans by keeping things fresh, novel, and enjoyable. 

As the go-to facilitator for this project, I design and facilitate the face-to-face get-togethers too, for example for key milestones meetings. 

The achievements 

This is the part where I pass the mic to the client, so you know I’m not just blowing my own trumpet. 

Here’s what the WWF team have to say about my involvement in their work with the food sector.

“Phil is incredibly creative and passionate about ensuring workshops and meetings have the best impact possible and deliver their aims. He will be tireless in putting forward suggestions in planning and then in delivery to ensure everyone attending a workshop has had their voice heard and input captured.

He is a master at keeping time, even when the conversations are stimulating and ensuring that sessions finish on time, but with their objectives completed. Having an external third party ensures that everyone internally is able to have their say and focus on the content, rather than the delivery of the session.” 

- Sarah Wakefield - Head of Food Transformation at WWF UK 

“Phil listens to all the needs of the session(s) and takes time to consider how best to approach a situation. This thoughtful approach really does show when you come to delivery - whether it’s a workshop, a webinar or a presentation. 

 Each time we’ve engaged with a group of stakeholders, it’s felt personal, and highly nuanced to the needs, all with perfect professionalism! It’s made a huge difference in how we approach external engagement with the food industry engagement at WWF.

Honestly - without Phil’s work with us as a facilitator, I don’t think our engagement on some of the issues would have been as great as they have been to date. Our team wouldn’t be as confident in public speaking or presenting their arguments so impactfully.”

- Emma Boulter - Food Transformation Project Manager at WWF UK

Ah, shucks. Long may it continue, WWF!

The takeaways 

Many organisations have mastered the art of unnecessary interactions, thanks to a plethora of apps, instant messaging platforms, and video conferencing tools. But genuine, productive, we’re all-on-the-same-page collaboration? That’s arguably harder than ever. 

Without a sense of overarching meaning and purpose, apathy and disorganisation take hold. But high-quality, focused interactions pave the way for productivity, efficiency and motivation. The key is in the design and execution. 

That’s what effective facilitation is all about. Learning to Achieve became a key puzzle piece in helping to drive great communication between WWF and a wide range of external stakeholders.

Having expert-level facilitation in their back pocket helped enable the WWF team to engage the wider food retail sector more effectively, thanks to the pragmatic, positive, and purpose-driven approach we’d refined. 

• No ‘death by PowerPoint’ meetings. 

• No hold-ups due to red tape. 

• No communication breakdowns. 

Just a clear action plan that’s values-led and results-driven.

 (And, crucially, not mind-numbingly tedious to listen to.)

 Piqued your curiosity? 

Simply put, my job is to deliver results by helping the people in your organisation and beyond connect with each other. 

If your organisation has grand plans to make a difference in the world but ‘getting everyone on the same page’ is giving you a headache, let’s chat.