Two Beanmachine duos on working in tandem
At Beanmachine, we increasingly facilitate in pairs. Not as an added bonus, but as a deliberate choice. Two people reading together what’s alive in a group, above and below the waterline.
But what does that look like in practice? We asked two duos who do it regularly.
Pieter & Sara: “We don’t share workblocks, we share attention”
Pieter and Sara worked together for the first time on the Essentials Track at DEME, coincidentally also one of Sara’s very first assignments at Beanmachine. “Everything was still new to me back then,” she recalls. “But Pieter radiated so much calm and confidence. He had a grip not just on the methodology, but on the group. That gave me an anchor.”
Today, their alignment comes naturally. Pieter manages the pace and energy. Sara reads what’s alive in the room. No fixed role division, just a natural way of working they’ve refined together over time.
“I tend to want to speed up. Sara makes sure no one gets left behind. We complement each other intuitively.” — Pieter
Working together also taught them something about themselves. Pieter became more aware of his drive to move fast. Sara learned to hold structure more lightly: “From Pieter, I learned that you can step onto the train with just three post-its and still make an impact.”
“We’ve talked about what we find difficult. About our fears. And that honesty, it creates a bond that deepens your work.” — Sara
Bruno & François: “We trust each other blindly on that”
Bruno and François have called each other ‘Pilou’ for years, a nickname born from a misunderstanding that never went away. What does that say about their partnership? “It’s full of playfulness, but also deeply lived-in and attuned,” Bruno laughs.
They first worked together in 2018, at the National Bank of Belgium. Dozens of trajectories later, often with large groups and complex group dynamics. François observes and senses what’s at play. Bruno holds the process and the rhythm. And when the moment comes, they switch without a word.
“Sometimes we just look at each other and know: I’ll take it from here.” — François
That complementarity also grew out of mutual honesty. François: “Bruno was the first to reflect back to me that I’m good at keeping an overview, how to cluster post-its without losing the thread of the story. That wasn’t an obvious strength to me. But once he named it, I started to own it and use it more consciously.”
“I know François will catch me when I need it, and I’ll catch him. We trust that blindly. And that gives us the space to really dare.” — Bruno
Why we at Beanmachine deliberately choose duo and co-facilitation, and what it asks of the people who do it? Read all about it in our new Beanzine.
