How to run a Workshop
Project Workshops that Make your Project work better.
No matter the project or topic, workshops can make your team more connected and engaged and work to solve problems, innovate, or get ready for what comes next.
Your team and stakeholders may love them or hate them, depending on what experiences they have had in the past. Workshops can be fun and a great way to create a collaborative solution. But they need to be set up and run correctly.
But what makes workshops so important to project success, and how to make them useful?
Workshops are a way to:
build the team
create a clear solution
get on the same page
The key to any Workshop is the outcome. A successful workshop without a successful outcome will soon be defined as unproductive. To ensure workshop success, outcomes must be tested against the goals of:
Feasibility (that it is possible),
Viability (that it meets the needs), and
Sustainability (maintainable and/or environmentally friendly)
Based on these points. Doing homework in advance to ensure you know how you will set up, run and follow up the Workshop is critical to making it a success for the organization and participants.
Set up for Success
Set the Scene
Make sure the Workshop is set up correctly. To do this, review the reason for the Workshop, the expected outcome, and the background (including supporting data).
Ensure you are working with the workshop or project sponsor to create the right outcome based on a clear goal. The workshop process should mirror the goal. Depending on your workshop goal, you may include certain tools to assist you:
Click the linked items for more information about each of these topics.
Digital app? Design Thinking.
Personality roles or goals? Meyers-Briggs or Belbin models.
New product? User Journeys and Computer-Aided Design.
See how to run a workshop using Design Thinking and Post-its here.
For every 1 hour of workshop time, expect 8 hours of preparation time.
Prepare the content - Create a Workbook with:
the content you plan to cover.
the process you will follow,
the tools you will need (Belbin, CAD, etc.)
the Agenda and the facilitation team roles and responsibilities
Review this workbook with the sponsor to assess for cultural fit and scope of work. Ensure that any assumptions or questions are managed as part of the process.
Also, create a summary document for participants with the
Workshop:
Goal
Logistics (timing, location)
Agenda
Background information, as needed
Clear actions required by the participants
Make this participant document short and engaging. Show why they are important to the outcome. And make it visual if possible.
The Right people
Diversity of workshop members is key to getting the best input and ideas on the table. So make sure you have the right mix of members involved and the right number of people to ensure diversity.
Also, consider the number of workshop participants. The larger number of participants will require more break-out sessions and a larger facilitation team. Again, consider your goal and keep the group manageable. Don't invite more people than is needed, since more does not equal better. Conversely, too small a group, and you likely lack diversity of input. My rule of thumb is 10-20 people is a good size.
Who should be in attendance?
If you are running a project, each team role should be represented:
Stakeholders and Users (the target audience for the solution)
Project Team members (i.e., technical, functional, operations).
The Workshop facilitation team (communications, scribes)
The Stakeholder should agree to the list and create a call to action for attendees to ensure the selected members have the time and focus.
The Right Venue
Think about the space. There needs to be enough air in the room. Workshops are active processes. Therefore, literal physical space is important.
People need room to breathe to work collaboratively and get innovative.
So make sure the room has windows, views (if possible), and a high enough ceiling. These seem like details, but a small room will frustrate people and burn them out.
Select the location with seating in mind, make space to work in breakout sessions, small table groups, round tables, or standing spaces to facilitate discussions and working groups.
Make sure lunch and refreshments are made ready.
A note about food: don't eat in the workspace. Keeping things separate allows the team to focus and keep moving in the Workshop and allows for breaks. Plus, it avoids food smells which can interrupt focus.
Have materials: markers, posters, flipchart, paper around the room, walls, and post-it notes for brainstorming. Use technology if it is helpful and be ready to take videos or photos of people or work.
Create a brown paper space to allow for post-it notes and working areas for group design.
Designate a flip chart area to capture key points you will work throughout the Workshop - put headings on the top of each flip chart to designate its purpose:
"Parking Lot" - off-topic from the Workshop but needs to be captured for later.
"Goals" - Participant input to the workshop goals
"Concerns" - Issues Participants want to voice at the start of the Workshop
Goals and Concerns should be reference regularly to ensure they are being addressed. When they are, agree if you can check off the item, this is helpful to show progress to the participants.
Arrange for your team to help with roles in advance. What you may need is dependent on the Workshop. Examples of Workshop roles are:
Facilitator to present and moderate.
Scribes (1 or 2) to help to write on flip charts and document decisions and actions.
Photographer and video maker to capture the content and action.
Technology person for demos and product solutions.
Functional person with process flows and configuration.
Logistics to ensure refreshments, lunch, transport, and materials are ready on time.
Facilitate for Results
The Facilitator’s role
The Role is to guide the team through a process. Open up the conversation to ideas, but control the scope based on the objectives. The Facilitator is the Workshop Leader - as such good Leadership skills are needed - see the Video for more on the 7 Essential Skills for every Leader.
At the start of the day, make sure the venue is ready.
Welcome participants as they arrive. Provide materials and name tags as needed. Make sure they know where they will sit and where refreshments and bathrooms are.
Begin with Clarity
Get started with a 1- 2- 3 Process:
Thank the workshop participants for coming - welcome them and let them know they are important to the process.
Review 'House rules' - such as no phones or laptops (no outside Workshop work).
Present the call to action - review why they are here, the outcome goal, and the benefit to the organization and team workshop team.
Introductions and breakouts
If people do not yet know each other - create a moment to get the energy going.
Break the ice by asking each table to form a sub-group ( this pattern can be used as a model for the Workshop). Then, break each of the subgroup members introduce themselves by name, role, location, and one more thing (this adds a sense of fun - and recalls the famous Apple 'one more thing statements).
Each subgroup can move to the standing workspace and brown paper area or flip chart. Have each of the participants document on stickies and put on the flip chart at their table each individual:
Goals
Concerns
Ambition for the Workshop
If they understand the issues at the outset, you may add:
what works well, and
what is not working
Once individuals have documented their post-it comments, have them grouped by type. Each individual can then share their intro and input with the subgroup.
Have each table select a spokesperson to summarize the comment areas and the specific points made.
Using this model of individual, sub-group, and group activities will be a process used throughout the Workshop, so starting the members off using this will be a way of working.
As each subgroup 'reads out' the key points, have the scribe document the key points. The Facilitator should check for understanding if the points are not clear and summarize when needed. When rewording input, always ask if the summary captures the idea - this ensures participants feel heard.
If content goes off-topic, use the "parking lot." You want participants to see the point is documented, but understanding the issue is not in the Workshop's scope.
The rest of the content captured should be part of the Facilitator's content working agenda to address during the Workshop. The Facilitator should review and check off the points from time to time during the Workshop to confirm the point has been worked. Seeing this progress gives participants a sense of progress throughout the Workshop and that their specific goals are being addressed.
The breakout, action, and a feedback loop is a helpful workshop process. The model can tackle each step of the Workshop once the topic and action have been introduced. The participants will come to understand this pattern allows for input from everyone. It is likely that as work progresses, the teams may self-select to work on topics of interest versus on a team
If you need to get detailed, do so in breakouts and have the teams report back to keep things moving.
Structure the process
When introducing new content or ideas to the participants, have the Stakeholder summarize the findings and how they fit into the goal.
If available, have someone from the team show the data, assumptions, or work down to ensure all participants have the same information and ask clarifying questions.
If the topics start to go off track, have your Stakeholder or Facilitator restate the 'case' and the goal for this step of the Workshop.
Are you building a road map
Making configuration choices,
Defining a use case for a product, or
Something else
Make it interactive. Use Design Thinking or other processes to:
Make your project better.
Make your product better.
The Above scenario assumes a face-to-face meeting. However, today virtual workshops are just as likely. A few adjustments can be made to allow the workshop process to be just as engaging. Virtual workshops will need:
An online meeting tool. Like Zoom. The tool should support chat, breakout rooms, content sharing, and organized participation.
It is helpful if the session can be recorded. This is the upside of using technology.
Send a material pack to each of the team members so they have what they need and run their own brown paper sessions remotely. It is also nice that everyone has similar items to add to the sense of collaboration.
Table teams can use the tool breakout rooms, where a whiteboard or powerpoint can capture the input from others.
To track flip board goals, actions, parking lot, and more, use tools like Trello or Asana. Use a kanban approach and keep the setup simple.
Cross conversation can be in teams or cross-group in the zoom chat or in the tool (ie, Trello)
Close the Workshop
Workshops should not end just because the “clock runs out”. Just as you need to ramp up the team, you need to ramp down and create the next steps.
So make sure that you follow the checklist to close your Workshop well. Doing so gives a sense of completion of the workshop activities, understanding the next steps to be expected, and how the work will be communicated more generally.
Go back to the start of the Workshop. Remind participants of their goals and concerns, see if there are any to be carried forward to the next steps.
Review the work down, summarize the day in the life and the actions and next steps documented for that work to continue.
Review any open issues raised by the participants and 'close out' the status of the flip charts. Issues and actions are either marked completed or send to the next steps.
Discuss how communications and actions will be shared with participants moving forward.
Look for participants that can join the user's groups to maintain involvement to review and test progress on the ideas in the future.
Thank your participants. Celebrate the work done in whatever way suits the culture and situation.
A tea break
A drink or dinner
A small gift
You can also create and give out an 'awards' for the best idea, best team member, best table facilitator. The more, the merrier.
All of these give an upbuilding moment to end the workshop event. And you want each and every member of the workshop to walk away positive about the experience.
Collect The Workshops Artifacts
But your team is not done. Ensure your flip charts, content, and visual storyboards are documented so the context is not lost. Before you take your flip charts and brown paper session down, take pictures.
Capture all of the documentation for transcribing into a more sustainable method, or
Use the work for inspiration in the team room working on the project or product in the future.
Use the photos for communication and follow-up to the participants to formally thank them and share the content created. This way, they can see the impact of their work moving forward.
Make Sustainable Outcomes
Your Workshop was successful. Now you need to keep the success going. The key to this is communication and follow-up.
Post-workshop, thank the team again and summarize the outcome. Provide a communication channel for follow-up.
Sustain the success and remind the team of the contribution from the Workshop participants by:
Workshop documents in the Team room - put up artifacts that remind the team of the days work.
Keep documents that show the design, process or similar documents in the teams working area to provide inspiration or refer to when discussing issues.
Flip charts from the Workshop can focus the team on the goal.
Design artwork and Story Boards supply insight into the user's frame of reference and highlight how this product or process fits with the existing framework.
Continually update documents with notations as users and the team move forward to show changes in thinking. This is a visual way to show progress and can be helpful with testing (to understand potential design delta's)
Sustainable Communications
Create a clear communication strategy that keeps participants in the loop:
Share how the Workshop's solution is continuing to be iterated, tested, and validated.
Create a storyboard or video that showcases the end-to-end product and how it fits. Share with the participants for feedback.
Invite participants to a demo of the product when ready.
Create a communications plan that documents the Workshop as part of the assessment and design work done.
Plan more workshops to continue the effort if the project is large and more decisions and solutions are needed.
Form a user group to keep participants involved informally (especially if they are part of the solution targeted). This will provide a focus group and two-way feedback mechanism going forward.
Sustainable Success
As the project progresses, don't forget the Workshop. Build off the relationships the team has created. Sustain goodwill by asking for advice, insight, and feedback.
Invite Workshop attendees to project or product milestone celebrations. Make sure to acknowledge them in public as core to the development of the idea.
Encourage your workshop participants to share the story of the idea and the work. Create a sense of accomplishment and ownership with the work and the project outcome. Participants can be ambassadors for your Workshop's goal.
Do you use workshops for your project or work products? If so, what are your keys to success? Please share in the comments below!