Getting the most out of workshops
Ever attended a workshop without getting results? I have and it’s a frustrating lost opportunity.
Workshops are a great opportunity to share ideas and food together. Don’t forget the food… because there’s lots of research on cultures where sharing ideas and food have built stronger relationships which is necessary for great teamwork.
If you are the organiser of the Workshop and part of the team, take the opportunity before the workshop to read email traffic and look for the recurring issues and any solutions that have been shared but have not come to fruition. Put these issues on the Workshop Agenda and be prepared to share the solutions.
The Agenda is the most important document for a successful workshop. It keeps you the organiser on track and participants can see that the issues they’re interested in will be covered. There’s nothing worse than participants coming to the workshop thinking that it will be a waste of time because their interests will not be discussed.
Have printed copies of documents which are the issue and ask the participants to write changes on the paper version or cut the documents to change or delete unnecessary words or formatting which causes an issue to persist.
Of course changing documents using technology is faster with a click of a key but its more satisfying and visually impactful to use pens or scissors as a self expression for the team.
Finally, check off each item on the Agenda and write notes on what was decided and who will do it, if anything. Then share the Agenda Notes with the team and assign tasks using Microsoft Teams or some other project management tool. Don’t use email to send tasks within a business. They just get lost in the email traffic and are difficult to manage.
This is my first article on Medium. It was a bit scary to write but I’m glad to have a record on how I run successful Workshops. Thank you for reading.
