During my career I have led many design workshops and learnt a few lessons along the way. I wanted to share with you all my top 5, possibly specific tips that you might have not thought about before.
This article can help newbies who might be new to the art of facilitation, or possibly some good reading for experienced designers to keep them on their toes if these tips are something you haven’t tried before.
Utilise the “carpark” method
The “carpark” is a designated space during a workshop where any off-topic or tangential ideas or questions can be “parked” for later discussion. This helps to keep the focus of the meeting on the main objectives and goals, and allows for these other ideas to be addressed at a later time without derailing the current conversation.
Don’t be afraid to politely ask someone to park something in the carpark if it’s off-topic. Remember, workshop time is valuable! The carpark is also an item that can be sent off with the post-workshop email follow up. The carpark is a place either on the whiteboard or a digital board that I have in every single workshop I hold.
Create a well-planned agenda
I have a few handy hints to create the perfect agenda for you and your team, no matter the workshop length.
A. The most important person in the workshop is always going to be late. Always schedule the actual workshop to begin 5 minutes late. It means when people join on time you can allow them time for a tea break or to get settled in as well — no complaints! Never start the actual workshop for exactly 10am, always 10:05. Otherwise you are already going to be falling behind.
B. When you write your agenda up for everyone to see make it visible at all times of the workshop. But more importantly, make sure to include the real times (e.g. 1:45pm) that you’ll move on from each task. This is to keep everyone aware of the schedule without having to do internal math. Avoid vague time estimates like “10 mins” or “20 mins” per exercise as it can be difficult to follow and cause confusion and be difficult for even the facilitator to keep track of.
C. I know I just said that every workshop needs to plan to start 5 minutes late. But it also needs to finish 5 minutes early, 10 minutes if the workshop is longer than an hour or rather complex. You never want to finish a workshop where everyone is feeling flustered and stressed and running overtime .This allows buffer time if (when) something runs long but if everything runs to time, gives participants a few minutes of their day back.
Make participant introductions count
A successful workshop requires a strong foundation, and introductions play a crucial role in setting the tone for the session. I’m not talking about warm up exercises or get to know each other games. I’m talking about your own strategic introductions.
Take the time to properly introduce or say hello to each participant if possible. Use this to ensure that they understand their role in the project as well as a great opportunity to set expectations with participants.
During group introductions be sure to highlight people’s expertise to the group and let them know what areas you’re looking forward to hearing their insights in. This can help participants understand where their contributions are most valuable and show them they are needed here today.
I have also found this technique especially helps with participants who are: A. Quieter, and struggle to speak up.
B. Less engaged and who might not want to be in todays workshop.
Send clear and timely emails
Communication is key when it comes to running a successful workshop. At a minimum, you should send two emails per workshop.
1. An introduction email one day before the workshop
2. A follow-up email after the workshop
The introduction email should include the agenda, workshop goals, an introduction to any important personnel as well as a link to the workshop itself if online.
The follow-up email should contain a link to the summary for people to refer back to and outline the decided next steps. It’s important to let participants know who’s taking responsibility for those next steps. This is also a time to discuss anything in the carpark.
A workshop goal
It’s all to easy to finish a workshop with a bunch of “stuff” with participants looking back on the workshop and thinking that all that happened was “we made a bunch of ideas”. This isn’t ideal.
In every workshop you want to make sure that your participants know what they are working towards and can finish the workshop satisfied knowing they completed the goal.
There needs to be zero confusion around what the goal of the workshop is. This goal needs to be specific and absolute, we either accomplish it as a group or we do not.
Example of a bad workshop goal: Today we are going to brainstorm ideas for X, Y and Z.
Example of a good workshop goal: We will finish this workshop with 2–3 solid ideas for design to take away and investigate further. These ideas will have general consensus from the group and can serve as a starting point for further ideation or be developed into potential solutions for your product.
Example of a bad workshop goal: We are going to spend the next 2 hours working our way through as much of this customer journey map as possible.
Example of a good workshop goal: Today we are going to start and complete the Customer Touch-points and Pain-point streams of this Customer Journey. Next week we will be completing the Internal streams.
In conclusion
Whether you are a newbie to facilitation or a seasoned pro, these tips can help take your workshops to the next level. Leading a successful workshop requires careful planning and execution. By implementing these five tips, you can help ensure that your workshop runs smoothly, accomplishes its goals, and leaves participants feeling satisfied with their contributions.
Do you use any of these yourself? Let me know if you have any other specific tips you live by.
Happy facilitating!
