How can you create adaptable team workshops for any team size?

1 Assess your audience and context

Before you start designing your workshop, you need to understand who your audience is, what their needs and expectations are, and what the context of the workshop is. You can use tools such as surveys, interviews, or personas to gather information about your participants, such as their background, goals, challenges, preferences, and learning styles. You also need to consider the context of the workshop, such as the purpose, duration, format, location, and resources available. These factors will influence how you structure, deliver, and evaluate your workshop.

2 Choose flexible and scalable methods

Once you have a clear picture of your audience and context, you can choose the methods that best suit your workshop objectives and format. You want to select methods that are flexible and scalable, meaning that they can be adapted to different group sizes, levels of interaction, and modes of delivery. For example, you can use methods such as brainstorming, affinity mapping, or dot voting for generating and prioritizing ideas, regardless of whether you have 10 or 100 participants, or whether you use physical or digital tools. You can also use methods such as breakout rooms, polls, or chat for facilitating discussion and feedback, depending on the level of engagement and participation you want to achieve.

3 Plan for contingencies and variations

Even if you have chosen flexible and scalable methods, you still need to plan for contingencies and variations that might arise during your workshop. For example, you might have more or fewer participants than expected, technical issues, time constraints, or different levels of energy or interest among your participants. You need to prepare for these situations by having backup plans, alternative activities, or extra materials ready. You also need to be ready to adjust your workshop plan on the fly, based on the feedback and dynamics of your participants. You can use techniques such as check-ins, pulse surveys, or reflection questions to monitor and adapt to your participants' needs and responses.

4 Use a modular and iterative approach

One way to make your workshop more adaptable is to use a modular and iterative approach. This means that you break down your workshop into smaller and independent units or modules, each with a clear objective, outcome, and method. You can then mix and match these modules according to your audience, context, and goals. For example, you can have a module on defining the problem, another on exploring solutions, and another on evaluating results. You can then combine these modules in different ways, depending on the scope and depth of your workshop. You can also use an iterative approach, meaning that you repeat and refine your modules based on the feedback and results of each cycle. This way, you can ensure that your workshop is relevant, effective, and engaging for your participants.

5 Test and improve your workshop

Finally, you need to test and improve your workshop before, during, and after you deliver it. You can use methods such as prototyping, piloting, or co-creating to test your workshop design and delivery with a small or representative group of participants, and gather feedback and insights on how to improve it. You can also use methods such as observation, evaluation, or debriefing to collect and analyze data and feedback from your actual workshop participants, and identify what worked well and what needs to be improved. You can then use these findings to refine and update your workshop design and delivery, and make it more adaptable for future sessions.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?