A creative workshop is a collaborative session where you and your team generate, develop, and evaluate ideas for a specific challenge or goal. Leading a creative workshop can be a rewarding and fun experience, but it also requires some planning, preparation, and facilitation skills. Here are some tips on how to lead a creative workshop that sparks innovation and engagement.
Before you invite anyone to your workshop, you need to have a clear and specific purpose for it. What is the problem or opportunity you want to address? What are the desired outcomes and deliverables? How will you measure the success of the workshop? Having a clear purpose will help you design the workshop agenda, choose the right participants, and communicate the expectations and objectives to everyone involved.
The saying goes: "Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe." For me all the work goes into everything that happens before anyone steps foot in a room. How many times have you been in a creative session where you quickly realise that you're all working on the wrong problem? I gather the stakeholders before then (at least a week) and we work on the problem statement together and gain alignment before we begin planning activities and so on. This is not always an easy process but it saves so much time later on and means that you don't get competing agendas and are less likely to get sidetracked. To start ask every stakeholder who to share their initial problem statement and go from there.
Getting crystal clear on your 'why' will not only centre the entire workshop, it informs what output you need. People are more likely to engage wholeheartedly when they know 'the why' and, better yet, feel more emotionally invested in the output. In 2022, I ran a series of creative workshops to help a brand define their retail experience. We invited everyone in the company, and even the brand's VIP customers. Our why was 'to have a positive and meaningful impact on every person that enters our stores' and stay united as we grow. The refined output became our signature store experience, defined and embodied by our community! Today, people feel more invested and believe in our mission, because they had a part to play in capturing the magic.
In my experience facilitating creative education to children and youth across many countries, to clearly define the higher purpose is essential. Is it the tangible evolution of their skills? Is it flexibility in creative thinking and problem solving? If you are hired or commissioned, be on the same page with the organiser.
The agenda is the roadmap for your workshop. It should outline the activities, timings, roles, and materials for each stage of the workshop. A typical workshop agenda follows a four-step process: diverge, converge, prototype, and test. In the diverge stage, you use brainstorming, mind mapping, or other techniques to generate as many ideas as possible. In the converge stage, you use voting, clustering, or other techniques to narrow down and prioritize the ideas. In the prototype stage, you use sketches, models, or other techniques to turn the ideas into tangible concepts. In the test stage, you use feedback, validation, or other techniques to evaluate and refine the concepts.
For me, the more simple the agenda is, the greater the engagement and outcome. As a lover of alliteration, to help people learn and stay grounded, my workshops tend to follow a simple agenda that sounds like: Explore, Expand, Embrace, and Elevate. Explore the possibilities and experiment with new ideas Expand your perspective with 10X thinking and challenge each other Embrace the insights and ideas that have the highest collective resonance with the 'Why' Elevate the concept with greater clarity, significance and impact. Enhance the quality, value and potential, in alignment with the mission and values. Not to forget, this agenda will always be sandwiched with a mindful and creative warm-up and cool-down!
The participants are the key to a successful workshop. You want to have a diverse and balanced group of people who can contribute different perspectives, skills, and experiences to the workshop. Ideally, you should have between six to twelve participants, depending on the complexity and scope of the challenge. You should also consider inviting some external stakeholders, such as customers, users, or experts, who can provide valuable insights and feedback. Make sure you invite the participants well in advance and provide them with the workshop purpose, agenda, and expectations.
As a facilitator you have to mentally and physically prepare yourself before you begin. If you’re not feeling it you can’t expect the group to come along with you. Managing your own energy is key too. Depending on the workplace culture and the group, the method I use will be different but the objective is the same - get the attendees in a great state to participate. Sometimes we take a short walk outside or do a mindfulness exercise (I Iike the raisin meditation). If your delegates are coming from another meeting give them a moment to decompress - so often people seem to have no gaps in their meetings and are not present (understandably). I like to help them arrive mentally as well as physically.
Choosing the right participants is a strategic step for a successful and enriching workshop experience. I'll always seek people who bring a diverse range of perspectives, skills, and backgrounds to foster a dynamic exchange of ideas. In my work, this tends to be people from different departments, and sometimes customers and consumers of the brand. A diverse group helps maximise the potential for meaningful interactions, vibrant discussions, and the generation of unique insights that drive the workshop's overall success.
The materials are the tools and resources that you and your participants will use during the workshop. You should have a variety of materials that can support different types of activities and modes of expression. For example, you might need paper, pens, sticky notes, markers, scissors, tape, magazines, cards, or other items for brainstorming, prototyping, or testing. You should also have a laptop, projector, screen, speakers, or other devices for presenting, recording, or sharing information. Make sure you have enough materials for everyone and that they are organized and accessible.
I think of preparing materials as building a creative playground – everything is set up to immediately spark curiosity and drop people into the present moment. By crafting an organised and vibrant environment, we create a space that helps people embrace discomfort, and nurtures new ideas and innovative thinking. Preparing materials well also sets the stage for a seamless and impactful experience. It doesn't need to complicated, just finding the right tools that align with the workshop's objectives with foster clarity and creativity will flourish. Recently, I've been loving the use of mini hand-held white boards, a fluffy cushion for 'passing the mic' and the introduction of music during activities.
The facilitator is the person who guides and supports the participants through the workshop. As a facilitator, you have several roles and responsibilities. You need to set the tone and atmosphere of the workshop, making sure everyone feels welcome, comfortable, and motivated. You need to explain and demonstrate the purpose, agenda, and rules of the workshop, making sure everyone understands and agrees on them. You need to lead and monitor the activities, making sure everyone participates, collaborates, and follows the process. You need to manage the time, energy, and dynamics of the workshop, making sure everyone stays on track, focused, and respectful. You need to summarize and document the results and outcomes of the workshop, making sure everyone recognizes and celebrates the achievements.
The most important part. If we want true innovative thinking and fearless engagement, we need to nurture psychological safety and co-create a courageous space (outside comfort zones!). It's all about those micro facilitation skills that nurture an inclusive space and foster a non-judgmental environment. For me, the most important practices are: having clear exceptions, setting personal intentions right from the beginning, having no distractions for the session, ensuring everyone has equal contribution, and active listening throughout. A holistic approach like this will honour each participant's unique contribution, and enrich the joyful experience of creative thinking within a supportive community.
The follow up and action are the steps that you and your participants take after the workshop. They are essential to ensure that the workshop is not a one-off event, but a meaningful and impactful experience. You need to follow up with the participants, thanking them for their contribution, sharing the workshop documentation, and asking for their feedback and suggestions. You need to action the workshop outcomes, communicating them to the relevant stakeholders, implementing them in the project or organization, and measuring their impact and value.
As magical as creative workshops can be, the true magic unfolds afterward, with aligned next steps and action. I keep it simple, with: Assigning responsibilities that align with people's strengths. This fosters accountability and ownership, and ensures each responsibility has a champion who will drive its execution. Actionable plans that support participants with specific tasks, timelines, and milestones. This helps break down the larger goals into manageable steps. Scheduling regular check-in meetings or progress updates to keep momentum and address any challenges along the way. And finally, celebrating the small wins, staying adaptable, and having constant feedback loops for important reflection and re-direction!