How can you improve team problem-solving and decision-making skills with workshops?

Define Objectives: Clearly outline workshop goals for problem-solving and decision-making skills. Assessment: Begin with self/team assessment to identify strengths and areas for improvement. Workshop Design: Include interactive sessions, case studies, and group discussions. Team Building: Incorporate exercises to strengthen communication and collaboration. Problem-Solving Models: Introduce models like SWOT analysis and Fishbone Diagrams. Decision-Making Techniques: Teach Decision Matrix, Cost-Benefit Analysis, and Pros-Cons approach. Role Play: Conduct simulations for real-world decision-making scenarios. Feedback Mechanism: Establish continuous feedback during and after exercises.

Keep below points in mind and prepare your workshop. set clear goals foster open communication use practical scenarios and brainstorming teach decision techniques incorporate role play encourage feedback celebrate successes.

Problem solving and decision making are practical yet learnable skills. While having a training session on these topics, we can cover the theoretical aspects of problem solving and decision making but emphasis should be on practical scenarios around each aspect. We should have lots of individual and group setting scenarios where people can get real sense of what goes behind these. This will help them have a deeper understanding.

Through asking without giving direct answers to them, let the audience discover through the story the answer and the next steps.

One of the best pieces of advice I’ve stuck to when facilitating is allowing groups to have some confusion and lack of clarity of the answer going into an activity, it’s natural for some of that because it engages and encourages them to create solutions, explore, and actively learn.

People learn best by doing the skill in a dynamic environment under expert supervision. As a model, think of a baseball batter or a blacksmith's apprentice. A batter learns best by swinging at pitches. Think of your workshop as a place to mentor apprentices. Set up problems to be solved or decisions to be made and the kind of environment your staff will be working in. Set them at it and coach them through it. And add dynamics. A batter learns best by swinging at a variety of pitches, not a series of fast balls, a series of curves, etc. Get your staff working on a decision. Then, throw them curves and sinkers. See how they react. Do reflection. Repeat.

Choosing workshop methods must be centered around audience engagement. If the audience cannot connect with you, the success of the training will be diminished.

Workshops are not just mental gyms; they're also playgrounds where the gamification trend adds a thrilling twist to decision-making and problem-solving! Gamified activities bring complex concepts to life through interactive, competitive elements like point scoring and leaderboards. This approach not only makes learning fun but also mirrors real-life pressures and rewards, honing quick, strategic thinking. Plus, it fosters a vibrant, engaging atmosphere, boosting retention and collaboration. So, when we play the game right, 'decision dread' transforms into 'strategic mastery' – and who doesn't love a good game?

Selecting the right methods is crucial for an effective workshop. Depending on the nature of the objectives, consider incorporating methods such as case studies, role-playing, brainstorming sessions, or simulations. Tailor the methods to engage team members and promote collaborative problem-solving and decision-making. Even when I facilitate a listening or coaching activity, I always want participants to notice HOW they navigated the situation rather than WHAT they accomplished. Methods that illuminate the HOW help participants understand what they need to start, stop and continue doing.

Make sure to have a variety of materials as well. Just having handouts may not be enough. You must gage how people are learning in real time and isolate the resources for the correct people. Some may be hands-on, while others are visual. One tactic I use is having one person control the situation, while I talk through it and have others give input. Hands on people get in control, visual learners see it, audio learners hear me talk through it, and cerebral learners can take the information in at their pace.

In terms of preparation, it's not only the hardcopy material you want to use during the workshop. If you know what you want to get out of the workshop, it could prove very valuable to also let your participants prepare the topic. So send your participants questions or considerations beforehand. This oftentimes gives much more in-depth input during your workshop, than when people need to give input 'on the spot'. So a short briefing of questionnaire via email can be a valuable part of the preparation material as well!

Adequate preparation of materials is essential for a smooth workshop. This includes creating handouts, presentation slides, and any resources needed for the activities. Ensure that materials are well-organized and easily accessible to participants, fostering a conducive learning environment. Consider if the session will be remote, in-person or hybrid to ensure your materials will work in the learning environment.

Activities and icebreakers are great tools for gaining collaboration. Remember that even the slightest activity should have a purpose in alignment with the topic or agenda. In today's hectic environment, multiple things compete for people's time. I found that the last thing people want to do is a 15-minute scavenger hunt while work accumulates on their desks.

The facilitator plays a pivotal role in guiding the workshop. Create an inclusive atmosphere where team members feel comfortable expressing their ideas and opinions. Encourage active participation and foster open communication. The facilitator should guide discussions, manage time effectively, and ensure that the team stays focused on the objectives.

The impact of the workshop shouldn't end when the session concludes. Implement a follow-up plan to reinforce the skills learned. This could involve regular check-ins, ongoing training sessions, or incorporating the newly acquired skills into real-life projects. Gathering feedback from participants can also provide insights for refining future workshops. Gather feedback from the participant's leaders to also get insights on the impact of the session.

The hanging fruit is in the follow up in every single situation. How did they implement the new skills or models, is it helpful and efficient. Does it make the work life easier or more complicated? All important topics to be considered.

Follow up is important. Teams devote a large amount of time and effort to attend the workshop, lend their expertise, and commit to changes. Follow up allows for a debrief of the process. It ensures accountability of action items and additional support if teams are meeting barriers. Follow up also allows for opportunities to re-visit the problem. What was originally planned may not have worked. Without follow-up, and with a failed plan, you run the risk of disengagement and unwillingness to participate in the future. Follow up is one of the most important parts of problem solving workshops.

We think of follow up as collecting feedback, and that's important. But the best learning is spaced learning. People forget what they learn in a workshop pretty quickly. Probably, in 7-10 days. You can defeat that forgetting curve by sending brief follow ups every week or so. Mix in reminders of what they learned and quizzes to see what they've retained. Add a leader board and you'll motivate people to engage and retain.

When you're teaching decision-making, one of the toughest features to reproduce in a workshop is stress. Stress and fear cause perceptual narrowing. They often cause people to forget the skills they've just learned. So, if your work environment is highly stressful, you can do a great job of creating a safe environment in your workshop and teaching the skill, and it won't transfer to the workplace. But you shouldn't just create stress from the outset or learners won't engage. Start with a very safe set of activities (writing, voting) and slowly ramp into situations where people are put on the spot (solving problems with people watching). So, they have experience using the skills in a realistic situation.

Step 1: make sure all leaders and managers attend. In my 30 years of leading workshops and trainings, I can tell you with certainty, the majority of the time managers say "I will send my people, and I will stay here and mind the store". In other words, they don't participate, they don't even know what was covered and they don't care. How do you think your team interprets this?

The biggest part of the puzzle missing is setting expectations: everyone believes they have THE right solution. Settting the expectation that everyone will be heard but not every solution will be accepted is one of the key points necessary to avoid people feeling ignored "they never listen to me". Prepare for meeting by bringing solution with your 3 best pros and cons!

Die Betonung der Rolle des Trainers oder Moderators im Kontext eines Workshops ist ein wichtiger Punkt, der oft übersehen wird. Kl?rung der eigenen Ziele und Absichten: Der Moderator sollte sich im Klaren sein, welche pers?nlichen Ziele er mit dem Workshop verfolgt. Es ist wichtig, dass diese Ziele mit den übergeordneten Zielen des Workshops übereinstimmen. Abgrenzung der Verantwortlichkeiten: Eine klare Abgrenzung dessen, wofür der Moderator verantwortlich ist und was in den Aufgabenbereich der Führungskr?fte und des Teams f?llt, ist entscheidend. Reflexion über die eigene Rolle: Der Moderator muss sich seiner Rolle bewusst sein – als neutraler Vermittler, der den Diskussionsprozess f?rdert, ohne sich inhaltlich zu sehr einzubringen.