Part 5 - Implementing Team Building and Wellness Workshops in Your Organisation

Timing and Scheduling

The timing of your workshop can significantly affect participation and engagement. "Selecting a date that accommodates the majority of your team, while considering project deadlines and other organisational commitments, is essential for maximising attendance and ensuring the workshop's success." (Harvard Business Review, n.d.).

Effectively managing the timing of workshops in remote, hybrid, and office work scenarios is crucial for maximising participation and engagement.

Here are three strategies businesses can employ to navigate these varied working arrangements successfully:

1. Leverage Synchronous and Asynchronous Activities

Remote Scenario: For fully remote teams, consider blending synchronous activities (real-time, interactive sessions) with asynchronous ones (tasks or content that can be accessed and completed at any time).

This approach allows team members in different time zones to participate fully without being excluded due to timing constraints.

For instance, a live workshop could be recorded for those who cannot attend in real-time, supplemented by asynchronous discussion forums or project work that allows for participation at any hour.

Hybrid Scenario: In hybrid settings, where some employees are in the office while others work remotely, ensure that any live, synchronous sessions are scheduled during common working hours that overlap across time zones.

Use digital collaboration tools to bridge the gap between in-person and remote participants, ensuring everyone can contribute equally.

?Office Scenario: For teams working from the office, consider scheduling workshops during periods of lower operational intensity, such as mid-week, to avoid Monday's catch-up and Friday's wind-down times.

This timing helps ensure that employees are mentally present and engaged, maximising the workshop's impact.

?

2. Implement a Rotating Schedule for Recurring Sessions

Remote Scenario: Rotate the meeting times to accommodate different time zones. This approach ensures that no single group is consistently inconvenienced by unfavourable timing, promoting fairness and increasing overall engagement.

Hybrid Scenario: For hybrid teams, rotating the days on which workshops are held in-office versus online can help.

This rotation allows employees who work from home on certain days to still participate in person if they choose, fostering a sense of inclusion and team cohesion.

Office Scenario: Rotating the departments or teams attending the workshops can minimise disruptions to the workflow.

By scheduling department-specific sessions on different days or weeks, businesses can ensure that operations continue smoothly while still providing valuable development opportunities for all employees.

?

3. Utilise Time Blocking and Advance Scheduling

Remote Scenario: Encourage remote employees to use time blocking techniques to dedicate specific blocks of time for workshop participation, minimising conflicts with other tasks or meetings.

Providing advance notice of workshop dates and times can help employees plan their work accordingly.

Hybrid Scenario: For hybrid teams, advance scheduling becomes even more critical. By announcing workshop dates well in advance and using shared calendars, employees can plan their in-office days around these events, ensuring higher participation rates.

Office Scenario: In traditional office settings, blocking off time on company-wide calendars for workshops can help prevent double-booking and ensure that employees are free to attend without conflicting commitments.

?This approach requires coordination with various department heads to ensure minimal impact on productivity.

?

By adopting these strategies, businesses can effectively manage the timing of their workshops and training sessions, accommodating the diverse needs of their workforce while maximising participation and engagement across remote, hybrid, and office work scenarios.

Part 6 >>