Where are workshops won or lost?

It’s that time of year again… no, not the AFL GF (not for my mob anyway). Planning workshop silly season. A time of year where more leaders gather the gang around the table to review, refresh, calibrate and commit to the roads they think will get them the success they want.

From the 40-something workshops I’ve been allowed to hold the texta and cat herd this year, a few reflections of what I think generally supports successful workshop outcomes.

1. Clarity of purpose – Why are we having a workshop? What more than anything is it in aid of? Is a workshop the best vehicle to realise this purpose? Boil it down to a single sentence – “A workshop is right for us, valuable, even essential right now, with these participants, if we are going to….”
2. Agreed Vision of success – When we hit the end of the workshop, what more than anything do you want or need to have achieved via the process? What will success look like, and give rise to? If you can begin with a clear end in mind, your structure and planning decisions will be so much more fitting and conducive to success.
3. Engagement of participants – are we clear on the right participants, and why would they want to be there? To pay the opportunity costs, to contribute, do some heavy mental lifting, even navigate constructive tension... WIIFT? Ensuring you engage the right players to participate, with some pre-work to expose or nurture a shared desire to get to some version of "better" (even if they come at it from very different angles) sets you up for a better outcome. Yes, it may be their job, so they "have to". What can we do to get them to "want to"?
4. Pre-workshop preparation – the homework, both from the facilitator, and the participants. Creating and asking the appropriate questions to gather insights and themes ahead of time is often valuable, and knowing what pre-reading and data sets you need the crew on top of to make the session as efficient as possible, matters.
5. Understanding of dynamics – the “off the record” or historical stuff you do well to have a handle on before walking into the room. Power dynamics, interpersonal frictions or factions, potential flashpoint issues (and why they are so) – not to create a tip-toe approach or avoid necessary difficult discussions, but so you’re mentally and emotionally prepared to re-rail things if it gets unduly fractious.
6. Logical realistic structure – have you shaped an agenda that makes the most of the resource investment, but gives appropriate space and sequencing to the things that need a bit of bouncing around? Put pause points in where breath and reflection time will pay biggest dividends? Workshops can be squeezed or stretched into different time capsules, but optimal outcomes come from being realistic and thoughtful about what’s possible in the time you have.
7. Get them talking (on the right talking points) ASAP – the quicker the facilitator can set the scene, frame the conversation, and get the focused dialogue work of the group underway (however that looks), the faster and stronger the engagement, and the quicker the messy bit starts (and can be navigated through).
8. Don’t be scared of messy – the very best, most productive and impactful workshops I’ve ever been part of were a bit messy. Argy bargy, differences of opinion between participants, lack of clear obvious “here’s-one-we-prepared-earlier” solutions (so having to imagine and argue and iterate and find the flaws in alternatives in real time, and then land somewhere half-useful). Prepare to challenge the otherwise easily swallowed status quo. This is where I think the facilitator earns their keep, helping the group to a satisfactory point beyond the clunky. But the gold that’s often discovered amidst the mess is almost always worth it.
9. (Try and) make it fun – not a stand up comedy routine, or a jolly alternative to work. But try and keep things light and breezy wherever you can (without being disrespectful). Be supportive, and warm, and encouraging, and show gratitude and positive can-do energy. Give the group the benefit of feeling like they’re in a place they want to be, they're making a difference, they’re valued, and they’re maybe even enjoying the process.
10. Be truthful – part of the value of an independent facilitator is they can be the one that makes the observation or asks the question that everyone else can see or feel or knows, but, for a range of reasons (political, cultural, hierarchical) doesn’t want to utter. ?Doing this politely, respectfully, and tying your candor to the shared desire to get the group to the right endpoint, is really important, if not always easy.
11. Share the load – doing what you can to balance a discussion and solicit perspectives and input from all participants enables broader ownership of the work product, and results in fewer perspective gaps or oversights. It’s not always possible to get equal input from all, nor is it always appropriate (some voices need to be oversized and others more “special comments”). But tamping down the over-loud and inviting in the quieter is something the facilitator needs to keep an eye on.
12. Summarise as you go and check in regularly – quick “review and reflect” Cook's Tour summaries across the course of the workshop (“here’s what we’ve covered, ?here’s what I think we’ve said / agreed upon, here’s the insights arising, now let’s go to the next bit…”). These work well immediately after breaks, but are also a great firebreak when the discussion has gotten heavy or heated (“let’s come up for a moment, review our ambitions, and relook at these discussions in the context of our goals”). Asking the group “is that right?” regularly is sometimes the invitation for the quiet ones to jump in and say “I wasn’t going to say anything, but…”. Concisely summarising and paraphrasing is a skill I think any facilitator wants to practice – it makes such a difference.

That’s a dozen, there are more, but as I think about the most recent sessions I’ve been a part of, these stand out. The other one that puts the icing on the cake and ensures the whole thing wasn’t just a lovely academic exercise is “Plan next steps”. Gain clear commitment from participants regarding “what happens now, who does it, and by when?”.? It’s a really granular question, but it opens the gate for everything you established the workshop to achieve, to progress to the next point.?

They’re my reflections – what about yours? If you facilitate workshops of any description, I’d love to hear what you’ve found to underpin the success of your own cat herding efforts.

If you need a hand constructing, facilitating and getting the best from a team workshop, please get in touch.