Running a workshop is also a tactic to get involvement and buy-in from people you need to be on board for example, colleagues in your own team as well as those in different teams and departments, senior leadership, funders, partners and sponsors.
Bringing a group of people together in person if done well can really help to build good working relationships. When people know, like and trust each other it oils the wheels to get work done effectively long after the session ends.
Getting people together in a room can be really impactful
Bringing people together in real life can be costly both in time and resource so it’s important to plan so that you leverage the most you can from a workshop. Online workshops are more cost effective to run (no travel time or cost, or room hire) but in my experience its less impactful in terms of the relationship building which are the foundations for long term success.
If you’re embarking on running a workshop here’s three tips to get you off to a super start.
- Focus Be clear on what the session is for and what you want to achieve. To help your planning ask yourself the question, ‘What does success look like?’ Write this down and everything you plan for your session must speak to that.
- Allow time to plan Think about your focus, who you invite and the best techniques to use to get what you want from the session (if you have an external facilitator, they do this). Allow enough time to find a venue and plan time so you have the capacity to follow up. Provide refreshments. Think about how you can make it an inspiring experience. Make people feel happy to be asked and want to come back.
- Be realistic how much can you achieve in the time you have? Manage expectations and be clear about what’s for discussion and what’s not. It can be helpful to have a ‘car park’ flip chart so people can flag things that come up that are important but not for discussion in the session as a reminder to plan another time to address them.
Make sure people are clear on their actions
A workshop is usually part of a larger project, strategy or process. What happens in the workshop is important. What happens next is even more important. Ensure that there are clear actions and outputs with clear roles and responsibilities.
My recommendation if budget allows is to work with an independent facilitator they are responsible for getting the best from everyone in the room to achieve the objectives of the session. A good facilitator will plan the agenda and ensure that everyone in the room has an opportunity to input. They will also use a range of techniques that provoke involvement and discussion for a range of learning needs. An independent facilitator is also more likely to be impartial, can ask questions that give different perspectives because they are not in the detail or part of the organisational culture.
This blog is taken from one of the modules on leadership within The Lucidity Success System™ (LSS) my methodology of guidance for team leaders who need to cultivate confident leadership skills for themselves and inspire high performance in their teams included as part of Lucidity Network membership.
If you’d like me to facilitate your next team workshop, or you want to accelerate your team’s performance and build a culture of collaborative high performance for good – let’s chat about bringing the Success System to your organisation.