Plan and pace activities like a pro with the 5 chapters of workshop design
In a recent poll, many of my fellow facilitators shared that the most challenging part of designing a workshop lies in picking the right methods and activities to apply, then pacing against them.
Hey, I get it! As guides, we want so badly to steer our teams in the right direction and toward the best possible outcomes. It’s our job to get them from A to B, ideally using the best-fit activities to help solve the problem at hand (and without running out of time). So how do we consistently deliver on that?
In my experience, most workshops follow a common arc from beginning to end, with five very distinct chapters along the way. Understanding these chapters and the goals for each can be helpful in narrowing down or honing in on the right activities to use to help achieve the desired outcomes for your workshop.
For a little more support with workshop design, take a look at these five chapters and a few example methods that can be used within each. It will make the planning part of your job a lot more straightforward, and the “doing” part of your job more fruitful for participants.
Chapter 1: Grounding + expectation setting
Whether your workshop is one hour long or one week long, the first order of business should always be focused on getting the group oriented around the work ahead. Make sure they know why they’re there, what they want to accomplish together, and what to consider going into it. Sometimes this means playing back information that has already been agreed upon prior to the workshop. Other times it means you’re starting from scratch and need to move the team into alignment.
Activities to try:
If you need to focus or align the team, I recommend starting with this Playing Field exercise. You may also want to consider this Assets and Liabilities activity for additional level-setting.
This worksheet might be helpful if you want to organize and assemble more information before you head into the session.
Timing:
To inform timing, consider how much information you have going into the workshop. Is it just a quick review of previously-reviewed materials to confirm alignment? If so, you may only need an hour.
Are you coming in with almost no intel and need to do a lot of work together in the room? If so, budget more time. I will spend as much time as it takes to do this work because it’s the most important step, in my opinion. Sometimes it takes an hour, sometimes it takes a half day: whatever it takes, don’t skip this step!
Chapter 2: Understanding the customer and their needs
You’ll get more out of your workshop if you know a little something about the people you aim to help before you start tackling the problem statement or explore solutions. I’ll sometimes enter this chapter with customer interviews, personas and other research in hand that the team already did. If you’re in this position, you likely just need time to review and confirm. I prefer to synthesize and curate key themes and relevant takeaways for the group rather than having them digest a lot of information all at once.
On the other hand, if you still need to do the work to understand the customer’s needs, you’ll need more time for some specific activities, outlined below.
Activities to try:
These customer-research tips will help you compile the right information and include a few activities to add to your session if you still need details.
Lead a mapping exercise to outline the customer’s current experience journey. I’m partial to the Design Sprint approach to creating a map. Here’s a very straightforward way to approach it from my friend Steph.
Facilitate a Job Stories method to make sure the team is really immersing themselves in the customer’s needs.
Timing:
Similar to Chapter 1, this can either be a quick or in-depth phase depending on how much information the team has already collected. Budget your time according to the level of information you already have vs still need to identify.
Chapter 3: Refine the problem to be solved
In any workshop, you’ll likely head in with some direction on the problem to solve. Sometimes it’s very narrow, in which case you can move quickly through this phase. Other times it’s more broad, which will require activities to help the group hone in on a more specific focus before moving forward. Facilitate activities around the level of decision-making required.
Activities to try:
Choose Job Stories or moments in time for the customer that you’re going to focus on.
Select “how might we” statements that you think will put a frame around the work.
If you’re in a Design Sprint, chose the Sprint Questions you want to answer.
Timing:
Refining and aligning your focus before generating ideas is another very important step. Sometimes it can be done inside of an hour, but other times it takes longer to tackle.
To help keep things moving, I love designating a “decider” to make the final call on tie-breakers. Even with this role assigned, it’s important to spend the necessary time to make sure the team feels clear and confident in their choices before moving on.
Chapter 4: Generating ideas
The goal here is to explore different possible ways that you might solve the problem. Ideally, activities in this chapter will allow participants to work both independently and as a team, share knowledge, and explore different perspectives. This is the time to get your sticky notes ready!
Activities to try:
I love these 3 creative sketching exercises for their ability to help people feel empowered when drawing, suss out if an idea is worth exploring further, and get unstuck when new or different ideas just aren’t coming naturally.
Try any or all of these five methods to ensure every team member can tap into their creative prowess. I promise your outcomes will be better for it.
Use this exercise to narrow down many ideas into a short-list so you can get from Post-It Note to project brief more quickly.
Timing:
This will depend on how many activities you plan to cover, but it’s generally safe to assume that this will be one of the proportionately larger chapters in your workshop arc.
If you’re in a 1-day session, you’ll likely spend a couple of hours here. If you’re in a multi-day workshop, it could take the better part of a day.
Chapter 5: Make choices and action plan
Make sure that the group has a shared picture of what the priorities are. Help them identify which idea to pursue, or which set of ideas to consider, or what you’re going to do to refine the prototype based on what you’ve learned. You don’t want to leave with a mess on the board, so make sure to facilitate some sort of prioritization of the work and, if possible, an action-planning exercise.
Activities to try:
Try the Horizons Method, an activity I do at the end of any strategic workshop, Design Sprint, or big meeting as a way to organize what will happen next, who will be responsible for doing it, and when it will be done.
Timing:
Give yourself plenty of time for this wrap-up exercise (at least an hour or more if you have a larger group!). It’s a critical precursor to making sure there’s accountability coming out of the workshop (so the team’s progress doesn’t stall out).
For any of the five chapters, it’s a good rule of thumb to allocate more time than you think you need. More is more in this case!
This workshop arc is a really great starting point for ironing out relevant activities and timing. Take stock of the methods you typically use (and how long they typically take), and try categorizing them across the different chapters. Doing so might help you take a high-level workshop format off the shelf so it’s ready to be customized for the problem at hand. That will save you time and energy, and ensure that your teams are getting the most skilled design format to help them move forward.