Two experts dish on how to win at workshops whether you’re remote, in person, or hybrid

I recently connected with my friend and fellow facilitator Steph Cruchon about the ways our field has changed since the pandemic started more than two years ago.

Since that time, we’ve collectively led about 200+ workshops and have gained just as many insights around the remote experience. What makes it good? What makes it bad? What makes it ugly? Well, maybe not ugly, but you get the idea.

Our conversation got me thinking: should we default to in-person meetings as pandemic restrictions ease, or should virtual meeting spaces remain as ubiquitous for their ability to increase collaboration and accessibility?

To answer that question, let’s look at the pluses and minuses of remote, in-person and hybrid workshops, according to Steph and me.

In-person workshops: to be or not to be together in the same room?

When Steph and I talked about this, he told me that he felt really excited for his first in-person workshop since the pandemic began. The simple act of being together in the same room while drinking coffee felt natural and easy. And on that we agree.

Meeting in person is excellent for building camaraderie and team culture. It creates space for authentic moments and sidebar conversations, and it builds rapport. It’s also easier for people to stay focused because they can’t secretly multitask or get pulled in another direction due to an email/slack message/tweet/alert that shows up on their screen.

In-person workshops can also be more fun for people who get energized from being together (conversely, they can be more of a drain for those who don’t, like introverts). Plus, you don’t have to ask the group to learn how to use new tools in real time (like virtual whiteboards, which can have a bit of a learning curve).

Virtual workshops: what’s better than wearing pajama pants while working?

We’ve all seen the photos and trending videos of suit-clad people in virtual meetings who accidentally reveal their pajama pants by standing up. Maybe that has even happened during one of your own video calls!

While it’s funny to joke about, there are actually a lot of reasons why meeting from home is more supportive and, as a result, productive for many of us. Flying to another location where you’ll inevitably sleep in a less-than-homey hotel, eat less-than-ideal foods, and keep less-than-ideal hours has a huge emotional tax. Sure, you’re in person, but are you feeling energized, excited and happy to be there after a grueling commute? Remote workshops take this energetic tradeoff out of the equation, and I’ve found that when people have more energy and are in better moods, they tend to do better work.

Another benefit to remote meetings that Steph and I both agree on is the ability to convene with people from all over the world. You can unite the best thinkers on a given subject — from internal staff or invited guest experts, to workshop facilitators that best fit team needs (rather than going with the person who just happens to live the closest geographically).

Personally, I also love how remote tools can make it easier to keep voting anonymous and help minimize power dynamics. Plus, after a session the digital whiteboard doesn’t disappear, which is particularly helpful when people want to defer back to the work. Virtual capture is typically more organized and produces type-written vs handwritten notes, which are easier to read after the fact.

That said, there are still challenges to remote workshops. It can be more difficult to create a great team dynamic, and there’s a lot of responsibility on the facilitator to bring the right energy to the group (all through a screen). You’re also more susceptible to tech issues, like inconsistent audio/visual or shotty internet connection, and learning curves for digital whiteboard tools.

Hybrid workshops: helpful compromise, or distracting middle ground?

It wouldn’t be fair to compare the virtual and in-person workshop experiences without mentioning the hybrid approach, which is on the rise.

While in-person or remote may be more straightforward, hybrid workshops are sometimes necessary. The most important thing is to plan and design your workshop for the format. Where I see the most challenge arise and the most impact to the work is when a workshop is designed for one format and then people shift to another at the last minute.

For example, if I’ve designed an in-person experience and someone wants to join remotely at the last minute, I advise that they skip the meeting, or observe but not actively participate.

On the other hand, if I know going into the experience that we’ll have participants attending in person and remotely, I mandate the use of remote tools for everyone. It usually means a handful of people are sitting in a room together (each on their own monitors and cameras), plus a few team members who are at home (myself included). Asking everyone to use the remote tools helps — level the playing field so everyone can contribute equally.

Steph likes to organize his hybrid workshops by assigning the role of “core team” to anyone attending in person. They’ll discuss, design, prototype, and handle hands-on decision making and ideation. The remote participants will take the role of “guest experts,” joining during a specific time to speak their mind (without interruption), or following a Q/A format.

So, what’s the verdict?

When it comes to in-person, remote or hybrid workshops, one isn’t necessarily better than the other. We know, not the shocking reveal you were hoping for, but that’s a good thing! It means we have flexibility in the ways we operate, as well as a choice to use a specific format based on what the team needs most.

For Steph, it’s not about remote vs in-person. It’s about the quality of the design challenge (not where it’s happening). If the challenge is truly interesting and important, people from any location will get hooked and become unstoppable.

And we both agree that the emergence of digital meetings has actually made in-person meetings better. We both use digital whiteboard tools like Mural and Miro during our in-person gatherings to collect assets as we go. I love how Steph put it:

“This becomes the ‘memory’ of the Sprint. The digital board allows you to keep the whole story, which makes it easy to present the work to important sponsors or stakeholders.”

Steph and Jackie’s top tips for leading your next workshop, whatever the format:

• Some participants will be really bad with digital tools, and that’s totally OK. Just acknowledge it and plan your workshop with this in mind. Do demos, model how tools should be used, then model them again. Ask people if they feel stuck, if they’re lost, and continue to offer your help.

• Collect photos from each day of in-person workshops and put them into Miro or Mural to refer back to.

• Encourage virtual participants to use headphones (rather than the laptop mic), and their biggest monitor (or two, if available).

• Reach out to the team before the workshop and let them know what to expect + invite them to ask questions if they have them. I think that this goes a long way in getting people on board with staying present for the duration of the workshop.

• Bake in plenty of breaks. That could mean mini-breaks throughout the day when you can sense folks need a timeout, as well as scheduled breaks so people know when they’ll have a personal moment.

• Establish an adult learning environment. Encourage people to have snacks, water and other beverages on hand. Let them know they should take bathroom breaks whenever they need them, or to step away. No permission necessary.

If you’re looking for more facilitation resources, check out my recent posts about taking care of yourself (as a facilitator), managing domineering behavior in your workshops, and icebreakers you can steal for a better meeting.

Huge thanks to my friend Steph Cruchon for collaborating with me on this topic. You can learn more about his work here and here.