Facilitate a productive workshop

First, make sure you need a workshop, not just a meeting. Meetings are for discussing, debating, and deciding. Workshops are fordoing—and they should generate tangible outputs or deliverables. As a bonus, workshops create a shared sense of ownership to help a stalled or meaty project gain momentum. In other words: less talk, more action. 

Once you’ve outlined your goals and decided who should attend using the worksheet above, it’s time to create the agenda. Consider these factors:

• Time: How much time do you have? Start there and work backward. Give each activity a window of time to complete. Some discussions may end up going over because the group is on a roll—so building in a little wiggle room is always smart. 
• Questions: How many questions do you have to answer? If there are more than five, you’re probably trying to do too much. In a virtual setting, it can be hard to keep the energy up. Try to prioritize 3–5 key questions for maximum participation and attention. 
• Approach: What’s the best way to answer each question? Review the tools in your kit (examples: Figma, Miro, Mural, Paper) and pair them with activities designed to get the answers you need. Consider your group’s personality types. Extroverts might enjoy open conversation. Introverts often thrive in breakout rooms. 
• User-friendliness: How will things work? Make sure to demo each of your planned activities in advance to ensure that things run smoothly—especially if anyone will be using these tools for the first time.

In your invite, briefly summarize the key points from your prep worksheet above. Drive excitement by focusing on what you hope to achieve and why this specific group of people was chosen to attend. Include any pre-work that you identified during planning, like getting familiar with the tools you’ll be using. And remember: Workshops take a chunk of time from everyone’s busy day, so be sure to show gratitude. 

You’ve planned, prepped, and demoed—now it’s time to make it happen. Here are some helpful game-day tips:

• Bring the energy! Set an upbeat, inclusive tone and make a meal out of your intros. It’s a great time to build trust and put everyone at ease. 
• Set ground rules. Remind the group that all ideas are welcome, participation is key, cameras should be on, and that it’s important to be fully present. Multitasking will just slow things down. 
• Use the Parking Lot. Did someone bring up a point that might sidetrack discussion? Is the group swirling around something unproductively? Add it to the workshop Parking Lot and move on. 
• Read the room. After a few exercises, you might want to schedule a 5- to 10-minute break to let people step away from their computer or check email if they seem distracted. 
• Bring in every voice. It’s your job to make sure everyone chimes in. Call on the quieter people and interrupt the interrupters.
• End on a high note. Summarize key findings and progress, and thank everyone for their time and contributions. 

Within a day, send a follow-up email to the group. Outline your findings and progress, list any jobs to be done, set relevant deadlines, and assign roles for the rest of the project. 

After the workshop, take stock: What went well? What could have gone better? By the measurements you laid out in your workshop prep worksheet, was it successful?