I work together upfront with the team leaders to define why the participants need the workshop. Some examples might include:

• Solving a specific problem: what’s not working, in the team or in the team’s work?

• Making something better: a process, a workflow, a collaboration, a project…

• Creating something new: a specific change, a new project or approach, an old challenge that needs new ideas

• Improving how we interact and collaborate, including silo-busting, info sharing, cross-functional collaboration

I will coach you through an initial design process where we get very specific about what this challenge is and why solving it together will be better.

Nothing is more important than involving participants early and often, even before we decide an agenda. We always recommend a pre-survey, both to test our thinking and to ensure we don’t miss anything that’s particularly important to participants.

This can also be done via interviews or focus groups, depending on the challenge. For more complex problems or culture issues, it may be advantageous to speak with participants “live” in the early design stages so people feel heard and engaged before the session.

Based on what we learn from the previous stages of the process, design begins. You and I will have weekly or biweekly checkpoints during the design process to ensure we remain on the same page.

Depending on your goals, some impactful workshop elements may include:

• Team and individual wins

• Setting working agreements and goals for the day in-session

• Trust-building with honest and open discussions

• Root-cause analysis for problems

• Future visioning: what will a better world look like?

• Ideation and design thinking

• Team decision making strategies

• Establishing working groups

• Strategy and implementation plans

And more. The choice of modality entirely depends on the outcomes we define together with the team..

Most people think of information relay when they think of team meetings. However, this is the most inefficient way to improve info flow.

If there is new information people need ahead of the workshop, we’ll figure out a different technique and forum to use before and/or after the workshop.

This way, workshop time will be dedicated entirely to problem-solving and making real progress on goals. People will have the information they need to do their jobs upfront.

It’s time to deliver the workshop!

During the workshop, people get to the implementation phase as quickly as possible. Analysis of the problem or goal is intended to be quick but in-depth. Teams work together and the facilitator coaches them through sticking points and tough conversations.

The people are experts in their subject matter. The facilitator’s role is to be the expert in the process of progress.

The leader also has an important role during the workshop. They will speak last in most discussions, serving only as a tiebreaker or to provide specialty strategic guidance when there is a need for prioritization. People from multiple levels should take various lead co-facilitator roles throughout the day as well — not only the leader.

Teams should leave a workshop with a clear picture of the way forward, and the leader should be ready to offer support and resources however possible.