How much work makes a workshop work?

A facilitators guide to inspire the right work.

Thirty tips & tools from workshop facilitator Troy Forrest
A 42 MIGHTY white paper - August 2012

A note from the butchers paper scribbler

In the past 6 years running my one-man sales & leadership consultancy, Ive custom-built and facilitated over 400 workshops* for more than 60 organisations in as many industries. From crews of 3 to groups of 200. International leadership teams to long-term unemployed job seekers. Novices and experts from sales, marketing, customer service, logistics, management, technical support, finance, clinical, R&D and innovation teams. Weve had collective conversations about beer, drugs, shade sails, advertising, shampoo, trucks, surgical devices, PR campaigns, crop chemicals, resuscitation mannequins, retirement living, union membership, even the power of the sun. Workshop topics have run the gamut. Public speaking. Selling more. Business planning. Dealing with difficult customers. Helping the best customers. Creativity. Leading teams through change. Written words. Having fun. Discipline. Simulation & role playing. Lots of role playing. Every workshop different. Every framework bespoke tailored. Every event presenting unique challenges and learnings. This paper serves up the best lessons Ive taken from working with these diverse groups. From developing & delivering PowerPoint spines to releasing interactivity inside a room to covering the butchers paper in illegible chicken scratch to helping participants ensure their workshop-concentrated wisdom stays alive and gets implemented. In a neater format than I can manage with a black marker, heres some tips and tools I hope you find useful to create and facilitate a workshop that works for your team
(* My definition of Workshop any interactive forum with multiple participants that generates some work. Hopefully the right work.)

1. Why a workshop?
Is pulling the crew together the best way to facilitate the change youre considering? It sounds convenient one session, one time block, one crack at inspiring and educating and arming. But is it right for the change you want, or for the cross-section of people youre thinking about as change implementers or get-comfortable-with-it impactees? Ive observed that workshops tend to work if;

They have a clear, realistic, consistent purpose (To brainstorm ideas for, To develop initiatives that, To create plan frameworks to., To clarify next steps and responsibilities in., To build skills and knowledge about.) The team in the room will benefit from hearing one anothers perspectives, either because theyre in similar positions or precisely because theyre not. The workshop is part of a larger, longer-term schedule of works that includes information gathering preworkshop and post-workshop coaching, implementation support or repeat sessions. They are facilitated rather than taught; open rather than didactic; engaging rather than energy-sapping.

In my experience, they dont work as well when; The path you want the team to take is completely pre-defined (then its a briefing). The outcome you want the team to work to achieve is unrealistic (then they tend to serve as cesspits of demotivation). The group is pieced together out of logistical convenience rather than relevance (then they turn off). The coordinator doesnt believe in the workshops value or sells it as a box-ticking exercise (the organisers energy levels and enthusiasm are a litmus test that others will naturally emulate).

If youre considering running a workshop, then the first, most fundamental question you need to ask yourself is Is a workshop the right vehicle to support this change initiative?

2. The brief
Assuming youre convinced of the merits of a workshop, its important to write yourself a crystal clear brief, whether its just for yourself, or for co-developers & facilitators, or, if youre outsourcing the session, for the hired gun. If youre not completely sure and youre bringing in a consultant to help you design a forum, let them ask you questions and develop a draft brief that you can then correct or shape. Be optimistic, but specific and realistic. Consider the different outcomes you might want to achieve around; Goal setting Plans & action step development Participant skill, experience, knowledge & perspective sharing Team bonding Aligning thinking and activity plans with greater organisational goals or cultural pillars Staff engagement / re-engagement & invigoration

Briefs also need to take into account logistics (who, when, where, how long, budget) and must-dos (fit with company policy / values, give rise to specific documents / plans etc.) Its your workshop what do you want it to achieve? And keep the brief brief - clear, realistic and worthy of effort.

3. Take the temperature

Some teams come to workshops full of wild-eyed enthusiasm and a zeal for change; others drag their heels and sassafras at being pulled away from their day jobs. Wheres your team at? On the topic of this workshop? The tone, exercises and level of interactivity you build into a workshop will be influenced by; where a teams thinking, attitudes and skill set is at the level of cohesiveness of the group how frequently theyre exposed to workshops or professional development forums

how familiar participants are with one anothers perspectives any cultural or change waves the organisation might be riding maybe most important of all, how behind their boss they are.

Ive found a good rule of thumb is that the less engaged or uniform a group is in coming to a workshop, the more you need to build interactive exercises that live on neutral, non-threatening ground. Hypotheticals and creative scenarios where people need to apply problem solving skills or diverse perspectives (and that dont let them get caught up in real life political conversations that might be the source of their displeasures) are a useful vehicle for calming the collective disgruntlement while ideating or educating. The challenge is then inspiring individuals with their own motivations, roles and challenges to translate these broader learnings to their specific situations. It helps greatly to know what the looks on the faces and the thoughts running through heads are likely to be before you design the workshop.

4. Clarify the time home

Different topics and audiences lend themselves to different time homes dedicated moments in the day. Breakfast forums can be great kick-start sessions for peoples thinking and motivation, but theyre often tougher to get lots of interactivity and innovative thought from (not everyones a morning person). Similarly, 3pm slots, while useful to bring the current days experiences into the conversation, can get mired in way-we-do-things-around-here tired thinking that comes towards the end of long days. A lunch session can work well, but you better feed them, and beware the lunchtime audience being nibbled away at with phone calls, urgent emails or can only stay for a sandwich interlopers. How long your workshop should run for is something that needs great thought. While 2 hours sounds great from an efficiency perspective, by the time you let people get their chests unburdened and begin sharing perspectives, have you got sufficient time to scratch beneath the surface or let their brains go free-reign a while on idea generation? Day long sessions, even two days, can generate a lot more traction, commitment and detailed plans, but you need to be aware youre competing with peoples heads screaming Ive got to get back to my real work, its piling up!, opportunity cost arguments, and by the end, general workshop fatigue can result in a lot of group head-nodding in a collective effort to get the session finished. The time home you choose and the duration of your workshop will heavily influence the tone, level of interactivity, requirement for ideas or plans or commitments, and the work you as a facilitator will need to do. And vice versa.

5. Your space
The boardroom? The lunchroom? Offsite in a paid-for facility? Over a few drinks at the pub? Sitting in the grandstand of your local football oval being inspired by the hard trainers (or watching the grass grow)? Whats going to be most conducive to the group, the format, the desired outcomes youre working with? Creative workshops (which I think all workshops should be) benefit from creative spaces and stimuli. Rooms with windows and views and the ability for participants to step outside, breathe fresh air and take their in-pairs exercises under a tree or at least into a lobby work well. Stick up some posters, use the whiteboard and butchers paper and get colourful. If your workshop is dealing with a somewhat more prosaic topic (Review of General Accounting Principles for Salamander Farmers), a standard classroom environment, even sans windows, might be fine. But at least bring a Salamander for interests sake Some workshops benefit from clustering people into subgroups (such as table groups or department teams), but be aware that subtle divides can build in a room. Be strategic in who you stick on which table. If you choose not to use

place cards and your room is set up in rows or a u-shape, be prepared to work a little harder to break up cliques or extract perspectives from the wallflowers that will find a nice hiding position towards a back corner. Ive found that the more open, warm and inviting the space - one thats relatively free of barriers between the participants and the facilitator - the more conducive it is to people being willing to contribute. You still have to pull a little, but when a critical mass opens up, youre away and the process becomes more enjoyable for all. Choose the space thats going to give you the open-ness or focus youre after, rather than for its convenience. Convenient spaces arent always inspiring or conducive to great work.

6. Be realistic
When youre putting together your workshop, be it the agenda, the exercises youll have people partake in or the PowerPoint framework youll operate off, avoid the temptation to try killing 42 birds with one stone. If like me you have a natural tendency to try jamming too much in, be OK with the fact that youll likely only get through around 2/3 of what you think fills the time-home youve allocated (and thats if youre lucky). Im yet to run a session where, if weve covered the workshop material in full and theres a little time to spare, the audience didnt appreciate the extra time to flesh out some ideas or for general conversation time in a fenced-off space. By all means be conscious of the fact that youve got the group together for a finite period and there are some key things you want to achieve, but for maximum engagement, err on the side of under-filling rather than jam-packing. (Ive found you often need a little extra time at the end of a workshop to press people for specific commitments and work through any barriers to workshop output implementation). The other realistic to be mindful of trying to please and engage all of the people all of the time. You just wont. Get over it. Aim for quorum engagement rather than outliers. Individuals will make personal choices as to whether or not theyll try to get something from your session. Set it up in the best way you know how with values and noble ideals in mind, and be OK with the one person sitting up back with arms folded, looking like they sucked a lemon.

7. Simple first, simple second, simple last

The workshop creator and facilitator (clever pedestal-sitting sages that they are) loves little more than showing off their cleverness and the complexity of their understanding. (Yawn!) Boring. Usually counterproductive. The most powerful workshops Ive experienced and delivered have been the simplest in their structure. A clear set of goals, a framework that doesnt let people languish in complicated thinking or technicalities that are best dealt with outside the workshop, and a tempo and tone that kept everyone focused on the overarching themes of the session. Be mindful of the fact theres a difference between simplicity and superficiality. Simple workshops can certainly deal with detailed technical topics without unduly glossing over them. They just dont allow domain experts to spend hours delving into niche topics or what should have been pre-reading or requisite knowledge or day-job stuff. Swimming around in circles in deep data is for analysts, not workshops. Great workshops also dont ask people to jump from one complex topic into another without creating pause moments for higher level summarising of workshop sub-points, so that people can wrap an outer layer on the complex segment before moving forward. Great workshops keep it simple. Easier to remember. Easier to engage with. Keeps the tempo and enthusiasm up. Ive found that the rule of 3 is powerful in workshop framing and delivery. It can be applied in numerous ways; Contact with the audience send them pre-work, run their workshop, then send a follow-up note / call Breakdown of workshop topics cover no more than 3 major themes / goals for the session Workshop exercises explain it, then let them do it, then have a little feedback / exercise wrap-up session Overarching workshop structure use an introduction, a body and a conclusion / next steps

The continuum of your workshop deal with the ghosts of Xmas past, present and future (particularly useful for business planning workshops, where you deal with what youve done, what youre doing and what youre going to do.

Simple. Simple. Simple.

8. Drafts
Even professional writers and line dance choreographers arent enamoured with the process of having to create and then rebuild and then rebuild again. But drafts pay off. If you want it to be great, be accepting of the fact that the first frame-up will be rough and have plenty of ugly bits. But its important to get it all down on paper or PowerPoint slide deck in thought-vomit form first. Its much easier to prune and polish frameworks than it is to get it perfect during phase 1 construction. With your first draft of key points, data, exercises, challenges, theming ideas and rough-cut timing done, a critical step is to then go back to your brief and goals and say will this give participants what theyll need to achieve their goals? Now you can start going through it with a razor and some gap filler. Whats missing? Whats self-indulgent and superfluous? What might be nice to do, but will eat up valuable time real estate that could be better used to flesh out ideas or thinking about a key topic? Going to town to remodel your plasticine baby is tough but essential. As your draft framework comes together, you can start to pass it through progressively finer filters. Will it meet the time requirements? Is there the right balance of interactivity and valuable information sharing? Are there sufficient mental pause points? Have I got the tools to support the exercises? Is the format of the workshop / presentation sufficiently engaging? Will I hold the hearts and minds of the key people because they can see how its relevant to them? Am I touching all learning styles with this framework? Have I got the right stories in there to keep it real and enjoyable? Are there multimedia tools I can use to add to (rather than distract from) the uptake of the message? At some point, its vital to share your framework with another a key stakeholder, a co-facilitator, your boss, even a trusted workshop participant whose championing of the success of the workshop outweighs the fact youre stealing a little of your own thunder in showing them. (Remembering that its not about your thunder is pretty important too.) Ask them if it makes sense. Look for the scrunched up looks on their faces. Ask them if there are any glaring omissions in your thinking (so easy to do). Let them put their fingerprints on it, then take it away and polish it again. Youre getting there.

9. Exercise / structure / goal synchronicity

Fun interactive exercises are great, but if theyre not relevant to the goals of the workshop or fit with the tone of the forum, they wont have the impact youre after. After you draft your workshop structure and exercises, take a step back and ask yourself what would someone realistically get out of doing that exercise? Does it reinforce the message / thinking / action steps were aiming for? Does that help us achieve the overarching workshop goals? (Creating great workshop exercises is a whole other whitepaper, even a book in itself. But heres five things Ive observed that might help you think about and develop exercises to fit your workshop;) Keep them punchy 2, 3, 5 minutes tops. Leave a pair or threesome for too long and theyll go off message faster than you can say Break into pairs!

Keep them simple while its sometimes tempting to ask people to do a 7-stage activity, it rarely works unless its really, really simple. If in doubt, aim for 1, 2, no more than 3 things that you have your small groups come out with. Individual exercises are fine dont be afraid of silence in a workshop except for the sound of mental cogs turning. Having individuals sit by themselves for a short period of time, pen in hand, and think and sketch and translate their experiences into learnings and action steps can be really powerful, and its a gift they rarely give themselves. Pairs is generally better than threes. Threes most often a crowd of two workers and one passenger. Putting a little competition into it can ramp up energy and engagement use incentives. And dont be afraid to amalgamate fun with serious. Exercises like How would a 5-year old do it? or Have Q from the James Bond movies rework our product or Top 3 sales strategies we could employ for under $5 will provoke thought, enjoyable banter, and even some foundation themes you might build on later.

Above all, the exercise must have a point. Ask yourself, will it help participants achieve something meaningful?

10. Their homework

Often, the hard yards for your workshop can be done well before the event. Not just by you as the creator or facilitator, but by the participants too. Sending out a simple pre-workshop request one or two weeks in advance can not only make your workshop more efficient, its a great way of engaging people in the goals and culture of the session. Consider sending a group email thanking participants in advance for their efforts, explaining the workshop purpose and goals, allaying any fears they may have about what it will or wont involve, and asking them for their help in making the most of the finite time youll have together by doing just a smidgen of pre-work (10 15 minutes tops). It stops a lot of arm folding and quizzical why am I here? looks early in the peace, it lets you sniff out any early potential obstacles (youre likely to get the odd email saying theyre far too busy and cant even see the point), and you can start the message delivery long before the muster. A word of warning dont ask for too much, or youll set everyone up for failure. Be generous, ask for a tiny amount, be very grateful when they do it, and use it as a springboard into the collaborative work.

11. Your homework

As the person holding the texta and laser pointer, youre a role model for the participants. Not just for enthusiasm and understanding of the topic (even if youre not the domain expert), but for the pre-work youve done. Facilitators get judged all session long, and it starts really early in proceedings (even down to the pre-workshop reading or homework). Do you know the names of everyone whos coming? What they do? Why theyre there? What their issues or takes on the issues might be? How long theyve been with the business? Have you looked at their Facebook / LinkedIn / Twitter profiles? Googled them? Seen their names in the org chart? If they work for you, do you know what kind of day they had yesterday and how thats going to impact their thinking coming into this forum? Do the research. Your Homework (part 2) rehearse the workshop until it hurts. I dry-run my workshops on average 3-4 times. The really tricky ones, 5-6. Out loud, in a room by myself, running through the slide deck and handouts and mentally working through the individuals I know will be in the room. I play with the words, I remember the tone were trying to convey. Its about developing some form of mental muscle memory to help you when youre standing before the headlights of your workshop participants. Even when you know them even when theyre your team the preparation shows. Lack of preparation shows even more. Before you walk into the room with the crew, do the diligence. It will become apparent if you have or havent.

12. The MIGHTY checklist

Because youre busy and juggling lots of balls (this workshop just one of them) youre likely to forget something. Yes, you are. Checklists are your friend in workshops. Consider; Tools (presentation, data projector, computer, memory stick, internet access, laser pointer, batteries, cables, textas, butchers paper, blue tack, timer, camera, spares of all of these) Room (chairs, table set-up, paper, pens, water, coffee, mints / lollies, air con, whiteboard, projector screen, signs, registration form, name tags, handouts) For the facilitator themselves (master slide printout, presentation notes, agenda, exercise run sheet, list of participant names, name of your assistant / the IT help person / contact to call if the lights go out, a clock, your opening and closing words, reference books / articles / amusing anectodes or story notes, diary for coordinating follow-up appointments at session end, gifts & reminders for participants.)

These are not exhaustive (exhausting, maybe) what needs to go on your workshop checklist?

13. Lets bring em in

Ready to go? You want to be in the room early first by a good 15 minutes (30 60 minutes even better). The best laid plans are tested when you plug your data projector in and your globe blows, or the laptop and projector dont synch, or the door to the room is locked, or the coffees nowhere to be seen. Or you leave all your paperwork in the car thats 5 minutes walk away. 15 minutes minimum. Even if its all hunky dory, it takes a while to get your bearings, set up the technology and get your paperwork into the right piles. Then, in peace and quiet, you want to audibly speak your opening words to an empty room at least once. I know you feel silly. It pays off. Check the acoustics (check 1,2) Seat layout right? Finally, when youre happy that the setup is under control, that your notes and slides and exercises are in the right place and your checklist is checked and all you need now is some bodies to start filing in the door take one more moment to stand at the front of the room, breathe deeply (3 times, the experts tell me, in for 5 seconds, hold for 5 seconds, out for 5 seconds). Fall in love with the space you need to own for the next 1, 2, 8, 24 hours. Its your platform for facilitating change. Be one with it. Ommmm. When the doors open and the nervous first attendees arrive, dont stand at the front like a stunned mullet. Go shake hands, smile, greet, welcome, be enthusiastic, make people a cuppa if the facilities are there theyre your guests. Theyve given themselves over to your facilitating hands make them feel like they made a great choice. When youre 5 minutes from starting, let them know Well be kicking off in 5 minutes sharp everyone final loo stops and coffee top-ups. When youre 2 minutes from starting, start asking people to grab a seat, turn off their phones and laptops. When youre 30 seconds from starting, tell them youre starting now. OK everyone, lets kick off! When youre on the starting time. start *. If the rooms not full, use the words weve got a couple of others wholl join us shortly, but because your time is valuable, were moving now. So WELCOME!... (* there is always a frustrating caveat to this its when the boss / big cheese / wallet holder or star pupils that simply must be in the room are the late ones, or when the boss is in the room but asks you to hold a bit longer just to show their clout. The wise counsel is that theyre paying for it, so youre under an obligation to follow their lead,

but dont be shy in being provocative - theyve asked you to run a workshop from 8 to 5, remind them of the power of sticking to promises. Test the friendship a little then make little timing tweaks to accommodate.)

14. Involvement without fear

The workshops begun and you can see it in their eyes. The beads of sweat forming on their upper lips. The body language screaming MAKE ME INVISIBLE! And the sadist in you just wants to call on them Even if youre not a mean bean (and you do need to feel for these people, they really are afraid, and thats no fun), you need to involve everyone at some point. So how to get the petrified wallflowers talking? One way Ive found useful to kick off interactivity is calling directly on the bolder members* first up (theyre easy to spot). Going straight for selected audience members sets a clear precedent, rather than just calling for volunteers (which often leads to stum silence followed by individuals you may or may not want leading the conversation piping up and the wallflowers retreating further). With a calling on people pattern established, youve made it clear that everyone has to contribute at some point, so the quiet ones start to muster some courage (but are still largely distracted by their fear). Put them out of their misery pretty early in the peace. Be cruel to be kind and free up a more interactive flow for the remainder of the session. You can buffer the first interplay by giving them a relatively innocuous, specific, factual leading witness question to start with. Belinda, I know you work in xxx department, where Hugos told us one of the key issues is yyy. In your role, whats the biggest zzz that results in? OK, it can be a bit sexier than that, but the point is to allow people a measure of comfort in opening up before the group by being allowed to start with something well within their expertise domain, something thats already been identified in a broader way by another team member, and that isnt asking for anything that her colleagues probably arent already aware of. Dont be mistaken youre going to need to ask these individuals to progressively brave-up as the workshop persists, but nipping fear part 1 in the bud is a useful way to help them avoid a stress ulcer and actually benefit from the workshop rather than drowning in worry for the day. (*The other fear that runs through a group is that said bolder members will dominate the conversation. The fear is not that others want their talking time its that everyone already knows the bolder members perspectives on everything already and theyre worried that this will just become a wasted exercise dealing with the squeaky wheels of the squeakiest wheels. Facilitator mantra all participants are equal. Make the point 42 times throughout the session that one of the benefits of this forum is listening, that its about sharing diverse perspectives, and that all must contribute equally. Youll still find yourself looking for a muzzle for the opinionated, but generally its manageable. And when its not youve got to call the chatters on it. A little back-in-their-box embarrassment for one is outweighed by the sense of relief and opening up of every other participant).

15. When fear works

Never. Not externally-driven fear anyway. Not in the room. You might provoke a little oof, I better get the homework done lest I look incompetent thinking before the event, but if youre relying on a stick to get people motivated to learn something, contribute something, do something for you or change their ways, then I think youre a monty to fail. Maslows lowest rungs are physiological needs and security needs. We have to feel safe. If we dont, we turn our brains off to the idea of socialising and learning and contributing and growth. If your workshop is predicated on scaring people into action, please save your time, money and effort. Send it as a memo. At least you wont have spent anything.

16. Presenting data

Data doesnt have to be the enemy of an engaging or effective workshop, but if its not handled correctly, it has the potential to bog it down and distract from decision making and next-step planning. Consider; Does your PowerPoint framework REALLY need those 47 pie charts and histograms? Can the most important data be set as pre-workshop homework and made assumed knowledge? Is there a simple way to conceptualise complex data sets that need to be discussion topics? Have you, as the facilitator, developed a clear, efficient way of introducing & summarising the data? Can pictures, metaphors, representative case studies, be used in place of spreadsheets? When the conversation does get bogged down in statistics and historical artefacts, will your workshop framework allow you to pull the conversation buggy out quickly without leaving people behind?

By all means use the data that will support the goals, facilitate the right conversation or shift perspectives, but make sure youve planned to keep the conversation moving forward and focused on what people can do from this point (not just wallowing in details of the past).

17. Stories
I remember running this one workshop it was a hot summers afternoon and we handed out lemon icy poles.. Stories are the counterpunch to deep data dives. They can be powerful grabbers of attention, effective metaphors for ideas youre trying to get across and even a way to get people seeing a point via relaying their own experiences around a particular topic. Theres a few things Ive discovered about the use of stories as a workshop vehicle; Theyve got to be real Dont ever let the truth get in the way of a good story might work in the front bar, but its a pretty sure-fire way to lose an audiences respect when you get caught extending the truth (and youll always get caught). If youre using others stories, just give them the credit. Telling porkie pies and being busted kills credibility and loses the group. Theyve got to be relevant Im sure the tale about the time you worked in your Grandfathers radio repair workshop when you were nine and discovered you had a rare talent with a soldering iron is a really interesting story. but whats it got to do with this conversation? Just because a story is engaging, heartwarming or going to get a few laughs doesnt mean its a great fit for the workshop youre in. As ad guru David Ogilvy said, The temptation to entertain rather than sell is contagious. You designed your workshop to sell an outcome the creation or acceptance of an idea; to plan for or act on some change. Probably not just for a few laughs. If youre got a cracking tale, make sure its got a point, and the point sufficiently correlates with one you want discussed in the workshop. If it does? Fire away! Theyve got to be clear as a facilitator, workshops fly. The clock hands seem to spin ridiculously quickly, and before you know it thanks for coming. So if youre going to use stories, my suggestion is that they be as punchy as you can make them. Can the slowest person in the room get what youre talking about, and quickly? Can they see the tie-in without having the punch-line explained to them? Waffle and elaboration might make you feel youve delivered a more complete picture, but you need to ask yourself if the opportunity cost is worth it. Pause a moment at the end you told a story to get people to think, to see something in their mind. Give them the chance to see it fully before whipping their attention away to the next topic. Many a great storys point is lost because we move too fast to a new topic. Plan a pause point. Consider. See it? Great. Now continue.

18. Flow
I think of a workshop as a mental train journey that participants are taking. The workshop is full of distinct stations activities, points or exercises and they need to be visited in the right order to get the right outcomes. Theres also the linking stuff the conversation tracks you take them along, the smoothness of the ride, the scenery you choose to point out en route thats important to progress the session forward and make it enjoyable. (Ahh, the power of metaphor ) When putting a workshop together, Ill assemble the stations first the key points or topics in the workshop and run through them. Are they in the logical order? Am I putting carts before horses? Does one section rely on another section being done first? When Im confident the order is correct, I build the linking stuff how can I start the journey between Hi and welcome to the first station? What examples, stories or exercises will help people traverse the mental pathway to the next important point with minimal fear and maximum engagement? What scenery do I want them to take in along the way? (Anecdotes, quotations, case studies, Youtube clips, open conversation forums and butchers paper sessions can all be used to facilitate flow between stations). With the framework together, run your eyes over it once more. Does it make sense? Go back to your brief / goals. Does the framework do what you need it to do? Does it inspire the conversation, the work its supposed to? Could an outsider with little to no understanding of what your workshop is about get it, even if they dont understand some of the nuances? Check that youve got a workshop framework that can flow like a glorious steam train chuffing through the countryside.

19. Multimedia
Having read what must nearly be every anti-PowerPoint point there is to make (and having suffered my fair share of death-by-its myself), I have a public declaration to make. I love PowerPoint. Like anything, its subject to horrific misuse. I wont subject you to the common dos and donts youve heard already and have your own ideas on. But from observation, trial-and-error and workshop participant feedback, Ive discovered a few things about this much maligned facilitators helper; Pictures are brilliant. The

bigger and bolder

the better.

But theyve got to be the right pictures. And theyve got to fit with the flow. And theyve got to inspire you to think. Avoid the temptation to flog a dead horse and use too much of a good thing, and take care that youre not going to offend anyone (that rarely leads to good workshop outcomes). But dont be afraid of being a little provocative in your slides and imagery. Words are subject to the law of diminishing returns. The more you use, the less they mean. We turn off. Big words, few words, appropriate font, and questions provoke more than statements (would you agree?) The PowerPoint slide deck can be the spine of your workshop - an effective facilitators prompt and a neat roadmap for your conversation. Use it to remind you when to put morning tea in and when to engage the audience with interactivity and when to summarise and move forward. But theres a catch - to do this well, you need to have rehearsed it like no-ones business (or it looks like youre reading from the screen). Slides carrying pictures embedded with hyperlinks to downloaded YouTube clips or podcasts are a great way of using multiple media to engage all different learning styles in the group. Ask a techie for help.

Legal caveats and commercial confidentiality aside, sharing your slide deck with the audience post-workshop is a great way of continuing their thinking & activity on the topic. (The fear most people have of this someone might rip off my work! My personal perspective - get over it. Most people are too busy and preoccupied. Be smart take out the commercially-sensitive stuff and save it as a slide show or a .pdf before sharing. And on the off chance your slide deck is so good that the competitors would actually run through it or borrow from it? Im hoping your own thinking and workshop frameworks are moving forward, making your old show quickly redundant. Judge the risk for yourself Ive found erring on the side of generosity and sharing has many more upsides than down.) The other consideration around multi-media is the technology itself. What do you need in the room? A computer, data projector and screen? With spares of everything breakable? Or a flat-screen TV? Internet connectivity (are you sure its reliable and wont drop out? Really? Fast enough to show the YouTube clip?) Audio speakers? Microphone? Speaker phone for remote dial-ins? Your smartphone for its timer application or doubling as an alarm or a clock if theres not one on the wall?

If ever the carpenters maxim of measure twice, cut once was useful, its in reminding you to check, and check, and check your technology in situ before you start the workshop. A participant group usually forgive little technical glitches beyond your control, but as a facilitator, they throw your focus and flow right out, and why give yourself an extra hurdle to negotiate?

20. Your speaking voice

The most engaging topic, the fired-up audience and the sharpest PowerPoint framework will be sapped like a marathon runner at kilometre 42 if the facilitators delivery is listless, disinterested or droning like a waffling parliamentary question time rebuttal. You dont need to be a soapbox dynamo or gospel preacher to walk the audience through a great workshop. But theres a few things Ive discovered need your attention in advance; The Opening & Closing Ceremonies the start is your momentum-generator, the end is your take-home point and activity inspirer. The middle stuff? Sorry. Theyll forget much of it. But begin with a bang. Put extra effort into crafting an opening that you think will engage hearts and minds. Practice it aloud, a lot. Hear your own voice. Play with intonation and volume and pause points and speed. Have you put more energy into it than youre naturally comfortable with? (What you feel is too much is neaarrrllly enough. The facilitator is the choke to get the workshop revving nicely. You need a fair whack of oomph in your delivery, particularly to start.) And the close? Be pointed. Be provocative. Be clear and bold-up once more youll have hopefully earned the right. We need take-home messages that resonate. Put the resonance into your voice. Its your workshop gift to them. Should you sound friendly? Decisive? Inquisitive? Demanding? Adopting vocal postures consistent with the moment your workshop has reached is important. When youre aiming for peoples engagement of a new idea, a supportive positive tone might be right. When its the 3rd workshop on a topic that no-ones moving on and you need to inspire some positive guilt, can you be more direct in your delivery? The line between facilitator and action demander is easily blurred. Ive found the use of appropriate imagery on slides is a good cue not just for the point Im trying to make, but the tone with which I need to deliver it. Comfort words we all have them. Phrases we love and have ingrained into our speech. In conversations with friends, not always noticeable. When facilitating a 20-person workshop for 2 days, they can become distracting, even a bingo-style game for the audience. Be aware of yours (ask someone), then practice some alternatives. Your voice shouldnt be a barrier to the workshop, merely a transmission vehicle that helps keep their minds on the journey at hand.

Names write down the participants names, use them as much as you can before the workshop starts, then whenever youre talking to them in the workshop. Its engaging, its personal, and it assists message uptake.

21. Your writing hand

Note-taking is an underestimated facilitation skill. Its tough to have one part of your head thinking about the flow, pace and key touch-points of your workshop, another on how the audience is responding, and yet another on capturing information that comes from the session. If youre facilitating alone, which sometimes means doubling as whiteboard scribe for interactive exercises, brainstorms or experience sharing, theres a few things you can try to make your life easier; Draw up your subheadings in advance If youre using butchers paper or a whiteboard, write down all the prompts you want on the pages in your notepad, then get into the workshop room with sufficient time to translate them onto the larger paper(make sure youve got plenty of paper and that it doesnt bleed ink). Anticipate responses in advance if youre asking the group for examples of common objections or roadblocks or success practices, think about whats most likely to come up (brainstorm it first with a learned colleague if need be). Then, when a workshop participant starts describing a particular point, youre prearmed with a more concise summary version of the point that you can suggest and translate to the board. It demonstrates your understanding of the topic and saves a lot of interpretation time. Your writing facilitates their thinking as youre capturing something on the board, youre giving the contributor a few extra moments to think through what theyre saying. Avoid putting words into their mouth and let them flesh their idea out, but dont be afraid to use questions to clarify or confirm their meaning, or for a galvanising example. Try being neat its fair to say Im a bit of a shocker at this. My butchers paper writing looks like chicken scratch. Writing on a vertical wall with one ear on the audience and your mind on the topic is tougher than it looks, and when youre scrambling to capture lots of points coming from lots of directions. So slow it down. Ask for one at a time. Make sure the words are clear and legible remember their function on the board as ongoing thought-provokers and reminders for participants. (And Im trying harder) Keep parking bays off the whiteboard Ive never understood why you would stick parking bay topics up where everyone can continually be distracted by them throughout the workshop. The nature of parking bays (the topics that are beyond the scope of the main body of the workshop) means that you need to refer back to them at the end. So write them down on paper on your run sheet, place a slide near the end of your PowerPoint framework that says Parking Bay, and refer back to your notes at that point. But keep the workshop on message by keeping the visual stimulus focused on the message, not the sideshow. Take photos rather than trying to sketch down the whiteboard notes at the end of a workshop or taking home 47 pieces of butchers paper, use the technology in your Smartphone and take photos (similarly, snap away and erase as you go if all you have to work with is single whiteboard). For the ninja facilitators at morning tea and lunch breaks, if theres a key learning or point thats been created by the group (new team goals, mission statements, great answers to tricky problems), then take 3 minutes to build it into a slide in your PowerPoint presentation during smoko. You can usually anticipate this, so finding appropriate imagery in advance and having a draft hidden slide ready to go can save you time. When they come back from morning tea and you lead off with a slide that puts up in lights that which the group has just created, the engagement and commitment levels go up significantly.

22. Your listening ear

Part of facilitation is building, part is talking, part is scribing, but the biggest part is listening. Not just to whats being said, but for the unspoken shifts in mood and dynamic. The chin waggers in the group want to know theyve been heard, the quiet ones want their opinion registered without having to give you much to work with, and everyone wants the sensation of a group thats driven the conversation instead of the other way around.

To facilitate your listening, heres a couple of tips; Ask for agenda input - after describing the forum agenda at the start of the workshop, ask if theres anything youve missed, or, that if you cover those areas, confirmation that the participants will have gotten what they want from the session. Ive found its rare for any suggested changes, but its a good doublecheck, it sets the tone, and it shows that youre joint owners of the success of the session. Prepare questions in advance opinion seeking questions are great, experience-sharing questions powerful, and questions tailored to individuals that you know will be in the room are the ultimate. Dont settle for first answers go for the second layer of questioning; clarification, paraphrasing and confirmation. Many workshop participants will trot out old chestnuts that they think will please the facilitator and keep the conversation flowing. Dont let them hide behind this cop-out. Dig. Write it down what you thought you heard and what they meant can be reconciled by putting it on the whiteboard. Theyll pull you up if youve not got it right (and always ask if youve got it right). Be aware of audience tone if the audience words are clipped and curt, ask yourself why. Are they bored or feel like this is time-wasting? Do they disagree with the topic / point? Have you inadvertently breached a cultural standard or belief? Dont be afraid to check in with the audience I get the feeling that .. is that right? If youre feeling energy levels lift and contributions becoming more excited, seize the moment and have people hone in on activities that make the most of what theyre generating aim for specificity. Use your eyes and ears to listen for shifts in tone and energy, and make adjustments accordingly.

23. Rules of the house

You told them 8:45am for a 9am start, and its now 9:05, and there are still people outside on their mobile phones holding an index finger up apologetically at your herding efforts do you go hard-line, or cut them some slack? Its important to clarify the rules of the house with all in advance. The use of the word sharp for start and finishing times in pre-workshop communiques not only sets the expectations of the participants, its a powerful prompt to you to deliver on your commitments. If you said sharp, close the doors and start sharp. Theyll get the gist, and even if you have to smile when they bundle in apologetically and you spend 20 seconds catching your late-comers up, the rest of the audience is grateful you delivered on your promise, and the punctuality of the group improves. When it comes to devices mobile phones, ipads, laptops its your workshop and your rules. Unless youre running an IT training session (and even then), my suggestion is all technology off, closed and away. Build in sufficient breaks so they can race around and check their very important messages if need be. I worked in a team that actually implemented a 10 pushups rule if a phone went off during the workshop. It might sound extreme, but I only saw 2 people ever do push-ups nothing like the threat of public humiliation to inspire compliance. However you choose to deal with technology, be clear on your rules and be consistent in asking for people to adhere to them. Youre all here to achieve something dont let easily removable barriers stymie the work. (And one more thing about rules if you set them, others will expect you to follow them, so dont let them out late for lunch or morning tea, and even if youre 30 seconds late, apologise and commit to doing better next time).

24. Have fun

Keeping the plates spinning at the front of the room can be stressful, but it can be a hoot too if you let it be. Youre up there provoking people to change how they do things maybe even change their lives. Thats exciting! And theyve got a day off from the normal salt mine routines, so make the day enjoyable for them too! A few ways Ive found you can put a bit of fun in the facilitating; Put colour in your PowerPoint. Quirky pictures, funny and inspiring video clips (as long as theres some tiein) and even photos from your own life (showing your personal side makes the event less scary for everyone. Just not the one where youre at the party with a lampshade on your head)

Speak like you speak, not like a speech-giver dont put a plum in your mouth in an attempt to impress people with your linguistic prowess. Be real. Use the type of phrasing and words youd normally use. Im not advocating a swearing contest, because theres the potential to offend and its not necessary, but the occasional colloquialism or (audience-appropriate) bawdy tale can defrost the session. Give away prizes. Coffee cards. Chocolates. Give everyone a little showbag of goodies. Even a book. Be a little self deprecating. Aussie culture loves someone that doesnt take themselves too seriously. Its not to say the content of your workshop or the outcomes youre striving to help participants achieve arent seriously important, but if you can make yourself the subject of a little good-natured ribbing, you give the audience permission to relax and do the same. When theyre not feeling threatened, their heads and hearts open up a little more to taking the workshop messages on board.

25. Maslows chocolate

The Psychologist Abraham Maslow developed a 5 layer hierarchy of needs that he postulated human beings seek to satisfy in a particular order. The base level need is physiological food, air, water. The second layer is security being in a non-threatening space with non-threatening people. I think offering up chocolate in a workshop helps people tick those boxes (and by chocolate, I mean lollies or fruit or amuse bouches of your choosing). With something in their mouths and stomach, and feeling like a welcome guest at a good party, people open their minds just a little more to the idea of contributing, of connecting, of planning and growing and committing to change behaviours. Showbags, gifts, little unanticipated treats of all types play a similar role. Ive found chocolate in particular is also a powerful study in expectations management. I often use the incomparable Haighs chocolate frogs in my workshops (no contra deal, sadly). If Im running multiple workshops with the same group over time, woe betide me if one day I dont bring them in. Watch a little air deflate from the group. The flipside to this is you can use the holding back of chocolate for the first 10 minutes of the workshop as a pointed demonstration of how expectation high-jump bars are set, and then pull out the chocolates to show the delight that comes with surprises. This topic tends to fit most workshops and it involves chocolate, so (Footnote healthy eating habits heartily endorsed by this writer, and theres always someone in an audience thats on a diet or doesnt actually like chocolate, so have your alternative treats package at the ready)

26. Role model

With the more logical workshop organisation checkboxes ticked, consider one of the more powerful legacies a great facilitator might inspire the desire of participants to mimic their practices. Be conscious of the fact that, as the person directing traffic at the front of the room, youre on show the whole time, and a good percentage of the time, participants will be mentally putting themselves in your shoes. Could I do what they do? What are they doing thats really impressive? Whats lame that I could do better? Great facilitation should drift into the background of the topic, the group conversation, the energy thats going into participants planning their own next steps in their head. But that get out of the way of the workshop skill is hard to maintain throughout an entire forum. So rather than fight it, choose to use it to inspire practices you know will help participants get more from the session. If your workshop is on business planning, make it quite obvious how well planned the workshop is. If its on difficult customer conversations, actively seek out the troublemaker opinion that always lives in the room and showcase how you can handle these situations yourself. If its about time management and professional disciplines, then keep to time, have a summary wrap-up of the workshop notes out to the group within 24 hours and demonstrate a new level of diligence that supports your message and might just inspire others. And if you drop the ball? Show them how to pick it up with grace, humour and get on with it. The thing Ive found most vital to role-model is positivity. If the facilitator is flat, or worse, overtly negative to the topic it wont work. Choosing the most bullish, enthusiastic attitude you can for your workshop will strike a chord

with most and hopefully even bring the professional sad sacks up to a point that they dont deliberately get in the way of the rest of the group. Youre a role model whether you like it or not. Be conscious of it and plan for it.

27. Rehearse everything

Over the past 6 years, Ive facilitated an average of 2 workshops a week. On average, Ill rehearse the delivery of the words and exercises and slides for each workshop 3 to 4 times. The tough or new ones? 5 to 6 times. Ill draft up the framework on PowerPoint or as exercise books, Ill close my office door, Ill take my little slide-advancing clicker in my hand, Ill stand before the mirror, then Ill speak aloud and move around the room like Im there. Ill trip on the words that arent right, Ill find the thoughts that are in the wrong order, Ill anticipate the timings (which are never perfect), Ill build the verbal bridges to move between one topic and the next, and Ill make the needed changes that only ever become apparent when you role-play. I know I look like a lunatic talking to myself. But I know it pays big time, from a flow perspective, from a staying-on-message perspective, and in the self-confidence I develop that I know participants need from a facilitator. Ive also found that while getting your overall conversation framework right is vital, interactive exercises are particularly important to rehearse. Like working with animals and small children, when you turn control of the session over to a group, you need to know youve got the plan to hold the group on message even when theyve splintered off into small groups. Anticipate where you can lose groups by practicing the tricky bits more thoroughly. Write down what you might expect their objections or curve balls will be and practice how you could deal with them. If youre not sure, bring in a collaborator to help you drill. The other important thing to rehearse is the technology, particularly video clips and internet connections. And consider rehearsing plan b what to do if the power goes out and you have to run the workshop old-school style. It can be done! (Did I mention that a checklist is a really useful thing to help your rehearsals?) Moral of the story professionals practice. Repeatedly.

28. Follow up fast

Thanks for coming, good luck and have a great evening! And with that, your workshop comes to a close congratulations! Your work here is done! Not quite. If you made follow-up commitments to the crew (and great facilitators, in my humble opinion, should), then speed is yet one more powerful role-modelling behaviour you can demonstrate. Take your butchers paper notes or digital photos of the chicken scratch on the whiteboard and, while its still pretty fresh (and certainly in under a 24-hour time period), use the time slot you diarised in advance to write the summary notes and send a thank you email to the participant group. As a guide, I think good fast follow-up can include; An email to all thanking them for their participation, their willingness to share, for allowing you into their world and for using the workshop as a launchpad for their next steps. Some form of note capture be it a 1-page poster-style summary you put together for them that they can laminate and stick in their cubicle, or a series of bullet points in a short white paper, or even reworked PowerPoint slides. Tidy them up and send them through as an attachment.

Optional but impressive a .pdf version of your slideshow or the exercises you had them partake in. You might need to first remove commercially confidential material, but the more generous you are in sharing your framework, the more potential there is to reinspire people beyond the event. A reminder (friendly but pointed) that workshops are just moments in time designed to do something start, progress, stimulate, empower that needs to persist beyond the workshop walls. Ask people to be brave and take the next steps and follow through on the commitments they made. Use guilt as your friend.

29. Follow up again

Beyond the first email, you might elect to phone participants 1 4 weeks post-workshop, a quick call removed from functional conversations you might routinely have with the participants, specifically designed to ask them, with the benefit of a little hindsight, how they found the session, what theyve put into practice, what seemed like a good idea on the day (but if theyre truthful, has fallen away), and what they plan to do next. Another email is good, but a call is better. And if you said youd follow up? Please do. Too many promise and too few do. The participants paid an opportunity cost to be in your workshop, and if they agreed on taking some great next steps on the day, then the most likely thing keeping them from enjoying the benefits of activity is remembering and holding a disciplined line. You can help them with that. A quick second follow-up. Its worth the extra little bit.

30. When in doubt, ask for some help

The #1 reason I have a gig as a workshop facilitator isnt because Im the guru in the topics being workshopped, or that the manager or organiser isnt skilled at running the sessions themselves. Its because they want to be involved in the conversation without the worry of the logistics and cat herding that comes with facilitation. Because they want to be an active participant, contributor or just a fly-on-the-wall. They want to utilise a 3rd party to enable them to be part of the team (rather than the nag at the front of the room). If not a paid consultant that does this for a living, consider swapping favours with a colleague from a different department facilitate one-anothers sessions. Even someone from a completely different business that youve seen in action with groups can you come up with a quid pro quo arrangement? Even a member of your team, someone youre helping develop skills in front of groups or that you think has an aptitude for this type of critical work could you co-deliver it with them? And of course, you can always call me. I love to help .

I hope you found some useful ideas and practices in here that you can apply to developing and facilitating your next workshop. At the risk of undoing the deeper consideration Im hopeful this paper provoked, heres the wrap-up for the Twitter generation a top 5 take-homes

Have super-clear goals for your workshop to dictate its construction, facilitation and follow-ups. Know your audiences wants, needs and expectations as well as, if not better than, the workshop topic. Be brave and bold and colourful and interesting and provocative. Dont bore inspire. Inspire work. The forum itself is just one part of the workshop pre & post work completes the holy trinity of effective. Practice like your life depended on it. It wont look liked a canned pitch. Youre more likely to get it right.

(But hey, thats just my top five what do you find works?)

42 MIGHTY would love to help you define, create and facilitate your next workshop. Please let us know if youd like a hand bringing the crew together to inspire and support the right work.

Thanks for reading,

Troy Forrest Facilitator 42 MIGHTY [email protected] m +61 0 430 308963 www.42mighty.com.au