Let’s workshop! How to plan and facilitate great workshops

In today's world of UX, workshops are a crucial way for teams to collaborate, innovate, and make decisions. As a UX Consultant at cxpartners, I've had the opportunity to plan and facilitate many workshops, both internally and with clients. 

In this article, I'd like to share some of my top tips for how to plan and run effective workshops. Whether you're new to it, or an experienced facilitator, hopefully there will be something useful for you to take away, and help make your next workshop a success.

Workshops are structured group sessions designed to solve problems, generate ideas, and make decisions. Unlike typical meetings, workshops involve activities led by a facilitator, making them an engaging way to achieve specific outcomes.

When done well, workshops bring countless benefits, such as:

• Increased team communication: Workshops increase team communication, which is crucial in our often remote-working industry.
• Greater team alignment: Workshops help align team members by sharing information, asking questions, and building a shared understanding of user needs and project goals.
• Building shared ownership: By involving everyone in the decision-making process, workshops build a sense of shared ownership and investment among team members.
• Creativity and innovation: Groups of individuals with diverse-skill sets will often come up with incredibly innovative and creative ideas.

There are many different types of workshops, all suited to different stages of a project. Here are three that we find work particularly well at cxpartners:

• Purpose: To align teams on goals, roles, responsibilities, and ways of working at the start of a project.
• Format: Facilitators guide discussions on key topics, creating a social contract that the team can refer to throughout the project.

• Purpose: To think of, and plan for, key unknowns at the start of a Discovery phase.
• Format: Participants use the prompts Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How to generate questions about the project. This helps identify key unknowns and plan how to address them. The simplicity and effectiveness of these prompts make this a powerful tool for sparking ideas and discussions.

• Purpose: Generate and synthesise ideas from a large team.
• Format: The workshop begins with an agreed problem statement. Participants first generate ideas individually, then in pairs, and finally in groups of four. This iterative process ensures that the best ideas emerge and are refined, whilst preventing dominant voices from overshadowing others.

Planning is without doubt the most important part of a successful workshop. Here are some quick tips to help you to the next time you find yourself planning one:

• Determine if a workshop is necessary: Before diving into activities, ask yourself if a workshop really is the best way to achieve your desired outcome. Sometimes a simple meeting may suffice, especially for general discussions. However, for rapid ideation or group decision-making, a workshop could be your best bet.
• Give yourself enough time to plan: Planning a workshop often takes longer than you think. A good rule of thumb is to allocate 30 minutes of planning per participant, or simply match planning time to the workshop duration. This ensures ample time to choose activities, timings, and prepare materials.
• Be mindful of participant numbers: Lots of participants can make workshops more challenging to facilitate, and ultimately less effective. Smaller groups (less than 8 participants) often work best. If a larger group is needed, consider breaking them into a number of smaller workshops.
• Avoid overloading the agenda: It’s easy to underestimate the time needed for workshops. Allow extra time for people to arrive, initial conversation, sharing digital boards, and explaining activities. Focus on doing less activities really well, that overloading the session.
• Keep activities simple: Simple activities require less explanation, reduce confusion, and get better results. Use tried-and-tested activities, such as those from the Miro and FigJam communities. Test how simple they are by explaining them to a colleague beforehand.
• Decide between remote or in-person: Both remote and in-person workshops have their benefits. Remote workshops are easier for participants to attend, while in-person workshops are great for team bonding. Avoid hybrid workshops if possible, as they are challenging to manage and can marginalise remote participants.
• Check your tools: For remote workshops, ensure the technology aligns with your activities and participants' familiarity. Consider participants’ access to tools and inform them in advance. Double-check permissions for digital whiteboards to avoid access issues.

Running effective workshops requires thoughtful planning and consideration of various factors. By applying these tips, hopefully you can ensure you have productive and engaging sessions. Well-executed workshops can be a powerful tool in your arsenal!

If you want any more tips on planning and running your workshop, get in touch at henry.bacon@cxpartners.com!