There are many ways to run team workshops. This piece describes one approach that I followed when running sessions. But you will, of course, follow your own approach.
The first step was to make clear contracts with people about what they wanted to achieve from the workshop. This involved talking with the leader and other key stakeholders to agree on the following things.
The specific outcomes they wanted to achieve from the session;
The specific themes to be covered and, as a result, the actual things they wanted people to be doing after the session;
The actual words they would like to hear people saying at the end of the session.
We also made clear contracts about: a) my role in the session; b) their role in the session; c) any specific dos and don’ts to bear in mind when running the session.
Before the actual workshop we also sometimes took the following step. The leader sent an email to people explaining the aims of the session. They wrote something along the following lines.
Sometimes the participants got back with further topics they would like to see covered. When appropriate, these were added to the final agenda.
Clear contracting was also vital when starting the actual workshop. The leader would begin by giving a short introduction and then handover to me. I would say something along the following lines.
Welcome to the workshop.
I will try to make it both enjoyable and effective. Let’s begin by making clear contracts about what we aim to achieve today.
As far as I understand it, the topics we want to cover are these:
To …
To …
To …
“The aims are that at the end of the session you are saying some of the following things:
“…
“…
“…
My role is to create an encouraging environment. It is also to provide practical tools you can use to achieve your aims as an organisation.
Your role is to encourage each other. It is also to take the ideas you like and apply these in your own ways to achieve the organisation’s aims.
Bearing these things in mind, are there any other topics you would like to add to the agenda? If so, we can try to cover these things.
We can then move onto focusing on the first topic we want to cover.
During the day I would do my best to deliver the desired results. This often involved focusing on a particular theme and aiming:
To be crystal clear on the specific results that people wanted to achieve by focusing on this theme;
To provide positive models and practical tools that people could use to achieve these results;
To also invite people to do exercises where they clarified the practical things they wanted to do to achieve the desired results.
There are many ways to involve people during a workshop. I often followed an educational models based on the 1-2-3 approach for running an enjoyable and effective session. Here is an introduction to that approach.
During the day it was important to keep in touch with the key stakeholders to make sure that we were on course. This sometimes resulted in adapting things to make sure we achieved the goals.
The day was often about encouraging people to refocus on the team’s purpose, principles and picture of success. It was also about helping them making their best contributions towards delivering the aims.
Bearing this in mind, towards the end of day we invited each person to do the following exercise. They then presented this to the rest of the group.
The leader also explained they would be having a follow-up session with each person. They would then agree on:
The specific outcomes the person would aim to deliver towards achieving the team’s goals;
The specific support the person would need to deliver these outcomes towards achieving the team’s goals.
Finally, the leader would also describe how they would help the team to get some quick wins. These were tangible things that would create momentum and help the team towards achieving its goals.
The leader would then thank everybody for their contributions. This would include describing some of their own take-aways from the session. They would then formally end the workshop.
Let’s return to your own work. Imagine that you have been asked to run a workshop for a team. If appropriate, you may aim:
To make clear contracts with key stakeholders about the specific outcomes to achieve, the guidelines to follow and the actual words they would like people to be saying after the workshop;
To make people feel welcome, outline the goals for the session – plus add any other items – and make clear contracts about your role and the participant’s roles in working to achieve the goals;
To run a positive workshop in which you would encourage and enable people to achieve the agreed goals and also help the team to achieve ongoing success.
As mentioned, you will run the workshop in your own way. If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you to complete the following sentences.
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