Why You Only Need Two Hours: Mini Design Thinking Workshops
Mini sessions could be your solution to having a successful design thinking workshop.
Hear me out, most people who have experienced traditional (Capital “D”) Design Thinking Workshops expect to spend more than five hours in a room with fellow coworkers — sometimes spanning multiple days. Well, I’m here to report back: you can have a more effective workshop in just TWO HOURS!
The problem with traditional workshops is that they tend to be pretty long… Sometimes, even if you have stockpiled more than enough Play-Doh, pipe cleaners, and other fidgety toys… planned for numerous (generously padded) breaks and energizing activities throughout the day… found the PERFECT caterer to provide delicious food and drink — despite it all, some people still dread taking the time out of their day-to-day routine to spend in a workshop. Time commitment can be a scary thing.
Some (usually non-designers), may even feel like design workshops are a waste of time; usually, it is not immediately clear to them how the output will directly impact them.
As a workshop facilitator, it is also typical to spend a lot of time grooming slides and prioritizing activities. Moderating in itself can be draining. You have to keep everyone’s attention on hand, manage strong personalities, quickly synthesize and make sense of the group outputs mid-workshop, and leverage findings for the next activity on the agenda.
So, how can you compress several workshop days into just a few hours? Answer: You don’t!
- Think of this as a piecemeal project and only plan for activities that surface solutions for your immediate needs; have additional workshops as needed. Imagine that you want to align everyone around a single cause, share collective knowledge, ideate on solutions, as well as answer difficult questions as a team. If that is the case, all of these can be treated as individual topics and addressed separately!
- Ask yourself: Which of my priorities do I need answered first? Do all of these need immediate answers? If time is of the essence and all of your questions need to be answered as soon as possible, then you might benefit from a longer traditional workshop. If you can wait a day or two in-between answering each of these questions, then split them up into various mini workshops peppered throughout the week. Prioritizing your needs will be the easiest way to understand and schedule the various workshops you will need.
- How long is too long for a mini-Workshop? Personally, I have found that the most fruitful workshops are no longer than 2 hours. Any longer and it becomes harder for the group to focus on tasks at hand. Here is the best metaphor for workshops that I have come across: think about planning a workshop as if you’re making a burrito! If you overstuff the tortilla (time available) with too much food (activities), it will have a greater likelihood to fall apart and not be as enjoyable as a result ( the workshop itself).
By making sure you are not cramming in too many activities into the day, you can ensure that you have planned a workshop that will solve for your needs, as well as serve as a brief respite from the daily grind. You accomplish all this while taking into consideration your team’s time commitments and attention span.
