Why Your Next Meeting Should be a Workshop
The ultimate guide to running engaging and productive collaborative sessions
Let’s be honest — meetings can be pretty awful. They take up valuable time, tire us out, and frequently leave us as participants feeling unfulfilled. This can be caused by a few reasons, including a lack of clear objectives, off-topic wanderings, and failure to produce tangible outcomes. The question is: Why do these gatherings, intended to facilitate collaboration and decision-making, often result in frustration and inefficiency? Or, to ask it another way, why are meetings broken?
A recent article from Deputy.com titled “How Much Time Do Americans Spend in Meetings?” delves into the significant amount of time Americans devote to meetings. Surprisingly, some even prefer sitting through jury duty over a work meeting, enduring traffic, or going to a doctor’s appointment! The article examines the impact of the length of a meeting and how it relates to productivity and provides recommendations to make these gatherings more efficient and manageable time-wise.
But the good news is meetings don't have to be this way. It's time to unveil the secret weapon that can revolutionize your meetings. Get ready to enter a realm of structured creativity, intentional inclusivity, meaningful collaboration, and tangible results.
But let's first dive into a real-life example. You could be meticulously prepared with a crystal-clear agenda and the right attendees yet find yourself needing meeting after meeting to get anywhere.
Picture this meeting: a group of 10 people, four people keep talking over each other, three people come in 15 minutes late, two people keep bringing up things off-topic, and one person never speaks. Does this sound familiar? What's happening here? What's the underlying issue?
To unravel this, let's explore an experiment run by George Miller in 1956. In fact, let’s try it.
George Miller’s experiment
First, study the words below for 15 seconds.
Now, move the list out of sight — open a new tab or some other action — and jot down as many as you can recall. It’s tempting but don’t skip ahead!
Next, compare your list to the complete list above. How did you do?
Typically, you should remember somewhere between 5–9 words. Miller’s experiment showed this finding, too, supporting the concept of the “magic number 7” — the idea that human working memory can hold around 7 (plus or minus 2) items.
In this way, most meetings are complete and utter overload — significantly more than seven (7) discrete pieces of information. This experiment also illustrates one of the many challenges of meetings and offers a quick way to demonstrate their limitations.
Our brains aren’t wired to process the amount of information that meetings often involve.
What's the alternative, then?
We already grasp the problem in traditional meetings, so it’s time to look at how it could work in the world of more interactive sessions called workshops.
What is a workshop?
A series of activities with a group of people led by a facilitator to achieve a specific goal.
Unlike traditional meetings, workshops are designed to be interactive, engaging, and highly collaborative. They provide a structured environment where participants can actively contribute, share ideas, and work together towards a common objective.
Let's look closer at HOW workshops can effectively address some of the most prevalent meeting issues:
- Distractions
- Lack of structure
- Off-topic conversations
Time for a quick bit of homework:
Prepare a checklist with the three (3) problems above and watch for them while you are in your next meeting. I am sure you will find the majority of them.
1. Distractions
In traditional meetings, participants can easily get sidetracked.
However, workshops set the stage for focused engagement. The facilitator establishes commitment rules and timeframes for each exercise, ensuring everyone remains engaged and on task.
Practical advice:
As a facilitator, it is vital to set some commitments:
- Invite participants to turn their cameras on, explaining that this will make the collaboration more genuine and engaging. By doing so, you will encourage active participation.
- Emphasize the importance of staying engaged and focused by avoiding distractions like phones or other devices.
2. Lack of structure
Meetings often lack a clear sequence, resulting in chaotic discussions and overlapping conversations.
Workshops, on the other hand, provide a structured framework. They follow a well-defined roadmap with exercises to be completed in a specific order. This organized approach allows participants to express their thoughts individually using sticky notes, fostering equal participation and ensuring everyone's ideas are heard and considered.
Practical advice:
- When you initiate a workshop, identify and agree on the needed outcomes. Have a clear goal for your workshop and tailor the exercises accordingly.
- Be flexible and adaptable to unexpected situations. You might reach a point where the sequence’s upcoming exercise is irrelevant. There is not a 100% stable formula, even in predefined exercises. So, be ready to experiment.
3. Off-topic discussions
Off-topic discussions can derail meetings and divert valuable time and energy.
Workshops address this issue by incorporating a helpful technique known as the "parking lot." In other words, park your idea for later when it's outside the topic's scope.
Practical advice:
Prepare a “parking lot” board and use it in case off-topic ideas or discussions arise. This assures participants that their ideas will be acknowledged and addressed after completing the planned activities. Just ensure that will happen; otherwise, you will not be perceived as trustworthy.
So, let’s revisit your homework: How many issues were you able to identify in your meeting? I imagine several of each type.
In summary, workshops offer a structured and productive environment, enabling effective collaboration and decision-making. You can make the most of your time together by implementing these strategies.
Let’s look at the essential ingredients you need as a foundation to kick-start a successful workshop.
A starting formula for workshops
- A clear goal: Define a specific objective
- A facilitator: Guides the participants and manages activities
- The right participants: Select those relevant to the purpose
- A digital whiteboard: Use collaborative tools like Miro, Mural, or Lucid
Potential challenges
I want to share valuable tips, allowing you to learn from my experiences and mistakes.
In a recent workshop, I could have done better giving instructions. I had prepared multiple exercises, each following a similar set of steps. However, as I reached the final set of activities, I mistakenly skipped the detailed explanation, assuming that participants would understand based on the previous exercises. I didn't provide an example, which resulted in confusion among the participants.
One of the most important things that will lead to a successful workshop is clearly explaining the activities.
Tips on giving instructions
- Always follow this formula: Explaining the WHY, WHAT, and HOW. What are we doing? Why are we doing this? And How are we going to do it?
- Simplify instructions and exercises by presenting only one way of doing things. Remove unnecessary options, and stay focused.
- Reveal only the current exercise. This is very important when it comes to remote workshops. Hide the other boards to prevent distraction and confusion.
- Provide examples to help participants understand how to approach exercises and tasks. Use examples to illustrate desired outcomes and clarify expectations.
- Repeat important points at least three (3) times to ensure everyone in the room receives vital information.
When everything is clear before starting the activity, you should run the timer. Usually, 3–4 minutes is enough time.
I vividly recall a workshop simulation where several designers and I were practicing our facilitator's skills. We divided into two teams; on team one, we had to play the role of designers, while on the other team, they had to act as the customers. Our task was to prepare various exercises to help us reach our ultimate goal of solving customers' problems. We carefully selected the activities and allocated specific timeframes for each one. Each team member was assigned to facilitate an exercise. However, as the workshop commenced, we quickly realized our oversight. We needed to account for the time required for instructions, clarifications, discussions, and presenting the results after each activity. Consequently, the final facilitator found himself racing against the clock, and unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time to conclude the workshop with a well-formed and natural ending.
Tips on time boxing
- Set time limits for each exercise and keep in mind how much time you will spend giving instructions and discussing the results after each exercise.
- Take regular breaks to prevent participant fatigue.
- A remote workshop shouldn’t last more than three (3) hours per day.
In the exercise above, the participants must practice filtering data in Miro for five (5) minutes. The total time for this activity was 15 minutes.
As a facilitator, I spent five (5) minutes demonstrating how they can accomplish the task, providing clear examples with a step-by-step sequence. Afterward, participants were given five (5) minutes to perform the task. Finally, we reviewed the results together, addressing any areas that needed clarification.
Now, let's drop into a quick exercise to illustrate this concept.
Imagine planning a vacation with three (3) friends.
Picture yourself making a swift yet well-informed decision within 15 minutes within a group of 3-8 people.
Your goal? Identify potential vacation destinations or activities. As the facilitator, you'll guide your friends through the process, ensuring equal participation and a structured approach.
Okay, let's give it a try. So you have the goal, and what you should do as a facilitator is to prepare your board with sticky notes and provide the instructions for the first exercise.
You can start in this way:
We are together to brainstorm the best way to spend our upcoming vacation. (Answer the question: Why are we doing this?)
Let's write what comes to your mind on these sticky notes. (Or, what are we doing?)
Please write only one idea per sticky note and keep it short but understandable. I will set the timer for three (3) minutes. Are you ready? (Or, how are we going to do it?)
Everyone should write down different ideas about upcoming vacations on a sticky note for three (3) minutes.
When the timer is up, you could say:
Now that we have an extensive collection of ideas, let’s vote for the ideas you like the most.
This will be the second exercise. As a facilitator, you should prepare a board with three (3) voting dots per participant. The time frame for that activity will be extended to five (5) minutes. If there are duplications in the ideas, you can group them to make the voting part more accessible and accurate.
Instructions:
Read through all the sticky notes. Bring similar ideas close to each other. Get three (3) red dots to vote on the ideas you believe should be prioritized silently. It’s okay to vote on your own idea or even use more than one dot per idea. This time, I will give you five (5) minutes to have enough time to read all the ideas.
You should take the winners and present the top-voted ideas to the group when the time is up.
In the end, you will have a prioritized list of ideas to go through in 15 minutes instead of taking hours to take into the same place if we didn't run a workshop.
Now, it's time to dive into the exciting choices for your vacation destination: it seems like it’s down to Costa Rica or Greece. Get ready to make a decision and prepare your suitcases for an unforgettable adventure. But just before that, read this article until the end — it's worth it.
You just saw an example of one of the cornerstones of workshop exercises, Note & Vote. And best of all, you can incorporate them in almost any workshop activity.
Regardless of the specific type of workshop you choose, these two (2) exercises are the foundation for almost every workshop activity. They follow the below principle:
Work alone together
How it works: the team collaborates on the same challenge instead of creating an open discussion; everyone writes their ideas on sticky notes in silence;
Striking the balance
Leveraging workshops for effective collaboration without overuse
However, workshops offer numerous advantages; there are scenarios where a traditional meeting format remains a more suitable choice:
1. Disseminating information: If the primary purpose is to share information, updates, or announcements with participants, a traditional meeting format might be more appropriate. Meetings are often used to convey information efficiently to a larger group.
2. Status updates: Meetings can effectively provide updates on ongoing projects, discuss progress, and address any roadblocks or challenges. Participants can quickly share their updates and receive relevant feedback.
3. Routine check-ins: Regular team check-ins, such as daily or weekly stand-up meetings, are typically structured to review progress, share updates, and identify obstacles quickly.
4. Presentations, demos: Meetings can be organized for presentations, product demos, or showcasing new ideas or concepts to a group. This format allows for focused presentations followed by discussion.
5. Focused interaction: Meetings can be more efficient when you need to address a specific issue, resolve conflicts, or provide guidance on a particular matter.
Consider the desired outcomes, participant engagement, time constraints, and the nature of the content when choosing between a meeting and a workshop session. In some cases, a hybrid approach that combines elements of both formats might be the most effective solution.
So, the next time —
You want to align quickly with the team…
You have to collect stakeholder’s input…
You need to solve complex tasks…
You have a lot of options to choose from…
You’ll be part of an effort to kick-start a new project/problem…
Don’t run a meeting; spend some time, get prepared, and do better work by facilitating a productive workshop!
Don’t miss the next installment in this two-part series, where we explore ‘Elevate Your Facilitation Skills: Mastering the Art of Workshops’ in the second part.
And feel free to reach out and share your workshop experiences with me. I am eager to hear your story! Comment below or find me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mina-djenkova/.
Other resources
- AJ&Smart — An agency specializing in design sprints and problem-solving through design thinking methodologies
- Miro.com — A leading digital whiteboard tool and collaborative online platform for visual collaboration, brainstorming, and project management
- A list of the best books around workshopping from the SoftServe design center of excellence (COE)
