Tips On Planning And Running Your Workshops Like A Pro
I just recently started planning and running serious UX workshops. Not that I hadn’t done this before at other jobs and while teaching. I’ve attended and ran workshops for most of my adult life, some for kids, some for adults, some for fun, some for work… But it’s different when a client is paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for the work you’re doing and the workshop in question is ~5600km (~3500 miles) away and you have people flying in from all over the world. It puts a little pressure on what you’re doing.
As I would, I panicked a little and resorted to doing what I do best, talking to people. I spoke to friends and peers about how they prep for workshops and most of the things I heard were things I already do, but there were some tips I found to be really useful. As a result, I’ve compiled this list of different things to consider, do or plan for while getting ready for a workshop.
Before the workshop
1. Stand up a workshop outline as fast as possible
At this point, you know what the goals and desired outcomes of the workshop are going to be, and you’re furiously planning the workshop activities themselves.
One key thing I’ve done is to share an outline of the workshop with my team as soon as I could. Spend an extra hour on this one evening if necessary. Sharing your plan early will ensure you get valuable input, that you’re able to iterate quickly, and that the whole team is on the same page.
2. Think about the whiteboard layout throughout the entire session.
As you plan out the exercises, think about what your whiteboard needs are going to be (note that when I say whiteboard, I include paper pads, post-it walls and every surface you’re going to be using).
This will help you visualize the exercise and give you a picture of what the board will look like before and after you do it. As a result, you’ll be able to navigate the room better and focus your efforts on facilitating the workshop and the conversation. Include this in the outline document, so everyone in your team understands what will be happening around them during the session.
3. Think about what materials you’ll need
Whether you have a producer that will help you get the materials or if you’re going shopping for them yourself, think about the ton of post-it notes, sharpies, whiteboard markers, large paper pads, blank pieces of paper your workshop will need. This is essential production work that needs to be planned for: running out of post-it notes while your client is brainstorming is probably the most awkward moment of any workshops (yeah, that happened to me once…). Include this in the outline as well — you might be able to split this task with other team members.
4. Prep the whiteboard before the client arrives
Ok, this one might feel like extra credit but, as a client, walking into a room and seeing a whiteboard all divided up, ready to be filled I think two things:
- “This team has prepped this work session to the point where they know what they’re doing at every step of the way” — I know you prepped, but the evidence now lays in from of me, and it’s reassuring.
- “I know what to expect” — Believe it or not, clients are human beings, and they feel anxiety around unknown situations. Setting the board will give them a sense of structure and a tangible goal (a full whiteboard) before the session begins.
5. Play it all out
I feel dumb too, but rehearsing a workshop will help you identify highs and lows, gaps and places where you might need to switch up an exercise because it feels like more of the same you just did.
This will also help you feel the rhythm of the conversation and know when you might need to pick up the speed, throw in some inspiration or bring morale back up again.
During the workshop
1. Set expectations
Whatever you do in life, avoid unnecessary trouble by always setting expectations. It’s no different with workshops. As you’re talking to the client before starting any exercise, let them know what the goals of the workshop are, what the outcome will look like, what are the steps and exercises you’re going to use to get there, and what you will do with everything that you all create during the session.
Something I love reminding them is that no matter what we end up focusing on as we move through the day, everything else will also be recorded and will inform our design process going forward.
2. Display step-by-step instructions during the exercises
This is one of the things that I bring in from my teaching experience. In your presentation deck, have a slide per exercise where you detail out the steps that they need to follow to complete a task. You should explain these steps before starting, but because they have them available during the exercises, they can reference them at any moment, giving them a plan and reducing the anxiety of not knowing what’s next.
3. Have step-by-step instructions for yourself
The steps that a participant takes during a workshop are different from the ones that the facilitator must take. Do yourself a favor and write out what YOU should be doing at each moment: making sure everyone has paper for the next exercise, passing out colored Lego bricks to later divide them into teams (and give them something to play with!), prep the wall for on-the-fly affinity mapping…
This only reduces anxiety for you, but if you’re leading a workshop, more things to worry about is precisely the kind of thing you do not need.
4. Give your participants a space to talk
Many times, you’ll feel like conversations are extending over the time you had allocated for a particular exercise. That’s totally OK. It might be a case where the discussions haven’t been had outside of that room, and they’re actually shining a light on things you should know but didn’t incorporate into your workshop. On the other end of the spectrum, they might bring up blockers and challenged for the project moving forward, things you should address as early as possible to avoid failure.
You’re there to facilitate these conversations, be it through your exercise or through providing them a safe space in which to get it all out in the open.
Conclusion (and final tip)
One of the people I spoke with only had one thing to tell me; he forwarded me a quote by Dwight D. Eisenhower which instantly got inscribed with fire in my workshop soul.
In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.
This is entirely true when we talk about workshops. Many times you don’t know who your participants are, how they’ll behave or if someone will have some insight that throws a wrench at everything you believe in.
Having a plan is a way for you to know how you are going to extract the information you need from your stakeholders but many times, things that happen in the room won’t let you follow your plan. A conversation sparked by a thought on a post-it note might spiral into a room-wide debate, and you’ll have to adapt to the need for the client to express themselves (see point above) and carefully measure when step in and “for the sake of time” move on with the exercise.
Plan every step, but be infinitely flexible.
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Rafa Torres is a New York Alien that designs experiences at Code And Theory and Teaches UX at NYU and General Assembly. He feels super weird about himself in the third person… Visit Rafa.work for more.
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