I need help to figure out how much time, if any, to provide for discussions after an exercise? Let say for example you're running a tight 2 hour problem-solving or creative workshop with exercise that are around 20-30 mins. - Is providing time to share thoughts a good way to transition between each? - How much time would be good to let people talk after an exercise - and how do you manage it so that it doesnt start eating up the next exercises time or cut someone off from sharing their views? What do you guys do? Looking for some advice.

Hey all, me again! I've been wondering about the types of people, roles specifically, that are usually the most interested and receptive to wanting to run a workshop. Not just for purely marketing reasons, I mean, who do you normally see understanding the value and seriously considering a facilitated workshop to solve their problems or provide results? Doesn't matter the niche or type of workshop. For me I noticed founders or startups are pretty receptive to the idea, but they normally don't have a large enough team or budget depending on which stage they are at. But they are always keen to learn more. Another one for my are product managers saying they don't do them enough or the ones they do have in their org are not really 'workshops' but more one-way seminar/trainings. I also have come across different senior management in NGOs or Clubs who would want to get a bunch of different people aligned on something important. What about you? Who do you find yourself having engaging conversations, or selling (kudos) , workshops to?

I'll be hitting more events and conferences this year and want to know whats the best way for the people you meet to remember you? Business cards have always been a kind of waste of paper for me but I've noticed QR scanning my LinkedIn account or something is not so steamlined. If you use QR scanning to share your creds, what do you use and where does it lead to?

I led a short workshop today to identify possible positioning statements for a university program. What I was reminded of was the importance of setting up the activity. I shared the positioning framework, how it is used in concert with crafting marketing messages, and shared a few examples. They had to guess the brands that aligned with the positioning examples, which made it more interesting than simply telling them. Examples also ensured they knew what the end point should look like. In 30 minutes we accomplished the goal of generating a number of possibilities and heard all voices. I ended with a dot vote which identified their top choices. Now we go into research mode with students to validate the internal perspective. In the past I had a tendency to move quickly into the exercise and people wouldn't engage to the same level as when I take time to set it up by showing them what the end point will look like and reinforcing the value of the activity. With clarity of the purpose and tangible examples of output, people stop questioning the point of the activity and dive in.

Hey all, I'm looking for different ways a group can achieve consensus without having to resort to the usual dot-voting exercises. I have designed a workshop which practicially has a voting after each activity so far and it looks too repetitive and boring. Anyone have better, more interesting methods?