Facilitating a workshop for co-workers. My first time and main takeaway.

I recently finished FF (it took ages, because of health issues) and held my first workshop (hooray). I am so happy and proud. Reading a post by

@Jérôme Bertrem

about his upcoming first workshop made me think of sharing my first workshop experience and I am also writing this to reflect. Maybe it'll be helpful to other beginners.

✔️🎁✔️My main takeaway (if you don't have time for a novel):

Fail and fix. This basic attitude to all communication also applies to workshop facilitation. Yes, I have forgotten to mention things. Yes, I could have been clearer. But I managed to fix it. Would it have been better if I hadn't forgotten? Possibly. But: It doesn't have to be perfect to be better than most meetings. So even as a beginner, I can make a difference. And: workshop facilitation is FUN!

✔️🏁✔️If you are interested in the rest:

I am the head of marketing in my company and I want to make meetings better. Mostly for myself 😅, but also the team and the company. It was a cross-departmental workshop and I came out feeling energised and happy. Which was great, as I went in feeling quite stressed because it was also the first time I had used Miro, and I was a bit uncomfortable taking on this different role amongst my colleagues. But all in all it went really well.

✔️👷‍♀️✔️The workshop:

The topic was gathering information for a persona project we were starting. We wanted to gather input and questions from all departments so that we could put together a representative catalogue of questions to ask and assumptions to prove or disprove. With 8 participants and the remote location, the group was a bit bigger than I would have liked for my first time. I spent ages thinking about the structure, the topics to cover and preparing the (huge) board (see screenshot), but it was fun and well worth it. I'd set up an agenda, a playground, a workspace for each participant, a space for everyone to put their top 3 sticky notes from each category, an effort/impact matrix and a parking space. The 🎵 playlist I had made during FF came in handy. I had recorded and sent out a Loom beforehand (also a first), showing the basic functions and introducing the Miro playground, as most of the participants were new to Miro.

✔️🕳️✔️The main problems I encountered:

☠️🤬 Difficult participants 😂 (what a surprise!):

The first hurdles came right at the beginning. One participant sent me a message that they were going to be 10 minutes late. I quickly sent them a Skype message to contact me there if they were even later, so they wouldn't barge in and disrupt the work in progress. My plan was to get everyone started and then explain everything to the late arrival.

Another participant hadn't seen the Loom, in addition to not being able to get on the board because they'd forgotten their password - they were quite aggressive towards me and felt put on the spot (which I know is a personal issue), which immediately changed the mood of the group. I could feel it, even from a distance. But knowing the person, I was able to assess the situation and handle it calmly. In the end they seemed to enjoy it very much. It was very important to stay calm - I could really see that this could have derailed the workshop early on if I had let this person get to me.

👒🎩 Wearing 2 hats:

One thing I noticed is that I didn't have the confidence to be as direct with my colleagues as I would have been as an outsider. For example, when we were using a version of the effort/impact scale in the decision phase, people started discussing, bringing up new issues and so on. I felt that I would have restricted this much more if they were not my colleagues but strangers. In the end, the workshop took longer. I solved the problem by telling them 10 minutes before the official end that we would not finish because of the lively discussion (I put a positive spin on it, I work in marketing after all 😂) and gave them 3 options how to continue. They all wanted to continue because they were having fun 👍 and they felt it was useful and beneficial. Even though it got a bit derailed, it was a great experience for them and for me.

👩‍💻🛠️ Tech:

I managed to solve the problems, but I think it would be very useful to have a co-facilitator to deal with people accidentally moving things around the board, forgetting how things work, insisting that things don't work for them the way they do for everyone else, complaining that the music is too loud (instead of turning down their headphones)...

😵💬 Not being clear:

I forgot to say that they were only supposed to write ONE thing per sticky note. In the end there were a few that we had to split up. I also forgot to mention the parking lot , so when I told people to choose their top 3 sticky notes per category to put on the effort-impact matrix, one person complained that their other sticky notes were also very important. I thanked them for bringing this to my attention and then mentioned the parking lot and that nothing would be lost.

😍💖In general, it was such a lovely feeling to see people practising for 10 minutes in the playground and then watching them work and fill in their sticky notes 🐝! I loved it! They were so focused, even the quieter colleagues were able to contribute equally and I could really see the benefits of the together-alone method. I felt a bit like some sort of guardian angel 🧚‍♀️ of communication, making sure everyone had what they needed and “holding space” for them to be creative. Everyone was very happy with the outcome of the workshop, which made me very happy. I am already planning my next workshops and also trying out simple methods to improve regular team meetings and mutual performance reviews.

🎉If you've managed to read to the end, you deserve to be bumped up a level. Unfortunately, that's out of my hands. But thank you for taking the time! 🙏

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