Workshops and facilitation
Keep preparation, shared creation and follow-up in the same working context. Read participants’ contributions alongside the decision and the reasons for reaching it.
Prepare the purpose, main question and working method. Set up the template and guidance in the Designer’s preparation area, then define the working area participants will see on the shared Wall.
If you use the same method with different teams, add area roles, phases and the required connections to the work design. Leave room for free expression, too.
Participants express their thinking through notes, drawings, diagrams or tasks. Group related topics, show cause-and-effect relationships and focus on the detail of a structure.
Change participation to suit the purpose of each section: individual thinking, shared review and, when needed, small-group work. Their rhythm is part of the same session.
Bringing notes together after the workshop is work in its own right. The person compiling them distinguishes findings, proposals, open points and decisions. Their interpretation should be distinguishable from a shared outcome confirmed by the people concerned.
One person may leave with a technical question, another with a decision need and another with something learned about the method. Preserve the boundary between personal reflection and shareable output, and carry the context into commitments and the next discussion.
EXAMPLE ACTIVITY
Operations and product teams are identifying why requests are delayed and agreeing on a new approach to try.
The facilitator brings together the current path, known problems and the question to be answered.
Participants note different waiting points, relate similar problems and explain them with examples.
Compare alternatives against shared criteria, recording the reason for the choice and any unverified assumption.
Separate proposals from decisions; the people concerned confirm what will be shared. Carry commitments and open questions into the next review.
A workshop record in which the problem, option, decision and next task can be read together.
WHAT REMAINS?
Shared work with understandable preparation and actual contributions
Compiled outputs to be confirmed by the relevant people
Distinct personal learning and subsequent responsibilities
YOUR QUESTIONS
No. Start with a free Wall and use a more guided work design for recurring activities when useful.
A vote is a participation result. Decision authority, reasoning and context are considered separately; a majority alone is not evidence of truth.
Bring ideas, records and decisions into the same context.
