Step 8
Facilitate your Workshop
The Nutshell
Before you start, keep these things in mind:
- Plan sufficient time to make the room yours. Be physically and mentally present to welcome every participant.
- Ensure that the participants can satisfy their basic needs; otherwise, they will not be able to focus on the content.
- Be yourself and be aware that both your energy and mindset will spill over to the group. If you are not authentic you cannot expect your participants to be either.
- Remain kindly-strict regarding the time-boxing. In some cases, groups perform best under pressure (e.g. in the divergent phase to generate many creative ideas). In other cases, the group will need more time to understand different points of view or go through a conflict (particularly in the convergence and reflection phase).
- Remain confident and positive without becoming overly optimistic or disturbing. Remember that the workshop is about the participants and not about you. You are in control of the process but not of the ideas and the dynamics that will come up.
“We may come up with creative ideas when we feel rushed, but never when we feel stressed.”
You can be sure that the time you have planned for the different stages of your workshop won’t match reality. Take notes so that you can improve your planning in the future.
Remain flexible and trust your improvisation skills. Don’t try to stick to a plan that does not work but don’t give up too soon either.
You have put a lot of thoughts and effort into the design. Usually, it pays off to trust the process.
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