Tips for Running Knowledge-Rich Workshops
By Peter Willis
I recently spent two days with 20 directors and researchers at a well-established think tank, engaging with this question: how to keep executives engaged in knowledge-rich workshops? The participants wanted to understand better how to facilitate workshops and presentations, of which they run many with their clients and other important stakeholder groups. It was a wonderfully stimulating time.
These are exceptionally bright and experienced people, masters of the data and analysis they have to share. Nevertheless, they sometimes lack confidence in their ability to create a vibrant thinking environment that enables their audiences to listen deeply to one another or grasp the complex material being offered and then make it their own.
Despite putting tremendous care and effort into preparing their presentations, they would often find the oxygen draining out of the room as power dynamics within the audience showed up or poor habits of attention crept in.
During our lively session we discussed three tactics I find effective in keeping people engaged, open, and learning.
Make it easy. ‘Facilitate’ comes from the Latin word ‘facilis’, meaning ‘easy’. When you facilitate a discussion, meeting or workshop, your intention should be to make it easy for the participants to listen to one another, share new thoughts and lean in towards collaboration – all without fear of being judged and rejected. We all know how good it feels when, particularly if difficult matters must be addressed, we find ourselves in a genuinely accepting space, where every person present has value and the conductor of the discussion listens acutely to each contribution. You can create that sense of ease in many ways, most of them seemingly small, almost invisible. It begins inside you - the key factor is placing ‘ease’ at the centre of your intentions for the session.
Temper the knowledge imbalance. As a diligent expert or consultant, you pride yourself on doing your homework to the Nth degree to impress your client and merit your fee. Consider how they may feel when you arrive, PowerPointed to the hilt. It’s an old adage of sales that clients buy you before they buy your product – it’s the same with expert knowledge. It is so easy to shut down your client’s curiosity by being in full ‘impress mode’ before establishing rapport and, critically, before understanding how much your client knows that you don’t know and that could be very useful for you to add to.
My recommendation was to look for an early opportunity to meet with the client, before diving too deep into researching their problems and possible solutions. The aim of this meeting is to understand and actively appreciate the client’s existing areas of deep knowledge and experience. Not only will you learn unexpected things, but you will also have begun to establish that precious person-to-person respect that is the foundation of all innovation.Change pace and place throughout the day. With its deep memories of school, your body knows its enemies well. Most of us would rather crawl up the walls than sit in the same seat all day, facing front as someone supposedly cleverer or more important than we are talks to us. When I facilitate, I have people switch often between plenary discussions (seated in a circle wherever possible), thinking work in face-to-face pairs, and discussions in small groups of between three and six.
If energy is sluggish after a late night or a big lunch, I get people out of their seats, perhaps for an exercise where, to answer a question aligned to the workshop’s purpose, they have to move their body in some expressive way, so as to generate fresh perspectives on their inner and outer reality. Or I give them a question to ponder as a pair while walking with their companion around the building or its outdoor spaces. And of course, there is nothing better than spontaneous laughter to shake away drowsiness and the cobwebs of tedium.
If I can help you and your smart, expert colleagues to share what they know in more lively and productive ways, do get in touch.
