|
Conference workshops differ from those you plan at work: the size, duration and mixed attendee background + expectations add degrees of difficulty. When you don’t know who’s coming to not that long of a workshop, how do you plan?
To optimize the likelihood of success, a few guidelines:
-
Plan for varying participation personalities. Some attendees will share unprompted and bountifully, others need time to think and consider their words. Rotate scope every twenty minutes or so to keep all types engaged: give time for the Room, (working) Groups and Individuals.
The 3-12-3 Brainstorm is a great example: individuals silently brainstorm before concepting with their small working group and finally share a presentation with the full audience. You can change scope within or between activities, and the 20-minutes is more a guideline than rule. The point is to mix it up.
-
Let the experts engage each other. A good workshop planning assumption: workshop attendees already possess the answers, they require facilitation to surface them. By the time the workshop begins the facilitator’s job is nearly complete. Providing instruction, time keeping and the occasional discussion-prompting-question comprise the remaining tasks. The attendees are the experts, get them talking and keep to the sidelines.
-
Begin work as soon as possible. Introductions make sense; conferences are as good as their networking opportunities. Keep them short and collaborative then move into the work. We planned for the DesignOps canvas to guide attendee reflection and conversation. After a brief introduction exercise, the canvas facilitated the rest of the session.
-
Deliver activity instructions one at a time. You thoughtfully designed a progressive agenda. Attendee value derivation depends on engagement with the task at hand. Keep attendees focused and do not distract them with the opportunity to skip ahead. The puzzle will come together by the end of the workshop.
-
Design for half the time. If your workshop spans three hours, design for 1.5. Break out groups, coffee breaks and good discussion will stretch your agenda. You don’t want to run out of time before bringing everything to an elegant close; make sure you finish the experience. No one minds finishing 20 minutes early, but don’t keep them from lunch.
|
|
