Planning a workshop part 1: the art of skillful facilitation

Business Analysts, amongst others, are commonly required to facilitate workshops in order to kick off projects. For most of us the thought of having to facilitate a workshop can be daunting and maybe even stressful. Some initial thoughts might be:

• Am I going to facilitate?
• What is expected?
• Who needs to be there?
• What do we need to achieve?

And the list keeps going…

Luckily there are some tips and tricks that can be learned to help you overcome anxiety and facilitate with confidence. As with anything, facilitation can be improved with practice.

So how do we plan for facilitation success?

Planning

You’ve run a kick off so many times that you know what you are doing, so therefore no planning is required, right?!

Well, not quite. Each workshop will have a different topic, outcome and audience, and the simple addition of one person can change the whole dynamic or approach needed.

Let's say you have a scenario where the topic has been predetermined and you now need to spend some time understanding how best to tailor the workshop approach. With this in mind, here are some steps to assist your planning:

Preparation

Ok, so you are nearly ready to go - you now just need to prepare for the workshop. Preparation is all about what we need to be successful on the day. Ask yourself the following:

• Where will the workshop take place? If possible, scope the room/area beforehand\
• What stationery will I need?
• Do I need someone to take notes or minutes? (If so, try to allocate someone prior to the workshop)
• Plan your trip to the room to ensure the workshop is set up prior to attendees arriving
• Now you are planned, prepped and ready to go.

Stay tuned for Part 2 where we will go through Execution and Post Workshop Follow Up.

If you would like more information on the services that Nexxt has to offer, please contact us on info@nexxt.com.au or 1300 031 931.