3 flavours of workshop

The word ‘workshop’ can mean different things to different people.

Not remembering this can result in us being misunderstood. We can end up unwittingly undermining our efforts.

The educator talks about a workshop as a hands-on learning experience.

The strategist talks about a workshop as a chance to get to an insight.

The operator talks about a workshop as an opportunity for a group to find alignment.

They’re all correct.

And you may have noticed that all 3 flavours of workshop often share the intentions of the others. Sometimes we may also wear the hats of all 3 of these roles.

But one of the 3 flavours has to take the lead. We need to know what the workshop is really for. We can mix the other two flavours in too, but really they’re added bonuses — a little bit of extra delight.

It’s worth noting that when done well, each flavour of workshop is designed in a different way and demands a different set of facilitation skills.

If we try and cover all the bases, we’ll probably end up covering none of them. Instead, the result can be a confection.

The important ingredients are knowing who the workshop is for, what it’s for, and how we’re going to to get there.

Here are a few of my new workshops — one main flavour, with a few sprinkles as a bonus.

Originally published at howardgray.net on February 26, 2019.