The ‘why’ gap
We were pretty happy with ourselves.
We’d turned this concept into a workshop in less than no time. Taking advantage of the technical team’s enthusiasm, and budget, to do the workshop now, rather than wait.
We’d nailed purpose - to help the team connect to each other, and their strategy, before they talked about that strategy with their customers.
We’d co-created a great workshop with well-paced and meaningful activities to suit people’s different personality styles and ways of learning.
But when we turned up, we saw that there was a big gap between our sense of purpose and that of the participants.
😕 They looked confused.
🤨 They appeared distracted.
🤦🏼♀ They seemed disinterested.
😣 Some seemed annoyed.
It was a good reminder that not everyone reads emails.
We’d forgotten to talk to the people who we were going to be doing the workshop with. Ironic considering our purpose was ‘engagement’.
We had to jump onto explaining why they have been taken away from their ‘real’ work for two or three hours.
I did what I do with my clients when I design a workshop. Ask them why they were here before I talked about the purpose.
A solo reflection first, then a quick chat to each other to share and compare their ‘whys’.
If the gap between our purpose and theirs was as big as it appeared, we’d need to spend a bit of time on context.
Understanding who is in the room is just one part of workshop design. If you would like your team to design workshops that engage and deliver, here are three ways I can help.
1. Public Backstage Masterclass Series 4 x 75-minute online sessions, limited to 8 people
Tuesday 20 April – Tuesday 11 May
All the details and to register, are here.
2. In house Backstage Masterclass series
4 x 75-minute online sessions for up to 10 people
4 sessions over 4 consecutive weeks
3. In person Backstage Masterclass
2 x half day sessions, at your organisation, for up to 10 people
Day 1: 9.30 – 12.30
Day 2: 9.30 – 12.30
Just comment or email me with the subject line ‘backstage’ and we’ll book a time for a call.