Keep their attention right to the end
Energy flows throughout your workshop
A great workshop or retreat on a key topic can be tremendously productive. But there is a challenge. The most productive part of the meeting typically comes as you put all the pieces together at the end, but this can also be the point at which your attendees are the most worn out, and potentially less receptive.
How can you ensure that people are fully receptive to the most valuable part of the workshop? The answer is to manage the energy levels of the group. Let’s consider three key elements of managing group energy.
Design in extra time
It’s always tempting to cram a workshop or retreat to the gills with activity and important questions. After all, it’s rare to have the opportunity to work with this group in a such a focused way, so you want to take full advantage of it. But you should always design in more break time and ‘down’ time than you think you need. It’s the equivalent to ‘white space’ on a page.
There are a few reasons to include more white space. Individual exercises that you’ve planned may take a little longer than expected and participants will (whether consciously or note) blame you if run-overs cut into their breaks. Interrupted or compromised breaks contribute to a feeling of ‘wearing out’.
Lack of ‘down time’ means people will tire more quickly, almost guaranteeing that some of them will be less receptive at the most valuable point of the meeting near the end. Some facilitators suggest that there are really only 3 hours of productive ‘concentration’ time from a group in a day’s work. The rest should be breaks, energizing activity, informal networking (a natural energizer), and refreshment.
Use ‘energizer’ activities
Energizers are short activities that give people a break from the heavy thinking on the content of the workshop. Energizers give little opportunities to be creative, move around a bit, or get into a different environment. Some are like games, others help people get to know each other. Sometimes they involve getting some fresh air outside.
Energizers are helpful because they give a break, but don’t let people fall too far out of the workshop mindset, which can happen if you give an unstructured half hour that people spend on their phones or answering emails. These people are then back into ‘work mode’ and you will loose momentum.
There are many, many sources for energizers which you can find when you search for ‘energizers for workshops.’
Create ‘hard fun’
In addition to providing some energizers that purposefully redirect people in play or going outdoors, you can also introduce ‘energy’ into the heavy thinking process by varying the types of activities you use . In the last post, I described how new perspectives arise from exploring a challenge using mechanisms that are different from daily work.
A key way to create ‘hard fun’ is to establish a central ‘way of working’ that everyone gets used to throughout the day, but to gradually augment and vary that way of working. As people become comfortable with the way of working, they can get into a ‘flow’ state. When you introduce variations to the way of working, it pushes them into new insights and energy. An example way of working could be:
writing down ideas in a ‘silent and solo’ mode, or
building a model using Lego pieces
A variation would be to have people draw an idea in silent and solo mode, or to build a model together rather than individually. Like energizers, these variations on the core way of working activate different parts of the brain and keep participants engaged, even as they go deeper into the process.
Energy Flow
Consider the flow of energy throughout the workshop based on the types of activities you’re using and the amount of ‘white space’ you’ve giving. If people leave a workshop worn out, too tired to absorb the valuable bits, they’re less likely to want to give workshops another go. Ensure that people have enough energy at the end to receive some of the most valuable parts at the conclusion. This gives you a chance to start the workshop strong, but finish stronger.