We love workshops for collecting user data and engaging project participants, whether remotely or in person. Here's why we love them - and why you should join us for this session:
1) Workshops are inclusive
Meetings, like organized sports, are often dominated by a small number of players with stamina and an affinity for the game. Why not engage all the personality types in the room with a mix of structured activities with individual and group reflection? (Shrinking violets and constant multitaskers, your opinions count too!) Remote workshops can also remove common physical barriers to participation.
2) Workshops can effortlessly manage big datasets
A big meeting can be a circus (or a solo performance - see point 1), and we don't always have time for one-on-one interviews. But a workshop can easily gather and manage feedback from all your stakeholders - or a nice big group of users - in a single exercise. This means less effort managing contributions and reconciling feedback across multiple meetings.
3) Workshops are participant-driven
The power dynamic in meetings and interviews can encourage participants to go along with the facilitator instead of presenting their own ideas. Even experienced facilitators can accidentally lead a group to a foregone conclusion. In contrast, workshops foster uninhibited feedback and support group autonomy. This helps you avoid surprises at crunch time, when stakeholders overcome their inhibitions or analytics reveal what users really think.
4) Workshops are memorable
By exploring and deciding things collaboratively, your stakeholders will remember big decisions and feel accountable for project outcomes. They're also more likely to remember the workshop inputs, like the user data you're working from and the goals you're working toward.
In this presentation, you'll learn when to have a workshop instead of a meeting; explore basic formats for user and stakeholder workshops; and get tips for a successful session (whether it's online or in-person).