What A Workshop Isn't About.

Hi, I'm Josh.

As this is my first post, let's get the credibility piece out of the way quickly so we can get to the bits that (hopefully) help you :)

For over ten years, I roamed the hallways of two of the "big four" consulting firms learning from, and working with, design-led facilitation. Essentially my job involved designing and delivering workshops to help executive leadership teams solve complex culture, behaviour and strategy problems.

In brief, I've run many workshops and still have the sharpie stains to prove it.

Ok, now to what I want to share in this post.

When we see we've been invited to a (usually mandatory) workshop in our work calendar - often our reaction is to find the most relevant excuse we can find to get out of it.

One of the reasons for the eye roll is the dreaded "scope creep" that sees the conversation moving out of the scope of what the meeting invitation promised.

To avoid this, a simple tool when planning the meeting is called the "givens".

Givens are a kind way of saying, though X subject may be important to some people (or one person) in the conversation, for the purpose of staying on track and on time - we won't be discussing it.

Examples of Givens can be:

• We need more budget
• The timelines are too tight
• Our current resources don't allow for it
• Really, anything...

The point here isn't to just quiet some of the conversation, but rather to acknowledge that there are things that will be important for people to discuss, and lets them be heard.

Tip - write the givens up, or list them in the chat if it's a zoom meeting

This signals to everyone what this workshop isn't about - to give space to what the workshop IS about.

We all have things that need to be discussed but allowing an open "brainstorm" chat will often guide the meeting / workshop into the realm of "wow, where did the time go" and the only thing gained was a sandwich on the lunch break.

Point to consider: Often meeting facilitators will have what they call a "parking lot" - which is a sheet of paper or spot on a whiteboard to list what can be brought up later. This is a close cousin of the Givens, but different in the fact that there is still a feeling of unattended work. Parking lots can easily be to-do lists that don't have follow up. If you DO use a parking lot, please be sure to put an accountable person and timeframe for follow up.

Givens on the other hand set the tone from the beginning and allow the Scope of the workshop to have greater prominence.

To protect your Scope (and attention of attendees) - list Givens in the meeting invite, and refer to them as you start the meeting. This will help keep it clear to those you invite as to what the workshop ISN'T about - and will give them greater confidence the time will be spent productively.

I hope this helps and please reach out if I can give further examples or tips on how to use these, or other workshop guidance!

Josh