By Yope Vagenas, LG member
Our October event was a very informative mini masterclass on facilitation, full of practical ideas, tools and tips, delivered expertly by Jacinta Cubis, from (Fl)awesome Facilitation. There was a mix of facilitation experience in the virtual room, ranging from newcomers to more experienced and regardless of levels of experience, everyone felt that they walked away learning something new or deepening their knowledge of facilitation.
Jacinta introduced us to the Four Ws of Workshop Design, recommending that of the three stages of workshop facilitation – design, delivery and debrief – the bigger part of our effort ought to focus on the design stage. If we are preparing a workshop from scratch, then this is where the purpose of the session will be determined. And this is important because it reduces the risks of delivering a workshop that has people wondering ‘why are we here’, focussing too much on the agenda and not enough on the people who are attending and creating uncertainty about the outcomes that will be achieved.
Jacinta presented the four Ws (Where, What, Why, Who) in a fun and creative way using her terrific drawing skills. She walked us through each of the W’s and how we can apply them to develop and deliver a well-planned, meaningful, relevant and engaging workshop.
I particularly liked the “Who”, the Empathy Map, which provided a framework for ensuring our design considers more deeply the participants that will be attending and what they might be thinking and feeling about the workshop as well as what they are seeing and hearing.
One of the numerous tips Jacinta provided along the way was to start with the purpose – the “Why”. “Purpose is like the sun, it brings the energy, engagement and outcomes”. Other tips included, “every what has a why” and how to use the “waterfall” technique in Chat when facilitating online virtual workshops.
Designing and delivering workshops is an important feature of OD work. Thank you to Jacinta for a great session with very practical tools, techniques and tips on how to do this part our work well.
ODA members, note: A recording of Jacinta’s session is available to you via the membership portal; just log on to the ODA website. Another great reason to be an ODA member! Join now!