assignment workshop meaning

A step-by-step guide to planning a workshop

Going from a mere idea to a workshop that delivers results for your clients can feel like a daunting task. In this piece, we will shine a light on all the work behind the scenes and help you learn how to plan a workshop from start to finish.

On a good day, facilitation can feel like effortless magic, but that is mostly the result of backstage work, foresight, and a lot of careful planning. Read on to learn a step-by-step approach to breaking the process of planning a workshop into small, manageable chunks.

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How to plan a workshop in four phases

We have divided the process of designing a workshop step-by-step into four sections. This structure is inspired by the insightful design methodology known as Dragon Dreaming, as codified by John Croft. The framework is an invitation to move in a structured way from dreaming to designing, from designing to doing, and from doing to celebrating and learning. In this workflow, we will go through similar steps, albeit much simplified and adapted to this specific example. If you find this categorization intriguing and you’d like to learn more, here is a page about Dragon Dreaming project design . The methodology originated in Australia, and you can see a wink to its origin in how the design turns counterclockwise!

Illustration of the steps of workshop planning

Each phase (vision, design, action and learning) is divided into subsections defining specific actions you need to take in planning your workshop. Each also includes a checkpoint with the client . These four meetings, plus a facilitation team meeting to draft the agenda, are described in detail in the accompanying Workshop Planning Template . In the template, you will find ideas and inspiration for five one-hour meetings in which to:

draw out the overall vision and desired outcomes;
define a draft schedule;
get buy-in for the workshop agenda;
check-in for a briefing before the actual workshop;
run a retrospective after the event is over.

I see this process as a dance between working alone and co-designing with a client. In this dance, two different ways of working interact, from being alone at the desk surrounded by sticky notes, to talking things over and getting feedback, into a new iteration of the design, and so on. Successful workshops all start, as most things do, with a vision, and a conversation. Let’s take the first step!

Phase 1 – Vision

Every project begins as an idea in somebody’s mind, which really starts to take shape once it’s shared with someone else. In the first part of the process, we cover how to lead conversations that will move the idea from the abstract to a more concrete realm. This process starts with a kick-off meeting attended by the facilitator, the client and, if applicable, other members of the team. To help you set it up, we have prepared a dedicated template complete with a workshop structure you can use to collect all the information from this visioning stage!

What are the desired outcomes of the workshop? Who will be the participants or what is your target audience? Once you have some initial answers to these questions, you can use them to shape a concept note, sign agreements, contracts and/or an MoU (memorandum of understanding).

Sharing intentions

According to the State of Facilitation report, a majority of facilitators find negotiating with clients and stakeholders quite the challenge. In the survey on which the report is based, we asked over 1000 professionals what was hard for them in the previous year. While the top challenge reported was “keeping up with the trends”, a series of matters more related to difficulties negotiating, designing and getting buy-in from stakeholders emerged as well. We hope the following workshop planning tips can help you overcome such obstacles.

Designing based on the “why” is a necessary premise to prepare workshops that will prove meaningful to participants and clients. Often, though, this “why” is not entirely clear from the get-go. A skilled facilitator will use a range of communication skills such as probing questions, active listening, and appreciative inquiry to clarify intentions. In most cases, it’s a matter of slowing the client down, and gently inquiring into their motivations. Run a mini-workshop with your client and transparently share what you are looking for. Time spent on this now will save time and resources by minimizing the risk of misunderstandings and re-writes later! There are four key elements I check for when looking for desired outcomes with the client at this very early stage:

Non-negotiables. These are the boundaries for your design, the things that are set and cannot be changed. This might be, for example, the duration of the workshop, the location, or the list of participants.
Tangible outcomes (aka deliverables). What needs to be produced, concretely, by the end of the workshop? Is it an action plan? A set of decisions? A report? Try to get as many details as possible on this requirement. If this point is not initially clear, invite your client to explore the future with their foresight and imagination: at the end of the workshop, what do they want to have that was not there before the start?
Intangible outcomes. What intentions are connected to the workshop in the immaterial world of communications, connections and emotions? Mark down the keywords you hear your client use. Is it a matter of increasing networking opportunities and connections? Deepening trust? These “soft” outcomes can inspire and direct your choices of activities, setting and style.
Levels of participation. If you are planning a workshop rather than a training event, I have found it very useful to introduce the concept of the ladder of participation to clients, early on in the design stage ( here is a version relating to citizen engagement ). This involves probing how much power is allocated to participants into shaping future choices. Will proposals selected by participants in your workshop be adopted directly? Is this a consultation process someone else will turn into a decision later? Or, perhaps, the workshop is meant to inform and get buy-in on choices that have already been made? All these scenarios are possible and valid, but it’s important to know which one your workshop falls into, so as to minimize the risk of disappointment or confusion.

Once you have collected this information, you probably have an idea of where you want your workshop to focus. All you need now is to figure out who is it for before drafting a concept note and initial agenda.

Defining the target audience

Once you have clarity about the desired outcomes, it’s time to focus on your hypothetical participants and your target audience. You may already have a list provided by the client, or it may be a completely open invitation. In any case, it’s a good idea to spend some time focussing, after the “why”, on the important question: “who?” Things that can be useful to consider doing at this stage, depending on the specific situation, include:

Creating a “persona” for the workshop. Who will benefit? What are their needs, pain points, interests? Why will they come? This work will initially be based on your assumptions only, but it could lead to an exchange of information with your client to learn more. Here is a canvas from MediaLAB Amsterdam that can help you create a persona for your event.

Design persona #frame insights #create #design #issue analysis Following a similar structure of the Persona method, give your design personality by creating a design persona. This can be through visual design, copy, and interactions. To be used w hen it is time to focus on product experience.

Having interviews with potential participants that match your target audience to collect more information on their wants, needs and expectations. If you are able to contact participants before the workshop, aim to talk to a few. If key decision-makers will be in the room, it’s definitely a good idea to ask for a half-hour chat with them!

Start by clarifying that you are talking to a few people in order to better prepare your workshop. Next, kick-start your exploration by asking them what their motivation for attending the workshop is. Listen carefully and take notes! It’s good practice to have a list of questions that will be the same for all your interviewees, but also let the conversation flow naturally.

End the conversation by asking your interviewee whether they know of someone who should definitely be at the workshop, and add them to the list of potential invites!If time does not allow for 1:1 interviews, you can also consider sending your questions out via email. Finally, check back in with the client to ensure they have considered who should be there and whether any important stakeholders or potential workshop participants are being overlooked.

In my personal practice, I do hold a commitment to widening representation and will often reach out to my clients with questions, for example, on gender balance or including underrepresented groups. Can we get more women’s voices in a conversation about the future of logistics and mobility? (The answer turned out to be yes!). In this urban planning process, will someone be speaking with the interests of elderly citizens in mind? And what about the children’s? At this stage, it’s also important to start making notes of any special needs. Does your persona include, for example, families with small children? Or people with mobility concerns? These considerations have a bearing on such key planning elements as your choice of venue, location, and timing. Successful workshops are those in which the needs of target attendees are considered and steps are taken to ensure participants can take part.

Drafting the initial concept

Once you know the “why” and something around the “who” of a workshop, it’s time to start designing the “what”. What is needed at first is some clarity as to the main points of the agenda, not a detailed run-through. The client will probably have more feedback once things start to look concrete, and it’s not particularly fun to have to revisit the entire thing and do work twice. That is why I have found it good practice to keep the agenda still quite open at this stage. An initial concept draft for a successful workshop should contain:

A summary of the desired outcomes;
A list of benefits for participants (what are their pain points that this workshop will solve?);
A list of learning/key objectives;
A description of the main activities or building blocks of the workshop.

At this point, you’ll need to circle back to your client, share the draft with them and ask for feedback. In my experience, it’s a good idea to approach this step lightly, with curiosity, knowing you have done your homework but ready if necessary to change your entire concept around and pivot to something different.

To learn more about how to create an initial concept draft, find inspiration from what trainers do for course outline creation: we’ve made a summary in this guide.

Signing agreements

By the end of the vision phase, facilitators and clients should share a feeling of commitment and alignment. This is made visible and concrete through signing agreements, contracts and/or a memorandum of understanding (MoU). What exactly these contain varies greatly depending on circumstances and location, but here is a useful summary, complete with template examples of what your MoU might look like, from Malia Josephine over at the startup Facilitation Jobs .

Phase 2 – Design

So now you have a draft outline of the workshop and an idea of who will participate. The next section is all about the nitty-gritty details of planning. Think of any other event, such as a family gathering or a wedding: there are a lot of things to consider so that everything will be ready when attendees arrive in the space you have designed and set up for them. It can be a very creative phase, if a bit solitary at times for the workshop leader!

In the design stage, we are aiming to answer the question: how will this happen? This includes choosing dates and venues, drafting an agenda, creating a communication plan so that your workshop attendees will get the invite and join, populating a participant list, and refining your draft agenda into a detailed script.

Establishing time and place

A workshop begins to feel like it’s really going to happen once the date and location are decided upon.

Whether you are scouting for a location yourself or not, you still need to clarify and communicate a list of requirements clearly. Don’t give anything for granted! List any needs such as accessibility, type of space, and equipment such as tables or presentation equipment. No location is going to be perfect, but the clearer your request, the closer to ideal you might get.

If you’re running a virtual workshop, you still need to put it in the calendar and arrange for a virtual space to hold it in, such as a Zoom account and a whiteboard space. And if it’s hybrid, you’ll need to do both: scout for a location (with great wifi and acoustics, here you can read more about why that’s important ) and set up online resources as well. If you don’t know yet what kind of room setup you will need, take a look at our detailed guide here.

Once the location has been chosen and booked, make sure you have an understanding with the location manager of how your session will work and what they can expect. Will you be using masking tape to hang posters on the wall? Is that ok? How early do you expect to be at the location, and who will be there to open the doors? Will you need breakout spaces for smaller groups to work in? Will participants be milling around using outside spaces, which, and when? What about wifi use, passwords, and other tech needs?

a person placing pins on a map of a city

Having a persona in mind might help establish a schedule. Is this a personal development workshop that people sign up for as individuals (that will probably mean running it in the evening or on weekends?) Or is it going on at the workplace? When are employees free to attend, and what will not clash with previous engagements? Will it be a one-off thing or a series? Successful workshops take all this into account to ensure workshop participants can actually be there! If you are working on a series of meetings for participatory planning and would like to encourage a diverse attendance , it could be a good idea to switch times and dates around quite often, so that people with different jobs and schedules can fit at least one meeting in. And get a babysitting service, or have someone who works with youth set up a related workshop with the young ones.

Drafting the workshop agenda

So now the word is out, and there is probably some time to wait before the workshop kick-off. This is the moment to sit down with yourself and work on the facilitation design. For many trainers and facilitators, this is a favorite part of the process. Here is where we create a detailed schedule, choose activities and methods and assemble them into a coherent flow. You’ll seek to create a workflow that balances group discussions, experiential activities and different learning styles in order to meet your workshop’s purpose. Proper planning and a structured process is a proven way of turning a workshop idea into a reality.

person working on a whiteboard with sticky notes

The actual process of creating a draft agenda is quite personal. You may be working on it completely alone (hopefully, with a hot or cold beverage of your choice, and plenty of time!) or with a co-facilitator.

Results from the State of Facilitation report indicate that facilitators like to work directly with online tools, such as SessionLab, others, me included, prefer to start with pen and paper… or by taking voice notes while taking a walk!

However you approach the matter, you are likely to do all of these things (and more!), while not necessarily in this order:

Create a timeline, showing when your workshop starts, ends, and how long each section will last;
Check your notes from meeting with the client, refer back to desired outcomes both tangible and intangible;
Refer back to your interviews with participants, or any other information you may have collected from them, to pinpoint main needs and expectations;
Brainstorm activities you believe will meet the client’s and the participants’ needs;
Pick among those activities: which are “must-haves” and which are optional?
Assess how much time each activity will take, and add a bit of buffer to account for the unexpected;
Check that your activities are diverse enough to include people with different styles and approaches (e.g. by having both individual and group activities);
Add essential opening and closing activities such as icebreakers and introductions at the beginning and feedback and drawing conclusions at the end
Arrange them in a timeline;

And whatever you do, don’t forget to schedule some breaks! A successful workshop ensures that the workshop facilitator and all participants are able to participate and maintain their energy levels will learning new skills.

A successful workshop is one with a clear structure that supports the learning process. With the Session Planner , you can easily drag and drop your content blocks to quickly build an effective flow.

Start by creating a skeleton of each item in the workshop agenda. What time does the workshop start? End? How about lunch breaks? What is the main activity I want to place at the heart of things? Next, I can add additional content once I feel confident in the flow. SessionLab makes it easy to eventually shuffle things around as the plan changes .

Refining the agenda

Once you have a solid agenda, it’s time once more to check in with the client. Run through the agenda together, checking that you share an understanding of what is going to happen, and making any needed tweaks and changes as you go. I always aim to share my reasoning with clients and share tidbits of facilitation along the way.

If you’re using SessionLab, you can invite clients and stakeholders directly to your agenda so you discuss and co-create in real-time or asynchronously. Collaborating in one-place can really help ensure your workshop preparation is smooth and that your session will meet your goals.

Refining the agenda is the subject of the third client/facilitator meeting detailed in the template that goes with this piece. The first thing to do is restate the high-level purpose and objectives of the workshop, before going into a review of details. This process encourages clarity and alignment, as well as enabling the facilitator to check whether the proposed agenda is fit for purpose.

This is also the stage in which, if I am facilitating a group discussions on a topic I am not familiar with, I’ll be doing research into that topic. Opinions about how knowledgeable, if at all, a facilitator should be about the topic under discussion vary greatly. Personally, my attention is on the dynamics of their conversation rather than on the content. Because of this, I don’t mind working with groups or companies who are talking about something I am not informed about.

At the same time, I find it useful to have at least a beginner’s understanding of the discussion. To enable this, I will ask clients to send me some papers or links to study. Mainly, I will be looking for jargon and terminology: I want to have at least a sense of what people are talking about and what terms to use myself. I also try and get a sense of what in the field is clear, and what is contested or up for debate. Research can lead to changes to the agenda: in a recent workshop I chaired, reading some documentation led me to assume that terminology being used in the field was still not well-defined. Different stakeholders were using different terms to indicate the same things, or the same term to indicate different things! I checked in with the client to verify if this was indeed the case and we decided to add a section discussing terminology at the beginning of the workshop. We did not aim to settle the argument once and for all, but rather to share with participants the current state of the art in this particular industry and agree on what terms we would use for the duration of the workshop. This is also a great time to reconsider the implications of your setting. If you’re running a virtual workshop, how will you encourage participants to take part and explore ideas in such an environment?

Creating a communications plan

Whether you are opening the workshop for participants to enroll or whether it’s the host preparing a list of attendees, it’s likely someone will be working to create a buzz around the event.

Often this is not handled by the facilitator directly but rather by a communication agency or office. That said, do your part by preparing material for dissemination and helping make sure the news reaches the right ears. If you are not doing communication and enrollment yourself, avoid missteps (such as the advertising sending a message that is not aligned with your intention and design) by preparing such a brief well in advance. A basic communication plan for your workshop should include:

How will people find out about the workshop? Where will it be advertised? Are there networks, groups or individuals that should be reached out to?
What should people know about the workshop in advance? Create a one or two-sentence description of the workshop to go out in communication channels and invitations. What is the workshop’s unique value? How can you entice people to be excited to join?
How will people enroll in the workshop? And how can they find out more? Who should they contact to register, is it you, or the client, or should you set up an automatic registration service (such as Eventbrite )? What information do you need to collect upon registration? Do participants need to sign authorizations (e.g. for audio-video use)? Will they get a confirmation email? Automatically or through you/the client?

Establishing who will be there (team and participants)

Many hands make light work: now that you have your detailed agenda or script set out, you should have a clear sense of whether other people are needed to make it work. Will you need a tech host? An assistant to help with the practicalities? A video-maker? Photographer? Visual practitioner? If you need to assemble a team, it makes sense to onboard them once you know the agenda and tasks they will take on.

The other aspect of establishing who will be there is having a final (or “almost final”… there are usually last-minute surprises!) participant list. Registration can also be an interesting opportunity to collect information on your workshop attendees that might inspire some final details of the design. When registering participants for a short (3-hour) leadership workshop for the international organization C40, besides asking for basic information such as names and emails, I added three optional questions concerning people’s motivation for joining, interesting initiatives they might like to share, and a blank space for “any other communications”. This process was useful for me to start to get a sense of who was going to be in the room and adapt my choices and language to the audience. Furthermore, these questions can kick-start the workshop long before it begins by asking participants to start reflecting on a certain topic.

Phase 3 – Running the workshop!

As the moment of running a workshop draws closer, there are some tasks to do that are very practical, having to do with implementing what has, up to now, existed in words only. This is the phase for getting things done : assembling materials, briefing your team and any speakers, taking care of your inner work and preparation and then, in a leap of faith, trusting that all you’ve done is enough, finally doing away with plans, and going with the flow!

Running workshops can be tough work, so in this section we’ve collected some tips for managing workshop attendees (and yourself) that should help running the workshop easier!

Assembling materials

Shopping time! The stationery shop is like a second home to most facilitators: it’s time to get your gear together and fill up boxes of sticky notes, posters, and marker pens. Now things are getting real! (And if you used SessionLab to plan your session, you’ll find a handy list of materials consolidated on the information page !) As the date of the workshop approaches, make sure you have all the materials you need ready at hand. This might include your presentations, virtual whiteboards, or physical goodies. I have found myself roaming Rome at dawn to get photocopies of materials in a neighborhood with no such services. Not fun!

I often wonder how important is it to give participants printed handouts. On the one hand, let’s admit it, such materials don’t often get read. Printing is a waste of energy and paper and my sustainable-minded self would rather avoid it.

On the other hand, printed materials might be a useful reference a long time after the workshop is over, and many people like to have something physical to hold onto and take notes on. You can also consider the option of having digital-format handouts to send to everyone before or after the workshop.

Briefing team and speakers

A few days before the workshop, set a briefing call with the client, your team and, if applicable, speakers or other guests. I have sometimes avoided doing this for the sake of efficiency, and usually regretted it. Even though it seems like everything is clear and smooth, by talking a workshop through, even in a brief 30 min meeting, something might emerge that needs attention.

If you have external speakers joining, e.g. for a keynote or presentation, remember they have not dedicated the amount of time and attention to this event that you have! Brief them on the intention behind the workshop and on the participants in the room, and discuss what will happen before and after their speech. As your star guests, they should feel welcome and well prepared. This will improve alignment and the overall experience for participants. When running a workshop with a team, it’s very important to know who will take care of what. Take the time to clearly define roles and responsibilities and add to the script the names of the people who will be, for example, presenting or tech hosting at a given time.

You might also have pre-workshop communication you want to send out to participants, perhaps to remind them of logistics or do some prep work. Always include a way to contact you (or someone from your team) if something happens at the last minute!

Personal energy management

Once all the design and preparation are done, so much rests on the facilitator’s personal stance and attention. Here are some examples of things facilitators I know, or myself, do in terms of personal energy management:

No work the day before and/or after an important event;
Meditation and focussing activities;
Spending time in nature, taking walks;
Coaching session with trusted colleagues or a professional coach;
Taking time to reflect on possible biases and on personal intentions.

What do you do to prepare yourself before a workshop? Do you take time and space before the start to tend to your own needs? We’ve also been sharing this conversation in SessionLab’s community space: join us here.

Running a workshop: going with the flow

Step by step, you have now reached this exceptional threshold. People have assembled in a physical or online space, which is equipped with all they need to learn and grow together. The workshop is about to begin!

This is what all the preparation work was for: take a deep breath and delve into the agenda. Skilled facilitators know how to read the room, trust their instincts, and stick by the plan, or change it, depending on what is needed in the moment, here and now.

Phase 4 – Learn

The workshop may be over but the work is not! Learning, celebrating and reflecting should take just as much of your time, energy and commitment as any one of the other phases. This is the step where we truly grow and become, with time and experience, wise and excellent facilitators! In this learning phase, we aim to close a cycle mirroring how it was opened. This means continuing a dialogue with our client and making time to think back together. Such reflections are too often swept aside in the hustle of business cycles. Yet, the more space we can make for them, the better. As we learn together, we consolidate trust and strengthen partnerships. Furthermore, reflecting and celebrating builds momentum for the next workshop cycle, which is often just around the corner!

After the end of the workshop: reporting

Agreements taken with your client might include your contribution to drafting a final report. And even if they don’t, it’s still a great idea, for your own records, to take some time to look back and write up a summary of what happened. It will be invaluable in time, e.g. when two years down the line a client calls you back to know: “Could you do that workshop again?” “What made this a successful workshop and what would you change in any future workshops?” A workshop report generally includes two main parts: one is about information, the other is focussed on learnings.

Report Part 1 – information on the workshop

The first is a collection of data about the workshop: when and where was the workshop held? How many people attended? What was the schedule?

Workshop concept
Agenda (you can use SessionLab to include a handy printout of the session agenda!)
Data on attendees (e.g. how many people attended, and whatever data about them is relevant and can be shared)
Pictures from the event

Report Part 2 – learnings from the workshop

The second part of the workshop report is more subjective. This is the place in which to include reflections on how it went , a summary of key conversations and discussions, recommendations, notes on methodology

Reflections on the methodologies chosen
Facilitator’s notes and observations
Feedback received
Key recommendations or decisions taken.

Following-up

Presenting a report, and opening it for final revisions, is a great excuse to set up that precious follow-up meeting with your client.

Reserve a chunk of time to look back at your work together and reflect: what went well? What would you change next time? This is a time for constructive feedback, expressing appreciation, and really taking care of the relationship. You can find some inspiration on what to include in such a meeting in the last part of our Planning a Workshop template .

Besides following up with your client, you also may have some follow-up actions to take towards participants. Here are some ideas of what that may include:

Sending certificates of attendance with the number of hours spent at the workshop and the main topics covered;
Sending lists of extra materials, bibliographies, and resources ;
Collecting feedback through a questionnaire;
Inviting people to subscribe to your mailing list, follow you on social media, or in any case providing ways for them to stay in touch.

And of course, if you haven’t done it yet, it’s also time to do that bit of life admin and send an invoice!

Collecting learnings

The follow-up and reporting steps are mostly outward-facing, that is, you are writing for others . While you do that, probably some ideas and learnings will emerge that are about your work and practice. A collection of personal learnings can be the outcome of your own reflection or, if you are part of a community of practice or professional development program, of time spent debriefing the workshop with your peers, coach, or mentor.

I don’t always have as much time as I would like to properly debrief and collect learnings. At the very least, I take 15 minutes to think through this quick “Regret, Celebrate, Learn” process I learned from the Mediate your Life program. To do that, I quickly jot down some notes or a mental map in response to the following three questions:

Regret – what happened at the workshop that I regret, am worried or sad about? How did I feel about that? Do I know why I did it (what needs was I trying to satisfy?)
Celebrate – what happened at the workshop that I really celebrate and am glad about? How did that feel? What needs of mine were met?
Learn – with those things in mind, are there any learning points I want to draw and remember?

I might, for example, regret answering a participant’s question rather brusquely, and realize I did that because I was feeling rushed for time. At the same time, I might celebrate that I did take that person aside to check in with them during the break. This may lead me to remind myself to invite people who have off-topic questions to “park” them on a poster to answer at a later time.

You may want to add some notes next to certain tools or methodologies you used: most workshops present an opportunity to do something slightly different next time. If you are using SessionLab, you can add these to a certain activity’s card, so you’ll find them waiting for you next time you pick the same method from your personal library .

Celebrating

Celebrating can mean different things to different people. If I am traveling to/from the workshop, I consider that time spent on the train on my way back, taking notes on my diary, part of celebration.

Plenty of other actions might help you feel like the circle is closed: taking a relaxing break, going out for dinner with your team members, buying yourself a little gift… whatever helps you keep your energy level high and integrate the experience into the flow of your life. Processing your reflections and giving them some time to settle is likely to lead straight to the next great idea. How about we took this learning from this workshop and did that with it? Time to start taking notes, because these thoughts are the sign that a new cycle of ideation is about to begin!

Processing your reflections and giving them some time to settle is likely to lead straight to the next great idea.

In closing

When I asked our in-house designer to come up with the illustration on the top of this article, it felt very appropriate to summarize the complicated process of designing a workshop into a single, perfect circle.

Now that it’s done, I realize it’s really not a circle at all, because once all the work is complete nobody, neither client nor facilitator nor participants, is in the same place they began from. The process of designing a workshop is actually like a spiral , that widens and opens each time we go around. By the end of all these steps, everyone will have changed in some way. Relationships will have formed, new ideas defined, and lessons learned.

At the start of the spiral, there is only an idea, which becomes a design as it is shared, consolidated and refined. The facilitator’s job is to turn it into an agenda, and go through all these steps, alone or with a team, to make it happen. By learning from all that took place, the flow will, in time, become more natural, fluid, almost second nature. My hope in setting it down in this piece is that it will help you along the journey.

How to run a workshop (4 quick tips)

Are you preparing to debut as a facilitator, trainer, or workshop guide in some capacity? Maybe you’re a team leader who’d like to try out more collaborative methods but don’t know where to start? In this guide, we’ve gone through a step-by-step process for the complete flow of workshop planning. We hope it’s all useful stuff for you to keep in mind. But if you just need a quick start guide, here’s a cheat sheet of 4 things you need to do to run your first workshop.

Be clear about your objective and intention. Every choice expert facilitators make when designing a workshop is centered around the established purpose of the event. Clarify this for yourself, write it on top of your plan, and let participants know.
Have an agenda. Set out clear timings for beginning, ending, breaks and activities. Start designing from a tried-and-true essential workshop template to speed up your work.
Make it interactive. Add activities to your agenda to make sure participants have different ways to make their voices heard. If you only know one method, make it 1-2-4-all : it is easy to learn, easy to give instructions for, and allows people to quickly process concepts and start building consensus.
Collect feedback. However it goes, all workshops are learning opportunities. Ask participants to tell you what they enjoyed (and build on that) and what didn’t work so well (and you might want to change). And get ready to do it again!

What’s next

Want to see an entire workshop journey in action and get help in putting together a water-tight agenda? Explore our workshop planning template to go through a proven agenda design process that will help you dazzle potential attendees.

Looking for ideas and inspiration on what workshops could achieve for you? Read our guide on what is a workshop , check out real-world template examples , or find individual activities in SessionLab’s extensive library of methods .

Does this process describe how you have been designing your workshops? Did it give you new ideas? Leave a note in the comments, and join the discussion in our Community !

Deborah Rim Moiso is an Endorsed Facilitator with the IAF – International Association of Facilitators and former co-chair of the Italian IAF Chapter.

She is the author of a manual and deck of cards on facilitation available in Italian ( Facilitiamoci! ). Deborah has been working with groups since 2009 in the fields of innovation in education, citizen participation, and environmental conflicts.

That was really helpful! Simple, but with everything that is important. Such a great article! Now it will be much easier to plan a workshop. Thanks!

So glad it was helpful Wik! I really enjoyed reading your comment :) Happy workshop planning!

I enjoyed every bit of Learning with SessionLab. The steps are so simple, easy to read yet covering everything that’s in it to make a great workshop. Thank you very much!

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Section 4. Conducting a Workshop

Chapter 12 Sections

Section 2. Designing a Training Session
Section 3. Delivering a Training Session
Section 5. Organizing a Conference
Section 6. Organizing a Teleconference
Section 7. Organizing a Retreat
Section 8. Choosing a Consultant
Section 9. Serving as a Consultant

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Main Section

Learn how to conduct a workshop, a short educational program designed to teach or introduce practical skills, techniques, or ideas.

You've probably been a participant in a number of workshops. You may have been at a folk festival where a famous performer held a guitar workshop and demonstrated some of his techniques. You may have been at a conference where there were workshops on surfing the internet, or on selling to reluctant customers. There are workshops on subjects ranging from cake decorating to treating schizophrenia, all of which are limited in time, meant to teach practical skills or techniques or ideas, and conducted by people like you.

Now it's your turn to conduct a workshop. You may be training staff or volunteers for a new organization, presenting at a conference, or trying to show the world this terrific new method your organization has developed. Whatever the case, you're going to have to entertain, educate, and edify a group of people you've probably never met before. That may sound frightening, but running a workshop is really very much like anything else: if you prepare well, stay relaxed, and respect the participants, it'll go fine.

What is a workshop?

There are probably as many answers to this question as there are workshops and workshop presenters but, in general, a workshop is a single, short (although short may mean anything from 45 minutes to two full days) educational program designed to teach or introduce to participants practical skills, techniques, or ideas which they can then use in their work or their daily lives. Most workshops have several features in common:

They're generally small , usually from 6 to 15 participants, allowing everyone some personal attention and the chance to be heard.
They're often designed for people who are working together, or working in the same field.
They're conducted by people who have real experience in the subject under discussion.

A presentation doesn't have to be limited to one person. Co-leaders or co-facilitators are not only common, but can greatly expand the possibilities of a given workshop, and can make everyone's job easier. Each co-leader might be responsible for particular parts of the workshop, or all may work together throughout, depending upon the structure and purpose. In any case, finding one or more co-leaders or co-facilitators is always an option if you're planning a workshop.

They're often participatory , i.e. participants are active, both in that they influence the direction of the workshop and also in that they have a chance to practice the techniques, skills, etc. that are under discussion.
They're informal ; there's a good deal of discussion in addition to participation, rather than just a teacher presenting material to be absorbed by attentive students.
They're time limited , often to a single session, although some may involve multiple sessions over a period of time (e.g. once a week for four weeks, or two full-day sessions over a weekend).
They're self-contained . Although a workshop may end with handouts and suggestions for further reading or study for those who are interested, the presentation is generally meant to stand on its own, unlike a course, which depends on large amounts of reading and other projects (papers, presentations) in addition to classroom activities.

Why would you give a workshop?

Why choose a workshop, when you could use some other method like a study circle, a course, on-the-job training, etc.? Because there are a number of different ways to teach people things, and because people learn things in different ways, a workshop has some advantages (and some disadvantages, too, most notably the lack of time it provides) over these other methods that make it a good choice in certain circumstances.

A workshop provides a way to create an intensive educational experience in a short amount of time, when the time for a more comprehensive effort may not be available. Participants may be working, they may be too far apart to gather together regularly, or may simply be unwilling to commit large amounts of time. A workshop can introduce a new concept, spurring participants to investigate it further on their own, or can demonstrate and encourage the practice of actual methods.
It's a great way to teach hands-on skills because it offers participants a chance to try out new methods and fail in a safe situation. Failure is often the best teacher, and failure in this instance doesn't carry a cost. At the same time, feedback, from both the presenter and peers in the group, helps a participant understand what she can do to avoid failure in a real situation.
A workshop is a way for someone to pass on to colleagues ideas and methods that he has developed or finds important. Teaching a graduate course may not be possible, but he may be able to reach large numbers of people by conducting workshops in various situations.
Especially for people who work together, a workshop can help to create a sense of community or common purpose among its participants.

When would you want to conduct a workshop?

A workshop, as explained above, is valuable in certain circumstances. When do those circumstances arise, and when might you choose to conduct a workshop over other methods of education or training? There are a number of situations in which a workshop would be the best choice:

The beginning of something new. If your organization is adopting a new method, or your community initiative is taking a new track, there are often new pieces of information or ways of functioning that people must learn. A workshop, or series of workshops, is a way to introduce these in a short time and get people ready for the change.
The initial training of staff or volunteers. Workshops are often a good way to train new staff members or volunteers in the philosophy, methods, and functioning of your organization, or in techniques they'll need to do their jobs.
The in-service or ongoing training of staff or volunteers. Workshops in different issues, techniques, etc. are a good way to keep staff and volunteers fresh and thinking about what they're doing.
Staff development. Workshops are often used as a way of honing professional skills and learning about new developments in the field.
The demonstration of a new concept. If someone in an organization has been exposed to a particularly exciting new idea or technique, he may want to conduct a workshop on it for his colleagues, or the organization may want to bring in someone to do so.
The explanation of something to the public. An organization may conduct a public workshop on its issue, in order to make sure that people are informed about its cause or about what it is doing. An adult literacy program may hold a workshop on illiteracy in its local area, for instance, or a shelter might hold one on the causes and consequences of homelessness.
The availability of a knowledgeable presenter. If you have particular expertise in a subject, you may be asked to present a workshop to staff or members of another organization, to the public, at a conference, etc. Well-known people in a given field are often invited (and paid) to travel long distances to present workshops.

How do you conduct a workshop?

Even if you've never done it before, you can conduct a good workshop by paying attention to all the phases of the process. There are three phases to conducting a workshop: planning, preparation, and implementation (actually doing it). In addition, once you're done, it's important to follow up with participants to get feedback on the workshop, so you can improve it the next time. We'll look at each of these phases separately.

Once you know what your topic will be, planning a workshop ultimately means figuring out what you want to do to guide participants through the experience, and what you hope they'll learn from it. In order to do that, you have to consider a number of factors:

Consider your topic. The first element of planning a workshop is to know what you're talking about. No matter how interactive and participatory your workshop will be, you still have to have a good command of what you're presenting. Do your homework, so that you're confident you can deal with most questions and issues that might come up. That doesn't mean you have to know absolutely everything about the topic, but that you have to know a reasonable amount about it, and understand it well enough so that you can help participants fit it into the context of their own jobs and lives.

Consider your audience. Your audience, the people who will actually be part of the workshop, is probably the most important piece of the puzzle here. Understanding them and their needs will do more than anything else to help you decide what to do and how to do it.

What do they already know? If you expect most of the participants to be familiar with certain background material, or to have had certain kinds of experiences, that will greatly affect how and to what extent you choose to present material.

You can sometimes do some research here. If you're presenting for a particular group or organization, you may be able to find out either from your contact person or from participants themselves who your audience will be, where they're starting from, what their experience has been, and what they want from the workshop. Asking about the audience is part of what a careful presenter is expected to do. In other circumstances at a large conference, for instance, there may be no way to anticipate how much knowledge participants have. In this case, it may make sense to prepare a range of materials and activities, and then begin the workshop by asking people what they know about the topic. By doing that, you can gear your workshop to most participants' needs, and be sure you're neither going over anyone's head nor putting anyone to sleep.

Is this material out of their field? Knowing the context of participants ' experience can help you understand how to present material.
What is their field? People in some fields may be expected to be more verbal or introspective or outgoing than those in others. You're more likely to find a group of social workers willing to discuss their emotions than you are a group of construction workers, for instance. It also might take more creativity to bring the construction workers to an understanding of why this kind of discussion might be a good idea. It's important to find ways of presenting material that both makes sense to the participants in this particular workshop, and doesn't pull them too far out of their context.

In reality, any group can either be very quiet or very volatile, extremely apathetic or extremely responsive, or (most likely) somewhere in between. It depends to a great extent on one or two individuals who set the tone, whether or not the group is one whose members all know one another. What kind of group you have has a lot to do with what kind of workshop will be successful. If the group is very quiet, for instance, discussion may be deadly, but activities based on movement may work well. If the group is argumentative, you may be able to take advantage of that by splitting people up into small groups and having them hash out made-up problems on the topic. Understanding that you can't predict will help you to plan for several different possibilities.

Do they know one another and/or work together? If so, you can perhaps dispense with introductions (it depends on how well they know one another), and can plan a workshop that speaks to common concerns.
Will they come in with a particular attitude toward the workshop? They will if you're offering material that flies in the face of what they think they know is true. Are you introducing a new concept or method that conflicts with what they've already been doing or with their previous training? If so, the first thing you have to address may be their hostility or skepticism. On the other hand, they might also be biased in your favor if you're offering what seems to be a solution for a difficult problem.

This is not to imply that intentionally challenging people's beliefs in a workshop is a bad idea. Assuming you can do it without being disrespectful, like telling them they're stupid, this kind of workshop is often the most powerful, and results in the most significant learning for participants. Most people find change and new ideas uncomfortable to deal with, but are stimulated by them as well. If you can present something new so that participants will consider it, you've more than done your job.

Under what circumstances are they attending this workshop? Did they choose it from among several possibilities (as at a conference)? Did they request it? Is it a requirement of their job, or to fulfill requirements for certification, licensure, or some other credential? Is it part of their job (training, retraining, or staff development, for example)? Is it to learn something they absolutely need to know to do their job properly? Each of these reasons implies a different attitude, a different level of interest and commitment, and a different approach on the part of the presenter.

Consider the workshop size. If the group is an ideal size for most purposes (about 8-12) you can arrange activities that involve participants as individuals, in small groups (2-4), and in the whole group. If the group is larger than about 15, you'll probably want to split it up for many activities. If it's smaller than 7 or 8, you might be better off having the whole group work together for most of the workshop.

The reason 8-12 is an ideal size is that it's small enough so that everyone has an opportunity to have his questions answered and to get some individual attention from the presenter, but still large enough to generate some lively discussion. If the group is larger than 15, the voices of some people, usually those who are quieter, tend to get lost; if it's smaller than 6-8, there may not be enough opinions, questions, and ideas flying around.

Consider the time available . Workshops can run from as little as an hour or less to as much as a day or even longer. It 's important that your goals for the workshop match the time available. This means not only planning out your presentation to fill the time appropriately, but also matching the amount of material you'll cover to the time available. Especially if it's all new to participants, they'll need lots of time for clarification, questions, etc. in order to understand it.

A general rule about time is that you should try to block out the time for each part of the workshop in advance. Rehearse different parts to see how long they'll take, or how long you want them to take (e.g., if you're going to ask people to write about something, try it yourself and see how long it takes you). You'll seldom be 100% accurate, but you can come close, and you'll then have an outline of the workshop and a reasonable sense of what you might expect to do in the time you have.

Short workshop: 45-90 minutes. A workshop this short is even shorter than it seems. People may be late by between five and fifteen minutes, and you'll lose more time if you're distributing materials, using equipment, etc. That means you'll have to ruthlessly pare the material you want to present down to what's actually important. Although it's always wise to overprepare (see Preparation, below), the reality is that you seldom get to everything you expect to do. A workshop of this length is probably best used as a means of introducing and discussing a new concept or an issue of concern. It makes little sense to try to teach a specific skill unless it's very limited. If it can be learned in five or ten minutes, and practiced in the same amount of time, it's worth a try. If it's any more complicated than that, you need a longer workshop.

If a particular skill or technique or method is really important for participants to learn in order to do their jobs, or - especially - if its incorrect use will have serious consequences (as in the case of many emergency medical procedures), it is probably unwise to present it in a workshop this short. That could lead to participants believing they know more about the topic than they actually do, and causing real harm as a result. Use your common sense and be guided by what's really possible.

Medium-length workshop: 90 minutes to 3 hours. At this length, a workshop can begin to address ideas and concepts in some depth, and teach some skills. Some considerations about a medium-length workshop:

Vary activities . This type of workshop is more than long enough for participants to get bored or overwhelmed. Two or three consecutive hours of a talking head can send many people out the door screaming for fresh air. Breaking up the time by involving participants in a number of different kinds of activities is far more conducive to their learning than asking them to sit still and do one thing for the whole time.

Attention span: Studies have shown that most people start to lose concentration after 20 minutes to half an hour. By the end of an hour, their level of attention has fallen by more than 50% (and in some cases by a great deal more than that). Attention can be renewed by changing activities, changing topic, changing methods of presentation, etc. Even the short pause in the workshop caused by moving from one activity to another is enough to refresh people and keep them interested.

Vary the seriousness of the material . Interspersing activities and ideas that are fun or humorous with others that are more serious can not only keep participants awake and on their toes, but can aid learning as well.

Plan a break . This will speak to the attention-span issue and allow participants a chance to get coffee, go to the bathroom, etc. without disturbing the flow of the workshop. But also be aware that breaks always take longer than planned. Add another five or ten minutes onto the time that you ask people to take? you can be sure that by the time everyone wanders back into the room and settles down, they'll have spent at least that much extra time.

Even a long workshop isn't as long as you think, carefully reflect on the amount of material you can present adequately in this length of time, and on the amount that people can actually absorb. You might use the time to present a relatively small amount of material in a number of different ways, so that participants will leave with a clear understanding of it. Or, you might select what people really need to know about your topic and concentrate on that, trying to give them enough so that, even if they don't fully comprehend it, they will be intrigued enough to follow up on their own and learn more.

In addition to considering how much is appropriate for the amount of time you have, think about how much you know about the topic. Sometimes, the most successful workshops are conducted by presenters who know only slightly more than the participants. In those circumstances, presenters aren't as apt to try to fit in too much or get too technical. Remember how long it really took you to learn this stuff, and to become comfortable with it: it may have been months, or even years, before you understood it completely. Try to recall your introduction to the topic and what you really absorbed, then plan your workshop.

Participants need time to talk and connect with one another . The opportunity to get to know others and to exchange ideas is one of the main values of a workshop for many people, and shouldn't be shortchanged.

Long workshop: over 3 hours. A long workshop has some drawbacks, but it does allow you to present material in some depth and to conduct a number of activities. Six concentrated hours of work a day is about as much as most people can deal with. Be sure to allow for plenty of breaks, both because of the need to stretch and use the bathroom, and because of attention span. Some thoughts about long workshops:

You can go into more detail on specific issues. Here's where you have the opportunity to follow group interest, to explore ideas that are relevant to participants' particular situations, or simply to present ideas in greater depth.
You can allow longer blocks of time for activities and single topics. It's important, however, to be aware of the need for breaking up long segments of the workshop. You have to be aware if participants' eyes start to glaze over, and be prepared to switch quickly to something else (particularly something active and fun) if that happens.
You can allow more time to practice new skills and more time for discussion about activities. Perhaps the greatest advantage of a long workshop is that it can allow participants the time to reflect, both individually and with others, which is a crucial part of the learning process.
You can allot more time to and follow up on participants' questions. (It can be tempting, on the other hand, to get into a conversation with one participant about her interesting question while the rest of the group goes to sleep. Be careful to guard against that tendency.)
You can present both the context and the specifics of the topic (e.g. characteristics of the HIV-infected population and techniques of community AIDS prevention).
You can provide or encourage food and drink. It helps keep people alert, sets a relaxed and friendly tone, and sustains interest over the long haul by eliminating the need to think about being hungry or thirsty.
It's harder to estimate how long workshop segments will take in a long workshop because presenters tend to let activities go on if they're going well (after all, there's plenty of time), and often find that they can't get to much of what they planned. You need to decide whether you want to stick to your plan and, thus, limit activities to approximately the time you planned for them, or to go with the flow, and let things go on longer if participants seem to find them important. Neither of these options is the "right" or "wrong" way: it depends on the needs of the group and the presenter. Checking in with the group is usually a good way to decide which way to go.

Consider the purpose of the workshop. Workshops are given for many purposes, and each implies some specific methods of presentation and other details. Some common purposes and their implications:

Teaching participants a skill which they then might have to use or will use in the future (a first aid workshop for child care workers, for instance). This kind of workshop will generally be light on talk and heavy on activity. If people are going to use what they're learning, it's obviously important for them to practice it, and that is probably what you'll want the workshop to focus on.
Giving participants a chance to practice and receive feedback on techniques and concepts they already know. Again, the emphasis here is likely to be on action, on actually doing whatever is under discussion and getting advice and reflection on their performance from the presenter and others in the group.
Enhancing participants' current knowledge of concepts, techniques, and methods (new research, improvement of techniques, etc.). A new technique will have to be practiced; a fresh take on a familiar concept might involve only discussion.
Teaching participants a new concept that they can then apply to their work (for instance, a workshop for street outreach workers about how gangs act as substitute families for their members). The presentation here might be more discussion oriented, since people will need to assimilate the new ideas and talk out how they connect to and might affect what they do.
Familiarizing people with material important for, but not directly connected to, their jobs (Americans with Disabilities Act [ADA] regulations, for instance, or privacy laws). A workshop of this type will probably involve direct presentation of information, with perhaps some problem solving practice and discussion (Person X comes to your organization with this issue; how do you handle it?) It may end up as a question and answer session, partially because laws and regulations are often confusing, and partially because they cause so much anxiety.
Providing, or helping to provide, a job-related credential for advancement or initial employment, for instance or for some certification or licensure. This category could include anything from CPR instruction to cultural sensitivity training, and thus might include any number of activities or methods of presentation.
Using a workshop as a way of helping participants feel comfortable with one another and/or their situation. Often used in college orientations or in employment-related team building, workshops of this type usually consist of a large number of rapid-fire activities, often eliciting laughter or cooperative problem solving, or both. Any talk is usually beneficial to understanding the activities and their effects on participants.
Introducing people to a way of looking at the world, either as an adjunct to their jobs or volunteer situations, or as public education (a workshop on theories of moral development, for example). This kind of workshop can allow for tremendously varied activities: direct teaching, discussion of hypothetical situations, trying to solve moral dilemmas, role playing, etc. In general, the more different ways people can experience the concept, the more likely they are to understand it.

Consider your presentation . The style of your presentation both your personal style and the actual methods of presentation you employ will do much to determine the effectiveness of your workshop. Some of this will depend on your own personality and experiences, but there are some general guidelines that can be useful:

Facilitation. Workshop presenters are often referred to as facilitators. A facilitator (from Latin facile , which means "easy") is someone who smooths the way for others. She's not a leader, exactly, or an authority figure, but more of a guide: someone who walks beside you and helps you figure out which way to go. In general, facilitation is more useful in a workshop than "instructing." It's called a workshop because participants generally get a chance to do something, to actually interact on their own terms with what's being presented. A facilitator can help make it easier for them to have that experience, where an instructor might be more apt to tell them about the experience, or to structure it for them.

The author's prejudice is undoubtedly apparent here. Virtually all good teaching is really facilitation, at least to some extent. In order to learn anything, and especially to learn it at the deepest level, one has to experience it, wrestle with it, reflect on it, live with it. A good facilitator makes it possible for each participant to relate to new learning in his own way and sort it out for himself, rather than telling him what he's supposed to think or how to approach a concept. Participants are far more likely to stay tuned in throughout the workshop if you act as a facilitator and if you're personally accessible. This is not to say that there's never a place for leadership in teaching, as long as it doesn't dominate the workshop. If the presenter is a "star" in her field, participants may in fact want to hear what she has to say, more than to be facilitated.

Consistency of presentation and the workshop's theme. Your method and style of presentation should, to the largest extent possible, mirror the topic. If you're conducting a workshop on experiential education, for example, it should be experiential, not a lecture. A workshop on ADA regulations should be held in a physically accessible space and demonstrate sensitivity to the concerns of the disabled. A technique being introduced should be practiced in presentation as well as in activities. In a well-presented workshop, participants learn as much from methods and style of presentation as they do from workshop contents.
Direct involvement of participants. Workshops are much more effective and enjoyable if they involve participants in activities, discussion, and interaction with others, than if they merely shower people with information. There are many opportunities for practicing skills, small and large group discussions, reporting out of discussions, problem solving as individuals and as small and large groups, etc. that will give everyone in the group an opportunity to take an active role.
Include some sort of hands-on activity where people can be physically active.
Include both group and individual activities.
Activities should be entertaining and interactive. Avoid being a "talking head" as much as possible.
Include various kinds of audio-visual material, such as video, motiongraphics, and audio recordings
Include innovative ways of presenting material directly: a play, an interactive skit, a song, a cartoon, etc.
Always include practice of a particular technique or method that's being presented, even if only for a short time, to give participants the chance to see what it feels like.

The more creative you can get here, the better. Activities in which participants work with physical objects are often great learning tools. There are the obvious ones (workshops for teachers include lots of "manipulatives," objects to demonstrate concepts with), but there are an infinite number of options. The author attended a terrific workshop on multiple intelligences that involved small groups designing and building villages out of legos and other blocks. Think as outrageously as you can.

Things to take home. Make sure participants get print copies of any overheads or slides that contain important information, as well as some summary of the main point(s) of the workshop, and anything else you think might be important. It will help them to remember later what the workshop was about, and will assist them in passing the ideas on to others.
Reflection time. Reflection is the key to learning. If part of the style of your presentation is to ask participants to reflect on or discuss each activity, you 'll help them learn in two ways: by giving them the time to reflect on the activity and talk about it with others in the group, and by demonstrating how important it is to reflect on what you've done and learned.
Time to talk to, socialize with, and get to know the other participants. Much of the value of a workshop is in the experience of forming a community of learners. The shared experience can lead to professional collaboration and can enrich the learning that goes on.

Preparation

Now that your planning is done, you need to prepare for the workshop. Planning is about the delivery of the workshop itself; preparation is about logistics, making sure you have the actual stuff and time you need to make the workshop a success. That means both putting together whatever materials you'll be using and getting whatever information is necessary for you to do the best job you can.

Find out about the space you'll be using, if possible . If the space is your own, you can choose the room or place that would be best and set it up beforehand. If you're being assigned space in another facility, you may be able to request a particular type or size of room, or may be able to get it set up in a certain way (chairs in a circle, comfortable furniture, etc.). You need to think about how you'll use the space: Will people need to move around a lot? Will there be bulky equipment to move around? Do you need a screen or a blackboard or whiteboard? The more you can learn about the space and the more you can set it up for your needs before participants arrive, the smoother your presentation will go.

If the role you intend to assume is that of facilitator rather than authority figure, you'll want to make the space as welcoming and informal as possible. Sometimes that simply can't be done; a school classroom with desks bolted to the floor (yes, they still exist, although there aren't many of them) isn't particularly flexible, for instance. But where you can, arranging chairs in a circle or similar configuration, where everyone can see everyone else and there's no head of the table, can do a lot to set a tone as soon as people walk in.

Bring everything you need . Don't assume any of it will be there unless you've specifically arranged for it (see no. 3 below). Even then you can't be sure.

If you're going to ask people to write something, or if they might want to take notes, make sure you bring enough pencils and paper for everyone.
Make and collate at least twice as many copies as you think you'll need of any printed material you want to hand out.
Bring easels, newsprint, and markers for recording ideas, questions, comments, or for documenting what goes on in small groups.
If you're making overheads, lists, an agenda, etc., do it well beforehand, not the night before your presentation.
If you have to take it all somewhere (i.e. if your presentation is anywhere but in your own space) put it in your car the night before. Make and use a checklist to be sure you don't forget anything.

Don't forget about food, coffee, etc., if you're providing them or having them provided. You either need to arrange beforehand to have what you need in the room when you get there, or your coffeemaker, coffee, creamer, paper cups, etc. should be in your back seat along with everything else the night before. (Get the doughnuts fresh in the morning.)

Arrange well beforehand for any equipment you'll need (overhead projector, VCR and monitor, computer, etc.) or plan to bring it yourself. (If you're bringing it, make sure you have a backup in case the one you're planning on isn't working.) Make your arrangements well beforehand (in writing as well as verbally, if possible ), and check a day or two before the workshop to see that everything is in order. Get there early enough to check on it on the day of the workshop. Assume that if anything can go wrong, it will, and that, even if it's not your responsibility, you'll have to fix it anyway.

Make materials and hand-outs as attractive and interesting as possible so that participants will return to them .

Use color where you can.
Easy-to-read charts and graphs are useful for a lot of people (although not everyone), as are pictures.
If it's appropriate, organize printed material so that it's easy to read and digest. Outline form, bullets, and the use of color or pictures can all be helpful here.
Try to keep the amount of material you hand out under control, unless it's a situation where people really need and want a lot of information (state regulations, for instance, which they may need as a reference over time). It can be helpful to print different handouts on different colors of paper so that both you and participants can easily keep track of them ("Turn to the blue sheet?").
Actual "things" people can take home (AIDS ribbons, miniature model breasts for practicing self-examination) can serve to keep the learning of the workshop in their consciousness.

Be overprepared . If you think a block of the workshop will probably last 30 minutes, be ready with at least an hour's worth of material for it. In some groups, you may only use what you thought would take 15 minutes; in others, you may use all of it and wish you had more. It's far better to be overprepared than underprepared: the longer the workshop, the more important this becomes.

Without knowing the individual participants beforehand, and often even then, you can't really make accurate assumptions about time or the reactions of the group. If they're already a group (a program staff, for example), they'll already have their own leaders, assumptions, and norms, and those will determine to some extent how they'll react (verbal or nonverbal, engaged or unengaged, etc.) If they're a random group, leaders may emerge, but also may not. As discussed earlier, why they're there, what their background and training are, and simply who they are as individuals will determine how they respond to your presentation. With some groups, no one may speak for the first hour or more, or at all. With others, you may have difficulty getting a word in after the first five minutes. No matter how many times you've presented a particular workshop, it's best to be prepared for anything.

Make up an evaluation form that people can fill out quickly at the end of the workshop, but that covers the areas you really want to know about. (Many conferences prepare evaluation forms for each workshop, in which case you don't have to.) The standard for this sort of thing is usually a multiple choice form that either asks participants to rate each area from 1 to 5, or to check off one of 5 choices ranging from "strongly agree " to "strongly disagree." Some areas you might want to cover include:

The clarity of your presentation.
The usefulness of each of the various kinds of activities you included, especially in the context of the participants' jobs or lives.
How interesting and relevant the content was to participants.
Your command of the material (i.e. how well you knew your stuff).
How well the workshop kept people's interest.
How well you were able to set and sustain a comfortable tone.
General comments, if any.

There may be other specific questions you have about your particular workshop. Just be sure to keep it short enough so that people will actually fill it out.

Finally, get a good night's sleep the night before and allow yourself plenty of time to get where you're going, so you don't feel rushed and frazzled. If the workshop is far from home, and you have the option of staying somewhere near it the night before, take it. If you have the time to relax before the workshop, you'll be more relaxed in the course of it as well.

Implementation

Planning and preparation are done. You're incredibly organized; you have all your handouts color-coded and arranged in the order you want to distribute them; you have activities planned down to the second, with plenty of extras if they don't fill the time completely; you have the room arranged so it will welcome participants and work for the activities you have planned. Now all you have to do is actually pull it off.

A workshop, especially a longer one, has distinct phases. There is the introduction, which covers the time from when the first participant walks into the room to when the first topic-related activity begins; the substance of the workshop includes the presentation and activities; and closure involves review, reflection, evaluation, and ending. We'll discuss each of these, with some ideas about how to make them go smoothly.

Introduction

This part of the workshop will let people know what their experience is going to be like. By the time the workshop actually starts, participants often have a strong inkling about whether they're going to like it or not. Thus, it's important to set a positive tone and to make people feel comfortable and interested; to give them some familiarity with you and with one another; and to make sure that they know what 's coming in the rest of the workshop.

Setting the tone. There are some steps you can take to make participants comfortable as soon as they walk in, and to establish the workshop as a community of learners.

The space. We've already discussed setting up the room so that people face one another, so that there's no obvious place of authority, and so that the environment is as comfortable physically and psychologically as possible.
Music. Depending upon the nature of the workshop, you might consider having music playing as participants enter, either to establish calm or to generate energy. Music also tells people that this is likely to be a relatively informal experience. (The concern here, of course, is that people's tastes in music vary widely. Music that you play as a calming influence may set some participants' teeth on edge. Music you play to generate energy may just annoy some people. It's a risk you take, unless you know the group well.)
Greeting. As participants enter the room, a process which may cover 15 minutes or more, there is a period when, often, no one quite knows what to do. The presenter may smile and nod as people come in, but the workshop hasn't started yet, and "there isn't anything to talk about." One way to eliminate this awkwardness is to introduce yourself to people as they come in, hand them materials and an evaluation form, and ask them about their backgrounds, or about why they're interested in the workshop. New arrivals can be pulled into the conversation as they come in so that no one feels shut out. By the time everyone is in the room and the workshop is about to start, participants will be talking to one another and to you, and the awkwardness will have given way to conviviality.

There may be circumstances under which you might not want to make people comfortable. At a conference, a workshop called "Separate Tables" divided participants up as they came in, with the majority asked to sit on the floor. A small number were seated at an elegantly appointed table and served an appetizing meal. The others about 20? were given a loaf of bread and told to divide it up. The workshop continued in this vein, with the floor sitters eventually protesting their treatment. The point, of course, was to call attention to the lack of comfort that most of the world's population experiences every day, as compared to the position of those in the developed West.

Personal introductions. Especially if your workshop involves a lot of hands-on and group activities, it will go better if people are comfortable with one another. If you've started a conversation as they walked in, many participants may already have talked to others that they didn't know, but it still makes sense to introduce yourself and everyone else.

You might start by introducing yourself with a (very brief) explanation of why you're conducting this workshop (experience you've had, your familiarity with the topic, etc.). This shouldn't take more than a minute or so. Then, you might use a technique or game to introduce the members of the group to one another (you can also take part in this activity, if you think it will be helpful to your purpose).

Agenda and plan for the session. It's helpful to either hand out, or to have visible in the room, and to go over with participants, an agenda for the workshop. If the workshop will be interrupted by meals, breaks, etc., a plan for the session or day would be helpful, as well. Previewing the agenda and asking for feedback on it ("Can we spend more time on actually using the materials?") serves several purposes:

It includes participants in the management of the session, rather than making them passive receptors of information.
It gives participants a sense of anticipation, so they're interested in what comes next.
It lets participants know what will happen when lunch is (at 12:30, for example) and eliminates a certain edge of antsiness and anxiety that they often have when they don't know the plan.

This is also the time to ask people for their expectations for the workshop, which can be recorded on newsprint or in some other way, and reviewed at the end of the session. If most participants' expectations are significantly different from the presenter's, there may be room for some adjustment at this point as well.

If it's necessary for participants to reveal details of their personal lives, for instance, or if the topic of the workshop is particularly controversial, after previewing the agenda would be the time to ask the group to develop ground rules for the session. A few simple norms, such as keeping disagreement away from the personal and respecting confidentiality can make all the difference in participants' willingness to engage with others, and with the ideas under discussion.

Substance of the workshop

This is the real meat of what you're doing, the reason why you showed up this morning. What you actually do depends on your own planning, of course, but there are some general guidelines, some of which have already been mentioned, that can make your workshop more effective and enjoyable.

Keep track of time. This doesn't mean that you should be a slave to your agenda, but rather that you should be aware when you're deviating from it. In a lot of instances, it might make sense to ask the group how they'd like to use their time: "We're running way over on this activity. Is that OK with you, or are there other things that are more important to you that we should get to?" If you think what's happening is really important and shouldn't be interrupted, don't be afraid to say so.

Giving time markers every once in a while ("In 20 minutes, we'll be stopping for lunch") can keep participants going ("I'm hungry, but I can certainly wait 20 minutes"). It will also help you be aware of where you are in the session so that you can, in fact, get people to lunch on time (this may be a major concern, depending upon the facility where the workshop is being held) and conclude the activities with enough to time to close out the session properly.

Match the presentation to the content and philosophy of the workshop. As discussed earlier in this section, participants learn both from the content and the style, as well as the methods of your presentation. It's tough to convince teachers to encourage student participation by lecturing to them. If you believe in what you're presenting, you should be demonstrating that by practicing it. People are much more liable to understand and accept what you're trying to convey if it's obvious you believe in and use it all the time.
Try to present material in a number of different ways. This variation is important for two reasons: First, it helps to keep participants involved. There are many studies showing that human beings are intrinsically interested in and respond positively to variety, and it makes sense to take advantage of that trait. Second, variation speaks to differences in learning styles, and thus makes it more likely that everyone in the workshop will be able to grasp the material.

Although researchers have come up with a number of models for the ways in which people absorb information, none would disagree that individuals differ in their preferred methods of learning. Some people take in new information better through their eyes, others through their ears, others through their fingers (i.e. by doing things with their hands). Some people like to deal with the details of an idea, others with the overall concept. Some learners are systematic and logical, others are intuitive leapers. Still other differences include individual vs. group learning, and fast processors vs. slow and thoughtful ones. Varying activities in a workshop lecture /slide presentation, group problem-solving, building models, etc. can speak to at least most of the learning styles of participants, and create a more nearly complete learning experience for everyone.

Try to be, and to make your activities, entertaining. Humor is an extremely important tool, even when your topic is not humorous at all. (The TV show MASH, about Korean War surgeons who dealt with horrible deaths every day, illustrated how black humor could help to keep people sane in an intolerable situation.) It can not only set a tone that makes learning more fun, but can serve to underscore important points as well.

A college geology instructor on a field trip with his students pointed out a formation and stated, "This is called a pluck." Then, tripping lightly over to a dead crow on the ground, he pulled out a feather, and said, "This, too, is called a pluck." No one in the class ever forgot what the geological term "pluck" meant.

Be enthusiastic. If you really believe in what you're presenting, show it; it will help make participants more enthusiastic as well, and can have a huge effect on the success of your workshop.
Encourage participants to relate the workshop content to their reality. How can they use these ideas or methods in their jobs, or in their lives? How would their colleagues react? They need a chance to think about and discuss these questions. You might ask everyone to make a commitment to use something they've learned in the workshop at least once, or to apply new concepts to a particular facet of their work or home life. The real questions that both presenters and participants should be asking themselves about the topic of a workshop are"How does it fit into the world?" and "How can it be used?"
Allow ample time for reflection and discussion in all activities. People often need to think and talk through their experiences or new information in order to understand them. It's also important that participants have a chance to be heard about what they think and what they've learned. If they can share it aloud, it gains more importance and legitimacy for them. Even if the workshop content has been understood, it hasn't really been learned until it's been assimilated into the learner's understanding of the world. Reflection provides the vehicle for this assimilation.

In the final phase of the workshop, you'll need to wrap things up and give participants a chance to react to what they've just been through. You may want to go through some formal activity for this purpose, or you may want to just throw out some questions and listen to what people have to say.

Sum up and review agenda. Restate the major points that the workshop covered and revisit the agenda to identify any areas you didn't get to. Depending upon their importance, the group's interest, and actual possibilities, you could hand out or offer to send people material or a bibliography on those areas, or to hold another workshop to cover what you missed
Revisit expectations. Take a look at that list of expectations from the beginning of the workshop. Were people's initial expectations appropriate, and were they met? If not, where were the gaps?
Give participants a chance to sum up. This could be as simple as asking "What did you think?" or it could involve a more structured exercise. (One possibility: go around the room and ask everyone to state one thing she liked about the workshop or learned from it, and one thing she would have changed about it.) It's important to give participants a way to summarize for themselves the value, or lack of value, of the workshop for them.
Ask for feedback on the ideas, techniques, methods, etc. that you presented. Pay attention to participants' challenges and concerns about the material. It may be totally new to them, and may fly in the face of everything they've learned so far. They'll need time to digest it. Don't get defensive if they don't agree with everything or anything you've been promoting. You may have doubts about some of the material, too, and it's OK to say so. The purpose of a workshop is learning, and that rarely comes without some internal conflict.

If you can find a way to record all this review, summing up, and feedback, it will prove extremely helpful to you in developing other workshops, or in revising the one you just conducted. An audio recorder is one possibility. Newsprint or something similar is another.

Collect evaluation forms . Make sure you get one from everybody, it should take less than a minute to fill out, unless people have complex comments (the best kind, because they give the most specific feedback).

After the workshop is over, there are still a few loose ends to tie up.

If you agreed to send anything to participants (materials, bibliographies, etc.) you should do it as soon as possible, both so that you don't forget, and so the material is still fresh in people's minds when they get it.
If you have notes on the summation and feedback, you might want to type them up and send them to participants also, if they would be helpful to their understanding of the workshop.
Go through the evaluations and your feedback notes soon after the workshop, so that it's still fresh in your mind. What do most people think you might have done differently? What areas seemed particularly strong or particularly weak? This is the moment to think about what you'll change the next time you conduct a workshop, and there should be a next time. Start planning now!

In order to conduct an effective and successful workshop, you need to address its planning, preparation, and implementation. As you plan, consider the workshop's audience, its size, its length, its purpose, and your presentation options. Preparation includes logistics (managing the physical items involved, materials, equipment, etc.), and preparing psychologically as well. Finally, the implementation of the workshop includes attending to all three of its phases: introduction, substance, and closure. And don't forget to follow up, both by fulfilling any promises and using feedback to redesign or change parts of the workshop so that your next one will be even better.

Print Resources

Bobo, K., Jackie K., & Steve M. (1991). Organizing for Social Change: A Manual for Activists in the 1990s . Cabin John, MD: Seven Locks Press. Chapter on "Designing and Leading a Workshop," pp. 124-131.

Coover, V., Ellen D., Charles E., & Moore C.(1977). Resource Manual for a Living Revolution . Philadelphia: New Society Press. Chapter on workshops, pp. 161 ff.

The following items contain exercises and New Games that might be helpful.

Bag of Tricks (quarterly). Available from Karl Rohnke, P.O. Box 100, Hamilton, MA 01936.

The Bottomless Bag Again. Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt Publishing Co., 1991.

Funn Stuff, vols. I, II, and III. Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt Publishing Co., 1996 (vols. I and II) and 1998 (vol. III).

Le Fevre, Dale N . More New Games .

The New Games Foundation. New Games for the Whole Family .

Rohnke, Karl. Silver Bullets. Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt Publishing Co., 1984.

Pre-work: Your guide to pre-meeting action items

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The idea of pre-work has existed long before we had a catchy name for it. Think of the list of books your school would give you to read over the summer. While we all had different relationships with summer reading, the idea behind it was right: Schools wanted you to be prepared for what lay ahead.

What is pre-work?

Pre-work is the discovery work that comes before a workshop or meeting. This is often assigned work that precedes a workshop, training session, or meeting. Pre-work can come in the form of pre-assigned reading, videos participants should watch, or a quick activity to complete beforehand.

Before you go into a job interview, you (hopefully) research the industry, the organization, and the position to which you’re applying. Why? You want to make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into; you want to be speaking the same language as your interviewer.

Facilitators assign pre-work for the same reasons. If you allow your team an opportunity to learn something and respond to that learning before the session, it helps ensure that people arrive prepared and connected to the topic at hand.

Put simply, a team that's in the habit of completing pre-work makes the best use of their time together.

Benefits of pre-work

Increases the value of the meeting.

We all have enough meetings without a clear agenda or outcome. Including pre-work demonstrates a mutual respect for everyone's time so the meeeting isn't just a routine status update or unstructured open time to talk about what you did over the weekend. Pre-work requires that you have a clear schedule and intended outcome planned for the meeting.

Prevents disengaged participants

Pre-work helps all participants join the meeting on equal footing and ensures everyone has enough background information to meaningfully participate.

This helps save time by removing the first 5-10 minutes of a meeting that it takes to explain the background context. This keeps your participants from tuning out, and makes it easier to jump into the main action of the meeting.

Sets expectations for the meeting outcomes

Even if you don't include an agenda (although you should), pre-work helps participants use the context of the assigned action items infer the purpose and intended outcomes of the upcoming meeting. While you should always plan out an agenda, pre-work helps participants come to the workshop or meeting with the main topics fresh in their minds.

Pre-work examples

Imagine that your session is dedicated to an experience mapping exercise. Your pre-work deliverable could be each person's top three learnings from customer research findings. These learnings then get clustered into themes that the facilitator uses to kick off the first section of the meeting:

"Many of you were surprised that our users did not know where to find the link to our Help Center. Let's go through the current steps that customers take to find it. Then, we'll identify areas of opportunity."

A pre-work checklist for facilitators

There are a few steps facilitators can take to set their teams up for success, whether they’re planning to come together in person or remotely. We recommend including these things in your pre-work:

Set the purpose for the meeting and intended outcomes
Add links to any software/tools they’ll need to download or sign up for in advance
Provide clear instructions for what they’re supposed to complete
Include the due date, or “by when” —do they have up until the minute before the session to do it? Or does it have to be done 24 hours in advance?
Provide gentle reminders —Every couple of days, remind your team of the importance of your pre-work. Don’t be afraid to thank those by name who have done what they needed to do (to motivate those who haven’t).

Related: How to facilitate an efficient meeting

Templates to make pre-work a breeze

Try these pre-work templates to help you create better workshops and make it easy for your participants to include any research or deliverables from their pre-work.

Included below are two templates: one for designing impactful pre-work for your participants and another for them to add in any deliverables or learnings from the assignment.

The pre-work basics template

The pre-work basics template is great for facilitators new to assigning pre-work. This template walks you through the steps of how you can design and assign impactful pre-work, engage with participants, and run an effective meeting session.

The Mural pre-work template

This pre-work template provides a space for participants to add any pre-work deliverables into a shared space to be discussed during the working session. This template is great for workshops that involve some extra, hands-on preparation for everyone in the workshop.

Be sure to follow up with participants before the meeting so they don’t forget to add their resources!

Use pre-work to set up engaging, impactful workshops

Pre-work allows you to hold efficient, collaborative, and personalized sessions with your team. Participants feel they’ve used their time wisely, and they’ll have learned about or improved a subject or skill that directly impacts their work. As pre-work becomes a part of your culture, teammates will show up ready to dive right in—generating trust, confidence, and alignment amongst the team.

Using Mural in your meetings and workshops gives you an easy way to keep people engaged and encourage them to contribute their ideas. Get started today with a free Mural account , and invite unlimited guests and members, so everyone has visibility into your strategic planning process.

Editor’s note: the original version of this post was published on October 19, 2019 and later updated with new information.

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Working out loud – asynchronously

Our Mission

Assessment Workshop Activities

Hands-on lessons you can adapt for your assessment workshops.

Now that you've established the basics of assessment, you're ready for part two. On this page, you will find a wide range of activities that introduce assessment ideas and provide help in creating rubrics, to get workshop participants thinking and talking about the many ways student learning can be assessed.

1. Prepare Participants for Critical Viewing of Case Study Videos

Before watching a set of videos that demonstrate alternative methods of assessment, ask participants, "What questions do you have about assessment that might be answered by looking carefully at a video of students being assessed in different ways?"

Suggest that participants view the videos shown with particular questions in mind. For example, they can be asked to watch the Aviation High School video while looking for a list of different ways the students were assessed during the course of the project.

2. Watch Case Study Videos

Choose a video from the following list to share with class participants, based on their grade level interest. There are links to accompanying articles from the video pages for more information.

Lower Elementary: Ongoing Assessment at Faubion Elementary School in Portland, OR
Upper Elementary: Formative Assessment at Forest Lake Elementary in Columbia, SC
Middle School: Authentic Assessment at School of the Future in New York, NY
High School: Performance Assessment at Aviation High School in Seattle, WA

After a brief small-group discussion and reflection, engage the larger group of participants in conversation about what they saw. Ideas for post-viewing questions include:

"What kind of pre-planning was required for the teacher to use alternative methods of assessment?"
"How did the students get involved in the assessment process? How did their involvement affect their learning outcomes?"
"How is learning measured differently than when only test-based assessment is used?"

3. Grant Wiggins' Article on Assessment

Have participants read the article "Toward Genuine Accountability: The Case for a New State Assessment System" and then follow these steps:

Ask participants, "What did you think of the analogy Grant Wiggins makes between basketball and state testing? Explain."
Have the class discuss the blueprint Wiggins suggests for state assessment, and ask participants, "Do you agree or disagree? How would you improve it?"
Have the class discuss Wiggins's proposal for a state performance system and the five guiding principles that underlie his proposal.
Direct participants to take a position, either pro or con, for the proposal, create a presentation defending their position, and present it to the group.

4. Expert Interviews

Ask participants, "What do the experts have to say about alternative forms of assessment?"

Introduce participants to the article Comprehensive Assessment: What Experts Say on Edutopia.org
Suggest that small groups (2-4 participants) read and talk about the questions and responses of one expert, or assign particular experts to small groups. There are several options: focus on national experts such as Grant Wiggins or Bruce Alberts , concentrate on individual school personnel (principals and/or teachers and/or students), or assign two or more experts within a category so participants can compare and contrast their comments.
Suggest that participants conduct external research on their expert to see what else he or she has to say about assessment.
Have the class discuss each expert interview, and ask participants, "Did you agree with the expert? Why or why not?"
In groups, have participants discuss the views of the interviewees with whom they most agreed or disagreed and explain their position.
Have the small groups present their findings to the large group. Participants may develop a presentation, role-play an interview, or report their findings in other ways.

5. Assessment for Understanding

Introduce the concept of performance assessment to the class, by having participants read " Assessment for Understanding ," and then follow these steps:

Ask participants, "What did you think of the article?"
Have participants discuss the section or sections of the article that affected them most, and ask them, "Why did they affect you?"
Have participants take a position, either pro or con, on the assessment model, create a presentation defending their position, and present it to the group.

6. Measuring What Counts: Memorization Versus Understanding

Introduce the ways project-based learning can be assessed by having participants read the article " Measuring What Counts: Memorization Versus Understanding " and then discuss these questions:

What three elements factor into the creation of a project?
What are some of the benefits, according to the article, of project-based learning?
What are recommendations for beginning projects in the classroom?

7. Project-Based Lesson and Rubric

The following activities are designed to give participants experience in creating a project-based lesson and a model rubric for assessing it. For more about designing projects, visit the How Does Project-Based Learning Work? page of our Project-Based Learning Guide .

Present Your Idea

Write a reflective paragraph and present it to the group.
List projects that would be likely to engage your students.
Create a chart or presentation to present your project ideas to the group.

Design a Project and Rubric

Choose a project idea.
Choose a topic or question for the project-based lesson.
Develop the objectives of the project and the tasks.
Design a rubric for the project-based lesson.
Decide whether the rubric is going to be an example of a teacher-created rubric or one created by both the teacher and the students.

Create Rubrics

Visit the page on the San Diego City Schools website titled " Creating A Rubric for a Given Task ."
Create a rubric from scratch using the site's suggestions.
Explore the RubiStar online rubric-generating tool by 4Teachers.org .
Create a rubric using the website's templates.

Present the Rubric

Present to the group one of the rubrics you have created.
How does it fit the assessment needs of your students?
How does it fit your assessment needs as a teacher?

Discuss Rubrics

Discuss why it is a teacher-created rubric or one created by both the teacher and the students.
What thoughts went into the process of creating the rubric?
Why would one use rubric templates?
List the pros and cons of using a template.
When would you be more likely to use a rubric that did not employ a template?

8. Assessment Research

Visit our Comprehensive Assessment Research page for the latest findings about assessment.
Download the PDF files of the research reports or view the research websites.
What do you think? Discuss your thoughts in small groups.

9. International Assessment

Watch our expert interview, Linda Darling-Hammond on Becoming Internationally Competitive .
Visit the resource page about Darling-Hammond's research on international standards and assessments.
Watch the video PISA: Measuring Student Success Around the World from OECD's Directorate for Education .
Discuss how standards and methods of assessment vary in different countries. How does the United States measure up?

Continue to the next section of the guide, Resources for Assessment .

This guide is organized into six sections:

Introduction
Why Is Assessment Important?
Types of Assessment
How Do Rubrics Help?
Workshop Activities
Resources for Assessment

Module 8: Writing Workshop—Analysis and Synthesis

Why it matters: writing workshop—analysis and synthesis.

Old black and white photograph of women operating a telephone switchboard

Figure 1 . Effective scholarship is often a matter of making connections.

Why Analyze?

In college courses, you will be asked to read, reason, and write analytically. Effective analysts can distinguish the whole, identify parts, infer relationships, and make generalizations. Those skills enable individuals to connect ideas, detect inconsistencies, and solve problems in a systematic fashion. Understanding what analysis is, how to apply it, and how to convey the results effectively will be invaluable to you throughout your college and professional careers.

Analysis is at the heart of academic work in every area of study. Literary critics break down poems and novels, examining how the different parts of the text work together to create meaning. Sociologists conduct field research to observe how gender roles influence pay discrepancies in developing nations, often arriving at policy recommendations that might result in more equitable arrangements. Business students scrutinize data on consumer behavior in different markets to better understand why some products fail in one place while nearly identical ones succeed in a different place.

Note that each researcher started with a question. The literary critic asks: how does this text create meaning? The sociologist wants to know: how are gender and inequalities of pay related to broader economic development? And the business student is trying to get a sense of what regional market differences might account for success or failure for a given plan. The work of analysis gives each researcher an opportunity to complicate their initial question, to compile useful information, and then to draw–or infer–some conclusions based on this new, more thorough level of understanding.

While analysis is the term we use to describe the process of breaking something down, say a poem or novel, a transcript of interviews with workers and business owners, or a regional market overview, this is not the only work we perform as scholars.

In an academic context, we are often occupied by a kind of transaction. As students we demonstrate our learning in exchange for credits, and ultimately we redeem these credits for a degree. And while there is certainly nothing wrong with learning for its own sake, without any broader framework of approval or evaluation, if you are working toward a degree it is helpful to understand why your professors value particular demonstrations of ability. In short, your teachers are looking for complexity and thoroughness in your thinking and writing. They want to see that you can propose and sustain a defensible line of inquiry, and that you can select and utilize appropriate evidence to support your guiding questions.

But how, exactly, do you utilize your material? Two complicating techniques that you can employ, and that will increase the complexity and credibility of your work are inference and synthesis. Let’s say that our hypothetical sociologist writes a draft of her paper that describes the types of labor performed by men and women in different lines of work in a recently urbanized region. If she categorically breaks down and examines in detail these differently compensated positions, we can say that she has performed an analysis. However, if she cites her interview transcripts and argues that her subjects are implying that pay rates in newly established professional settings should be based on “traditional” pay rates from earlier forms of gender-segregated agricultural labor, then she has inferred this is an unspoken framework of inequality in need of more scrutiny. Her inference has complicated and built on the existing analysis. If she goes on to find similarities in this notion of “traditionally” gender-based pay discrepancies among company mission statements, her interview transcripts, and studies conducted by other sociologists in other developing countries, then she has synthesized these different viewpoints and sources. This will also demonstrate a more thorough and credible thought process, and one that is valued within her chosen academic discipline.

As we work through the next few pages you will have an opportunity to consider how analysis, inference, and synthesis can work together. You will also get to test your own ability to identify these concepts in action, and to practice applying them to a scholarly essay.

Writing Workshop: Your Working Document

Every component of the working document will be introduced throughout this module in a blue box such as this one. Open your working document now and keep it open as you progress through the module .

Go to the assignment for this module in your LMS. Click on the link to open the Working Document for this module as a Google Document.

Screenshot of the file, make a copy, button inside of google docs

Now hold onto this document—we’ll need it soon! (You’ll submit the link to your instructor once you’ve completed the Writing Workshop activities).
Photograph of Women Working at a Bell System Telephone Switchboard. Provided by : The U.S. National Archives. Located at : https://flic.kr/p/6zqGGV . License : Public Domain: No Known Copyright
Why It Matters: Writing Workshopu2014Analysis and Synthesis. Authored by : Scott Barr for Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution

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Definition of workshop noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

There will be the opportunity for practical theatre work in drama workshops.
She was invited to participate in a poetry workshop on campus.
acquire/get/lack (an) education/training/ (British English) (some) qualifications
receive/provide somebody with training/tuition
develop/design/plan a curriculum/ (especially British English) course/ (North American English) program/syllabus
give/go to/attend a class/lesson/lecture/seminar
hold/run/conduct a class/seminar/workshop
sign up for/take a course/classes/lessons
go to/start preschool/kindergarten/nursery school
be in (North American English) the first, second, etc. grade/ (British English) year 1, 2. etc. (at school)
study/take/drop history/chemistry/German, etc.
(British English) leave/finish/drop out of/ (North American English) quit school
(North American English) graduate high school/college
be the victim/target of bullying
(British English) play truant from/ (both British English, informal) bunk off/skive off school (= not go to school when you should)
(both especially North American English) skip/cut class/school
(British English) cheat in/ (North American English) cheat on an exam/a test
get/be given a detention (for doing something)
be expelled from/be suspended from school
do your homework/ (British English) revision/a project on something
work on/write/do/submit an essay/a dissertation/a thesis/an assignment/ (North American English) a paper
finish/complete your dissertation/thesis/studies/coursework
hand in/ (North American English) turn in your homework/essay/assignment/paper
study/prepare/ (British English) revise/ (North American English) review/ (North American English, informal) cram for a test/an exam
take/ (both British English) do/sit a test/an exam
(especially British English) mark/ (especially North American English) grade homework/a test
(British English) do well in/ (North American English) do well on/ (especially North American English, informal) ace a test/an exam
pass/fail/ (especially North American English, informal) flunk a test/an exam/a class/a course/a subject
apply to/get into/go to/start college/ (British English) university
leave/graduate from law school/college/ (British English) university (with a degree in computer science)
study for/take/ (British English) do/complete a law degree/a degree in physics
(both North American English) major/minor in biology/philosophy
earn/receive/be awarded/get/have/hold a master’s degree/a bachelor’s degree/a PhD in economics
There are two management development workshops per year.
a workshop for teachers
a workshop aimed at brainstorming new marketing ideas
We will be running a series of workshops for students.
The workshop covered a wide range of issues.
The company holds regular skills development workshops.
The Institute will host a special two-day workshop on new building materials.
The Careers Advisory Service will be running a series of workshops for students.
In the one-day workshop, she taught us the importance of breathing exercises.
I learned these new skills at a workshop on databases.
Everyone in Personnel has attended a media skills workshop.
During the workshop, they each practised their part in the performance.
cover something
examine something
focus on something
at a/the workshop
during a/the workshop
in a/the workshop
a member of a workshop
a participant in a workshop

Take your English to the next level

The Oxford Learner’s Thesaurus explains the difference between groups of similar words. Try it for free as part of the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app

If you’re new to teaching writing, this is a question you might have asked yourself or your colleagues. I use a modified version of the writer’s workshop to format my writing block. I find keeping the students on the same part of the writing process is easier to manage in a primary classroom with many struggling writers.

First, what exactly is writer’s workshop? Well, writer’s workshop is a framework that is used to teach writing. Writing time for each day is broken down into three main components I’ll discuss more below. The components are a mini-lesson, student writing time which may include writing conferences, and sharing time.

During writer’s workshop, students are expected to be writing independently for a majority of the time block. Students should also be writing on a personal choice topic rather than on a provided prompt. If students can choose their own topic, they will usually write freely and for a longer period of time than if they are told what they have to write.

Components of Writer’s Workshop

The major components of writer’s workshop are:

Mini-lesson (10-15 minutes)
Writing Time (20-30 minutes)
Share Time (5-10 minutes)

Mini-Lesson Time

For the mini-lesson, the teacher is offering direct instruction to the whole class on a specific writing skill. This may include topics such as crafting a great lead, using proper punctuation, adding details to a story, or building story suspense.

Sequence words mini lesson taught during the writer's workshop.

The mini-lesson is short and hyper focused to teach one item for the day that students can take and apply to their own writing. It’s important to also model this skill during the mini-lesson. I like to share my writing using a document camera but you could also use an anchor chart.

When I first began writer’s workshop, I used Lucy Calkins model, First Units of Study . This was a great way for me to learn the process and I loved many of her mini lessons, but like many other teachers I found the formatting of the books hard to follow quickly while teaching.

Today I write my lessons according to the skills needed to teach a specific genre. Then I break down my lessons into bite-sized pieces that become my teaching point for each day. I like to stick with one genre of writing (opinion writing, expository writing, and narrative writing) for multiple weeks.

Writing Time

The next component of writer’s workshop is to have writing time. Just like it sounds, this is the time students are released to their seats (if you had gathered them to the carpet for the whole class lesson) to write. Traditionally students in a typical writer’s workshop would check in and state where they are at in the writing process before heading off to write.

Within my own classroom, I have the majority of my class working on the same part of the writing process so it is easier to manage. As I planned my writing units, I created lessons that would lead to the culmination of a final, graded work. Students follow the daily lessons to practice the skill for the day in their own writing.

An example mini lesson might be on how to begin an introduction. I will show several examples of introductions and then release students to write. At their desks, students will work on following the blueprint I gave them to craft their own introduction. When they finish the task, they will continue to write but on a different piece of writing. This can be an unfinished piece of a new piece but should be on the same genre we are working on to limit confusion. They keep their writing pieces in a designated writing folder. The image above is from a mini lesson during expository writing on how to create text features.

The final component of the writer’s workshop is to have share time . This is just what it sounds like - students are given time to share their writing. I find in my own class that this is the time students look forward to the most. I like to set a timer after my mini lesson so that I am making sure to keep this time available each day.

I like to think of share time as the equivalent to a number talk in math. The most important part of number talks is allowing students to see how others arrived at a solution. With writing it’s just as important to provide time for students to see how others are writing, and see how they are completing their stories. I find that often the students have more creative ideas than I do! This is a component that should not be skipped.

When I am short on time, I have students share with their writing partners for a timed five minutes. If both partners are unable to share during that time, then the partner who didn’t share goes first the next day. This procedure is built into my lessons prior to beginning the partner process. I also like to assign my writing partners to be the same throughout a unit study. This allows students to know exactly who they need to work with when it’s time to work in partners.

Writing Conferences

In my classroom, writing conferences are very informal. I set my topic for writing conferences according to the students’ writing goals. For more information on my goal setting, please visit the blog post and podcast episode called Setting Student Learning Goals .

Student writing goals should be explicit and available for students to reference when writing.

I make note of the student writing goal and approach the student, asking them to read me their current writing. Then we reference their goal together and note the progress on that specific goal. I like to keep the conference aimed at one specific point (their chosen goal) even though there are usually MANY other topics we can discuss. I find if I bring up too many things the student can become overwhelmed and possibly shut down. I end the conference much like I would with a parent teacher conference by providing a positive note to the student.

It might be helpful to keep a checklist of your class roster that you can mark off as you go throughout the week. This will help make sure you are meeting with every student equally. I also like to pull small groups that have similar, if not the same, writing goals that we can work on together. This is usually students struggling with beginning sentence structure or even sounding out words. My motto is always to work smarter so instead of having five individual conferences, I can hold one conference of five students and do a quick modeling of the expected goal outcome.

By sticking to this framework, you’ll be planning lessons and implementing your own writer's workshop in no time! I suggest if you are new to writer’s workshop that you first start with a series of lessons that explicitly teaches your workshop expectations. After students know what to expect it is easier to have them work independently during writing time.

What is your favorite component of the writer’s workshop model?

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MLA Overview and Workshop

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What is MLA Style?

MLA Style establishes standards of written communication concerning:

formatting and page layout
applying stylistic technicalities (e.g. abbreviations, footnotes, quotations)
citing sources
preparing a manuscript for publication in certain disciplines.

Why Use MLA?

Using MLA Style properly makes it easier for readers to navigate and comprehend a text through familiar cues that refer to sources and borrowed information. Editors and instructors also encourage everyone to use the same format so there is consistency of style within a given field. Abiding by MLA's standards as a writer will allow you to:

Provide your readers with cues they can use to follow your ideas more efficiently and to locate information of interest to them
Allow readers to focus more on your ideas by not distracting them with unfamiliar or complicated formatting
Establish your credibility or ethos in the field by demonstrating an awareness of your audience and their needs as fellow researchers (particularly concerning the citing of references)

Who Should Use MLA?

MLA Style is typically reserved for writers and students preparing manuscripts in various humanities disciplines such as:

English Studies - Language and Literature
Foreign Languages and Literatures
Literary Criticism
Comparative Literature
Cultural Studies

MLA Formatting and Notation Style

You should start by becoming familiar with the general formatting requirements of MLA Style, as well as the different standards for notation that MLA writers are expected to use. Because MLA is different than other writing styles, such as APA, you should pay attention to every detail of the Style, from general paper layout to abbreviations. The following pages will introduce you to some of these basic requirements to get you started in the right direction.

General Format

Covers the basic requirements of page layout for a typical MLA manuscript
Includes general guidelines to apply throughout the document and specific formatting details for the first page of the paper
Provides an image of the first page of a sample essay written in MLA Style

Footnotes and Endnotes

Explains the necessity for using both types of notes and how to use them effectively in an MLA paper
Covers different reasons for why you may use a footnote or endnote to supplement the main body of your paper
Describes how to number and format the notes to be consistent with MLA guidelines

Formatting Quotations

Describes how to format quotations borrowed from secondary sources
Addresses both short quotations worked into the writer's own sentences and long quotations that are blocked off as distinct material
Explains how to omit or add in words properly to clarify the meaning of a quotation

Abbreviations

Covers MLA standards for abbreviating words commonly used in academic prose
Describes the different categories of abbreviations: times, locations, academic references, and publishers
Includes guidelines for abbreviating information in citations on a Works Cited page

MLA Citations and Works Cited Page

As with any publishing style, the most difficult aspects of MLA Style are the requirements for citing secondary sources accurately. The pages included here walk you through the details of incorporating citations into the text of your paper as well as how to compose a Works Cited page of references at the end of your paper. Read these guidelines carefully. It is important that you refer to your sources according to MLA Style so your readers can quickly follow the citations to the reference page and then, from there, locate any sources that might be of interest to them. They will expect this information to be presented in a particular style, and any deviations from that style could result in confusing your readers.

How to Document Sources in MLA Style: An Overview

Covers the process for developing Works Cited pages and in-text citations using MLA (9th ed.)
Explains "containers," a concept new to the eighth edition, including how to apply them to develop citations

In-Text Citations: The Basics

Addresses the MLA Style formatting requirements for citing secondary sources within the text of your essay
Offers a few basic rules for using parenthetical citations, including when not to use them
Includes examples of in-text citations
Explains the author-page formatting of the parenthetical citation and how that applies to different types of sources
Provides examples of in-text citations based on the kind of source being cited, such as a literary work, an anonymous work, and a work with multiple authors
Describes how to cite a source indirectly referenced in another source

Works Cited Page: Basic Format

Guides you through the general rules that apply to any Works Cited page using MLA Style, including where the page appears and how to organize the works
Walks you through how to construct a reference entry for different types of texts, starting with a focus on authors
Serves as a primer on formatting that will be expanded in all of the following pages addressing MLA Works Cited entries for different types of sources
Includes an example Works Cited Page

Works Cited Page: Books

Builds from the basic format page with a focus on how to create citations for certain commonly referenced book sources
Includes guidelines and examples for a variety of books depending on the number of authors, whether the work is a piece is a larger work, or the book itself is part of multivolume collection

Works Cited Page: Other Common Sources

Provides guidelines on how to reference other sources you may encounter during research that are considered books or non-periodical works
Includes works that you might likely use but that have unusual publication information, such as a government document, pamphlet, or dissertation

Works Cited Page: Periodicals

Covers the guidelines for developing a citation entry for works found in periodicals (typically articles in circulating publications that have different dates and volume/issue numbers)
Lists types of entries depending on the kind of journal (e.g. one paginated by volume), if the source is a magazine vs. a newspaper, or the kind of article (e.g. a letter to the editor)

Works Cited Page: Electronic Sources

Demonstrates the basic requirements and unique qualifications for constructing references for different types of electronic sources
Covers more standard sources—from online periodicals and scholarly databases—to less conventional sources, like emails and video recordings found online
Includes OWL suggestions on how to cite blog entries and comments posted to blogs (NOTE: consult your instructor to find out if these are acceptable research sources to use for your assignment)

Works Cited Page: Other Non-Print Sources

Applies the basic MLA citation rules to non-print sources you may use in your research, such as interviews and images
Provides directions and examples of how to cite video and sound recordings, as well as three dimensional works like sculptures

Please Note: If you know exactly what you're looking for concerning MLA, you can use the OWL Navigation to the left by looking under "Research and Citation" and clicking on "MLA Formatting and Style Guide." You may also use the search option in the navigation bar to find resources.

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Definition of workshop

manufactory

Examples of workshop in a Sentence

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'workshop.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

1556, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Dictionary Entries Near workshop

Cite this entry.

“Workshop.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/workshop. Accessed 6 Sep. 2024.

Kids Definition

Kids definition of workshop, more from merriam-webster on workshop.

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Britannica English: Translation of workshop for Arabic Speakers

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Rubric Best Practices, Examples, and Templates

A rubric is a scoring tool that identifies the different criteria relevant to an assignment, assessment, or learning outcome and states the possible levels of achievement in a specific, clear, and objective way. Use rubrics to assess project-based student work including essays, group projects, creative endeavors, and oral presentations.

Rubrics can help instructors communicate expectations to students and assess student work fairly, consistently and efficiently. Rubrics can provide students with informative feedback on their strengths and weaknesses so that they can reflect on their performance and work on areas that need improvement.

How to Get Started

Best practices, moodle how-to guides.

Workshop Recording (Spring 2024)
Workshop Registration

Step 1: Analyze the assignment

The first step in the rubric creation process is to analyze the assignment or assessment for which you are creating a rubric. To do this, consider the following questions:

What is the purpose of the assignment and your feedback? What do you want students to demonstrate through the completion of this assignment (i.e. what are the learning objectives measured by it)? Is it a summative assessment, or will students use the feedback to create an improved product?
Does the assignment break down into different or smaller tasks? Are these tasks equally important as the main assignment?
What would an “excellent” assignment look like? An “acceptable” assignment? One that still needs major work?
How detailed do you want the feedback you give students to be? Do you want/need to give them a grade?

Step 2: Decide what kind of rubric you will use

Types of rubrics: holistic, analytic/descriptive, single-point

Holistic Rubric. A holistic rubric includes all the criteria (such as clarity, organization, mechanics, etc.) to be considered together and included in a single evaluation. With a holistic rubric, the rater or grader assigns a single score based on an overall judgment of the student’s work, using descriptions of each performance level to assign the score.

Advantages of holistic rubrics:

Can p lace an emphasis on what learners can demonstrate rather than what they cannot
Save grader time by minimizing the number of evaluations to be made for each student
Can be used consistently across raters, provided they have all been trained

Disadvantages of holistic rubrics:

Provide less specific feedback than analytic/descriptive rubrics
Can be difficult to choose a score when a student’s work is at varying levels across the criteria
Any weighting of c riteria cannot be indicated in the rubric

Analytic/Descriptive Rubric . An analytic or descriptive rubric often takes the form of a table with the criteria listed in the left column and with levels of performance listed across the top row. Each cell contains a description of what the specified criterion looks like at a given level of performance. Each of the criteria is scored individually.

Advantages of analytic rubrics:

Provide detailed feedback on areas of strength or weakness
Each criterion can be weighted to reflect its relative importance

Disadvantages of analytic rubrics:

More time-consuming to create and use than a holistic rubric
May not be used consistently across raters unless the cells are well defined
May result in giving less personalized feedback

Single-Point Rubric . A single-point rubric is breaks down the components of an assignment into different criteria, but instead of describing different levels of performance, only the “proficient” level is described. Feedback space is provided for instructors to give individualized comments to help students improve and/or show where they excelled beyond the proficiency descriptors.

Advantages of single-point rubrics:

Easier to create than an analytic/descriptive rubric
Perhaps more likely that students will read the descriptors
Areas of concern and excellence are open-ended
May removes a focus on the grade/points
May increase student creativity in project-based assignments

Disadvantage of analytic rubrics: Requires more work for instructors writing feedback

Step 3 (Optional): Look for templates and examples.

You might Google, “Rubric for persuasive essay at the college level” and see if there are any publicly available examples to start from. Ask your colleagues if they have used a rubric for a similar assignment. Some examples are also available at the end of this article. These rubrics can be a great starting point for you, but consider steps 3, 4, and 5 below to ensure that the rubric matches your assignment description, learning objectives and expectations.

Step 4: Define the assignment criteria

Make a list of the knowledge and skills are you measuring with the assignment/assessment Refer to your stated learning objectives, the assignment instructions, past examples of student work, etc. for help.

Helpful strategies for defining grading criteria:

Collaborate with co-instructors, teaching assistants, and other colleagues
Brainstorm and discuss with students
Can they be observed and measured?
Are they important and essential?
Are they distinct from other criteria?
Are they phrased in precise, unambiguous language?
Revise the criteria as needed
Consider whether some are more important than others, and how you will weight them.

Step 5: Design the rating scale

Most ratings scales include between 3 and 5 levels. Consider the following questions when designing your rating scale:

Given what students are able to demonstrate in this assignment/assessment, what are the possible levels of achievement?
How many levels would you like to include (more levels means more detailed descriptions)
Will you use numbers and/or descriptive labels for each level of performance? (for example 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and/or Exceeds expectations, Accomplished, Proficient, Developing, Beginning, etc.)
Don’t use too many columns, and recognize that some criteria can have more columns that others . The rubric needs to be comprehensible and organized. Pick the right amount of columns so that the criteria flow logically and naturally across levels.

Step 6: Write descriptions for each level of the rating scale

Artificial Intelligence tools like Chat GPT have proven to be useful tools for creating a rubric. You will want to engineer your prompt that you provide the AI assistant to ensure you get what you want. For example, you might provide the assignment description, the criteria you feel are important, and the number of levels of performance you want in your prompt. Use the results as a starting point, and adjust the descriptions as needed.

Building a rubric from scratch

For a single-point rubric , describe what would be considered “proficient,” i.e. B-level work, and provide that description. You might also include suggestions for students outside of the actual rubric about how they might surpass proficient-level work.

For analytic and holistic rubrics , c reate statements of expected performance at each level of the rubric.

Consider what descriptor is appropriate for each criteria, e.g., presence vs absence, complete vs incomplete, many vs none, major vs minor, consistent vs inconsistent, always vs never. If you have an indicator described in one level, it will need to be described in each level.
You might start with the top/exemplary level. What does it look like when a student has achieved excellence for each/every criterion? Then, look at the “bottom” level. What does it look like when a student has not achieved the learning goals in any way? Then, complete the in-between levels.
For an analytic rubric , do this for each particular criterion of the rubric so that every cell in the table is filled. These descriptions help students understand your expectations and their performance in regard to those expectations.

Well-written descriptions:

Describe observable and measurable behavior
Use parallel language across the scale
Indicate the degree to which the standards are met

Step 7: Create your rubric

Create your rubric in a table or spreadsheet in Word, Google Docs, Sheets, etc., and then transfer it by typing it into Moodle. You can also use online tools to create the rubric, but you will still have to type the criteria, indicators, levels, etc., into Moodle. Rubric creators: Rubistar , iRubric

Step 8: Pilot-test your rubric

Prior to implementing your rubric on a live course, obtain feedback from:

Teacher assistants

Try out your new rubric on a sample of student work. After you pilot-test your rubric, analyze the results to consider its effectiveness and revise accordingly.

Limit the rubric to a single page for reading and grading ease
Use parallel language . Use similar language and syntax/wording from column to column. Make sure that the rubric can be easily read from left to right or vice versa.
Use student-friendly language . Make sure the language is learning-level appropriate. If you use academic language or concepts, you will need to teach those concepts.
Share and discuss the rubric with your students . Students should understand that the rubric is there to help them learn, reflect, and self-assess. If students use a rubric, they will understand the expectations and their relevance to learning.
Consider scalability and reusability of rubrics. Create rubric templates that you can alter as needed for multiple assignments.
Maximize the descriptiveness of your language. Avoid words like “good” and “excellent.” For example, instead of saying, “uses excellent sources,” you might describe what makes a resource excellent so that students will know. You might also consider reducing the reliance on quantity, such as a number of allowable misspelled words. Focus instead, for example, on how distracting any spelling errors are.

Example of an analytic rubric for a final paper

	Above Average (4)	Sufficient (3)	Developing (2)	Needs improvement (1)
(Thesis supported by relevant information and ideas	The central purpose of the student work is clear and supporting ideas always are always well-focused. Details are relevant, enrich the work.	The central purpose of the student work is clear and ideas are almost always focused in a way that supports the thesis. Relevant details illustrate the author’s ideas.	The central purpose of the student work is identified. Ideas are mostly focused in a way that supports the thesis.	The purpose of the student work is not well-defined. A number of central ideas do not support the thesis. Thoughts appear disconnected.
(Sequencing of elements/ ideas)	Information and ideas are presented in a logical sequence which flows naturally and is engaging to the audience.	Information and ideas are presented in a logical sequence which is followed by the reader with little or no difficulty.	Information and ideas are presented in an order that the audience can mostly follow.	Information and ideas are poorly sequenced. The audience has difficulty following the thread of thought.
(Correctness of grammar and spelling)	Minimal to no distracting errors in grammar and spelling.	The readability of the work is only slightly interrupted by spelling and/or grammatical errors.	Grammatical and/or spelling errors distract from the work.	The readability of the work is seriously hampered by spelling and/or grammatical errors.

Example of a holistic rubric for a final paper

The audience is able to easily identify the central message of the work and is engaged by the paper’s clear focus and relevant details. Information is presented logically and naturally. There are minimal to no distracting errors in grammar and spelling. : The audience is easily able to identify the focus of the student work which is supported by relevant ideas and supporting details. Information is presented in a logical manner that is easily followed. The readability of the work is only slightly interrupted by errors. : The audience can identify the central purpose of the student work without little difficulty and supporting ideas are present and clear. The information is presented in an orderly fashion that can be followed with little difficulty. Grammatical and spelling errors distract from the work. : The audience cannot clearly or easily identify the central ideas or purpose of the student work. Information is presented in a disorganized fashion causing the audience to have difficulty following the author’s ideas. The readability of the work is seriously hampered by errors.

Single-Point Rubric

Advanced (evidence of exceeding standards)	Criteria described a proficient level	Concerns (things that need work)
	Criteria #1: Description reflecting achievement of proficient level of performance
	Criteria #2: Description reflecting achievement of proficient level of performance
	Criteria #3: Description reflecting achievement of proficient level of performance
	Criteria #4: Description reflecting achievement of proficient level of performance
90-100 points	80-90 points	<80 points

More examples:

Single Point Rubric Template ( variation )
Analytic Rubric Template make a copy to edit
A Rubric for Rubrics
Bank of Online Discussion Rubrics in different formats
Mathematical Presentations Descriptive Rubric
Math Proof Assessment Rubric
Kansas State Sample Rubrics
Design Single Point Rubric

Technology Tools: Rubrics in Moodle

Moodle Docs: Rubrics
Moodle Docs: Grading Guide (use for single-point rubrics)

Tools with rubrics (other than Moodle)

Google Assignments
Turnitin Assignments: Rubric or Grading Form

Other resources

DePaul University (n.d.). Rubrics .
Gonzalez, J. (2014). Know your terms: Holistic, Analytic, and Single-Point Rubrics . Cult of Pedagogy.
Goodrich, H. (1996). Understanding rubrics . Teaching for Authentic Student Performance, 54 (4), 14-17. Retrieved from
Miller, A. (2012). Tame the beast: tips for designing and using rubrics.
Ragupathi, K., Lee, A. (2020). Beyond Fairness and Consistency in Grading: The Role of Rubrics in Higher Education. In: Sanger, C., Gleason, N. (eds) Diversity and Inclusion in Global Higher Education. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore.

33 Activity Ideas for Remote UX Workshops

A good facilitator knows that activities are the building blocks of UX workshops.

Getting them right is at the core of creating a workshop that’s worth everyone’s time.

Let’s skip all the idle talk about why workshops are important and get straight into a big list of remote-friendly activities.

Save this page to reference later when you’re planning your next workshop. Each exercise has a description, an explanation of what circumstances you’d use it in, and a quick tip to make sure things run smoothly.

Zombie Cats

Pic + question, the aliens have landed, two truths and a lie, bucket list, reverse brainstorming, storyboarding, s.c.a.m.p.e.r., concept map, fishbone diagram, disney creative strategy, journey map, brainwriting, affinity diagram, how-now-wow, impact/effort chart, assumption grid, the $100 test, importance/urgency chart, start, stop, continue, what so what now what, quick general tips for remote ux workshops, remote ux workshop tools, what about you, icebreakers.

Icebreakers and team-building activities warm everyone up for the workshop, help them get into the right mindset, create a positive energy, build empathy with teammates, and add context to your everyday work.

Description: Divide into teams. Each team finds two things they have in common and comes up with a team name (like “Zombie Cats”) based on those two things.

When to use: You will have teams in your main workshop activities, and you need people to start opening up with conversation and get to know each other.

Tip: This can work in any situation, but is particularly helpful when people don’t already know each other well.

Description: Set up a board on your online whiteboarding tool with two quadrants for every person. Each participant will fill out their quadrants. In the top one, they’ll put a picture with some kind of category: a random pic from their phone, a photo of something on your desk, etc. In the bottom quadrant, they’ll answer a specific question “What’s something you recently learned?”, “What was your first job?”, “What would be your last meal?”, etc.

When to use: Use when you want the participants to get to know each other a bit better and warm up to each other.

Tip: Make sure your picture category and question are something anyone can answer and isn’t something that could potentially be uncomfortable.

Description: Tell the group to imagine aliens have landed on Earth and want to learn about your company or product. But since they don’t speak your language, it needs to be explained with five symbols (like emojis) or pictures. Each participant draws or gathers five simple images to communicate with the aliens. Take a minute to look through the images and talk through themes.

When to use: Particularly good to use when there are language or cultural differences in the group — everyone can communicate with pictures!

Tip: Be sure to explain that the images don’t need to be perfect, and neither does the explanation. Keep it lighthearted.

Description: A popular game that works like this: Each member tells the group three statements about themselves. Everyone else has to guess which of the three statements is a lie.

When to use: You want to have fun, get to know everyone, open up some stories that could turn into water cooler chit-chat.

Tip: You may want to give participants a heads up before the workshop starts so they can think of statements beforehand. You can use voting features in your online whiteboarding tool to see which statement most people think is the lie.

Description: Ask people to share one or two big life goals they have.

When to use: You have a group that is already familiar with each other, but you want them to open up get to know one another a bit more.

Tip: Don’t do this unless you feel like everyone would be comfortable opening up about big life goals. You may want to let them know beforehand that you’ll be asking this question. This is a great way to generate ideas for future team-building activities.

Generating Ideas

During the main part of the UX workshop, you’ll likely be moving in and out of generating ideas as a group, and then processing those ideas. Use the following activities to prompt participants to think creatively and openly, create an atmosphere that engenders inventiveness, and get the group to pump out lots of on-topic ideas.

Description: Start by either brainstorming problems or with one specific problem you already know exists. Next, instead of thinking about solutions to the problems, think about how they could get even worse. Finally, reverse all these problems into solutions. Evaluate which ideas are feasible.

When to use: This is great for making sure solutions are grounded in actual problems, rather than finding problems for your solutions. It’s also fun and can help stimulate creativity when you’re feeling stuck.

Tip: This can be useful when you’re dealing with a lot of “We can’t do that” or “That won’t work” in your group.

Description: Set a timer, and have all participants write content on sticky notes and post them on the main board. The content can be anything: words, ideas, features, questions, concerns, assumptions, research insights, next steps, etc.

When to use: This is a simple, flexible activity that helps you get a bunch of ideas up on the board. You can then discuss and use that as input for a future exercise.

Tip: Use time constraints. Ask people to produce a minimum number of sticky notes to make sure everyone gets involved. Explicitly decide beforehand whether people will put their names on the sticky notes.

Description: As a group, draw out a specific user scenario or story in sequential panels (like a comic book). This is commonly done in eight panels and participants are given ten minutes to complete the story. The imagery can be very low fidelity (and even use things like emojis) so long as the narrative is communicated. Once the storyboard is complete, analyze it with the whole team and look for key takeaways that affect design decisions.

When to use: This technique helps your team visualize the real-life activities of your users, empathize with them, find important moments along their journey, and uncover gaps and problems you can address.

Tip: The more research you have to inform this process, the better. Focus on the narrative, not the drawings. Timeboxing forces participants to be okay with capturing ideas imperfectly.

Description: Everyone gets eight boxes. You set a timer for eight minutes and ask each person to sketch eight quick ideas. Ask everyone to present their top three ideas to the group.

When to use: At the beginning stages of ideation. To get your creative juices flowing and generate lots of ideas quickly.

Tip: You can repeat this process after people have shared so participants can build off of each others’ ideas. Use a voting tool to decide on which ideas to move forward with.

Description: Align your team on the concept you’re drumming up ideas for. Brainstorm by working through each letter in the acronym and adding sticky notes to the board:

S ubstitute (What would happen if we swapped X for Y?)
C ombine (What would happen if we combined X and Y?)
A dapt (How could we adapt this to a different context?)
M odify (How could we change this to improve results?)
P ut to Another Use (What other uses might this have?)
E liminate (What could we remove or simplify?)
R everse (How might we rearrange or interchange elements?)

When to use: This technique helps you improve ideas by poking at them from different angles. It’s particularly helpful when you have lingering problems and your team is feeling stuck and struggling to come up with fresh ideas.

Tip: Try time-boxing each letter and organizing the sticky notes in a mind map structure with the main concept in the center lines pointing to each section surrounding it.

Description: Similar to a mind map, start with one main goal or concept in a node. Use lines, symbols, colors, images, and words to build out more nodes in a hierarchy. Everyone works together, adds things on their own, and discusses what’s put on the board.

When to use: This is good for generating ideas, drawing connections between them, and organizing them into a hierarchical structure.

Tip: Many people learn and think better visually than from something like a lengthy essay, and a good concept map plays to these needs.

Description: Assign people roles and scripts or scenarios, then have them act it out while everyone looks for new insights and ideas. At least one of the people is almost always a user, and you’re usually acting out a specific scenario that is tied to your product or a customer journey.

When to use: This forces participants to change how they think about something by helping them see it through someone else’s eyes. This also helps reassess priorities.

Tip: Expect people to be uncomfortable, resistant, and awkward at first until they get used to this technique. Reassure people that it’s okay unnatural or silly at first. Try to bring some lightheartedness and fun into the activity.

Description: Write a statement that explains exactly what the problem is, including how and when it occurs. Add this to the right side of the diagram, at the fish’s “head”. Figure out broad categories or areas that potential causes of the problem could fall into (no more than ten). Could be things like users, software, communication, and so on. Add these to the ends of the “bones” coming out of the body. Once you have the categories, list out specific, individual causes on the “bones” of the fish under each category. Use these as a basis for diagnosing the root cause of your problem.

When to use: You need to diagnose a problem and figure out the root causes. Particularly useful when you don’t have much data available and you can only rely on your team’s experience.

Tip: Using the Fishbone Diagram in conjunction with 5 Whys works very well in figuring the real causes of a problem.

Description: This is inspired by Walt Disney’s approach to projects. Divide your board into three sections labeled “the dreamer,” “the realist,” and “the critic.” You’ll take the whole group through each section in the following order that order. Start with the dreaming and imagination section by allowing the team to share lots of ideas with no restrictions or criticism. The goal is to generate many ideas without worrying about how feasible or realistic they are. Next, take on the realist’s approach by thinking more logically and creating an action plan for bringing the ideas to life. Finally, adopt the critic’s mindset by examining your ideas and considering barriers or weaknesses.

When to use: This method works when you want to generate ideas and then think through their application in real life.

Tip: Make sure you go in the correct order. Consider time-boxing each section so to keep the discussion moving.

Description: Each person is given four boxes. For four minutes, participants sketch four different wireframes in the boxes for a specific page you’re all working on. There’s no right or wrong — it’s all about quantity, not quality.

When to use: At the beginning stages of ideation. You need to generate ideas for general page structure. Also helps reveal what people’s priorities are.

Tip: After the initial four minutes is up, you may want to narrow things down. Try using 2-up as a follow-up: two boxes in two minutes; people will start to refine their ideas. You can also group people up and make one wireframe between them, using the best parts from each others’ designs. Or you could use something simple like dot voting.

Description: Create a journey map together as a team for a specific process or task your users go through. Go through each section of the map one at a time. The more previously completed research you have to back up your decisions, the better.

When to use: Use this to build up an understanding of user task or goal that is related to the part of your product that you’re working on. This includes needs, pain points, and opportunities.

Tip: If your UX workshop is centered around a specific piece of your product, this method is an excellent way to make the user the focus and build up foundational knowledge that you can refer back to through the entire workshop. It helps if you can base this work on a specific user persona . Note that this technique can also be used as a processing tool for previously-generated ideas.

Description: Create columns of sticky notes and add the names of the participants at the top of each column. Introduce the brainstorming concept, set a timer (for something like 2 minutes), and have everyone write their ideas for the concept on the top sticky note. When the timer dings, tell everyone to move to the next column. Start the timer again — this round, participants take the next sticky in the column and add ideas that add to or build upon the ideas above it. Continue like this until everyone has written something in every column. At the end, discuss, vote on, and group the best ideas.

When to use: You want to do some quiet group brainstorming, with the ability for individuals to work on their own. This helps every individual be heard, including introverts.

Tip: This technique works well in combination with other brainstorming methods like S.C.A.M.P.E.R.

Description: Begin with the broadest possible question about why the problem has occurred. Then try to answer it. Take your answer, and ask why that happened. Do this a total of five times and see what the last answer is — that is a key, root cause of your problem and what you should focus your efforts on fixing.

When to use: This method is effective for brainstorming the root cause of a problem.

Tip: You don’t have to just tackle the last problem — look at other problems you discover along the way and make assignments for looking into fixing those as well.

Description: Take two ideas or concepts and set up boards for each. The boards should have two quadrants side by side with labels at the top. These labels can be almost anything: pros and cons, facts and opinions, strengths and weaknesses, before and after, then and now, cause and effect, etc. Let your team add sticky notes to each quadrant, one board at a time. Afterward, spot patterns and record new insights. You can also do this with just one idea.

When to use: You usually utilize this simple technique to make comparisons between two ideas, or to analyze a single idea.

Tip: This technique has a simple structure, but it can help a lot with examining and contrasting concepts. Use emojis or photos to bring the boards to life.

Processing Ideas

Once your group has generated lots of ideas, it’s time to analyze, categorize, and prioritize those ideas so you can select the best ones to move forward with.

Description: Create a 2x2 matrix with “Functionality” on the X-axis and “Satisfaction” on the Y-axis. Work with your team to arrange your previously-generated assumptions on the matrix according to those axes. When you’re done, divide the chart into four quadrants. Top-left are attractive features: while they aren’t strictly necessary, they’ll cause a positive reaction. Top-right are must-haves: users will expect these features and if your product doesn’t have them it will be considered bad or incomplete. Bottom-right are performance features: they directly affect whether the product is good at performing its intended function, but they aren’t very exciting. Bottom-left are indifferent features: their presence or absence does not affect anyone and would typically be a waste of resources to work on.

When to use: You want to organize and rank ideas based on both the perspective of your users and the functionality of your product.

Tip: Great to use in conjunction with other matrices in this list.

Description: Participants are all given an equal number of dot stickers. Dots can be placed on items that are already up on the board as a form of voting. A person’s dots can all be cast for one item, or distributed among many items. Everyone on the team dot votes at the same time, rather than taking turns. All dots are considered equally when tallying them up. Also known as “dotmocracy.”

When to use: This method is used as a survey or polling method to understand what ideas the team considers to be the highest priority.

Tip: Sometimes you’ll have a main decision-maker in the group, in which case they should get more dots to vote with. You can also throw in resistance votes — dots of a different color like red that represent a negative vote. Keep the number of options as low as possible so that the voting tally is clear.

Description: Create a chart with four columns. Put your ideas in different rows in the first column. The names of the next three columns are New, Useful, and Feasible (spelling out NUF). The last column is labeled Total. Rank each idea on a scale from 1 to 7 in the columns. New refers to how novel the idea is — have you tried it before? Useful refers to whether it actually solves the problem at hand. Feasible refers to whether it’s something the team can actually follow through on. Tally up the totals in the last column to compare and rank the ideas.

When to use: You need a quantifiable, logical way to rank your ideas.

Tip: You can have people go through this exercise as a group or individually (after which everyone would discuss their results).

Description: Take previously-generated ideas (often on sticky notes) and cluster them into groups based on similarities or themes. If the categories are to be decided on during the diagramming and the items to be clustered are under 20, it’s best to do this all at once as a group. There are more than 20 items and the categories are predetermined, it’s best to have everyone do this individually and then review things afterward.

When to use: This technique is discovering patterns across a wide set of ideas. It also promotes a shared vocabulary.

Tip: Create an “Ungrouped” group to prevent people from forcing an item into a group even if it doesn’t quite fit. This group can contain oddballs and may end up helping you discover new categories. You can also try sub-clustering.

Description: Create a 2x2 matrix with “Originality” on the X-axis and “Difficulty” on the Y-axis. Work with your team to arrange your previously-generated ideas on the matrix according to those axes. After you’re done, label three quadrants of the matrix as follows: top-right: “How,” bottom-left: “Now,” bottom-right: “Wow.” “How” ideas are innovative but not very feasible and may need more thought before you being working on them. “Now” are familiar and easy to implement; they’re generally considered low-hanging fruit. “Wow” ideas are both innovative and relatively easy to implement, so this is where you’ll want to focus your attention.

When to use: You want to organize and rank ideas based on the two factors of difficulty and originality. This helps you decide what to work on next.

Tip: You can also use this as an idea-generating template: just start brainstorming ideas straight onto the matrix.

Description: Create a chart with six columns. Put your ideas in different rows in the first column. The names of the next four columns are Reach, Impact, Confidence, and Effort (spelling out RICE). The last column is labeled Total. As a team, go through each idea and assign a numerical score under each column. Reach refers to how many people the project will affect. Try to quantify this (for example, page views per month or customers affected per quarter) and write that number in this column. Impact measures the effect itself: how strong the effects will be. This can be difficult to quantify. Many teams use a scale from 1 to 3, where 1 is low impact, 2 is medium, and 3 is high. Confidence refers to how certain your team is that this idea will have the desired reach and impact. It is evaluated as a percentage — so if the score is 80, that means you’re 80% confident. Effort measures the total time it will take to complete the project in man-hours. To get the RICE score for a particular idea, perform the following calculation: Multiply Reach, Impact, and Confidence. Divide that value by Effort, and that’s your score.

Tip: This is particularly useful when you have several compelling ideas or your team is struggling to agree on which ones to focus on.

Description: Create an X/Y chart with “Effort” on the X-axis and “Impact” on the Y-axis. Work with your team to arrange your previously-generate ideas on the chart according to those axes. When you’re done, divide the chart into four quadrants. Top-left are quick wins: they’ll give you a big return on an investment of a small amount of time or effort. Top-right are major projects: big tasks that will have high returns, but are also time-consuming. Bottom-right are fill-ins: tasks to delegate or focus on only if there is spare time. Bottom-left are thankless tasks: avoid these and work on items in other quadrants.

When to use: You want to to organize and rank ideas based on the two factors of impact and effort. This helps you decide what to work on next.

Tip: You can add a score to the axes from 0 to 10. This will help you more precisely plot the grid and make it easier to determine priorities.

Description: Create a 2x2 matrix with “Certainty” on the X-axis and “Risk” on the Y-axis. Work with your team to arrange your previously-generated assumptions on the matrix according to those axes. Discuss the results and make decisions on which ideas to carry forward.

When to use: You have assumptions (ideas you believe to be true but don’t have any research to back up) and need to organize them before moving forward with them.

Tip: New assumptions may come up as you work through this process.

Description: Each person is allocated $100 imaginary dollars. During a set voting period, everyone assigns their $100 amongst all the ideas on the board. At the end, the facilitator counts up how many dollars each item on the board received.

Tip: This is a different take on the concept of dot voting and that some teams may find enjoyable. The same tips as dot voting apply here.

Description: Create an X/Y chart with “Urgency” on the X-axis and “Importance” on the Y-axis. Work with your team to arrange your previously-generate ideas on the chart according to those axes. When you’re done, divide the chart into four quadrants. Top-right is the highest priority. Top-left and bottom-right are things to look into more closely. Bottom-left includes things that can be considered time sinks.

When to use: You want to to organize and rank ideas based on the two factors of importance and urgency. This helps you decide what to work on next.

Tip: Make sure the team has a shared understanding and vocabulary for what “importance” and “urgency” mean to you.

Wrap-Up Activities

At the conclusion of the workshop it’s best to run a retrospective: wrap things up, solidify what you’ve learned, document what you’ve decided, and make sure everyone walks away with clarity on the next steps.

Description: Create three boxes labeled Start, Stop, and Continue. Work with the team to brainstorm actions your team will begin doing, stop doing, and continue doing based on the takeaways you’ve discovered from the workshop. Since all workshops should result in actions for the team to take, this is a great way to test out the effectiveness of your UX workshop.

When to use: This technique is a great way to do an action-oriented analysis of your activities.

Tip: Encourage your team to focus on action, not emotion.

Description: During a playback, participants present key insights and takeaways from the concluding activity or workshop. This can be as quick as a one-minute high-level share or as formal as a prepared presentation.

When to use: You need to ensure alignment and a shared understanding on what has been learned and decided.

Tip: This can also be used when a subgroup needs to report back to the general group after an activity. Playbacks can be used through the workshop , not just at the end.

Description: Create four boxes labeled Liked, Learned, Lacked, and Longed For. As a team, generate items for each quadrant as you reflect on the workshop as a whole. Review things at the end, try to understand why behind the labeling, and come up with key takeaways.

When to use: You want to understand what worked, what didn’t, and what can be improved.

Tip: You may want to give people a little bit of reflection time before this activity to take stock of their thoughts. Assure everyone that there are no right or wrong answers.

Description: Create three boxes labeled What?, So What?, and Now What? Review the workshop as a team. In the What? box, record what actually happened. In the So What? box, write what was important or what you learned. In the Now What? box, add what changes should occur and what actions should be taken as a result of the workshop.

When to use: This technique is great for critical reflection on the workshop as a whole and processing what you’ve learned and will do next.

Tip: The goal should be to learn from others’ perspectives and discover gaps in your understanding.

Here are a few things to keep in mind as you prepare for your next virtual UX workshop:

Have a clearly articulated goal for the workshop. What’s the desired outcome or end result?
Plan it out. Sometimes opportunities will come up during the workshop itself that you’ll want to take advantage of, but don’t just wing the whole thing.
Organize the board on your online whiteboarding tool beforehand , with sequential blocks, instructions, and everything you need to run the activities smoothly.
Make sure everyone is participating, not just watching someone else do something. This means at least talking, but preferably people are doing something on the screen. Let participants know beforehand that you’ll be asking them to stay engaged and consider closing Slack, silencing their phone, etc.
It can be helpful to frame each activity (for both you and the participants) with a question you want to answer by the end of the activity. This gives a clear objective for the activity and opens up the mind to start looking for an answer.
Take breaks to keep everyone fresh.

The main tool you’ll use will likely be an online whiteboard. That will enable you to have all participants collaborating in real-time on all your activities. Many of these digital tools also include helpful features like built-in video calls, templates, stickers, voting, Apple Pencil support, timers, and auto clustering.

If you’re looking for some help in choosing an online whiteboarding app, we created a section in the Design Tools Database that compares these tools. And yes, it includes FigJam 😄.

Have you used other activities in remote UX workshops? Let us know your favorites on Twitter:

🧱 Group activities are the building blocks of a successful UX workshop. Getting them right is at the core of creating a workshop that's worth everyone's time. Here are 7 ideas for remote-friendly activities (with a bonus at the end): 👇 [thread] pic.twitter.com/A8R1d0ofkc — UX Tools (@uxtoolsco) April 28, 2021

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Next Chapter:

Workshop: Definition, Benefits, and Its Purpose for Individuals

Holding a workshop is one of the company’s efforts in improving the skills and abilities of its employees. Since the skills and abilities of employees will affect the company’s business, thus the role of competency management software is essential to assist the company in developing employees’ potential. The more skills an employee has, the greater the impact on that individual’s performance.

An HR needs a competency management system that can help them improve employee performance to conform to the standards the company wants. For example, with competency management software, you can determine the role of employees in implementing business strategies to get maximum results.

This article will discuss the meaning of workshops, what benefits will be provided to participants who attend them, and don’t forget to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the workshops.

Table Of Content

Understanding workshop, benefits, functions, and objectives, difference between workshop and training, advantages and disadvantages of workshop.

A workshop, in general, is a gathering in which a group of people with interests, expertise, or professions in a particular field, are actively involved in intensive discussion and research on a specific topic or project. The main objective is to increase the expertise of each individual who attends the event on material related to group work.

Other opinions explain that the concept of a workshop is a form of activity where several professionals in a particular field meet with a group of people from the same background or profession to engage in interactive activities to discuss certain problems.

Workshop activities also usually focus on discussing specific issues that employees face. This program will also teach training to overcome these problems. Employees who participate in this program can certainly develop new knowledge and skills that they can use in their field of work.

The workshop was very useful in helping improve your professional qualifications throughout your field of work. In short, workshop activities can benefit and improve one’s skills and qualities.

Another benefit that we will find in the workshop is that it helps participants build a sense of unity, cooperation, and partnership. This workshop activity can also be a good place to discuss and develop different strategic methodologies for conveying the new program to other participants.

The function of the workshop is as a room for discussion and problem-solving. Based on this function, the workshop’s purpose is to provide training to participants by presenting presenters who are experts in their fields.

Meanwhile, this workshop aims to provide new information and knowledge to participants according to their field of study. In addition, the workshop aims to improve the expertise of each individual who attends the event on material related to group work.

Many companies use the workshops themselves to improve the competence of their employees. The management of these employees can be arranged using HRM Software from HashMicro.

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There is a difference between workshops and training that we need to know. Therefore, here is an explanation of the differences between the two.

The characteristic of this activity is that they have a goal of finding solutions to the problems that are the topic of discussion. Thus, participants will discover the best problem-solving using the concepts that the workshop has discussed.

In addition, the participants are workshop very diverse. It ranges from people who are still new to people who have mastered or are studying the material given. The duration of the event in workshop is also carried out for 1 to 3 days, depending on the topic discussed. Therefore, the course of the event per day is 5-9 hours.

Monitor employee time more easily and generate analytical reports with Timesheet Management Software , most complete from HashMicro.

Quite different from a workshop. Event training aims to train participants to be more professional by holding intensive exercises over a while. Of course, until the desired goals are achieved.

The participants in the training program are people who have the desire or obligation to learn new skills to become a professional. And have event durations that are usually longer and continuous. This duration usually also depends on the amount of material that the resource person needs to convey and learn. Takes a minimum of one day to more than a week.

Of course, although it is a very useful activity, it will have advantages and disadvantages.

In this workshop, the usual advantages that participants will get are a broad and in-depth theoretical explanation of these problems. Participants also get practical instructions for carrying out their duties. Not to forget, participants are trained to behave and think scientifically. Thus, fostering cooperation between participants and connecting educational institutions and the community.

And shortcomings in this workshop usually require relatively long preparation and large amounts of energy and costs. Often involves many people, so it takes the teacher’s time to carry out learning in the classroom. It raises many pros and cons, giving rise to potential conflicts between education observers and policy implementers.

If we look at the purpose of the benefits and functions, there will be many advantages that we can get from this activity workshop. But, even so, it will depend on each individual whether they can take advantage of such a very useful activity. Apart from holding workshops to improve employee competence, don’t forget to manage your company with our ERP system . HashMicro provides ERP software to help companies manage them. Schedule a free demo now to experience the transformational power it brings to your operations.

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Related articles, inventory management software to grow singapore startup, leveraging user-generated content for effective brand building, 5 fashion industry trends your business can’t miss, looking for software system to improve your business efficiency.

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[ wurk -shop ]

a room, group of rooms, or building in which work , especially mechanical work, is carried on.

a theater workshop; an opera workshop.

verb (used with object)

Most comedians workshop their jokes in smaller clubs before adding them to a polished routine.

/ ˈwɜːkˌʃɒp /

a room or building in which manufacturing or other forms of manual work are carried on
a room in a private dwelling, school, etc, set aside for crafts

a music workshop

tr to perform (a play) with no costumes, set, or musical accompaniment

Other Words From

post·workshop adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of workshop 1

Example Sentences

I met Klay, a Marine veteran of Iraq, in 2008 at a writing workshop for veterans run by New York University.

This was the second meeting for the 21 women; their first workshop took place in New Delhi, India, in April.

I was taking a writing workshop, and one of the tasks was to write down our “obsessions” at the beginning of each evening.

And then came the day when they walked into the London workshop of a musical instrument emporium.

Another new Akhtar play opens later in the season at the always-excellent New York Theater Workshop.

Here began indeed, in the drab surroundings of the workshop, in the silent mystery of the laboratory, the magic of the new age.

Certain it is however that while yet a youth he obtained employment in the workshop of Nicholas Amati.

When the men worked on their flint points, Fleetfoot liked to play near the workshop.

It strikes me that your inactivity proceeds from your lack of concentration, in spite of your snug workshop.

And so Flaker busied himself in the workshop when the men went out to hunt.

Related Words

83 Leadership Activities, Building Games, and Exercises

Leadership activities are associated with benefits to business, including increased performance and productivity.

However, perhaps the sign of a truly successful leader is a happy, healthy workplace. Interested in what leadership activities can do for your workplace or school? Read on.

With the activities below, there may be some overlap with activities found under certain headings – for example, activities suitable for adults may also be useful for groups, or with employees.

Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Positive Leadership Exercises for free . These detailed, science-based exercises will help you or others adopt positive leadership practices and help organizations thrive.

This Article Contains:

What are leadership activities, what are they used for, 8 examples of leadership activities, 4 leadership workshop ideas, 2 activities that showcase different leadership styles, 3 situational leadership activities and scenarios, 8 games and activities for kids to learn leadership skills, 6 leadership development activities for teens and youth (pdf), 3 classroom leadership activities for students in elementary and middle school, 6 leadership activities and games for high school students, 3 activities and exercises for college students (pdf), 7 leadership games and activities for adults, 5 leadership group and team activities, 8 leadership training activities for employees, 5 leadership building exercises for managers, 11 leadership exercises for team building in the workplace, a take-home message.

Increasingly, people are assuming positions of leadership in the workplace (Cserti, 2018). However, the journey to becoming a leader is lengthy (Cserti, 2018). Leadership activities are valuable on the journey to becoming an effective leader , and also develop confidence in leadership teams (Cserti, 2018; Stepshift, 2016).

Leadership activities may be conducted on or off site, and be physical or sedentary (Stepshift, 2016). Leadership activities can either be performed by a leader in their own team, or with an external facilitator (Cserti, 2018). They may take the form of specially organized themed events, such as scavenger hunts (Stepshift, 2016). Or, they may be smaller, office-based tasks built into an ordinary workday.

For example, leadership activities could consist of meeting openers or conference break activities (Stepshift, 2016).

Leadership activities can be an effective way for individuals to practice and strengthen their leadership and team-building skills (Cserti, 2018). They can also be fun!

The structure of leadership activities is essential. It is important that the participants can relate the activity to the workplace setting (Stepshift, 2016).

The 10 Skills Every Leadership Coach Should Teach

The working style, principles, and values of a leader is a crucial aspect in determining the behavior within an organization (Cserti, 2018). Leadership training can help leaders become role-models (Cserti, 2018). The behavior of leaders and what they consider the “norm” determines which behaviors are enforced and those which are punished (Cserti, 2018).

Given the importance of a leader’s behavior, it is also essential that they learn skills, such as:

Communication

Leaders need to develop the ability to clearly, succinctly explain to employees everything from the goals of a company to the details of specific work-tasks (Doyle, 2019). Many components are important for effective communication , including active listening, reading body language and written communication such as emails (Doyle, 2019).

Leaders need to inspire employees. They may do this by increasing worker’s self-esteem , by recognizing effort and achievement, or by giving a worker new responsibilities to further their investment in the business (Doyle, 2019).

Leaders can achieve this by identifying the skills that workers have, and as such assign tasks to each worker based on the skills they have (Doyle, 2019).

Being positive helps develop a happy , healthy work environment, even when the workplace is busy or stressful (Doyle, 2019).

Trustworthiness

By demonstrating integrity , workers will feel at ease to approach their leader with questions or concerns (Doyle, 2019). Building trust is one of the most essential leadership skills.

Good leaders are willing to try novel solutions or to approach problems in a non-traditional way (Doyle, 2019).

Leaders are constantly on the lookout for opportunities to provide team members with information about their performance, without ‘micromanaging’ their work (Doyle, 2019).

Responsibility

A good leader accepts mistakes or failures and instead look for solutions for improvement of a situation (Doyle, 2019). This skill also includes being reflective and being open to feedback (Doyle, 2019).

A leader should strive to follow through with everything that they agree to do (Doyle, 2019). It also involves applying appropriate feedback and keeping promises (Doyle, 2019).

Flexibility

Leaders need to be able to accept changes and creatively problem-solve, as well as being open to suggestions and feedback (Doyle, 2019).

While these skills are explained in a workplace context, they can easily be applied to other leadership situations such as sports or community groups.

Now that you have more clarity as to what leadership activities are, and what they are used for, let us look at a wide selection of activities. While some of the activities and games may not immediately appear to be ‘leadership activities,’ the chosen activities might develop and promote the leadership skills outlined above.

7 Ways to Practice Leadership Without Actually Being a Leader

Here are eight such activities:

Sports Sports provide the experience of being a team member and developing leadership skills (Flavin, 2018).
Cross-cultural experience Experiences with a different culture provide new, potentially uncomfortable situations and help develop communication skills that may not be learned elsewhere (Flavin, 2018). Overseas travel, or working with a different cultural group within your community can provide an opportunity to learn new skills, or may involve barriers that must be overcome – all teaching leadership (Flavin, 2018).
Social groups Involvement in social activities helps potential leaders develop a well-rounded, confident personality which enhances their capacity to lead a team (Flavin, 2018).
Internships Taking an internship position demonstrates initiative in finding opportunities to learn and seeking practical work – valuable skills in leadership (Flavin, 2018).
Volunteering As well as showing ambition, volunteering shows that you are willing to commit yourself to something that you are passionate about (Flavin, 2018).
Student government and organizations Specifically considering students, being involved in co-curricular organizations help individuals develop leadership (Flavin, 2018). Being involved in student government or organizations can provide opportunities to demonstrate leadership and have an impact on those around you (Flavin, 2018).
‘Passion projects’ Showing commitment to a passion for better communities; for example, mentoring shows that you are likely to focus on the greater good for a team (Flavin, 2018).
‘Teamwork’ This can be anything at all, from helping out with planning a family event or participating in a volunteer day, will demonstrate and develop leadership skills (Flavin, 2018).

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Effective leaders are aware that continuing professional and personal development is the key to ongoing success (Higgins, 2018). As such, they recognize that leadership workshops are important (Higgins, 2018). What activities can be used in such a workshop?

Here are four suggestions:

Idea 1: ‘Tallest Tower’ (from Stepshift, 2016)

Participants are provided with everyday items such as toothpicks, wooden blocks, uncooked pasta and so on. The task is to build the tallest possible free-standing structure from the materials provided. This activity is designed to encourage creative problem-solving and developing collaboration skills.

Idea 2: ‘Centre Stage’ (from Higgins, 2018)

Select four team members as volunteers. One team member plays the role of an employee who has missed meetings or been late to work in recent times. Each of the other three participants demonstrates a different style of leader (to save time, nominate the particular personality trait). Ask all participants to form a circle, and put two chairs in the middle of the circle.

After each demonstration of how to deal with the employee, ask the whole group to reflect on the different leadership approaches. For example, the group could consider what worked and what did not. Finally, to conclude this activity, ask the group to consider what the ‘ideal’ leader would do in the scenario.

Idea 3: ‘Minefield’ (from Stepshift, 2016)

This activity helps build trust and improve communication skills. It involves participants working in pairs, with one team member being blindfolded. Then, using only specified communication techniques, the pair negotiate their way around or over a ‘minefield’ of obstacles.

So, for example, the participants may be told they are only able to use commands such as the words ‘left’ or ‘right,’ ‘forwards’ or ‘backwards.’ The aim is to help the blindfolded team member to navigate the ‘minefield’.

Idea 4: ‘Magic Carpet’ (from Higgins, 2018)

Provide a small tarp or rug, which has enough room for all workshop participants to stand within its boundaries. Then, inform the group that their task is to work together to flip the rug or tarp over without any participant stepping off. If (or when) a participant steps off the teams have discussed all of the paragraphs or tarp, the team must begin again.

These are: autocratic (also known as authoritarian), delegative (also called ‘free reign)’ and democratic (which is also called participative) (Clark, 2015; Johnson-Gerard, 2017).

An autocratic leader makes decisions without first consulting others, while a delegative leader allows the staff to make the decisions (Johnson-Gerard, 2017). Finally, a democratic leader consults with the staff in making workplace decisions (Johnson-Gerard, 2017).

Here is an excellent resource for exploring different leadership styles.

The workbook also provides some helpful worksheets.

The following two activities help participants think more deeply about styles of leadership. The group should be divided into small groups of 3 – 4 participants. The participants work in groups for the first activity, and then they work individually on the second activity.

Activity One (Clark, 2015)

Provide a list of approximately 10 – 12 scenarios displaying the three different leadership styles. For example, “a new supervisor has just been put in charge of the production line. He immediately starts by telling the crew what change needs to be made. When some suggestions are made, he tells them he does not have time to consider them”.

The group then works together to figure out which leadership style is used in each scenario and to talk about whether it is effective, or if a different style could work better.

Encourage participants to think about themselves in a similar situation and their reaction to the particular leadership style.

Activity Two (Clark, 2015)

Provide participants with the statement ‘consider a time when you, or another leader, used the authoritarian (autocratic), participative (democratic) or delegative (free reign) style of leadership’.

Ask participants to reflect on the statement and make a few comments, such as: was it effective? Would a different leadership style have worked better? What were the employees’ experiences? Did they learn from the leadership style? What was it they learned? Which style is easiest to use (and why)? Alternatively, nominate the style which the participant prefers (and why).

To conclude these two activities, come together as a whole group and discuss what was learned about the three styles of leadership.

Leadership building activities – Project management training – ProjectManager

Situational leadership is when a leader is flexible in their approach and uses different leadership strategies depending on the situation (Johnson-Gerard, 2017). The following three games, from Johnson-Gerard (2017) provide an opportunity to explore situational leadership:

1. ‘Jumping Ship’

The aim of this game is for participants to reflect upon different leadership styles and come up with a list of actual workplace scenarios which would need a leader to abandon a natural leadership style for one that is more effective (i.e., to ‘jump ship’).

Each group is given three large pieces of paper. Ask the teams to write one style of leadership on each (i.e., autocratic, delegative, democratic). Then, allow the groups 45 minutes to come up with real work situations for which employing the particular leadership style would be disastrous.

Ask the groups to place the sheets of paper up on the wall, and to discuss the sheets as a team. As a whole group, review the posters.

2. ‘Who Ya Gonna Call’

Each participant begins by writing a one-paragraph description of a work situation that is not going well. Collect these, and at the top of each page, number them in consecutive order. Then, divide the participants into two teams.

Give each team half of the paragraphs. Then, ask the teams to choose the style of leadership that would be the least and the most effective in solving the problem. Have the teams note their answers on a piece of paper, being sure to identify the paragraph number on the top of each page, and their choices.

Then, ask the teams to swap paragraphs and repeat the activity.

When the teams have discussed all the paragraphs, discuss the scenarios and review the choices as a group. Where the team’s choices are different, discuss as a group.

3. ‘Ducks in a Row’

This particular activity enables participants to devise a 3-to-5 step decision-making process they can use when challenging leadership situations occur.

Ask participants to form pairs. Then, ask them to come up with the steps that an effective leader goes through in order to work out how to manage a difficult situation. After about 30 minutes, ask each pair to review the steps they have come up with for the group, and to write them on a large piece of paper.

Ask every pair to review their process, and after all the pairs have done so, have a group discussion that enables a consensus to be reached about the three to five most effective steps to take in a difficult leadership situation.

Edsys (2016) provides eight suggested activities for children to learn leadership skills:

1. ‘Create a New You’

Provide children with materials such as textas, crayons, poster/construction paper, magazines, and scissors. Then, ask them to draw themselves, using things that clearly show that the picture is theirs – such as using cut-outs of their most favorite things to do, foods they like, pets, and whatever else makes them unique.

Once the children have finished their posters, they can show their completed work to the other children – helping kids to improve their confidence to lead.

2. ‘Same or Different’

The children sit in a circle. Ask the first child to point to another child in the circle who is similar to them, either in appearance, hair-style or clothing color. Then, when the child has chosen someone, ask them to note other differences and similarities they have with the child they have chosen.

3. ‘Move the Egg’

Ask children to form groups of four or five. Then, have the children select a leader for their team. Each participant is given a spoon and an egg. The leader has the task of finding an effective way to move the eggs from one point to another. For example, one option may be for children to form a line to pass each egg along.

Another leader may suggest forgetting about the spoons altogether and merely tell their group to make a run for it. The winner of the game is the group that can get their egg safely across the finish in the most creative way.

4. ‘Lead the Blindfolded’

This game requires a large indoor or outdoor area. Divide the children into two groups and give them enough blindfolds for everyone except one member to put on. The teams are placed at opposite sides of the space. The child who is not blindfolded is required to lead their team to the other side of the designated space, using clear commands.

Ensure that each member of the team has an opportunity to lead their team. The winner is the team that sees its members successfully cross the finish line.

5. ‘Charity Support’

Help children support a charity by organizing a fundraiser. Each child can have a different task. For example, one child may select the charity, another may find a suitable space to hold the fundraising activity, and another child can collect donations.

6. ‘Planning Strategies’

Teach children to divide a large task into smaller steps. Set the children a large task, such as holding a class function. Show the children a plan that enables them to achieve the task step by step. This activity can involve a number of children sharing tasks. Suggest to the children how they may be able to improve.

7. ‘Volunteer Roles’

Volunteering plays a role in leadership. Discuss with children how they would like to help someone in need. Older children may be interested in taking a role in an organization in their community. The children should be helped to select a volunteer opportunity that gives them a chance to practice leadership and work with other children.

8. ‘A Quick Quiz’

In this task, ask students to be prepared to evaluate an experience when it is over. Then, after the experience, ask the child questions. For example, inquire “Do you remember the name of the dog we saw?”, “What was it?”, “Did you touch the dog?”, “What is the owner’s name?” and so on.

This is an excellent introduction to leadership for kids in grades 4 – 6 (children aged approximately 9 – 12 years).

The following resources are appropriate for helping teens and youth to develop leadership:

1. “Leaders are, can, and think”

This looks at what a leader is, and what their role can and should be.

2. “Who do you admire and why?”

This worksheet examines leadership role models and the qualities we see in them that we want to develop in ourselves.

3. “4 Ways leaders approach tasks: Leaders Motivation”

This handout focuses on leadership attitude.

4. “Lesson Planet”

Links to 45+ reviewed resources for teen leadership which can be accessed free by registering your details.

5. The Women’s Learning Partnership

This partnership has created a comprehensive manual for promoting leadership for teens aged 13 – 17 years. The manual outlines a number of sessions which guide leadership development activities.

6. “I Care Values Activity”

This is a fun, engaging and introspective activity . It is suitable for students aged 13 and upwards, so it can be used with older students or adults too.

Examples of such activities are:

1. ‘Just Listen’ (Edsys, 2016)

Make an agreement that you and the student(s) will refrain from talking about yourselves for a whole day. Ask them, rather, to listen to others, and if they do talk to another person, it should be about the person whom they are talking to. This game helps children to learn how important it is to focus on other people rather than themselves, which forms the basis of ‘relational leadership’.

2. Silence Classroom Leadership Game (Stapleton, 2018).

To begin the activity, the teacher divides students into two teams, and the teams move to either side of the classroom. The desks may be pushed aside to create more space. The teacher instructs the students to, for example, ‘line up according to the first letter of your surname’ or ‘arrange yourselves into age order by the month your birthday is in’. The students then follow the directions without speaking a word to one another.

Students are permitted to use hand signals, or even write instructions down on paper. The teacher’s instruction to the students is that they are not allowed to talk. The winning team is the one that completes the task successfully.

3. ‘The Cup Game’ (Tony, 2018)

Divide students into pairs and select one student to be the leader. Each team should face each other standing up, with a plastic cup in the middle. The leader calls out simple directions, such as ‘touch your knee’, ‘close one eye’ and so on.

When the leader calls out “cup” the students should try and be the first to grab the cup. The player who successfully grabs the cup should pair up with another player who also got the cup. Those without a cup sit down and watch.

Once the new teams of two have formed, the cup is put in between the players and the game begins again. This process continues until only one person is left standing – and the resulting winner becomes the new leader… and play can begin all over again.

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By high school, students are more sophisticated. Here are some interesting activities for high school students to develop leadership.

1. Brainstorming for change (Stapleton, 2018)

The teacher puts students into groups of 4 or 5. The goal is for students to come up with possible solutions to social, political or economic problems. Working together, students brainstorm both small- and large-scale solutions to a given problem topic.

Once the groups have finalized their list of detailed solutions, the teacher facilitates a discussion with the whole class, and together they examine which of the identified solutions could be a viable option and why.

2. Leadership characteristics (Stapleton, 2018)

The teacher puts students into pairs or groups of three. Then, each group member shares a story about someone whom they consider to be an influential leader. After each story has been shared, students discuss the characteristics that they think made the person in the story an effective leader.

Once each student has shared a story, students compile a list of all the characteristics of an influential leader they identified. Post these characteristics on the walls around the classroom.

3. Blindfold leader game (Stapleton, 2018)

The teacher arranges the students into a single line, and comes up with a starting point and finishing point. Then, the teacher places a blindfold on every student except for the student who is at the front of the line.

The teacher tells each student to put their left hand on the left shoulder of the person in front of them. Next, the teacher says “go”. The aim is for the leader (who is not blindfolded) to walk towards the finishing point, providing instructions to students behind, who are blindfolded.

An extra challenging game sees the teacher putting obstacles in the path – the leader must direct followers on how to avoid the obstacles and successfully reach the finish line. When this goal is achieved, a different student takes a turn of being the leader.

4. Buckets and balls (Cohen, 2017)

This game aims to move all the balls from one box to another. The catch is, team members cannot use their hands or arms. In equal-sized teams, players choose one ‘handler’ per team. This is the only person who can touch the balls with their hands.

The handler must remain behind the start line throughout the game. Team members attempt to get balls from their bucket at the finish line, and get them to the team’s handler without the ball touching their hands or arms.

The handler places the balls into the empty bucket at the start line. If a team member touches the ball, they are disqualified and can no longer participate. Give teams a 5-minute time limit. All teams play at the same time, and the team that has the most balls in the handler’s bucket at the end of the game wins.

5. Team jigsaw (Cohen, 2017)

Two teams have to complete a jigsaw puzzle within a 20 – 30-minute time limit. Give each team a box containing a puzzle. At first, A body will assume that their task is to complete the puzzle. As they work on it, however, teams will realize that the puzzle is missing some of its pieces and has some additional pieces that do not fit their puzzle.

Teams then have the task to communicate with one another, and they will eventually realize that they need to work together to complete the puzzle. Teams are only allowed to exchange pieces of the puzzle one at a time.

6. ‘Sneak-a-peak’ (Cohen, 2017)

Divide participants into two teams. Build a structure out of Lego. Make it complicated, but able to be replicated. Ensure that there is sufficient Lego left to build two similar copies of the structure.

Make sure that this structure is kept out of eyesight.

A player from each team is allowed to see the structure for 10 seconds. Then, the players will return to their respective teams and have 25 seconds in which to give his/her team instruction as to how to build the structure. Then, the teams have 1 minute to build the structure.

When that minute is up, another team member takes a look at the structure for 10 seconds and has a further 25 seconds to deliver their instructions to their team.

This process continues until all the team members have had a chance to examine the structure and provide instructions. The team that successfully built the structure is the winner.

Leadership and team building exercised for students

“ The Leadership Training Activity Book ” by Lois. B. Hart and Charlotte S. Waisman (2005) contains 50 handouts for leadership activities that would be suitable for college students. Find it on Amazon .
This resource provides helpful leadership tip sheets that are suitable for college students. Examples of tip sheets are “ten keys to effective listening” and “basic confrontation guidelines”.
Another valuable resource that can be used to develop team-building – an aspect of leadership.

A wide range of leadership activities are suitable for adults:

1. The Marshmallow Challenge

In this activity , teams use spaghetti sticks, tape and string to construct the tallest free-standing structure. They are given one marshmallow, which must be placed at the top of the structure. Devised by Tom Wujec.

2. ‘Stand up’ (Landau, 2018)

This game is convenient in that it requires no materials. It involves two people. They sit on the floor, facing one another. They hold hands, and the soles of their feet are placed together. Then, the task is for both people to stand up at the same time. This game builds trust and teamwork, and also develops skills in problem solving and collaboration.

3. Zoom (Stepshift, 2016)

A set of randomly provided sequential pictures are given to the participants. The task requires participants to put the pictures in the correct order to recreate the story, without knowing which pictures the other participants have. This activity can be an effective way to improve communication, patience, and tolerance.

4. ‘You’re a Poet’ (Landau, 2018)

To harness creativity and reflect on leadership concepts, one activity for adults is to write a poem. This activity can be done individually or in small groups. The aim is to consider leadership in creative ways to find new perspectives.

5. ‘Leadership Pizza’ (Cserti, 2018)

This activity can help adults develop leadership. It does so by providing a self-assessment tool. People begin by identifying the skills, attitudes, and attributes that they consider being important for successful leadership. The individual then rates their own development in the defined areas. The framework can also provide a helpful tool in assisting adults in identifying their leadership development goals in a coaching session.

6. Leadership advice from your role model (Cserti, 2018)

Each participant considers a role model who they admire. They then think about a young person they know. If the young person was to ask the role model for leadership advice, what kind of advice would the role model give?

In groups, discuss and share the sort of advice identified and talk about contradicting points and how they can be reconciled. This sharing discussion may be a practical introduction to the idea of situational leadership.

7. ‘Crocodile River’ (Cserti, 2018)

This outdoor activity challenges a group to physically provide support to the group members’ behavior move from one end of a designated space to the other.

Participants are told to pretend that the whole team must cross a wide river which contains dangerous crocodiles. Magic stones (which are represented by wooden planks) provide the only supports to be used to cross the river (which has ‘banks’ that are marked out by two ropes).

These ‘stones’ only float on the water if there is constant body contact. These ‘stones’ (i.e., the wooden planks) are placed next to the ‘river bank’ – there should be one less plank than the total number of participants. As part of the game, if a participant’s hand or foot touches the ‘water’, it will be bitten off (if this happens during the challenge, the participant must hold the hand behind their back).

The facilitator then pretends to be the ‘crocodile’, keeping a close eye on the group as they attempt to cross the river. When one of the stones (the planks) is not in body contact, it is removed. When participants mistakenly touch the ground with their hands or feet, tell them that the limb has therefore been bitten off and the player must continue without using it.

This activity continues until the group succeeds in getting all group members to the other side of the ‘river’. If anyone falls in, the group is deemed to have failed, and they must begin the river crossing attempt again.

1. ‘Feedback: Start, Stop, Continue’ (Cserti, 2018)

Openness creates trust, which then promotes further openness. This activity is designed to be used by a group that has spent sufficient time together in order to have a range of shared experiences they can draw from when they are providing feedback.

Each participant takes a post-it and writes the name of the person who they are addressing on it. Then, they write on the post-it:

“To…. Something I would like you to START doing is…. something I would like you to STOP doing is…. something I would like you to CONTINUE doing is……Signed: ___________”

In groups of around 4 to 6 people, participants complete these sentences on one post-it for the other participants in their group.

If they cannot think of relevant feedback for one of the prompts (i.e., start, stop, continue), they do not need to include it. Once the group has finished writing, they provide the feedback verbally, one at a time, and afterward hand the post-it to the relevant person.

2. Round Tables (Stepshift, 2016)

Four tables are set up with different tasks. Each task has separate steps that participants can be responsible for carrying out. The group select a team member, who is only allowed to communicate and delegate tasks but not take a part in the task. Each table is timed to record how long the task takes to be completed. Round Tables improves leadership and delegation skills.

3. ‘Pass the hoop’ (Landau, 2018)

This game requires participants to stand in a circle and hold hands. One person in the group has a hula hoop around their arm. The game aims to pass the hula hoop the whole way around the circle.

As well as promoting teamwork and problem-solving, this game develops communication skills. Being able to communicate effectively is a crucial skill for any successful leader to have.

4. ‘Improv night’ (Landau, 2018)

One key responsibility of the leader of a team is to encourage team bonding. One way to facilitate bonding is improvisation. ‘Improv’ develops skills in communication – helping teams to listen and pay attention. It also builds self-awareness, self-confidence, and creativity.

Arrange the group into ‘audience’ and ‘performers’. Then, members of the audience take turns in calling out the specified location, profession, and scenario (e.g., coffeehouse, cop, and purchasing a donut). Chosen suggestions are fun and should promote creativity.

5. ‘Shape-Shifting’ (Landau, 2018)

This game requires a rope that is tied at both ends to form a loop. The loop needs to be big enough for all group members to hold onto with both hands as they stand in a circle. The group is instructed to make a chosen shape (e.g., circle, square, triangle). The group attempts to create the shape on the floor.

Progressively, ask the group to make more complex shapes – e.g., a dog, or a tree. To add another layer of difficulty, instruct the team to communicate without talking – i.e., to rely on hand gestures. Afterward, have the group reflect on their experience and discuss the importance of communication.

Leadership is an integral feature of any workplace. Here are some activities to promote leadership in employees:

1. Your favorite manager (Cserti, 2018)

To begin this activity, employees individually take the role of three different people and brainstorm the particular behaviors that each person’s most favorite and least favorite managers demonstrate, from the chosen person’s perspective. After the employees have had the chance to reflect, the participants compare their list of behaviors – in pairs, and then subsequently, in groups.

The teams then prepare a list of ‘dos and don’ts’ for developing better employee perceptions of the leader’s style.

2. Explore your values (Cserti, 2018)

The values of a leader are reflected in their organization. In this activity, each participant writes ten things that they value most in their lives, each one on a post-it. Then, ask the employees to spread the Post-its in a way in which they can see them all clearly. Then, explain to them that they will have 30 seconds to select the three Post-its that are of least importance to them.

It is essential to time strictly, so that the participants rely on their gut feelings.

Repeat the process, this time allowing participants to have 20 seconds to discard two more values. Finally, give the participants a further 20 seconds to throw another two away. Participants should have three Post-its in front of them, showing their top three important values.

Following the activity, have participants reflect individually for about 15 minutes about what was found, and then to discuss reflection questions in pairs or groups of three.

Because this activity is done quickly, participants are encouraged to follow their own intuition – rather than over-thinking and finding what they perceive to be the ‘right’ values.

3. ‘Leadership Coat of Arms’ (Cserti, 2018; Landau, 2018).

Each leader has their own values and the things that they consider valuable and important. These values guide the behavior of the leader and make up a person’s unique leadership philosophy.

This activity sees participants drawing their own ‘leadership coat of arms’ embodying their leadership philosophy.

Individuals have 10 – 15 minutes to draw their coat of arms. They can divide the coat of arms (or ‘crest’) into four sections. To fill each section, consider the categories of leadership skills, values that help influence others, recent achievements/accomplishments and what you like most about your current work.

They should be encouraged not to be overly concerned with how visually appealing their picture is but rather that it expressed what they personally believe to be important aspects of a leader.

Once the drawings are complete, the participants can show their drawings to the others in the group and explain their unique coat of arms. It is also helpful to reflect on the activity – consider which section was easiest to complete and whether your crest reflects your company’s values.

4. Communication: Coach the Builder (Goyette, 2016)

Divide employees into groups of four to seven people. Each group should be given two sets of blocks (such as Lego). Each set should have a minimum of 10 blocks.

Beforehand, you should construct a sample object (e.g., a house) from one of the sets of blocks. In each group, select a leader, a delegator, a builder and a note-taker. The note-taker watches and records the group’s behavior during the task. They take note of what appeared to be done well and how employees could improve.

The leader is given the item that you built – however, they are the only group member to see the object. Set a timer for ten minutes. To begin with, the leader describes to the delegator how the builder should build a replica of the item. However, the delegator does not see the object, and at this stage of the activity, the builder should not hear the instructions.

The delegator can speak with the leader as often as necessary during the 10 minutes. The builder attempts to build the same item that the leader can see. However, they are only relying on the delegator’s instructions. At this stage, the delegator should not see the object that the builder is constructing.

When the time is up, reveal both objects to all participants and see how closely they match. Finally, to wrap up the activity, employees can discuss what was either frustrating or easy about the process and discuss how they may do things differently in order to achieve better results.

5. Accountability (Goyette, 2016)

Begin a meeting by saying to the group – “the seating arrangement is totally wrong for today’s meeting. You have 60 seconds to improve it”. If the employees ask further questions, only repeat the instructions. While some employees may continue asking questions, others may start moving the furniture around straight away. Observe the team and what they do without giving any further information, feedback, or instructions.

After 1 minute, let the employees know to stop. Then, ask them whether the objective was achieved, and how. Discuss with employees how and why a lack of clarity makes it challenging to complete a task.

Then, discuss who asked for clarification and how they felt when the leader refused to give further details. Use this opportunity to highlight to employees how if they fail to ask questions, and when the person in charge of a project doesn’t provide the necessary clarification, the whole team is at risk of making mistakes or even not completing a task.

Finally, ask how the time pressure affected behavior. Discuss how employees may be more likely to respond to pressure, or stress, by taking action without first confirming a plan and the significant problems this approach can lead to.

6. The “what if” game (Deputy, 2018)

Present different hypothetical problematic scenarios to employees. Either individually or by providing a document that requires written answers, present situations such as “you didn’t follow the rules, and subsequently lost an important client. You have lost a lot of money for the company. How do you justify this? What is your solution?”.

The questions only need to be rough, and employees should only receive a short time with which to think of their responses. If there is a particularly challenging question, provide a time limit of five minutes.

7. ‘Silver Lining’ (Cohen, 2017)

Employees form teams of at least two people who have shared a work experience – e.g., working on a project together. One person shares an experience from working together that was negative for them.

Then, the second person reflects on the same experience but instead reflects on the positive aspects of the experience (i.e., the ‘ silver lining ’). Then this same person shares their own negative experience, and this time it is up to the other person to focus on the positive aspects of it.

Often, when people reflect on an experience, they do so with a particular perspective . By looking at the positive aspects of a ‘negative’ experience, this helps individuals shift perspectives. Furthermore, by sharing experiences, employees develop deeper relationships, and team bonding is promoted.

8. My favorite brand (Training Course Material, n.d.).

Ask employees to bring three or four printed logos/brands that they use regularly or admire most. Then, form groups of 3 – 4 people. Teams have a period of ten minutes to share and discuss their chosen logos.

Their task is to agree upon the team’s top 2 logos or brands which is their team’s choice. The team also selects a team spokesperson who will report to the bigger group about why the team chose the specific brands/logos.

Participants are encouraged to share personal experiences or stories that they had with their chosen brand. After the ten minutes elapses, each spokesperson presents the logos that the team began with as well as their two top chosen logos/brands. It is their role to explain to the group why the team voted on their top brand/logo.

1. Manager or leader? (Training Course Material, n.d.)

Small groups of managers work together to create two tables, one titled ‘leader’ and one titled ‘manager’. In each table, the group writes statements describing either management behavior or leadership behavior.

For example, the ‘manager’ table may contain statements such as “schedules work to be done” or “delegates tasks”. On the other hand, statements in the ‘leader’ table could be “motivating staff” and “creating culture”.

The purpose of this activity is to demonstrate to managers the difference between management versus leadership, and show that while ‘every leader can be a manager, not every manager can be a leader’. However, by brainstorming leadership behaviors, managers begin the process of becoming a successful leader.

2. The race of the leaders (Deputy, 2018)

This activity encourages leadership behaviors. To begin with, write a list of leadership qualities – approximately 10 – 20 statements – on a piece of paper. Describe the qualities – e.g., ‘I determine everything that happens to me’, and ‘I will not blame others for my problems’.

Read these statements out loud, and participants take a step forward if they believe a statement describes them. They must be prepared to give reasons as to why they think they possess each quality. Continue reading the statements until there is a definite ‘winner’.

3. The best team member (Training Course Material, n.d.).

Divide the group into teams of about 4 – 5 participants. Give each team a large, blank piece of paper and markers. Each group has the task to come up with as many characteristics of their ‘ideal’ team member as they can. Teams should consider what this ‘best team member ever’ would be like.

After ten minutes, the groups should examine the characteristics that they have written and work out the portion which are ‘technical’ skills and those which are ‘interpersonal’. The aim is to work out whether most of the traits can be classified as technical or interpersonal skills.

Teams usually come to realize that interpersonal skills in employees are especially critical and that these have a tremendous impact on the quality and quantity of workplace performance.

This activity can be adapted according to the setting. For example, if the focus is on leadership development, teams could discuss their ideal leader/supervisor.

4. The importance of feedback (Training Course Material, n.d.).

Divide the group into three teams. Provide each team with poster paper and markers or pens.

Team A is required to consider as many reasons as they can that would make them apprehensive to provide feedback to another person.

Team B is asked to consider what feedback can help them so, i.e., what feedback will help them accomplish.

Team C comes up with as many things as they can that would make a feedback session effective.

Each team has 15 minutes to brainstorm their ideas, then, each team can present their ideas.

Point out to Team A that the hurdles they suggested are self-imposed ideas that will lead to the manager fearing the worst. Instead, managers should be encouraged to share feedback on a more regular basis to gain the necessary experience in having such conversations. Furthermore, by having an awareness of the most effective way to prepare and deliver feedback can help a manager conquer the issues holding them back.

Point out to Team B that providing constructive feedback as needed is imperative for developing a productive work environment. A feedback discussion that is well-planned and thought out delivers an opportunity to share what you have noticed about another person’s job performance and bring about productive change.

Finally, after Team C has shared their ideas, point out that effective feedback is specific, honest, and backed up with evidence. The feedback will help others to come up with goals, make and reinforce positive changes, promote self-confidence and encourage action in the workplace.

Thank all the teams for their participation and input.

5. ‘Shark Tank’ (Deputy, 2018).

This activity is derived from a famous TV show that gives people a chance to show their entrepreneurial skills. Managers may work individually or in groups. The aim of this activity is for employees to come up with a business plan that outlines the steps of how to build a successful company from ‘startup’.

Once the managers have a plan, they can create a ‘pitch’, which should contain the brand’s name, its’ tagline (or slogan), a detailed business plan, a detailed marketing plan, financial predictions (sales, profits and market) and potential problems (competition, lack of resources).

In a role play, appoint a few chosen managers to be the ‘sharks’ (the ones who consider the projects’ merit and offer imaginary ‘investments’). The winning group, or individual, is the one who raised the most money from the ‘shark’.

17 Exercises To Build Positive Leaders

Use these 17 Positive Leadership Exercises [PDF] to help others inspire, motivate, and guide employees in ways that enrich workplace performance and satisfaction. Created by Experts. 100% Science-based.

1. The Human Icebreaker (Stepshift, 2016).

This is a simple activity that can alleviate tension and promote discussion and contribution. Participants devise a list of questions that relate to people generally – for example, “who is left-handed?”. Participants then discover which team members meet the question’s criteria. After 10 minutes, the participant who has the most answers wins. This activity promotes communication and helps team members build inter-personal skills.

2. ‘Office trivia’ (Cohen, 2017)

This quick activity can help as an ice-breaker and provides a flexible option for team building. Create a list of trivia questions that are related to the workplace. For example, “how many people named ‘John’ work in the accounting department?” or, “how many people work in the IT department?”. Read the questions out loud to the whole group. The employee with the most correct answers at the end is the winner.

3. Plane crash (Stepshift, 2016)

The participants imagine that they are on a plane which has crashed on a deserted island. They are allowed to select a specified number of items from around the workplace that would help the group to survive. Each chosen item is ranked in importance. The whole group must agree on their decision. This activity helps with creative problem solving and collaboration.

4. ‘Magazine story’ (Cohen, 2017)

Each team works together to come up with an imaginary cover story of a magazine, about a successful project or business achievement. The team designs the images, headlines, and come up with quotes.

5. The Human Knot (Stepshift, 2016)

Relying on cooperation, this is a good problem-solving and communication activity. Participants stand shoulder to shoulder in a circle. Then, they put their right hand in the hand of a person who stands across from them. They then put their left hand in the hand of another different person (but not someone standing directly next to them).

Participants are required to untangle the human knot without breaking the chain. If the chain is broken, the participants must start over.

6. Make your own movie (Cohen, 2017)

This is a fun activity that is suitable for both indoors and outdoors. Although it requires the necessary equipment (i.e., camera, tripod, and microphone), teams enjoy it. Employees should work in large groups (more than eight people) and divide responsibilities. Teams work together to come up with scripts for a 5 – 7-minute movie.

7. Radio Play (Cohen, 2017)

This activity can provide an alternative to making a movie. Employees work together, spending about one-hour planning and writing a play and taking a further 15 – 20 minutes to ‘perform’ it, keeping in mind that it is designed for radio.

Each participant places their chair, in no particular order, around the room. The room should be cleared of tables and other furniture. Each person should sit on their chair, pointing in a different direction. Then, request one manager to volunteer and come to the front of the room. Their task is to walk slowly back to their empty chair and sit down.

If their chair is occupied, they can move to the next empty chair available and sit on it. However, everyone else has the task of stopping the volunteer from sitting down.

Only one person at a time can stand and move. No one can make two consecutive moves. A person cannot sit on the chair that they have just left. Once the activity begins, the room is required to be silent. No one is allowed to touch the volunteer.

Give the managers 2 minutes to come up with their strategy. After every round, the participants should discuss what happened and select a new volunteer for the next round. The team is given 2 minutes preparation time each round. It is important that the volunteer’s movement is kept at a slow walk.

At the conclusion of the activity, it is beneficial for the team to discuss the activity. They may reflect upon whether they need a leader, what made planning difficult, whether everyone agreed on the plan, and what would make the task easier.

9. Back to back drawing (Cohen, 2017)

Provide vector shapes on separate pieces of paper (they can be shapes of signs, objects or merely abstract shapes). Participants sit in pairs, back-to-back. Employee A is given a sheet of paper and a pen, and employee B is provided with one of the printed shapes.

The aim of the activity is for employee A to draw the shape relying only on verbal instructions from employee B. Person B cannot only tell the other person what the shape is – he/she is only able to provide directions about how to draw it, or to describe its uses. Each team has two 2 minutes to draw the shape.

10. ‘All Aboard’ (Stepshift, 2016).

Teams use various materials, for example, pieces of wood or mats, to build a pretend ‘boat’. All the participants must stand on the ‘boat’ at once. Then, pieces of the ‘boat’ should be removed. The team should still strive to stand in the diminished space on the ‘boat’. All Aboard can promote communication, problem-solving and critical thinking.

11. Body of words (Cohen, 2017)

Participants are divided into teams of between four and eight people, and each team elects one leader. To prepare the activity, record words that have one less letter than the number of people in the team (i.e., if there are five people in the team, a suitable word could be ‘book’ which has four letters). Randomly select a word, and then the teams have the task of making the word using only their bodies.

Each team member moves and bends their body to form a letter. The team leader can direct their team.

What stands out to me from this article is the complexity of leadership. This article demonstrates that even if one is not a ‘natural’ leader, there are plenty of activities that can promote leadership skills. Even children can develop leadership, and what’s more, have fun with activities at the same time.

What do you think espouses leadership? Do you think that there are people who might tend to be leaders more than others? Perhaps you have a story about a leadership activity you have participated in or delivered – I would dearly like to hear about your experiences.

Thank you for reading.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Positive Leadership Exercises for free .

‘tony’ (2018). Leadership games and activities for middle school students . Retrieved from https://www.kidsactivties.net/leadership-games-activities-for-middle-school-students/
Clark, Donald (2015). Leadership Styles Activity . Retrieved from www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/styles.html
Cohen, Esther (2017). 31 Team building activities your team will actually love . Retrieved from https://www.workamajig.com/blog/team-building-activities
Cserti, Robert (2018). 12 Effective leadership activities and games . Retrieved from https://www.sessionlab.com/blog/leadership-activities/
Deputy (2018). 6 Impactful leadership activities to try at work . Retrieved from https://www.deputy.com/blog/6-impactful-leadership-activities-to-try-at-work
Doyle, A. (2019). Top 10 leadership skills employers look for . Retrieved from https://www.thebalancecareers.com/top-leadership-skills-2063782
Edsys (2016). 1 0 Activities for teachers to grow leadership skills in children . Retrieved from https://www.edsys.in/10-activities-for-teachers-to-grow-leadership-skills-in-children/
Flavin, B. (2018). 8 Leadership Experiences You Didn’t Know You Already Have . Retrieved from https://www.rasmussen.edu/student-experience/college-life/leadership-experience-you-didnt-know-you-already-have/
Goyette, P.(2016). 3 Leadership activities that improve employee performance at all levels . Retrieved from https://www.eaglesflight.com/blog/3-leadership-activities-that-improve-employee-performance-at-all-levels
Higgins, R. (2018). 5 Fun and Inspirational Leadership Workshop Ideas . Retrieved from https://www.eventbrite.com.au/blog/leadership-workshop-ideas-ds00
Johnson-Gerard, M. (2017). Situational Leadership Games . Retrieved from https://bizfluent.com/list-6762581-situational-leadership-games.html
Landau, P. (2018). The 9 best leadership games for skill development . Retrieved from https://www.projectmanager.com/blog/the-9-best-leadership-games
Stapleton, S. (2018). Leadership activities for High School classrooms . Retrieved from https://classroom.synonym.com/leadership-activities-high-school-classrooms-7855904.html
Stepshift (2016). Leadership Training Activities . Retrieved from https://www.stepshift.co.nz/blog/developing-team-performance-with-senior-leadership-teams/strategic-planning-with-an-independent-facilitator/leadership-training-activities.html
The Pennsylvania State University (2012). I can be a leader! Leadership fun for children . Retrieved from https://extension.psu.edu/programs/betterkidcare/knowledge-areas/environment-curriculum/activities/all-activities/i-can-be-a-leader-leadership-fun-for-children
Training Course Material (n.d.). Leadership and management activities . Retrieved from https://www.trainingcoursematerial.com/free-games-activities/leadership-and-management-activities

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This great. Thank you

Great ideas, thank you!

Thank you so much for providing such a useful list of activities to demonstrate and for such a varied target population. Innovative and attention-seeking exercises yet practical.

Thank you for posting this informative blog. keep sharing.

Too interesting for me to try all.

Same here.I think this was the best blog I have ever read.

Great article! Having group activities Melbourne helps the team to enhance working together. I love how it brings people together and motivates employees to learn from each other.

Great activities. Thank you.

This is an excellent article for every manager and leader tn build successful leadership. Thank you.

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