Telecommuting workshop

We love workshops for 3 good reasons:

1. They allow you to be very effective
2. To involve everyone
3. To be creative and to draw conclusions

At 40/60, we use them for all types of projects: the kick-off workshop to launch the mission, the ideation workshop, co-design workshop, sprint design, etc. But in these times when finding each other is so difficult, how can we continue to think effectively together?

If you don't want to postpone or cancel your work sessions, here are a few tips: (I suggest our version, but feel free to optimize according to your comfort)

What configuration?

A workshop is a collaborative experience that can take several types of configuration.

The format should adapt to the type of session you want to give.

The No. 1 configuration, adapted to the small format and rapid decision-making promotes exchange and strategic discussions.

LSetup #3 is suitable for autonomous teams, only the right tools need to be organized according to the subject.

Configurations No. 2 and 4 are the preferred formats to use in order to advance a project. Animation and facilitation guarantee a higher quality of workshop. The particularity of No. 4 is based on the animation of several groups. This distribution increases the productivity and inclusion of each team member.

How to structure your workshop? 👇

First of all, let's remember the objectives of a workshop: Use collective intelligence to produce creative results. In other words, the key to the success of your digital workshop will be to succeed in communicating with everyone and that everyone can express themselves. Second, be able to produce creative content in order to achieve your goals.

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To communicate:

Choose a videoconferencing device that works with a link such as:

• Hangouts
• Google Meet
• zooming
• whereby

If you are doing a workshop with only 1 working group, there are not too many complications, make sure that everyone respects the other's speaking time.

If you do workshops with at least 2 groups, things get a bit complicated. Here's how we work:

1. There will be 1 super animator and 1 facilitator per group.

2. Create one link per group and a “plenary” link. The plenary is used to bring everyone together as well as to explain all the exercises to all participants and to provide feedback on the exercises.

Like this:

Plenary link: www...

Group 1 link: www...

Group 2 link: www...

3. The super animator will jump from link to link to ensure the success of each group.

4. These videoconferences should be combined with a chat (such as Slack, Discord, or your internal discussion space), which will be the place of choice if someone is lost, disconnected or other... Also recall here the rules of the game and all the links necessary for the workshop.

To create:

Here is a list of tools that allow you to create together:

• Mural.co
• Miro
• Klaxoon
• or Figjam, the brand new one we use at the agency

The timebox (the time management of your workshop) is usually very important in a workshop. Here, it will be more so. Tools like Mural have timers built into their solution and make your life easier. At the end of each counter, please communicate with all participants to meet in plenary and share the result of the exercise.

Mural has a lot of canvas that allow you to structure the exercises. You can also paste your own ones or create them in the workspace. It is expanded by pulling on the sides, only if you start with a “wall blank”.

We recommend using a “wall blank” in which you can add the exercises of your choice. This solution allows you to put all the canvases on the same wall. So you can see the evolution of the different teams at the same time. Some exercises are dependent on each other, as we can see in the photo below (persona > journey map > prioritization of needs). This practice makes it possible to avoid time-consuming back and forth between different murals.

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The preparation

As distance adds difficulty to the organization, it is therefore necessary to prepare well in advance so that all the supports work and that everyone can be connected to the right tools. An email summarizing all the necessary links should be sent to all workshop participants.

At the start of the session, allow 2 minutes to ensure that everyone is well connected to the tools.

‍Conclusion

I tested this format remotely last week with the Live For Good team, during a co-creation workshop. We were 10 people, divided into 2 working groups.

Christophe Conceicao, head of operations of Live for Good testifies:

“Thanks again everyone! A very good work session, looking forward to seeing the fruits of our work 🙂”

Workshops are always mentally challenging, because the brain is very busy, but also physically because we usually stomp in front of post-it notes. This time it's the eyes that itch and the back hurts. Plan breaks and times to distract participants in order to relax the spirits. Despite too many pixels, the feedback is extremely motivating and encouraging. To be honest, the experience is equivalent to an IRL workshop (in real life) and creativity is there.

Do not hesitate to comment if you need tips on mural. In the meantime, we are sure that in your turn you will be able to carry out a workshop remotely.

Thanks to our customers and partners for trusting us with this adapted format:

• Live for Good : Co-creation workshop — 10 people
• My small planet: Design thinking initiation — 4 people
• Mr Guiz : Design fiction workshop — 15 people
• The first : design thinking workshop — 12 start-ups
• and much more...
  

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