Facilitation Workshops | Introduction | Tips & Guidance

Much of the work that makes a workshop successful takes place before the workshop itself. Planning, preparation and well-defined objectives that are agreed in advance are essential for success.

The workshop itself needs good workshop facilitation to ensure it achieves its objectives and the attendees are appropriately engaged and satisfied with the outcome.

The facilitator needs to understand the objectives and to ensure the workshop is steered towards achieving those objectives. This takes skill and experience, not least because different attendees will have different needs and expectations which must be balanced against achieving the objectives.

Most experienced business analysts will be comfortable with facilitating a workshop but, in some cases, it is beneficial to use an experienced facilitator. For example, strong characters who are likely to introduce conflict or a large number of stakeholders may justify engaging a professional facilitator.

It is important to note that a workshop is a very public forum with, typically, important stakeholders present so care must be taken to ensure success and avoid loss of credibility. This is especially true when you consider the number of people attending and the amount of valuable time they will be committing.