Facilitation Technique: How To Set And Get Expectations In Your Workshops

[@AJSmart]

Have you ever had to deal with disappointed participants just because they were expecting something different from your workshop? How did you deal with it? What other methods do you use to set expectations in your workshops? Please share your answers in the comments 👇

[@blueskyguy1]

Very good - After a lunch break, reintroduce the expectations of the workshop…Brings the group/team back together

[@beingintrinsic]

I've said this never, but DAMN, that is a FINE cardigan!

[@AJSmart]

It's the best 🧶

[@krisbaseofficial]

Very useful

[@tifflovestraining]

Thank you 🙏

[@sbodrillo]

the emotion graph can be very helpful. i wish i had used it in prior workshops. i'll give it a try next time. thanks for the excellent idea.

[@AJSmart]

We find it very useful. We usually keep the graph on the flip chart, so we can keep pointing back to it as the energy drops in the room.

[@ThisDesignLife]

I bet the cardigan helps as well

[@AJSmart]

hahaha the cardigan helps a lot. People know exactly what to expect when they see that cardigan coming into the room. Cheers!

[@ThisDesignLife]

@@AJSmart A more serious question. Do you prefer facilitation and workshops compared to doing delivery work for clients?

[@AJSmart]

@@ThisDesignLife That's a great question. The short answer is: yes, we do! For the first 6 years of AJ&Smart, we used to do product design/execution work for our clients almost exclusively. We were always very excited at the start of the project but after a few weeks of almost every project, we started to notice the misalignment between the stakeholders and how projects dragged for way longer than they should've. That's why we started implementing workshops in our workflow and it changed the way we do things. So much so, that we started to enjoy running workshops with our clients more than doing the execution work. This ultimately led to us only offering different types of workshops to our clients, to help them solve problems and make decisions. However, at the end of every workshop like a Design Sprint or a Strategy Sprint, there's always a deliverable. It can be a prototype of their product or the company strategy for the next 2 years. It depends on the type of workshop we're running. Hope this answer was helpful! Have a great day!

[@ThisDesignLife]

@@AJSmart Really useful thanks.

[@InfiniteOptimalHD]

Hi, I have a question: From being a UX designer what are the skills and opportunities of being in the industry can be translated into the general world of design such as going into physical product/industrial designing?

[@AJSmart]

Hey there! Do you mean working as a UX designer in a product / industrial design company?

[@InfiniteOptimalHD]

@@AJSmart yes that's what I meant

[@yourhighness81]

Is that an Omega Speedmaster at you wrist? Beautiful watch! Cheers

[@onkevents]

I will return with feedback.

[@dakshi01]

Jon got braces! Looking beauts!

[@AJSmart]

Yeah!! next year all the videos are going to be mainly close-ups of Jon's straight teeth 😁 Cheers!

[@dakshi01]

@@AJSmart BEST CONTENT. Can't wait. 💦

[@catchingclouds]

If you have 50-100 people in a workshop how would you manage the expectations then?.....it takes a long time to through that many participants...

[@speakingfingersnetwork]

Recommendation/Options: 1. They could all write their expectations, then request few to share 2. Group them and have them brainstorm/come up with 2/3 unanimous expectation 3. Everyone writes on a sticky note and paste ... they don't have to share as you may have similar expectations. All the best 🥂🙏