Avoiding The Workshop Hijack

Make your next workshop one that actually gets some work done.

It was the 1990s. I’d been working away from home for several weeks on a consulting project for a big client. We were a small team. My role as the junior member was officially: lead analyst.

Unofficially, I was chief of just-getting-stuff-done-behind-the-scenes. It didn’t include any real influence with the direction of the project. Or the client.

It was hard.

It followed an old-school consulting format. Convoluted Excel data sets and formulae. Overly detailed PowerPoint presentations. Draft reports getting unpicked and knitted back together over drawn-out client meetings in windowless offices in faceless skyscrapers.

Long days to meet overly ambitious timeframes. Long nights pushing into early hours of the next day to meet each major milestone.

A classic example of the kind of consulting project that was well-intentioned in the thinking…yet questionably executed. The kind I avoid now, as do my clients.

However, this was a different era. A different style of client relationship management. And a project methodology that culminated in a Big Reveal, billed as an “all hands workshop”.

A senseless phrase.

Firstly, most of the client team’s involvement had been decidedly hands-off throughout.

We had a key client contact working with us day-to-day. Let’s call him Pete. Pete was sufficiently far removed from the big picture and key stakeholders to limit his focus on low-level details…These played out as seemingly endless rounds of t-crossing and i-dotting on assumptions and commentary on the increasingly complex data sheets.

Secondly, calling the grande finale a workshop made little sense as there was very little “real work” planned to get done.

The agenda was set for an intensive four hours.

Pete had been bustling around for days to make sure the invitees included all the key stakeholders. The people needed to finalise and sign off recommendations for major streams of investment. Investment over multiple years in new team structures, more efficient processes and better technology.

Recommendations that would impact the organisation’s departmental structures and deliver big “headcount savings”.

Headcount was a loaded word. A label that conveniently disassociated the conversation from the reality (job cuts), let alone the lives, of the actual people impacted. People who’d put many years into their work at the organisation. People whose families relied on them as their primary source of income. People who faced losing confidence, kudos, or simply a feeling of financial security.

From my narrow view behind the spreadsheets and conversation with the other consultants, it was clear that the real question was: Whose number would come up in the imminent restructure lottery?

The workshop goal was to confirm the final number of roles to be made redundant in each key department.

The boardroom table was set up. We’d expected a dozen people: the key heads of department. The people who’d need to agree to the potential reduction in team sizes in their teams.

Until we suddenly had to rustle up 20 more seats.

For uninvited and unexpected guests.

Each department head had brought along at least one sidekick. Trusted advisors? Note takers? Briefcase carriers? (Yes: briefcases were still a thing.)

It wasn’t clear to us why they were there. And there wasn’t time on the agenda to do more than the most cursory of introductions.

From the moment everyone trooped in, we’d been hijacked.

My colleague leading the project chose to keep going regardless.

We plodded through the agenda and recommendations.

Thanks to the late nights we’d put in, these were presented as an embarrassingly lengthy deck of high density slides. The monochrome reading experience broken up by occasional rainbows of colourful charts and carefully double-checked references—many in 8pt font far too small to read even from my position close to the screen.

The sidekicks—chairs pushed up against the edges of the room—furiously took notes while also trying not to look like a group of grumpy teenagers who’d been relegated to the kids’ table at the family get-together.

There were few questions. And even fewer sparks of healthy debate or informed dissension.

The recommendations got agreement. But it was a long half-day.

Later that evening, debriefing as a team, we kept coming back to the unexpected walk-on extras. And the potential reasons they were there.

Were they there as their department heads’ security blankets? Was it to show everyone else they were a team player and would support whatever outcome came about? Or simply early notice of whether their own job was destined for organisational death row.

We also voiced what we’d all been thinking and hadn’t felt able to bring up: the number of people multiplied by four hours…meant nearly 150 hours of people’s time spent largely passively, in what was ostensibly a one-to-many presentation.

We could have sent out the presentation as pre-read and got through feedback in less than 30 mins.

With a third of the people.

A waste of time and opportunity to do some real work.

Because they needed to get going on the real work: implementing the recommendations.

Mobilising the project team.

Addressing changes to the culture of the organisation.

A culture that would challenge 30 people spending half a day in a meeting without everyone contributing to something that moved the organisation forward.

Many things could have been done differently.

Most of them went back to the proposal stage for the work.

Long before we booked planes, trains and hotel rooms, farewelled friends and families for weeks and planned out the project; the goals, approach and timing could have been much better thought through.

The quantity and seniority of client involvement.

A more iterative approach.

Regular checkpoints and, most importantly, input throughout from the people likely impacted.

Workshops are a core ingredient of the consulting process.

Prepared and run well—with the right people doing the right kind of work together at the right point in time—a workshop can be the ideal way to accelerate change.

To get ideas communicated. And then understood.

To hear others’ perspectives. And then change your own.

To try things out in a safe space. And then take them back to build out as a team.

The greater the number of people and teams impacted, and the bigger the change impact, the more important it is to get people involved in understanding what it means for them in their roles.

Run well, workshops are one of the most effective ways of doing this.

Know your problem, choose your style

On a large-scale change project, workshops can be used in different ways. Here are four of my favourites.

1. As a seed germinator—a process for brainstorming and coming up with ideas that can be quickly assessed, evaluated and prioritised. What to do now, do next, or do one day. Do we really need to do “it” at all?
   Best for: Early stage planning; “Ideating”; and Prioritising.

2. As a turbo booster—a means of quickly taking an idea from “Wouldn’t it be great if…?” to “We can do it like this…”. Getting people to understand an opportunity as a group, to work through the implications for each other, while building a lasting team dynamic.
   Best for: Turning theoretical concepts into executable plans; Testing ideas.

3. As a circuit breaker—a way to get over the inevitable speed bumps on a project involving a lot of change impacts on people and their roles. A time-efficient and structured approach to problem-solving as a team. An approach where everyone’s views get heard. Where the way forward needs agreement and buy-in.
   Best for: Solving problems; Diffusing tension or conflict; Breaking stalemates.

4. As a team energiser—the corporate equivalent of a neighbourhood street party. Something to get people out of their usual departmental / geographic / market-focused tribes. Getting comfortable mixing with people from different disciplines and experiences to explore what the real impacts will be of an upcoming change.
   Best for: Introducing new stakeholders (customers, partners, colleagues) to what’s going on; Getting wider buy-in to the change.

There are many tried and tested ways to “ideate”, and a plethora of frameworks and approaches available to support any or all of these four.

Channel your inner scout: Be Prepared

The key things to remember when planning a workshop include:

• Understand the audience / the group

  • Who are they?

  • What’s their experience to date? And their expectations?

  • Why should they give up their time for this?

• Plan an agenda that moves at the right pace

  • What does the workshop need to achieve? What are its objectives?

  • What background and context does the group need?

  • What approach (steps) do you need to get through the work?

  • What framework(s) will you use to structure people’s thinking and output?

  • How much needs doing as a full group versus better in breakouts / small groups?

  • What are the key inputs?

  • What will happen with the outputs after the workshop?

• Manage the logistics—which vary if in-person, fully remote, or hybrid

  • How much of the conversation needs to be captured in real time?

  • Who’s facilitating and who’s “scribing”? Or is it a job for GenAI?

  • What’s the plan for breaks?

  • What tool(s) are you going to use to capture the conversation?

  • How will you ensure everyone gets to contribute?

  • Where will you capture “car park” items to address later?

  • What tech will you be using and who will manage or host it?

  • How will you follow up afterwards?

• Pre-prepare the audience

  • What are the key messages in the invitation? Who will it come from?

  • What pre-read or inputs do you need the group to prepare with?

  • What do they need to expect from participating?

The larger the group for your workshop, and the higher the stakes for the work coming out of it, the greater the level of planning required.

And the easier it is to anticipate and avoid hijack situations.

Or to deal with them when they arise.

Expecting the unexpected

No matter how well you plan, stuff still happens. So being ready to respond in the moment is part of how you nip any potential hijacks in the bud.

These are my tips for three typical workshop hijacks.

1. Attendees turn up late, seem distracted with other things on their minds, or are just “no shows”.
   Choose a location, timing and format that works best for the group. Get the sponsor or key client contact/s to fully pre-prepare them for why they need to be there, and what’s in it for them attending.
   Give time at the start and end for people to get into the topic. Avoid assuming they’ve done the pre-read: what’s top priority to you and the client team may be low down their lists.

2. An obstructive participant, who challenges your approach, or tries to take over the agenda.
   This is a test of your facilitation skills: to make them feel listened to, while not “letting go of the pen” and letting them derail your process. Or your timing.
   I may respond by inviting the whole group to offer a view on whether to change tack, or keep going. Presented convincingly, with some fast pros and cons, the group usually agrees to stick to the original agenda. And the disrupter saves face. Your “car park” is another useful way of respecting their contribution, while addressing it later outside the session.

3. Someone risks dominating the conversation, or someone with important contributions chooses to stay quiet.
   This is another test of your facilitation wizardry. Everyone needs to feel included and to get an opportunity to participate sensibly.
   For a longer session, I’ll mix up the session with different ways for the group to contribute. Quiet, reflection times or small group breakouts; as well as all-group agenda items. I’m also always trying to read the room—even if it’s run virtual. I generally scribe notes during the session—typed or on a whiteboard, and just pause while they keep talking…they generally realise their contribution has run its course.

The main thing about workshops is to watch, learn from experts, and keep practising. With bigger and bigger groups, for longer periods of time.

Serving your audience, rather than yourself or the immediate team, is a reminder that they need to finish up feeling that their time was used well.

That they learnt something.

That they had some fun.

Conclusions

Despite the move to online and regular hybrid work, the problems facing teams and individuals in many workplaces are only getting more complex.

The ways organisations work are continually changing and at an ever faster pace. The types of change they’re undertaking to meet customer, employee and partner needs call for problem-solving beyond existing team structures and decision-making frames.

Done well, workshops are a technique to get groups through this quickly. Three things to remember are:

1. Workshops involve getting work done.

2. A well-planned workshop puts the group first. The approach and agenda align the individuals’ needs, the group’s dynamic, and the organisation’s priorities.

3. Using people’s time usefully and respectfully gets the best results. And avoids potential hijacks.

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Note that opinions in this piece are the author’s own. The stories and examples are based on actual examples, with some seasoning sprinkled around the details.