Tips for Innovative Workshop and Program Design

In this article, I reflect on my previous experience building organizations, labs and programs centered around professionally-facilitated workshops. Specifically, I'm considering how to foster the co-creation of workshops designed to facilitate alternative approaches to policy, product, and service development, as well as programs for organizational transformation.

In my reflections, I’ve identified eight lessons I’ve picked up along the way to help anyone designing for these purposes. These apply to co-designing an organization, program, lab, or workshop series.

1. Theoretically framed agendas support coherence.

One of the most valuable things I learned from my team at NouLAB was framing agenda design with Theory U and Breath Pattern. Theory U is a change management method that enables collaboration and innovation by offering an approach to moving from a narrow individual to a broader, collective way of seeing the world. This approach improves system awareness by encouraging empathy and promoting introspection among group members. If you have ever used the Forming-Storming-Norming-Performing frame, this will seem familiar, but on “super serum.”

At NouLAB, one of the most invaluable lessons I learned was the impact of framing agenda design with Theory U and Breath Pattern. Theory U is a change management approach that propels collaboration and innovation by guiding participants from individual to collective perspectives. By fostering empathy and introspection, it heightens system awareness. If you have ever used the Forming-Storming-Norming-Performing frame, this will seem familiar, but on “super serum.”

Theory U has five movements—co-initiation, co-sensing, presencing, co-creation, and co-evolution. Whether crafting a single-day workshop or a multi-month program, adopting Theory U or other models to frame your agenda can help you choose your activities wisely and achieve flow with participants.

Breath pattern is like a double diamond in that it recognizes a divergent phase and a convergent phase but with a messy middle phase, which we call “emergence.” As it turns out, this overlays Theory U nicely (not to mention an excellent complement to the five-day sprint).

Using Theory U and Breath Pattern to frame the design of transformative workshops and programs

Each day, week, or month in a workshop series or program repeats these patterns like a fractal.

These models might not suit your needs. That’s perfectly fine. The point here is to find a frame that works for your purpose and use it explicitly in the design of your workshop or program. This could include a narrative flow (using the hero’s journey) or metaphor. Being on the East Coast of Canada, we were partial to water metaphors at NouLAB.

2. Spacious workshops are productive workshops.

Early in my facilitation practice, I would “over-design” workshops. I would make them heavy by adding more and more content, activities, and guest speakers. It often didn’t result in a better experience for the participants or the facilitators. People wanted ample time to work, reflect, and discuss. They needed just enough information and insight to try something.

Overloading the agenda takes away from the value of having focused, collaborative work time. Like Hemingway’s endless search for the perfect sentence, our goal as facilitators is to design the lightest structure to achieve the most significant change.

3. Predictability eases the discomfort of uncertainty and (un)learning.

Like the cocoon during metamorphosis, participants in workshops and programs need a clear framework to navigate discomfort and transformation. The role of the facilitator is to create that framework, set the tone, motivate participants and guide the flow of activities. The segments a team might deliver are “teaches” (either by the facilitator or a guest), activities at a table or in Miro, solo reflection, group discussion, plenary sharing and feedback sessions. For multi-day workshops, establishing a relatively repetitive pattern that becomes familiar to participants can provide predictability and ease the natural resistance to change.

4. Short feedback loops produce capital.

Setting intervals during which participants showcase their progress and receive feedback is invaluable. Not only does it contribute to predictability, but it also produces a tangible return on investment. Including executives in these showcases gives them a first-hand understanding of the process and its outcomes, fostering their ownership of the results. 

Likewise, involving practitioners in these sessions introduces a peer-review dynamic. Feedback becomes capital that participants can reinvest in subsequent iterations, creating a virtuous cycle of improvement. The focus on delivering something makes otherwise abstract lessons and processes concrete and practical.

5. Transformational design is recursive.

A fractal is a similar pattern across scales, where small parts resemble a whole. Similarly, innovative workshop design should mirror the principles it teaches. Just as participants are building products for facilitators and partners who will continue to deliver and iterate upon programs, the design itself should be user-centric and easy to adapt. Creating products that are easy to use by future facilitators is as essential as developing a program that is useful and easy to use by participants; a pattern we hope is repeated in “home departments” and in the delivery of services to the public. When transformation is the goal, our designs need to reflect the desired future organizational dynamics and avoid reproducing undesirable ones. Each workshop is an opportunity to break the dependent path and begin creating alternative pathways for the organization.

Note: related concepts to explore: homomorphism (Conway’s Law) and prefigurative social movements.

6. “Geek Swag” makes a fleeting experience last in a tangible way.

When I think about my best experiences as a workshop (or training) participant, they always involve some material takeaway: a binder or portal access to resources, templates, slide decks, a workbook, or a contact list of new relationships. All these things supported me in applying and sharing what I learned in some way long after the program.

Engaging in UX research with participants can uncover insights that inform the creation of valuable products for future cohorts, enhancing the program's overall impact. At the Government of New Brunswick, we created a workbook for this purpose. How might we better understand the context of participants before and after the program? How might we equip participants to continue applying what they learn after the program? How are they using what they have learned? What are the unmet needs?

7. Time-Limited Variable Scope is a powerful frame.

Pressures from leadership often mean you have a smaller-than-ideal time window before a program’s launch. To optimize your design and development time, establish a regular repeated pattern of activity. Each cycle should culminate in tangible deliverables, such as a workshop agenda, participant guide, facilitator’s guide, and a deck/Miro board/confirmed speaker, even if they include placeholders for incomplete elements. Like in an exam, what do you do if you get stuck or don’t have an answer? Please leave it blank and move on to the next question. Sometimes you might fill in a blank with “speaker TBD” “or “activity TBD).” That’s OK. Maintaining a steady pace and adapting scope ensures the program stays on track.

8. Embrace impermanence and think long-term.

Let’s conclude from the team member’s perspective. Uncertainty and scarcity have been ever-present in my career. From year to year, the existence of my organization, let alone my job, has never been a given. While this has been stressful, it has also been a gift: it forced me to learn how to play a long game, escape the myopia of a bureaucratic context, and think beyond the organization’s lifecycle.

What was certain is that I always had one year. I had one year, a team, and a small budget to get something done. What can we accomplish in one year? What would we do if this is our last year that’s different if we were trying to maintain an organization for multiple years? We design a year in a way that we feel meets our mission and focus all our energy on that; on the legacy we could leave behind and the lessons we could take forward with us wherever we go next. By focusing more on delivery and less on maintaining the organization, we counter-intuitively generated more resources and support for the organization or program.

Whatever organization you are working in is not the last organization you will work for. What do you want to create that will live on even if the organization doesn’t? What will create value for participants well after the program has finished? What might we develop that will serve as building blocks for each of us whether or not we continue to work in this organization? Whether you stay or go, there’s shared value from this perspective!