Workshop to crack every nut

Are you using a workshop to crack every nut?

As the saying goes – if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Are business analysts falling into this trap by using a workshop for every situation?

Benefits of workshops

Getting all of the right people in the right place at the same time can move projects and initiatives forward at an accelerated rate. We have different perspectives represented, we can fact-check and enable constructive challenge. We can build on great ideas and identify clear problems with others. Workshops that are well facilitated can be motivating, build trust in the product/ project and deepen working relationships. We can co-create outputs using collaborative approaches and get real buy-in from all attendees. So, it’s easy to see why workshops are an attractive choice.

But if we ONLY use workshops…

They become stale, people stop coming, they are no longer motivating, and we can end up wasting time. Some people do not make their best contribution ‘on the spot’ or in a large group, so we also need to consider whose perspective and input we might be missing by relying only on this approach. Some teams cannot release people for long periods, and may become systemically unrepresented in discussions and decisions. We end up with the group of people who have the time or inclination to attend workshops, not the group we actually need.

Bias towards workshops

Workshops can too easily become the default action. From the perspective of the stakeholder, it can be very difficult to suggest alternatives to a proposed workshop. As an invited workshop attendee, it can feel that if you are not in the room, you will lose the ability to influence. This creates a situation where no one can propose a suitable alternative to workshops, and people only attend due to FOMO!

High visibility

Workshops are very visible. They often exist as a big chunk of time booked in lots of people’s diaries, often weeks or months in advance. During the workshop, business analysis becomes very visible, in the central role of the facilitator and the choice of analytical and collaborative techniques.

Perhaps we have a bias towards workshops precisely because they are so visible. It’s a way to remind stakeholders who we are and why we are useful. The outputs are often very visual, flip charts, post-it notes and colourful virtual whiteboards. Many days or weeks of effort of business analysis sometimes has very little to ‘show’ for it… but workshops scream: here we are! We did this! We have agreed stuff!

The time cost of workshops

It is easy to convince ourselves that workshops are the most efficient way of engaging with a group. And often workshops do ‘save time’ in the long run, but let’s look in detail at the question “How long does a workshop take?”

Let’s say we have allocated 3 hours for a workshop (W = 3).

A good rule for facilitators is that the workshop will take 5 times the length of the workshop to prepare PER facilitator (Prep = 5W x F). This is everything from identifying attendees, sending invites, logistics, planning purpose, designing exercises, creating slides etc.

And actions after the workshop will require 2 times the length of the workshop, again per facilitator (After = 2W x F). This will range from tiding a room, to creating outputs and doing follow up actions.

It might seem like all attendees have to do is show up, but they may have to do some thinking/ reading/ speaking to others. They may also have to share information about the workshop, or carry out follow-up actions. Their multiplying factor is 1.5 times the length of the workshop per attendee.

(If travel time is also required, this is likely an underestimate).

So we have

Prep for facilitators: 5W x F

Plus the actual workshop time for facilitators: W x F

Plus the workshop time for attendees: 1.5W x A

Plus the follow up after for facilitators: 2W x F

Total = W x(8F +1.5A)

Where W is workshop length, F is number of facilitators and A is number of attendees.

So a 3 hour workshop with 2 facilitators, and 20 attendees requires a total of

3 hrs x (8 x 2   +   1.5 x 20)  = 90 hrs

A workshop may still be the best way to move forward, but at least we are not kidding ourselves that “it’s only 3 hrs”!

Types of workshop

It’s useful to consider there are 3 main types of workshop.

Strategic – vision, alignment, big picture, new ideas, changing direction, transformation

Operational – how does this work? What do you need? efficiency, consistency, continuous improvement

Educational – a learning opportunity. This could be two-way, with both participants and facilitators learning something, or primarily one-way, it is mostly a learning opportunity for participants.

The type of workshop will significantly impact the time needed AND understanding the type will help to answer whether a workshop is the right approach to the situation at hand.

Other approaches BAs should be considering

Before we start arranging the inevitable workshop, we need to really consider if this is the best approach, and what else could be achieved given the same amount of time and effort.

We should consider:

• One to one interviews
• Small group discussions
• Attending existing meetings
• Surveys
• Pro-Formas
• Observation
• Work shadowing
• Focus groups
• Prototyping
• Document analysis
• Competitor analysis

We may want to use one or more of these methods to supplement workshops, and perhaps doing so will allow us to reduce the duration of the workshop or the number of attendees.

Conclusion

Workshops can be great – but they are not the only tool in your BA toolkit. If we over-rely on workshops, people can start to disengage and loose trust. Workshops take a lot of time and can lead to the idea that the only way to get anything done or agreed is via a workshop. Don’t organise a workshop as the default option. Consider all possible approaches and select the most appropriate for the situation.

Further reading

Planning workshops using the 7Ps technique, BA Times (2021)

Business Analysis Techniques: 123 essential tools for success Cadle, Paul et al (2021)