Bringing the Enneagram to Groups
You're certified. You know the 9 types like the back of your hand. But knowing the Enneagram and running a room full of people who've never heard of it - or who might be very skeptical of it - are two completely different skill sets.
This limited series is for Enneagram coaches who are ready to move from one-on-one work into team workshops, or who are already doing both and want to get sharper at the facilitation side specifically.
Inside these intentionally curated episodes, you'll hear what actually happens in the room: how to structure a session that fits the time you're given, how to think about pricing, what to do when the energy dies or a conversation goes sideways, how to read nine different types reacting to the same content in real time, and how to leave a client wanting you back.
Bringing the Enneagram to Groups
10. A Sample 2-Hour and Half Day Enneagram Workshop Agenda
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Listen in to get more context around the 2-hour workshop below, along with ideas for extending the material into a meaningful half-day workshop experience. Use these as ideas for your own workshop or test out one new idea in your current presentation for groups and teams.
A SAMPLE 2-HOUR WORKSHOP AGENDA:
3-WEEKS PRIOR:
- Enneagram MBA will send assessment codes and instructions
- Team members will complete pre-workshop survey for Post-Workshop Manager Report
PART 1: 90-MIN - Learn
- 9 Types Overview with Strengths and Potential Struggles at Work
- Audience participation throughout
- Check-in + Initial Team Map Review
PART 2: 30-MIN - Discuss
- Attendees will break out into type-specific groups
- Key takeaway shares
- Closing
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Ready to try facilitating your first workshop?
The DIY Workshop Kit | Commercial License gives you the exact slide deck and session structures that I use in my own practice.
https://www.enneagrammba.com/enneagram-facilitator-kit
Welcome back to At least for now, the final episode in the Bringing the Enneagram to Groups limited series, specifically for coaches looking to move from one-on-one work to more group facilitation, either to do more of it or to start doing it at all. I am your host, Sarah Wallace. I'm also the host over on a show called The Enneagram at Work. Another show that is coming soon. I'll be co-hosting called The Enneagram for Educators. And I am the founder and managing director over at Enneagram MBA, which is a team training company where all we do is work with uh teams and groups, specifically in the workplace, which I feel makes me somewhat qualified to be able to share some of what we have talked about, or I guess all of what I have talked about in this series, but by no means the only or even the best uh expert in this area. Uh more just sharing what has worked for me to give you inspiration, to give you ideas, to give you some lessons learned about what to try or maybe what not to try because it didn't work. And um in this final one, uh at least for now, uh just quickly going to go over a very specific two-hour workshop engagement and a half day, uh, which typically for us is a four-hour engagement. Now, sometimes um we will do three-hour groups, sometimes we'll do two and a half, sometimes we'll do five. Uh, so it it just kind of and sometimes we got to squeeze in an hour, but these are our most popular options for the most part. And so I thought I'll share those with you. And also just know that these I tweak these. Uh the other facilitators will will tweak these depending on the client, what they're going through, um what um, you know, your kind of presentation style is. So I have a different one than, you know, D, one of our other visiting facilitators versus Dina. So they'll they'll switch a few things out, but this will be the kind of the gist of it. Um, and the process really starts on that first phone call. Um, some might call, you know, a sales call, discovery call, whatever, whatever you want to call it. Uh, we call it a strategy session uh because it really is where we start to build the workshop strategy. If it happens to be a fit, we'll continue on and make that strategy come to life inside of a workshop. Um, if not, then they have gotten some ideas for how to use the Enneagram or some of these uh tools in the future to come back to us or um just know that, you know, that these are some of the options or things to consider in the future, even if we're not the best fit for them. So uh that's that's how we position it. And um it's a chance for them to ask some questions, us to ask them some questions, and then I have an opportunity to um sh kind of bridge the gap between what their expectations are, what they're looking for, their team size, um, what where this event will be held, the purpose of the event in general, why they're bringing the Enneagram, um, and then bridge it with the options that we have that might be a fit for them. And so all of that really starts in that first initial call for us. And then um, I will start tweaking their presentation. Um, I will I have a template that I start with. I almost always tweak it in some way. Some of them get more tweaks than others, but um, at a minimum, if there is a specific industry that they are a part of, um, like we are in our second year working with a law enforcement leadership group. That presentation, we switch out the photos for law enforcement type of photos. There are several different physician and healthcare, healthcare adjacent type of organizations and leadership teams that I've had the opportunity to work with. We will swap out for physician photos, patient care photos, hospital building type of photos. And those are really easy little tweaks for the client to feel like, oh wow, they really created this for our team in mind. Um, another one that comes to mind is we've worked with Mars and their pet care department, one couple of their pet care departments. And in that one, we'll swap out uh photos of dogs and cats and you know, happy animal owners. So um just those little tweaks. And that starts, you know, weeks ahead of time, sometimes months ahead of time. But I try to do those tweaks ahead of time. Um, if I know that this is what we're gonna do, I take that template, start to add in some things just while the the notes are fresh. Um, I'll add those notes into my own client management system to also be able to refer back to as the time gets closer. Um, and then depending on how far out the client booked the workshop, um, if the client booked it a year ago or six months ago, or sometimes even three or four months ago, um, some things have probably changed. So I will offer an opportunity for them to do another short call. And it doesn't have to be 30 minutes, it might just be 15, 20 minutes. Um, I usually block out a half an hour for this. I send them an opportunity to book it. Um, and so it's up to them. But they'll have a chance to book um about 30 days before their scheduled workshop to let us know any changes, just to touch base. I think some Enneagram types or just some people might appreciate that more than others and might feel uh just more safe and secure knowing, okay, we've paid this person. This is actually happening, this is what I can expect. Other people, you know, just hey, I paid you, just do what you said you're gonna do. So it's an optional pre-workshop call for the host, for the management team. Um sometimes, too, that's an opportunity to meet the manager or some of the management team because in the first initial call, when we were going through the process, starting the process, it maybe was an admin, it maybe was the team lead, and somehow, and so we hadn't yet brought everybody together. Um, and so on the pre-workshop call, the manager is joining us and having a chance to chime in with their own kind of expectations and goals too. So that that's where it starts. And then um three weeks, if we have the time, um, ideally, sometimes it's just two, depending on how tight of a turnaround it is. Um our team, so my um our Enneagram workshop coordinator, Lisol, will send out um an assessment, assessment codes and instructions to the team members that we have worked to get with the host. We have previously sent them a spreadsheet and gotten that information. And so she's sending that out with specific instructions, with due dates. Um, then she will follow up with friendly reminders, and then she'll use that information to build the initial team map. Um, and then we have also been asking team members to complete some fun, um, a fun pre-work activity where um it's really just review your results, set up a virtual coffee date, schedule lunch with at least one other teammate and go through the results, talk about what worked, what didn't. So that way the team is coming into the Anneagram workshop with some level of some self-reflection based on their top results, as well as some discussion with another person for them to kind of reflect back to each other, what they see, what they don't see, um, and just kind of just have a conversation about it so that you're not completely coming into the workshop having not at all thought about it. And then the other thing that we will do three weeks ahead of time is ask team members to complete their pre-workshop survey so that we can include that information in the workshop that we give the manager after the report. Um, and those specific questions that we ask before and after a workshop are in our DIY facilitator kit that is in the show notes here. Um, and so that's some pre-work that happens, and that is that is important um just to get people thinking about it, get that process going. And then when we walk into the room, um I have about 75 minutes scheduled for uh inside of a two-hour workshop. So an hour and 15 minutes of that is kind of introducing the Enneagram, doing the icebreaker, um, talking about ways to use it, why the Enneagram, how it's different, and then we will get into the nine types overview. And you can kind of tailor this to your group. So sometimes with leadership groups, it's the nine leadership styles. Sometimes it's the nine types at work. Um, you might have the nine types in a relationship, the nine types, the nine teacher types, um, the nine types uh that work inside of a uh nonprofit that work inside of a church, the um trying to think of some other industries. Um, but you you can kind of tweak that language to make it that much more customized for your particular group and audience. Um, and so we'll go over the strengths, we'll talk about potential um overuse strengths and potential struggles in the workplace. And then depending on how much time, um, if it's a half day where we have a little bit more time, um, I will have an there will be an opportunity to ask for participation after each type. If we're on a little bit tighter of a timeline, um, it's only a two-hour workshop. I will ask for audience participation after every three types. And so we've covered one, two, three. I'm gonna pause, let's check in who's resonating with this, who tested high, who um is maybe just feeling this type more than others, what resonates, what doesn't, specific example, funny story, maybe something that you see in a team member. Um, you can call it here. But this is the way that we start to um make this uh specific to the the people in this room. So this is where the Enneagram theory starts to ideally become real-world application, specific ideas for implementing, for using, for specific insights, because people are willing to share their personal experience, um, which is the most valuable thing for others in the room. Um, I can share about all the nine types all day long. Um, but what is really going to help with team communication, team collaboration, navigating conflict better is when people are willing to share their personal takes and insights and examples for how that type shows up in them and maybe what they see. So we'll do that. Um, and then afterwards, we'll do a check-in. Um, if anybody is really comfortable with their feels like yes, after going through these types, I'm definitely a type nine. I was really high as a one and a nine, but I know now I'm a nine. Um, I will quickly um update that team map or we'll we'll kind of talk about it. We'll do a quick team map review now that they have a little bit understanding of the um the different types, just kind of at a glance. Um, and this doesn't have to be a 20-minute conversation, it just might be kind of a five-minute what are the strengths of this current dynamic? Where there might what what are the gaps? Did they make sense? What might you need to do to fill in the gaps? Do you need to do anything? Um, who are the people to lean on for this? Who are the people to lean on for that? Just kind of high-level um team map check-in as well. And then from there, um, and this goes, this is really tight, um, we will do um a type breakout activity where um people will have, again, just depending on how much audience participation there there was, we will have about um 15, 20 minutes where um the teams are breaking out um by type or similar type talking about a specific set of questions. Sometimes I will give everybody the same questions. I will put a QR code up on the screen and they will get those questions. Those questions are also inside our um DIY facilitator kit that you can find in the show notes. Um, sometimes we'll break out and there will be specific questions for each group that they can also find in a different QR code. Um, so it just kind of depends on the pre-call that you had with the manager, kind of what you think is going to be best for the group. But we'll do one of the one of two things. But I really do like the type specific breakout, even if people are not quite sure about their type, because um they can try it on, they can move to another group if they just feel like these are definitely not my people. Um, but it can also be incredibly validating and just kind of a feel-good activity when all the ones can come together and be like, okay, it's just not me, or all the sixes can come together and be like, okay, turns out, you know, maybe I'm not crazy after all. All these other people see it this way too. And then you get to kind of understand some of the differences within the type. Um, and then we don't always have enough time to do this um in a two-hour engagement. Um, but we will come back together. Uh, again, just kind of depending on how chatty and engaging the the first uh part was where people are sharing about the type. Um during that part of the presentation. We might do a quick report out, share one interesting thing you think the rest of the group should know. Um, and then it is time to wrap it up. Um, that goes so, so fast. Um, we do usually a thank you to the hosts because they did put so much time and effort, and I think it's just nice to recognize. Um, typically, I will thank the team for participating for all the work that they did by taking the test, taking the survey, doing the partner exercise and getting ready for the day, and then actually all the engagement and participation that they were willing to do. Um, and then I um give some next steps. Um, that might be uh having a conversation, scheduling another coffee date or lunch um date with a coworker to review what you learned during the workshop to help narrow down your type. Um, we have an opportunity um to um, or I ask them to make time potentially to have a discussion with somebody else from another team. Um there's also some fun work, again, depending on what the manager said beforehand, where um I want you to talk about this with a teammate and over the next 90 days, schedule a session with your manager to review your results and your type and to talk about feedback preferences, recognition preferences, how you can see yourself using your strengths, where you might use your overuse strengths, um, and just set up that conversation with the manager. And that's a really wonderful way to keep that conversation alive and going. Um, so that is a that's a two-hour engagement. It goes so fast. Um, there is not a lot of time to, you know, add lib, add anything, add any random stories that you haven't already kind of practiced and planned for. Um, it is very easy, and I'm speaking from personal experience, to get off topic, to get off track. Um, and it is such a balance between staying on time, like stay going along with the agenda as much as possible. And then occasionally there will be a group who gets into a really meaningful discussion about the dynamic between two types or a specific situation where they talk about how they could have used that, maybe somebody else in a different department that they've had some conflict with that they're now seeing through a different light. And those conversations are really important. And I I'm always hesitant to shut those down. And so typically I will allow those to go on for a for a while. If it is, in fact, meaningful, if it looks like people are engaged, if you know, people are chiming in, nodding along. Um, I think you you can really spot if somebody is just kind of um talking for the sake of talking and nobody else is really coming along in that conversation, and that you might have to um address and say, we'll talk about this on the break or talk about this after the workshop. Um and so what you'll, you know, just kind of on the fly, you will have to decide, okay, what what might I need to cut back on? Um I maybe we instead of 20 minutes for the group breakout, we're only gonna have 10. Um, and maybe instead of getting into type-specific groups, we don't have time for that. Just create groups of three and four, and we'll do some mixed type groups, and um we won't have an opportunity to report out, but that's okay. They've had this conversation and they can kind of keep keep talking about it after, you know, maybe tonight at the group dinner or maybe back at the office tomorrow, they can have some additional conversation about this. So it, you know, you can have a plan and you need to have a plan. And most of the time with the plan goes pretty close to what was outlined. Um, occasionally, though, we will get off track for a variety of reasons. And then it is just up to me as a facilitator to be able to kind of um adjust on the fly to meet the team where they are while still ending on time. And that is so important. Um, I know that there are sometimes people who, you know, go over and don't think twice about it. Um, occasionally, you know, I might go over five, 10 minutes, sometimes, and I will I will tend to check like how hard of a stop is is our stop today and say, we gotta be done. We got our CE, we have a call with our CEO right after we cannot be late. Okay, you you have to wrap it up. Or it's like, no, we have lunch right after this. So if we need to, you know, extend it five or 10 minutes, you know, that that's okay. We're just kind of eating into our hour lunch. So, you know, find find that out. But that's the gist of our two hour and then for a half a day, um, what we end up adding in is um definitely we will report out each group during the type specific discussion. We'll have a have time to report out, and that ends up being another sometimes 20 minutes. And so um sometimes a little longer, but um 15 to 20 minutes is usually what I schedule for for the reporting out of each of the groups because usually it's not all nine groups, it there's usually, you know, six, maybe seven groups um that just because we don't we don't have one of each, so some groups have teamed up or we just don't have any. Um, so we'll do the reporting out, and that is always really interesting. People have a chance to ask questions with the other types to add in some additional comments um if they would like. But that way everybody kind of gets to hear the highlights of what was talked about in that group. Um, and then we will move to the workplace pet peeves and preferences um type toolbox training, I guess. And we'll kind of go around the nine types again. I typically start with type nine though, in the second round, and we will talk about, you know, kind of what can drive a type nine crazy and then how they might drive someone else crazy. And then we'll talk about what how well how a type eight can can be driven crazy at work with some of their pet peeves and then um preferences, and then sometimes what can how others can experience them um at times and and and be driven crazy by. And so we each and usually that's a blind spot, like what's that core blind blind spot for each of the types? Um, you know, for example, for nine, it's avoidance. Um, for type A, it's the denial of their impact sometimes on others. Um, and so we'll go, we'll go through those. And I try to keep it very light with the pictures that I use, the way that I position the topics. Um, I don't want to make fun of anybody. We don't want to just flippantly talk about this. Um, so we want to take it seriously. We want it to be meaningful, we want it to be useful, but we also want to keep it positive and not make anybody feel bad about themselves. Um, and I think part of that is just thinking about the photos that use, the colors that you use, the things that you put on those slides, or the way that you the way that you talk about it. So we'll go through that, which maybe is another 20 minutes. Um, and then we will do another breakout, but this type with mixed types. Um, and so again, we will work with the um the host beforehand to decide are there specific people that you want in groups? So you want these groups curated? Do you want are there specific small teams within this team like is there like ones the accounting team the customer experience team um do you want do you want the teams set up to meet together or do you just want it to be completely random and we'll do like a count off and with this again depending on the size usually three or four people in a group um so plenty of time it's not so big that the people don't have time to everybody have a chance to talk um and then I have some specific questions for these mixed type um discussions which are also in the DIY uh facilitator kit and then um we will have an opportunity to um talk a little bit more in more detail about the team map and kind of analyze it as a group at that time um there will be a discussion around how to use what we learned that day um and you can do that with again turning to your neighbor and come up with five ways to use this um everybody in your row slide your chairs together everybody at this round table come together and talk about come up with five ways that you can see your team using this or you personally will use this and then you can report out and that's a great way to make it um tangible and live beyond just the workshop day the managers love that kind of stuff they really appreciate that um so you're helping them in a big way and there might be ideas that you just don't know about because you're not on that team um you can give some examples um like some of the examples our teams will use this with performance reviews before starting a project they will put it um on their Zoom name they will put their type they will put a label outside of their office um there are a variety of ways so you can give them some examples and then um let them come up with with their own but that that is a a really good one um we'll do a role play exercise where people will very stereotypically kind of um act out the the specific type we'll ask them to kind of trade places and that's just a great one to pretend or not to pretend to practice putting themselves in someone else's shoes seeing the world through somebody else's lens um that's always a fun one just a fun activity um to a fun exercise to get out of your seat to kind of laugh with your team members and then I have a Simon Cynic video that I absolutely love that talks about understanding people and listening more than you talk. That specific video is also inside the um DIY facilitator kit and you are also welcome to use and that is just such a nice closing video. I really really like to use that I've had um managers HR people ask for that specific video link to share again or just to have on file so happy to share that um and then we wrap it up with how to use what they shared as how to use this in their day to day we kind of kind of recap that give some other additional ideas for how to use this and then some fun homework fun assignment again that might mean talking with their manager meeting with a fellow teammate what is one thing that they are going to do more of or less of because of today and then with both of these experiences and with any length of experience when we ask for that pre-workshop survey I'm putting that in the initial presentation so the beginning of the presentation and sharing this is what your team said that they really appreciated about one another like these three three to five things. So as we go through today I want you to think about how you can do even more of this how can you use the content that you're learning to lean into these strengths that you have as a team even more and then what could you do as an individual to you know in enhance your contribution to those team strengths even more so that's another way to bring it to life to really customize it. And then there is also a question that we ask beforehand about what are some what are some challenges you face or is there anything that you would like to learn today to help you navigate anything challenging in the workplace in your role with a teammate with another department and so people will share those insights and again very responsibly we'll share those we typically don't pull out specific quotes that could be attributed to somebody it's usually we're gonna we're pulling out a couple of themes sometimes there's more than one theme sometimes there's just one theme usually it's like workload which means stress um so how do you you know how can you use today to navigate stressful situations um how can you use today to better work with another department where you're having some alignment uh challenges you're having some commun communication challenges even if you don't know their type how can you still use what you learn about yourself today and the the different lenses that others are looking through um so I really like having that pre-workshop survey information because it will tell a lot about the team and I like to share it at the beginning as a kind of a tangible thing that hey if you walk out of here with nothing else what is one way that you're gonna lean more into the strengths of the team and what is one way that you can use what you learned today to to ideally get better at some of these challenges that you said you're facing as a team and then we'll do I always ask for post workshop feedback for testimonials that I can put on website marketing materials share in social media share in newsletters also I take the feedback that I get of changes they would like to see more of less of in addition to and just consider for future presentations to get better myself. And then we also talk about or we also ask what is the biggest takeaway that you plan on implementing and we pull together a list of those things and are able to share that list with the manager. So a lot of pre and post workshop activity happening inside of you know in addition to just what happens inside the room. So I hope that gives you some ideas for how to structure your own presentation the biggest difference between the two hours and the half day for us is really just the amount of time that the team gets to learn about each other and gets to discuss about um to discuss and share and then talk about how to use it beyond the workshop. In a two hour workshop it's really you're kind of focused on your own type maybe a little bit of understanding others um not as much conversation um but sometimes that's all you have time for and that can be impactful if that's all you have but if you have a little bit more time people are always asking for more time to talk with one another and so as much as possible um we recommend the half day for that very reason people have a chance to learn the content but then also to talk about the content in a variety of different ways. So um with that um I do want to share that I have mentioned the um kit a few times uh this facilitator kit where we have a slide deck we have talking points for the slide deck there is a sample two-hour presentation of me delivering a virtual workshop inside of there um there are field guides or workshop workbooks um that there's a template for there's the pre and post workshop questionnaires that we use um there's the discussion questions type specific mixed type discussion questions um exercise ideas icebreaker ideas um all kinds of resources there is a sample two hour agenda in there for you and so really everything that you need to run a successful workshop confidently is in this facilitator kit and I think it's 1295 over on our um enneagram MBA website the link the specific link to get there is in the show notes um it also comes with a bonus call um with myself to answer any questions you might have about how to use anything inside the kit um or as an opportunity to talk about your specific pricing um to talk about your sales strategy to talk about um a very specific workshop experience that happened or that is coming up lessons learned things to do to prepare uh to put your mind at ease so there is that 15 minute bonus call and that as well um I think that after listening to all 10 of these episodes you could put together something on your own that is uh meaningful that is fun that is memorable um just I think you could put together a successful workshop experience if you have not yet or I think there's some things that you can pull in here to help what you already have. But if you are looking to kind of get going a little bit faster to have everything kind of already there all you have to do is reach for it and tweak it rather than create it based on what you learned here that kit is available to you. And the commercial license comes with links where you can edit the slide deck you can edit the field guide. And so that is there as a resource when or if that makes sense for you. At the completion of this series I will also ask specifically if you've enjoyed this episode or any of the other episodes if you would be willing to leave a review on whatever platform you're listening and then email customer success at enneagrammba.com that email address is also in the show notes um and either just send a screenshot of the review or let me know that you wrote a review and in return I will give you our manager prompt pack where we have um all the nine types all the manager styles um for how to lead the the various different types of of uh team members when it comes to recognition how to deliver feedback in a way that's most effective things to consider if you're leading a type one, two, three four five six seven eight nine um and that is a $47 value that is yours for free as a gift for taking your time and energy and brain power um to leave a review for this show bringing the Enneagram to groups um and with that I will sign off for now um I've shared it in other episodes but if you happen to have ideas for um maybe a future topic that you would like to see covered here or have a specific question or have a tip for how you run your workshops that you think would help others I'm happy to give you credit and pass that along in a future episode and and add on some some episodes. So please feel free to share questions, comments, other tips, tricks, lessons learned um over at Enneagram MBA.com forward slash contact. Thank you so much. I've enjoyed this this has been fun and I hope that you have gotten something out of it. And with that I am wishing you all the success with your own Enneagram workshop facilitation with your group's