workshops work
Welcome to “workshops work,” the podcast that transforms how professionals engage, inspire, and lead groups. Hosted by Dr Myriam Hadnes, a behavioural economist and facilitation evangelist, each episode dives into facilitation techniques and mindsets that make workshops successful.
Join us every week as we sit down with world-renowned facilitators and uncover their secrets to creating psychological safety, fostering collaboration, and sparking innovation. Whether you’re a Facilitator, L&D professional, HR leader, manager, coach or trainer, you’ll find practical tips, inspiring stories, and actionable insights to elevate your group dynamics.
From navigating conflict to unlocking creativity, “workshops work” blends theory with practice, ensuring you walk away with tools you can immediately apply. Dr Myriam Hadnes doesn’t just interview; she facilitates enriching conversations that shift perspectives and deepen understanding.
Let’s democratise facilitation, one workshop at a time.
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Visit https://workshops.work/podcast for a free 1-page summary of each episode.
workshops work
019 - Workshop tactics: Can we design workshops without experience? - with Charles Burdett
In this episode, I talk to Charles Burdett, a UX Designer and the founder of Workshop Tactics, a card deck with exercises for workshop facilitators. I reached out to Charles after I saw examples of his early alpha version on Instagram. And, I was lucky enough to get him to honestly share his experience of developing a physical product for workshop facilitators.
In the show, we discuss the needs of newbie and professional facilitators in terms of tools that make workshops work, what we can learn from UX Design about workshop participants. And, we speak about the difference between workshop exercises, tactics and strategies, namely how wording can impact participants’ engagement in workshops.
Don’t miss the part when we make up the workshop hierarchy of needs that could fail your session despite high-quality content, precise tactic preparation and world-class facilitation.
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Questions and Answers
[1:53] You have a background in UX Design and developed Workshop Tactics. What’s your story behind this idea?
[7:44] What have you learned from UX for workshop facilitation?
[9:45] How does UX works when we think of workshop participants as users?
[11:34] You mentioned in a previous call how you knew an exercise similar to the “premortem” for design workshops. Could you run us through?
[15:15] What are the skills a facilitator needs to make workshops with internal and external stakeholders work?
[19:33] Can you briefly explain the concept of OKR?
[23:33] What are the prerequisites for a facilitator to be able to use your card deck?
[25:24] What would be your advice for someone who uses your card deck for the first time?
[28:20] Where do you think this ‘eye-rolling’ when speaking about workshops comes from?
[30:11] What do you understand by tactics when you speak about workshops?
[33:32] As a facilitator, what do you need to do before starting the tactical part?
[40:17] Do we need creative rooms to host workshops that work?
[44:05] What’s your favourite exercise?
[49:15] What do you want the audience to remember from our conversation?
Related links you may want to check out:
- Charles' business page: www.workshoptactics.com
- Radical Focus by Christina Wodtke
- Lean UX by Jeff Gothelf and Josh Seiden
- Our sponsor Session Lab (affiliate link)
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