workshopswithwow

One of my pet hates is going along to a workshop where we are not given the opportunity to introduce ourselves to the others in room. Yes, you can argue it takes up valuable time especially in a short workshop, however, one of the key drivers for people to attend events is to network and meet like minded people.

A short introduction

• provides safety, we all get a sense of who else is in the room and are more likely to share our experiences
• gives an opportunity for the networkers in the room to identify whom they would like to talk to in the breaks
• allows the introverts speaking time. If an introvert doesn’t speak early in the session they can often sit through the workshop and not have the confidence to share their ideas.
• sets the scene for the workshop and builds the group or team

Robyn asked a question about timing with workshops especially with introductions. The way I like to handle this is by giving a time frame and clear instructions for the introductions. I will put this up on the whiteboard so it is understood by everyone.

For example

Introductions (in one minute)

• name
• location 
• What attracted you to attend this session?

I find that if everyone is clear about the timeframe and the instructions they tend to stick to the guidelines and not ramble on. If they do ramble on, the pre-set timeframe gives the facilitator permission to politely close them down and move onto the next person.

Another tip is to ask everyone to write down their introductions, give them a minute or two to write down what they are going to say to the group. This gives the introverts thinking time keeps the extroverts quiet for a minute. It also means people have clarified their thinking and will listen to what the person speaking is saying rather than preparing their own introduction in their head.

Rather than working your way around the room ask for a volunteer to start and then move randomly around the room. I like to use a ball to throw around rather than creeping from person to person. The ball provides some fun and lightness to the process.

There are lots of great tools for introductions and icebreakers to build the group which I will cover in future blogs.