In my experience of designing and running workshops for teams, I’ve noticed specific approaches that really help to create an environment of openness, curiosity, and engagement with the content – and of course, to make it fun and interesting!

Here’s what I’ve noticed

Don’t make it feel like a classroom

Adults come to learning environments with diverse backgrounds and experiences that influence their engagement and understanding. No one wants to be made to feel like the trainer or facilitator is the only one with experience and they’re all doing their jobs badly.

So in whatever ways possible, stay away from that – if they’re sitting, you should too. Don’t have all the chairs facing you, don’t be in the middle of the circle, etc.

Experiential Learning

You need to create environments where everyone feels like they have something useful to share. That will make them want to open up and add new information to their toolboxes.

As a facilitator, you can encourage this by using experiential learning techniques such as case studies, simulations, and role-playing activities. These activities can showcase different teams in turn so no one monopolises time, and can help ground learning in what’s most relevant.

Clear Goals

Start the workshop by establishing the foundation you’re building off, and give them a clear understanding of what you’ll cover, so participants can decide early on whether and how they will engage.

Begin by clearly stating the objectives and outcome. This helps set a practical framework for the learning, and shows how your session aligns with their personal or professional objectives.

Promote Collaborative Learning

Learning doesn’t exist in a vacuum so ensure you build an environment where participants learn from each other, and you learn from them, as well as sharing your expertise. It’s also a good idea to build in more informal moments of learning, either during breaks or in chat rooms.

Make sure you take the time after each session to reflect on new and challenging ideas shared with you. This can deepen understanding and engagement with your topics, and this allows people to learn together. We all learn in different ways so ensure you’ve accounted for that as much as possible.   

What other ideas have you come across, and what have you noticed working best in a workshop with adults?