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Objectives: The key question to ask is: ‘Why are we staging this workshop?’
Some of the possible reasons were outlined earlier, but it is
important to be absolutely clear why this group of people has
been brought together and what is the expected result. It may be
that the outcome will be a set of detailed process models, or
perhaps decisions will be made on the future of the project, or a
signed-off specification of requirements produced. One common
mistake is to make the objectives of a workshop too ambitious for
the time available; this issue is discussed in the commentary
below, under ‘Using workshops’. Whatever the objectives are,
they should be clearly stated on the agenda, which should be sent
to the participants in enough time for them to prepare properly
for the meeting.
Attendees: Clarity about the objectives should make it clear who the
attendees should be. If the purpose of the workshop is to discover
things, then priority must be given to people who have detailed
knowledge on which to draw. If the workshop is expected to
make decisions, then authority as well as knowledge is required.
Sometimes knowledge and authority are not both found in one
person, so the list of invitees may have to be widened to include
more people. BAs organising a workshop must also decide
whether they should facilitate the workshop themselves or ask a
colleague to do so; the implications of this important decision are
discussed below under ‘Using workshops’.
Concerns: Once we know who the attendees will be, we need to try and find
out what their concerns are likely to be, and thus from what
‘angle’ they will approach the workshop. This will enable the
facilitator to think about what techniques to employ and how to
manage the workshop.
Structure: The objectives will also point towards an appropriate structure
for the workshop – getting all of the issues out on the table and
assessing their significance before trying to find solutions, for
example.
Techniques: The facilitator needs to consider the objectives and the attendees,
and decide which techniques may be most appropriate to use.
Some of these are considered below.
Venue: A suitable venue must be booked for the workshop. ‘Suitable’
covers various aspects, including size (not too cramped or too
large, which would ruin the dynamic of the workshop), comfort (of
chairs, temperature and so forth), convenience for the attendees,
and services required (for example, catering and audiovisual
equipment). A major decision is needed on whether the workshop
should be held on site or off site, and some thoughts about this are
given under ‘Using workshops’ later in this section.
INVESTIGATE SITUATION