Meetshop

Lately I’ve heard a few people say “workshops shouldn’t be boring like meetings.” As if we’ve accepted that meetings should be painful.

But when you think about it, the most effective workshops and meetings both have a lot of similarities:
• clear purpose (make a decision, ideate solutions, apply a framework)
• clear success outcomes
• someone who facilitates instead of just a mic-hogger
• the right people in the room
• a start and end time that people actually respect
• active participation (not passive clock-watching)
• useful visuals (optional, but no 200-slide monstrosities)
• clear next steps with owners and timeframes

And most of all, you should feel like your time mattered.

We’re putting so much energy into making workshops more effective and enjoyable (obvs a good thing!) yet meetings continue to be the middle child of workplace collaboration.

What could it look like if meetings were designed with as much care as workshops?