Make every voice count

Looking back at our long workshop history, one thing sticks out: When people with diverse perspectives and expertise come together to solve a problem, it can feel almost magical. That’s why it’s very important to us, especially for kick-off workshops, to bring together many different contributors and stakeholders – from project leaders to team members, from marketing to sales, from content to development.

But how do we ensure that everyone is actually heard and can share their perspective?

In our experience, there are many good ways to prevent the CEO’s ideas from drowning out everyone else and to ensure that introverted team members can share their opinions, too. We have compiled the best 4 for you.

1. Clear “game rules” to create 
a safer space

It may sound trivial, but making the desired behaviour explicit works wonders. Simply state your ground rules before diving into the workshop.
You might want to start here:

• Every voice counts.
• We always assume the best intentions
and efforts of each other.
• There are no stupid questions.

2. Interview stakeholders in advance

Different perspectives are important, but overcrowded workshops are rarely productive.

That’s why we often conduct preliminary interviews with key stakeholders who need to be heard – but don’t necessarily have to actively participate. The results then feed into the rest of the research input.

3. Working in silence

In open dialogue, extroverted participants automatically prevail over those who are more introverted or prefer to think things through in their own time first.

A tried and tested method here are phases of silent work — in which participants prepare their input on post-its, and then present it to the group in a structured format.

4. Considerate facilitation

Good ground rules and well-prepared workshop exercises go a long way, but don’t underestimate the impact of a thoughtful workshop facilitator.

Make sure you keep inviting everyone to share their thoughts and make sure no one is interrupted.

Also, keep scanning the room for subtle cues such as facial expressions & address people by their name — “What do you think, Adèle?”