Facilitated Workshops - When & Why

The “good old workshop”. As a business analyst practitioner and trainer I often get asked the question “should we use a workshop?” quickly followed by “how do we run it?”. This article addresses the first question (subsequent articles will look at the second).

The first job in deciding whether to run a workshop (as opposed to more traditional approaches such as interviewing) is in understanding our objectives for the workshop i.e. what do we want to achieve and what deliverables are we after?

When to use a workshop?
The first job in deciding whether to run a workshop (as opposed to more traditional approaches such as interviewing) is in understanding our objectives for the workshop i.e. what do we want to achieve and what deliverables are we after?

Are we looking at producing a project terms of reference, the scope for a project, a decision, a project plan, an improved process, a risk mitigation plan, a set of requirements (particularly for IT related projects) or a course of action from many possible alternatives? After all, your real objective is to maximize the potential for the success of your project or initiative.