Whether taking part in a pub quiz, participating in a raft building survival exercise, or running a business, we are invariably more successful at solving problems if we all pull together as a team rather than attempting to figure things out in isolation – two heads are ‘usually’ better than one.

Market research workshops provide the ideal environment to identify possible solutions for all sorts of commercial problems and help inform strategic decision making. The workshop participants, and/or stakeholders, act as a resource for the problem owner, each one bringing to bear their own knowledge, experience, and creativity, working together as a team with a common purpose for the allotted time.

The most successful workshop facilitators are those who are skilled at clearly defining the problem and the task in hand, providing sufficient, but not too much background information, setting and managing a series of well thought through creative exercises and feedback sessions, and overall providing an environment where each individual can contribute openly and fully to the discussion(s). When these ingredients come together, the problem owner, facilitator and participants can leave the workshop with a sense of satisfaction and ‘job well done’, and the resulting output or write-up will almost write itself.

Ideation or creative workshops are probably the most common type of workshop employed within market research. My first encounter with this approach – going back a few years now – was at Research International in the early days of ‘Interactive Innovation’. RI’s approach involved the use of projective techniques to encourage lateral thinking to generate ideas. They would then take the best of these to turn them into potential solutions. Fundamental to their approach was the separation of idea generation and idea evaluation (divergent followed by convergent approaches) and then additional idea generation to overcome potential barriers.

This type of creative problem solving can be used to address a wide range of commercial problems from new product or concept development, generating advertising ideas, brainstorming new names, supporting brand identity development… Over the years I have been involved in or facilitated many such workshops both from the client’s perspective (e.g. when Eurotunnel chose to drop the name LeShuttle – which I note has just been revived) and more recently as a research consultant working on branding and communications challenges for the government.

Earlier this year I was asked to co-facilitate a different kind of workshop – ‘War Gaming’. The project was for an FMCG client who was about to launch an extension to their product range which would directly compete on territory occupied by a key competitor. The aim of the workshop was, through role play, to anticipate how the competition might react to the new product launch and to develop a series of possible logistical, commercial and communication strategies.

Although the War Games exercise was rather different to other creative workshops I have run or been involved in, my ten top tips would remain the same in each case:

1. Diversity improves creativity: Include, wherever possible, participants with different backgrounds and perspectives to optimize creativity
2. Clearly define the problem: Ensure all participants/stakeholders fully understand the problem and the reason for the workshop – keep the problem wording simple
3. Choose an appropriate venue: Ensure the room is the right size for the number of people/break-out groups, that it is fit for purpose and has the necessary equipment (projector, white boards, pens, paper, plenty of sticky notes…). Refreshments and toilets should be close by
4. Prepare in advance: Practice or test out the day’s tasks – are the instructions clear and easy to follow? Has sufficient time been allowed for each person to contribute? Have you included activities that take into account different personality types e.g. ask participants to write down their ideas and then read them out. Include creative tasks and activities that sometimes allow participants to stand up and move around the room in order to maintain energy levels. Inject some fun!
5. Avoid information overload: Keep on-the-day information sharing to a minimum but set pre-tasks to get participants thinking about the problem before they arrive
6. Set ground rules and delegate: At the start establish clear ground rules such as if, when and where mobile phones can be used, and introduce and explain the roles of the different people involved in facilitation. Ensure you nominate a timekeeper and a note-taker for each breakout group
7. Time management: Share the timed agenda indicating when participants can expect lunch and coffee/comfort breaks. Stress to them the importance of sticking to the schedule.
8. Set clear goals and expectations: State clearly (and simply) up front what is expected of the participants at each stage and how the information will be used
9. Involve the team to encourage ownership: For each session or task nominate or ask for a volunteer to feedback to the group as a whole
10. Close the loop: To close the workshop, provide feedback and thank your participants, explain next steps. Ideally, involve your end client in this.

Further reading: How to design and lead successful workshops by Pamela Hamilton.

#workshops #marketresearch