How to run workshops virtually

Why it’s important to tailor virtual workshops for remote attendees

Virtual workshops, a necessity when COVID-19 started, are now here to stay. Even if the worst days of the pandemic are over, for many there’s been a permanent change to the way we work.

Post-pandemic, 20% of full workdays will be from home, according to a research paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), compared to 5% before COVID-19. Moreover, approximately 6 in 10 US workers who say their work can be completed at home are choosing to do so most or all of the time, according to the Pew Research Center.

Moreover, the majority of US companies are expected to spend less on travel, compared to their pre-pandemic expenditure. Deloitte reports that 68% of those with travel budget oversight say they’re likely to limit travel frequency as a cost control measure. 

Thinking about workshops, that means it’s likely that for each session, at least one of your key attendees won’t be available to attend in person from now on. Increased sophistication of – and familiarity with – virtual meeting platforms has seen to that.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing though. Virtual workshops, or workshops featuring at least some remote participants, have many advantages. Notably, they make it easier for all the key stakeholders to attend – regardless of city, state, or even country.

Arguably, workshops are the most important meetings to attend, whether in-person or virtually. They are usually the most collaborative ones and their success depends entirely on the contributions of those present. 

For research projects in general, there are two milestones where workshops are often very important:

• At the beginning – to align on business needs and research objectives; for example:
  • In segmentation projects, to clarify existing segment definitions – but also to brainstorm or hypothesise a potential segmentation, to understand what will or won’t work
  • For tracking projects, you can use a workshop to collaboratively evaluate the metrics that will provide the most value to track over time
• At the end – to align on the insights, implications and next steps; for example:
  • In new product development projects, you can workshop the best product launch marketing and sales strategies, based on the research results
  • For customer journey projects, you can review the final map(s) and come up with action plans to target key touchpoints more successfully

Workshops are also especially important in B2B.

Why? The products you’re trying to create are more complex and expensive than in B2C – increasing the importance of an ideation workshop. The B2B customer journey is longer than in B2C, so once you have a comprehensive map of it, you need to collaborate more with key stakeholders to implement change – which calls for an implementation workshop. 

Also, B2B decision-making units are larger and key individuals are harder to reach. Again, that means more workshopping to ensure relevant staff will understand the purchase process and how to influence it.

In this article, we’ll explain how to use virtual workshops for different research project types and stages, before sharing our best practices to ensure they go smoothly. Benefits of virtual workshops include:

• More people can attend – you can collaborate across locations and time zones
• Easier to find large blocks of time for scheduling, due to improved access
• Attendees can save time on travel, or reallocate offline workshop travel time to preparation time
• Less need to write up workshop notes afterward – contributions are made digitally

#1 Encourage attendees to keep their cameras on

Workshops are much more interactive sessions than standard meetings – keeping cameras on as much as possible will keep the energy levels up.

Not everyone may be able to, for a variety of fair reasons. Where possible though, it will make the workshop much more engaging.

It’s more efficient to advise attendees that camera-on participation is encouraged in good time before the workshop takes place. It gives them more time to prepare, by finding a suitable room for example.

#2 Don’t let participants sit in silence 

Another good way to encourage engaging and interactive collaboration is to show attendees that anyone could be asked a question at any moment.

Of course, the questions need to be pertinent ones, aimed at relevant people. The aim is to avoid a common trap in remote meetings, where if people aren’t contributing, then they may mentally ‘switch off’ or continue with other work in the background.

The aim is not to catch people out or embarrass anyone, by checking whether they’re listening. Disengaged participants can also be a sign of the workshop host owning too much of the speaking responsibility, or the overall format not being collaborative enough.

Again, if needed, set expectations in advance of the meeting – a workshop is not a webinar, and attendees will be expected to engage throughout, to achieve the session’s objectives.

#3 Begin with an icebreaker or energizer

With remote attendees not given as much chance to feed off the energy of being in a room together, start with an energizer task if people are meeting each other for the first time.

It’s a good way to get everyone thinking and talking at the start of the workshop – and Miro, for example, has several options to make things more interactive. 

There will be an option for every audience type – so don’t use a cheesy icebreaker if you know it will fall flat.

#4 Schedule some breakout group sessions

Quieter participants in particular may do their best work in smaller groups. Without any planning ahead to encourage them to participate, they may struggle to make their voice heard in a virtual workshop where you can’t see everyone at the same time.

It can also be a more effective use of time. More people have a chance to speak at the same time, in different rooms – whereas with everyone in the same room, it’s usually one speaker at a time only.

Most virtual workshop platforms have a built-in function to split the workshop into small virtual rooms quickly and easily. Mural has good breakout team templates, making it easy to capture groups’ work and then combine all the contributions later on.

#5 Make time for breaks – for rest, networking, or both

In-person workshops can be tiring, as they’re usually longer than a standard meeting. 

Factor in ‘screen fatigue’ to a virtual workshop and attendees may tire even quicker, so make sure you work in breaks at key intervals.

Not every break has to be to rest or to focus on other work. If lots of attendees are meeting each other for the first time, consider scheduling networking breaks for them.