Think back to the best workshop you’ve ever attended. Odds are, it felt energizing. You walked away with clarity, momentum, and a sense of shared purpose. You may have even thought, “Why can’t work always feel like this?”

Workshops don’t just solve immediate problems. They shape how teams work together long after the session ends. Participants become better collaborators. Sponsors become better leaders. Facilitators become essential connectors in the organizational ecosystem.

I’ve published two reports to help you on your journey — Introducing The Forrester Workshop Design Framework and The Forrester Guide To Designing Effective Workshops.

Great workshops don’t happen by accident. In the connected, collaborative enterprise, workshop design and facilitation grows beyond skills held by an intrinsically motivated few to a core collaboration capability cultivated intentionally at scale.

Report Highlights

Learn About Workshop Building Blocks

  1. Principles: What must be true for the workshop to achieve its goals?
  2. Characteristics: What behaviors should the workshop elicit?
  3. Components: What must be designed for the workshop to function?

Understand Roles And Responsibilities

Workshops aren’t spectator events. They’re built on shared ownership. When each role (facilitators, sponsors, and participants) executes effectively, workshops become high-trust, high-impact moments that propel work forward.

Use Facilitator Pro Tips

Great facilitators see the bigger picture. They:

  1. Understand participants’ and sponsors’ context. Workshops don’t start when the meeting begins — they start during planning. Skilled facilitators explore the team’s “story so far,” including collaboration habits, barriers, tensions, and expectations.
  2. Help teams write the next chapter, not the conclusion. A workshop isn’t the end of the story. It’s a pivotal moment that unlocks the next phase. Facilitators empower teams to uncover insights and define next steps — not dictate the final answer.

Follow A Step-By-Step Guide For Planning

Craft high-impact workshops by applying the four C’s:

  1. Contextualize: Understand the environment and constraints.
  2. Cocreate: Build goals and activities collaboratively with sponsors.
  3. Confirm: Validate goals, prompts, and agendas before finalizing.
  4. Communicate: Set clear expectations with participants before the workshop begins.

Workshops Build Capability — One Session At A Time

If your organization wants to use workshops and facilitation to boost alignment, accelerate decision-making, and grow a culture of shared ownership, these reports are your blueprint.

Let’s Connect

If you’re a Forrester client and want to dive deeper, you can set up a guidance session or inquiry with me. And, of course, you can find me on LinkedIn.