Secrets no one else will tell you…

When you prepare for a workshop facilitation session, all workshop facilitators should keep all these points in mind. It applies to all types of workshops, not only requirement gathering workshops. Take these secrets to heart and you will be surprised at your workshop attendee’s positive responses.

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We all want to be loved.

Building rapport even before the workshop with each attendee will guarantee therequirement gathering workshop facilitation has the best chance for success! Even before the requirement gathering workshop takes place, make sure you as the facilitator meet or at least phone each attendee! Have a chat to them about their understanding of what the session is all about, try and determine what is important to them, gage how they feel about the content or simply about the fact that they are expected to attend. You can even just simply call them to confirm they can make it and whether they have any questions prior to the session. By doing this first very basic step of engaging with each attendee individually you would have build good rapport that will take you a long way to being received with an open engaging audience.

We all want to belong.

An easy way to make someone feel they belong is to recognise each individual in front of everyone else during the workshop facilitation session. We all love feeling special and especially so if we are recognised for something positive in front of a larger group. As part of your pre-workshop rapport building you would know what is important to each individual. Make sure you use this during the session – the earlier in the session you can do it, the better. Ideas for doing this would be to point out something good or constructive about each attendee’s input they may provide.

We all want to learn.

Stretch people by choosing a format for the requirements workshop which will require them to participate in some way. During the workshop facilitation use posters, small group tasks, report back to the group and even just let them get out of their seats to do something. If people feel that they were contributing actively, they will also feel they got value for their time spent! This will have a great impact on how they feel about your requirements and it will build confidence in them that all requirements were considered thoroughly.

It is not about you.

You may be the one standing up and leading the workshop, but guess what, it is actually not about you for anyone in the workshop. When you run the requirements gathering workshop remember that it is about your attendees or requirement stakeholders. It is not about you, your nerves or what you can get out of it. It is all about the value you can deliver for the people attending the workshop. Focus on delivering as much value to the attendees by ensuring you are very well prepared, the workshop is structured, you usedifferent tools to stimulate conversation and you keep on track with your objectives for the session.

Return from Workshop Facilitation to BA Soft Skills..

Return from Workshop Facilitation to Business Analysis Excellence..