Creative workshops are not like normal business meetings. Where you sit, listen, nod your head and leave. Attendees have to work hard. They’ve got to join in. They’ve got to come up with ideas.

As a facilitator, your challenge is to extract the maximum creativity from the attendees. It’s important to get people in the right zone, right from the beginning.

Here are some suggestions:

1 Set Out The Rules of Engagement

Be clear up front that this will not be like other meetings. People are generally compliant if you ask them nicely. Present the rules in whatever way you see fit. However, what you need to say to people is:

1 Volume of ideas is important. Therefore don’t censor yourself and write them down

2 Listen and build on other people’s thinking. Stay engaged throughout

3. Critique what you see or hear with a positive and constructive mindset

To help people stay compliant, ensure that you model these expected good behaviours. People will follow your lead. Make sure you police them. Point out when people are not following them.

2 Build Rapport

I’ve written about this in detail in a previous post - click here - but it’s particularly important in a creative workshop. Creativity requires bravery and trust. Create a safe and supportive environment. Be positive and energetic. Make people feel relaxed. Make them feel comfortable. So people feel happy to verbalise their ideas, no matter how crazy they might be.

3 Ease People into the session

Set a simple and easy creative challenge upfront. It’s like having a gentle stretch before a run. You’ll loosen up people’s brains and get them in the groove. It also helps with rapport building. The kinds of things you could do are:

• a simple, playful quiz

• sharing an experience related to the category

• asking them to draw something

Keep it quick, keep it relevant to the task, and make sure everyone has a chance to join in and contribute.

Summary

Like most successful ventures, getting off to a great start is key. During the workshop itself, you can be fluid and flexible. However, plan and practice how you kick off the session. A creative workshop is different from normal meetings. People must know and understand what’s expected of them and how to behave. Once they do, you’ll make the most of their creative capabilities.

Once you get going, you can incorporate creative exercises into your session. Click here and here for some suggestions.