Many of us have weeks filled with static meetings where, in some cases, we feel uninvolved or question who in the room is actually buying into the discussion. Attendees are left wondering, 'Is this relevant to me? Do I need to be here? Is this really a one-hour meeting?' These gatherings can be mind-numbing. There are tons of articles that discuss the need for fewer meetings; here's a fun one to read that inspired me: Stop The Meeting Madness. Meetings can be inefficient when questions and decisions could be satisfied with a chat message, text, email, or an attached short video, all in less than 5 minutes of quick exchanges.
Instead, 30 or 60-minute meetings are the norm. I've been a part of too many meetings where attendees have great ideas to share, but they never speak up because they don't feel like their input is desired. Think about it; there are dozens of people with dozens of thoughts to share; there just isn't enough time in a one-hour meeting for all that sharing to happen.
For me, that's why I love workshops; many of these challenges get eliminated. Choose a workshop when you need to go beyond those basic answers to challenges. They empower and energize the team, which creates better solutions. Using the popular Double Diamond Method, workshops create an opportunity to draw out, share, and receive feedback on many thoughts. Then there's the opportunity to align them with the group and create action steps that multiple participants can take in unison: more conversations, more ideas, more vetted solutions.