Co-Design Workshop: How It Works and When You Need It
Insert whatever “co” works for you: collective, collaborative, connected, coordinated, combined, cooperative. In any case, co-design is an intentional gathering of people with different vantage points coming together to design something meaningful. From organizational, systemic issues to generating fresh ideas, collaborative design workshops put people in the same room, virtually or in-person, to creatively explore ideas and get feedback within a time-boxed workflow. When people, across multiple disciplines and backgrounds, come together in this way - real change occurs.
Benefits of Collaborative Workshops
Genuine collaboration results in improved outcomes for everyone involved. It leads to less friction, stronger relationships, aligned values, improved quality of life, and better work. Whatever outcome you aim for, hiring an experienced co-design facilitation team to guide the design from start to finish can ensure a workshop's success. With a well-organized team and a room full of willing participants, co-design workshops produce faster results and more connected teams for organizations and communities to thrive.
Through collaborative workshops, Earnest Journey’s team has helped to:
Develop a pipeline of new program opportunities and identify community engagement ambassadors for a major healthcare foundation.
Design the 3-year strategic plan with an organization focused on breaking multigenerational cycles of childhood trauma.
Create a new independent nonpartisan public policy research center.
Create an organizational model and develop a relocation plan for a music education organization.
Develop a youth leadership program that provides the foundation and experience to solve complex problems.
Gain commitment from the community to invest time in literacy education to double the number of third-graders reading on grade level.
Similarly, co-design allows teams to embrace complexity. Experience has taught us that complex problems call for brainpower from multiple perspectives. Large and small teams, institutions, entire communities, and even whole international networks are using systems of co-creation workshops to open up new possibilities and challenge assumptions.
When Is a Collaborative Workshop Used?
Whatever the intended goal, a co-design workshop takes people through a series of modules and exercises to help them generate as many ideas as possible and look at all of the opportunities from multiple viewpoints. Sometimes it's all about alignment. Sometimes the gathering is all about a list of steps to carry an idea forward.
A workshop for 80 people starts with a series of meetings for organizers and major stakeholders to express their desired outcomes for the workshop. Building something meaningful with colleagues or peers can open up new possibilities, so the facilitation team works backward with the intended purpose, objectives, and outcomes in mind.
To prepare for a co-design workshop, ask yourself these questions:
Overall, what is the workshop’s purpose? What is the compelling context and reason for people to gather?
What do you want to create together? What would a document look like that came out of this workshop that people could take and start implementing the week after?
What is the current state? What challenges are you facing?
What are your aspirations for the future state?
What challenges do you foresee in the path to the future state?
What are the boundaries within which the workshop exists? What don’t you want to talk about or change?
What questions do you want the participants to answer? What decisions do you want the participants to help you make?
Who can answer the questions and help make these decisions? Who can speak to this subject from another angle? Consider including as many perspectives from your organization and network as possible. Who might challenge our assumptions? It could be competitors, vendors, actual paying customers, teachers, members of the community.
What do you want participants to experience by creating the work?
How Does the Collaborative Process Work?
Once you’ve determined who needs to be in the room and what objectives you want to meet, the collaboration team works with organizers to design what participants will be doing during their 1, 2, or 3-day workshop. Some groups require partial workshop days to allow for business to continue, while other groups prefer to work consecutively through the process to maximize their time together in the room.
When the time comes for the participants to gather, the facilitation team uses co-creation workshop methods to carry them through a process of designing, thinking, and iterating, all while building stronger and more communicative teams.
If to facilitate is to “make easy,” then to co-design is to “commitment.” People love what they create. They feel connected to the design's success. Ultimate commitment comes from being involved in the creation. When people co-design, their voices get heard, concerns get addressed, and ideas get brought to life.
The facilitation team makes the process easy with visuals and explanations. They use co-creation workshop tools and models like whiteboards and flexible workspaces all while seamlessly guiding participants through the process to maximize time and efficiency. All the participants have to do is show up and open their minds.
Typically, a facilitated co-design process speeds up the design process and makes gathering easier, but the work that happens following the workshop tends to be the hardest. The “now what?” becomes an organized plan, a list of principles, an aligned team, or whatever the intended goal. Most importantly, the participants get energized about what they created and ready to carry the work forward.
Consider including as many perspectives within your system or network as possible. Recognize that ultimate commitment comes from being involved in the creation. Imagine the possibilities that arise from gathering and building together. And finally, start collaborating.
How a Collaboration Workshop Facilitator Can Help You
Simply put, there IS an easier way. It’s hard enough to gather groups of people and ensure the workshop is a success, but to do so with ease and efficiency and FUN is a true feat. Make no mistake, this work is tricky, especially for those that have never been involved in a collaborative design workshop before.
An experienced facilitator with tools and skills can make your workshop a truly enjoyable experience from start to finish. A facilitation team will guide you through the design process to prepare for the workshop. During the workshop, you will be a participant and share your ideas, knowing that the facilitation team will hold the space for participants to express their ideas and keep everyone on track to meet the workshop's goals.
Whether you’re working to change the world, your city, community, or organization, let’s talk possibilities.