Everything I Know About Planning Workshops, I Learned Working at Summer Camp

I bet they spent a summer in the woods teaching middle schoolers how to play the perfect game of kickball or at the local rec center making countless perler bead masterpieces with a gaggle of 6-year-olds. Who knows, they may have even gone abroad and worked at a camp in Japan, or led impactful camps for kids whose parents have been diagnosed with cancer (all true stories from friends of mine, by the way).

Think about all the skills you could gain from working in environments like these. Your main task is to create a fun and engaging experience while also getting large groups of children to focus, follow directions, and be safe – and oh yeah it’s 90 degrees Fahrenheit outside. No easy feat, but you end up learning a lot with an audience that is very open to providing brutally honest feedback in the moment. Nothing humbles you like a snarky 5-year-old!

This leads me to the topic at hand – running workshops.

So what exactly did I learn while working with 30+ four and five-year-olds for five summers in a row that can be applied to leading workshops with adults?

I will answer that question in a series of blog posts. Here’s the first which focuses on timing!

People thrive on routine, so share a workshop agenda early

Many people say that the key to success is a dependable routine. Routines provide structure and predictability that can empower people to do their best.

Think back to when you were a kid and how predictable your day was: wakeup, get ready, commute, class, recess, class, lunch, class, commute, homework, dinner, sleep. Or think back to 2020 when COVID first hit and your normal routine was disrupted – did you feel the repercussions? I definitely did!

Early on at camp, I learned that deviating from our set daily routine was difficult for all kids, but it was especially challenging for kids with neurodivergence who often struggle with transitions. The predictability we designed in our schedule was essential to facilitating smooth transitions from activity to activity, limiting meltdowns, and ensuring everyone had fun.

Providing agendas in advance sets expectations and helps people feel better prepared.

So how do we create this predictability in a workshop setting for adults? Agendas!

Providing agendas in advance sets expectations and helps people feel better prepared. Have you ever been to a meeting with no communicated plan? It’s a lot like a day at camp with no plan: a nightmare and usually nothing of substance gets done.

The best time to communicate expectations is when you schedule the session, whether it’s in the calendar invite or an email introducing the workshop. Providing attendees with sufficient time to review the agenda empowers them to come to the workshop ready to participate and all on the same page. It also provides sufficient time for attendees to request accommodations or otherwise flag concerns or questions they might have, and it provides you, the facilitator, the necessary time to adjust plans if necessary.

Start the day with icebreakers to set the tone for the workshop

Camp always started with Circle Time. Why? Because at 8 AM, the 4-year-olds are either still half-asleep or running around the room in circles. You’ve got to wake some of them up and bring the others back down to earth. The songs and dance of circle time were a great way to ground the day, get everyone on the same page, and bring some energy into the group.

Similarly with a group of workshop attendees, bring the group together with an icebreaker.

Just like the camper who’s 2 cool 4 skool and refuses to dance, some might roll their eyes when they hear “icebreaker” – that’s fair! But remind participants of the value that an activity like this can bring:

• Participants who might not know each other get to see the personalities of the people in the group and get comfortable talking with each other, before it feels like its higher stakes.
• It helps the facilitator get a sense of the group they’re working with, which will in turn help them be better facilitators.
• It’s an opportunity to quickly get attendees familiar with virtual tools that will be used during the workshop, e.g. Miro, Mentimeter, Kahoot, etc.

Here’s a few icebreakers to try that are both fun and low stakes:

• Design your ideal sandwich, then explain your choice to the group.
• Share your favorite Slack emoji and explain why it’s your favorite.
• Run a quiz about the topic of the workshop on Kahoot.

When energy seems low, use breaks and energizers to get back on track

Energy levels naturally go up and down throughout the day, but think about how quickly they deplete when you are asked to really focus. We can’t expect anyone, whether they’re 5-years-old or 50-years-old, to keep going all day without thoughtful breaks and opportunities to release their stress. This is an even bigger deal when workshops are remote because everyone needs a break from staring at their screen. Zoom fatigue is real.

Consider if the workshop can be broken up across multiple days rather than squished into one. You can still cover the same amount of info, and your attendees’ energy levels will naturally be replenished the next morning. This might even be an easier sell than full day workshops, because attendees are not fully out of commission and can still have time for other work or meetings.

If multiple days isn’t an option, consider spacing fun and functional breaks throughout the day. After naptime at camp, you’d see glazed eyes and yawns everywhere, so to wake everyone up again, we ran a high-energy game. Similarly, workshop attendees might mentally checkout during a long day, so think about how to reel them back in.

Physical movement is a wonderful way to recenter and wake up at the same time.

A 10-minute bio break followed by a 15-minute activity is an easy way to relieve tired eyes, full bladders, and wandering minds. If you can get people up and out of their seats, that’s even better. Physical movement is a wonderful way to recenter and wake up at the same time.

Here’s a few workshop energizers that are both fun and functional:

• Guided stretching session
• Group trip to the kitchen/cafeteria/water cooler/wherever the snacks are
• Build a low-fidelity prototype with anything you have nearby
• Act out the interactions and steps users need to take to use the product in question

So when planning your next workshop, remember that people thrive on routine, so it’s key to share a workshop agenda early. Starting the workshop with icebreakers sets the tone for the rest of the event. And finally, anticipating that energy will go low, plan breaks and energizers to get back on track.

Want to see these tips in action? Hire us to run a workshop for your team! Whether it’s as a follow-up to a research project to help socialize learnings or as a stand alone event, workshops are a great tool to bring teams together to facilitate creativity and action.

Next time, I discuss what we can learn about workshop facilitation from summer camp – read here.