Why group workshops are a waste of time

Morning. This is Better BA. A practical newsletter for business analysts that gets straight to the point.

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Why group workshops are a waste of time

You heard me right. And I know what you’re thinking, ‘You must just be a terrible facilitator’. Maybe, but I think there’s more at play.

Lets look at a common scenario - I invite 10 people from the business to a Requirements Gathering workshop. The aim of the workshop is to document an existing process and highlight any problem areas.

Squeaky wheel gets the grease
It’s usually just one or two people in the group doing all of the talking. The rest of the group stays quiet, and not because they have nothing to say - they simply can’t compete with ‘Dave’ from HR who loves the sound of his own voice.

Of course, a good facilitator can help manage this situation and prompt involvement from others. This skill rarely gets the best out of the more introverted members of the group though, who usually revert to agreeing with those who have the loudest voice.

It takes too long to get everyone in the same ‘room’
Few things will kill a BAs motivation quicker than a lack of momentum.

I’m sure you’ve been in this boat. You’re involved in a new project. It’s exciting. First things first - let’s speak to some users! You check everyone’s calendar for a suitable time to book in your first workshop and… next available slot is in 3 weeks.

It’s much easier to contact these 10 people individually to ask for a quick 20 minute chat. You’ll probably get to talk to everyone within one week, and your depth of knowledge will increase with each individual conversation.

Relationship building
This is an obvious one. It’s much easier to build relationships with people when talking one to one. Remember those introverts we were talking about earlier? Well this is where they thrive.

And guess what? If someone genuinely has nothing to add then there’s no harm done. It’ll be a 2 minute conversation instead of a 1 hour workshop in 3 weeks time.

It’s all a bit too serious
There’s something about being in a meeting with 10 other strangers that really gets the heart pumping. Everyone freezes.

‘What if I say something stupid in front of everyone!’

The conversation becomes overly formal, and the likelihood of everyone speaking completely freely is basically non existent (Apart from Dave. Dave always speak freely). All of this is bad news for a BA who’s trying to get to the source of the truth, no matter how ugly that truth may be.

So what should I do instead?
Dialling in with users one-on-one is where the magic happens. You'll dig deeper, build better bonds - especially with the quieter folks - and uncover some real insights.

Sure, go ahead and schedule that big group workshop to make sure everyone’s on the same page if needed, but remember: the real gold is in those individual chats.

'“Wallowing in that state of not knowing is not easy, but it’s necessary.”

MEMES