Our team of experts is available to facilitate workshops tailored to your specific needs. Whether you need our established methods or a custom approach, we can accommodate groups of 3 to 48+ people, in-person and virtual, lasting from 2 hours up to 2 days. We also can facilitate projects that achieve some of the same results without a workshop.
We use methods and processes that amplify and accelerate your performance in a fun and engaging experience.
The following is what you can expect when receiving our workshop and project services.
To inquire about a workshop or project, email Steven Weissenburger, Director.
What to expect
Requirements to receive workshops or project services
- Scope: Strategic questions, opportunities, and risks for VUMC.
- Approval: Any VUMC team can receive our workshop or project services with the support of a VP, Department Chair, or VUMC-funded Center/Institute Director or higher.
- Expenses: During workshops, you pay for catered meals (e.g., lunch). Strategy and Innovation pays for space, staffing, snacks, drinks, parking validation.
Space reservations (without these services) are also free and do not require approval. See that webpage for details.
Scope the Work
All workshops and projects start with a scoping conversation between the lead sponsor(s) and our team. Lead sponsor(s) complete a brief questionnaire before the conversation about your sense of the situation and what you want to accomplish.
Once we understand your situation and determine the scope of your workshop, you will receive an Engagement Brief that outlines the next steps. The Strategy and Innovation team will work with you to ensure the event goes smoothly. Most importantly, everyone involved in the workshop must see it as the Lead Sponsor and Sponsor Team’s call to action.
Select the Planning Team
The first step will be selecting your team to help you throughout the workshop/project stages.
- Additional Sponsors (1-3 colleagues): They will work with you and our team on designing the activities.
- Project Manager: They will handle all the tasks your team needs to complete throughout the process. This includes input collection, communication with participants, pre-surveys, and producing executive summaries of the raw output from the workshop/project activities. They also work with our team to identify and resolve roadblocks in the process.
- Logistics Manager: They will handle calendar tasks for scheduling workshop(s) and meeting(s), and facilitate payment for incidental charges (e.g., catering).
Select the Participants
During our planning meetings, we will discuss various roles and perspectives essential to achieving the goals. We look for decision-makers, informal leaders and influencers, spokespeople who get the word out, reasonable skeptics, and individuals affected by the work.
We will facilitate your group through activities utilizing small breakout groups, with each activity building on the next. It is beneficial to have 3-7 people in each breakout to explore different vantage points simultaneously, then come back together to compare, iterate, and advance ideas collaboratively.
Schedule the Workshop
When planning a workshop, the Strategy and Innovation team will provide available dates and draft invitation templates for your Logisitics Manager to invite and poll essential participants for the best workshop date. Once your date is selected, you will confirm the date with the Strategy and Innovation office.
The next step will be scheduling the Sponsor Team meetings and inviting remaining attendees.
Deliverables
Our team will document all the raw output from the activities. We will deliver a journal that includes a Journal Guide with the final participant list, groups, and a description of each activity. Photos of workwalls, scans of any report out documents, and videos of verbal report outs will also be included.
Your team is responsible for translating these raw outputs into any executive summaries and other synthesis deliverables that you require.