About a month ago I held a virtual workshop. It didn’t go as well as planned.  

I was confident in the workshop’s content. It was based on a 15-hour strategic planning course we had created, a course that had gotten great reviews from the businesses and organizations who completed it.  

Due to this positive feedback, we decided to offer a free workshop to help others gain similar benefits without being limited by financial constraints. Since our business is a social enterprise, we thought this was one way we could give back. 

However, developing the online workshop was a challenge.  

We wanted people to have a great experience, gaining the same practical, hands-on experience that was so beneficial in the course.

So, rather than listening to me talk for an hour, we provided an overview with lots of examples and had the attendees work through an activity. We thought this would be a great way for people to not only learn the content but know how to apply it to their own business or organization. 

This is how I have taught many workshops for years. It works great. 

I’ve also held other virtual workshops in the past year and the breakout rooms worked well there too. Not everyone loved it, but most people were happy and saw the benefits from the hands-on experience. 

This workshop was different though. It required people to work as a team, not individuals sharing ideas. 

It posed a few challenges:   

1. People would attend alone without a team they knew and trusted. This would require them to manage unknown personalities as they worked together. 

2. The workshop was virtual. Unlike live workshops where people are more willing to turn and talk to people around them, they now had the opportunity to decline the small group discussion or leave the meeting without the social awkwardness of walking out of the room. 

3. The workshop was free. People aren’t as invested in the experience when it is free, compared to when they pay even a small fee.  

4. There wasn’t a mediator. I gave instructions, like I would in an in-person workshop, but I didn’t have the ability to circulate around the room to make sure people understood and were completing the task. 

These challenges proved to be too many.  

As a person who delivers professional learning in my full-time job, I couldn’t believe how poorly this workshop went. Then again, I have been teaching virtually in high school classrooms for the past two years; I know what can go wrong in these settings. 

And yet, I was still surprised. 

I was surprised at the mass exodus when the breakout rooms opened up. Even though participants were informed of the breakout rooms in the event description and at the start of the workshop, many seemed to panic and leave. 

I was also surprised to receive S.O.S. messages from participants asking to change rooms - people were monopolizing the conversation and/or not following instructions. 

In the end, the negative breakout room experience seemed to take away from the rest of the learning. Participants didn’t gain what I had hoped they would from the experience.

I’m not sure if the workshop was helpful at all.  

I was disappointed. 

Then I read a quote by Daniel Pink. It said: “Cultures of fear are full of pressure to succeed and show results. Cultures of levity celebrate failure as *necessary* to achieving breakthroughs.”  

It gave me some perspective.  

Yes, the workshop didn’t go as well as I hoped. But the experience showed me what didn’t work. I learned.  

While I may not be quite ready to celebrate my failure, as Pink suggests, I did see the value in learning what not to do in the future. It wasn’t an easy lesson.  

I was also reminded a few weeks later when I ran another online workshop, that it takes courage to dust yourself off, get back out there and try again with lessons learned. I was nervous, but I didn’t need to be. It went great. I had put those hard-earned lessons into practice.

As a challenge this week, I invite you to attempt to do the same. When you experience a setback or disappointment, reflect on where you went wrong and what you can change in the future. It may take some time to gain the distance needed, but, when possible, try to celebrate those *necessary* failures. A breakthrough may be right around the corner. 

Best wishes, Lauren

P.s. To learn more about our highly recommended strategic planning course, please click the button below.