532: Make problem solving fun and effective using a workshop approach – with Alison Coward

Transform product team collaboration with Workshop Culture Watch on YouTube

TLDR

In my recent conversation with Alison Coward, author of Workshop Culture, we explored how product managers can transform collaboration and problem-solving through effective workshop facilitation. Alison shared that workshop culture isn’t about running constant workshops but about applying workshop principles to everyday collaboration. The key is a three-part approach: thorough preparation before, skilled facilitation during, and consistent follow-through after. By starting with the end in mind and focusing on creating the right environment for both introverted and extroverted team members, product managers can break down silos and foster innovation as a collective outcome.

Key Topics

• Defining workshop culture and its importance for cross-functional collaboration
• The three-part workshop process (before, during, after)
• Starting with the end in mind when planning workshops
• Effective facilitation techniques that balance different communication styles
• The power of being the “ignorant” facilitator without domain expertise
• Creating the right physical environment for productive workshops
• Ensuring post-workshop implementation and follow-through
• Real-world example of transforming organizational collaboration
• Innovation as a collective outcome requiring effective team dynamics

Introduction

Today we’re exploring how product managers can improve their work with stakeholders, promote collaboration and trust, and apply a problem-solving approach. Our guest is Alison Coward, author of Workshop Culture: A Guide to Building Teams That Thrive. With over 20 years of experience leading creative teams, Alison has helped organizations worldwide boost team creativity, productivity, and collaboration. We’ll unpack what workshop culture means, learn practical steps for product managers to design impactful workshops, and hear real examples of how these techniques have helped teams overcome challenges.

Understanding Workshop Culture

Alison defined workshop culture as “ a team culture that uses the principles and practices of workshops and facilitations to achieve creativity and productivity and to build a more effective environment for team collaboration.” It doesn’t mean a team is running workshops all the time. Instead, it’s about applying the principles and practices of workshops and facilitation to create a more effective environment for team collaboration.

Think about the last great workshop you attended. Remember that feeling at the end of the day – ideas flowing freely, people engaging meaningfully, and clear outcomes achieved. Often, this feeling disappears when you go back to work the next day. Workshop culture aims to capture this energy and extend it into everyday work.

Despite recognizing the importance of collaboration in theory, many product teams struggle to make it work in practice. Meetings become status updates rather than problem-solving sessions. Stakeholders protect their territory rather than exploring possibilities. The implementation gap between idea and execution grows wider.

Workshop culture bridges this gap by focusing on three key elements:

For product managers, implementing workshop culture means transforming how your team approaches problems. Rather than defaulting to the highest-paid person’s opinion or the loudest voice in the room, you create structured opportunities for all perspectives to contribute to solutions.

The result? Teams that not only collaborate more effectively during dedicated sessions but carry that collaborative mindset into all aspects of product development.

The Three-Part Workshop Process

Effective workshops involve much more than just the session itself. Alison described a three-part process that many product managers overlook when planning collaborative activities:

1. Before: Preparation and Planning

Preparation represents nearly 60% of what makes a workshop successful. This phase involves researching context, understanding team dynamics, clarifying objectives, and designing activities that will achieve your desired outcomes.

2. During: Facilitation and Activities

This is what most people think of as “the workshop” – the actual time when participants gather to collaborate. While important, Alison noted that even the best-planned activities can go sideways if you’re not prepared to adapt to what emerges in the room.

3. After: Implementation and Follow-Up

Perhaps the most neglected aspect of workshops is what happens afterward. Without deliberate follow-through, even the most energizing session can fail to create lasting impact. This phase transforms insights into action.

When I work with product teams, I often see an overemphasis on the “during” phase – selecting cool activities or techniques – while neglecting thoughtful preparation and consistent follow-up. Alison’s framework provides a more balanced approach.

For product managers, this three-part process applies to various collaborative scenarios:

• Customer journey mapping sessions
• Feature prioritization workshops
• Roadmap planning meetings
• Retrospectives and lessons-learned reviews
• Cross-functional problem-solving sessions

By treating each phase with equal importance, you significantly increase the likelihood that your collaborative efforts will produce meaningful results rather than just generating ideas that never see implementation.

Starting with the End in Mind

When preparing your workshop, rather than starting with activities or exercises, Alison advised beginning with what happens after the workshop ends. Imagine yourself at the end of the workshop. What results did you get? What did you achieve?

This approach resembles the “pre-mortem” technique I often use with product teams. While a post-mortem analyzes what went wrong after a project ends, a pre-mortem imagines potential failures before you begin. Alison’s method takes this concept further by envisioning success and working backward.

Here’s how product managers can apply this approach:

1. Envision successful implementation: Picture your team three months after the workshop. What specific changes have occurred? What decisions have been implemented? How has your product development process improved?
2. Identify necessary outputs: Based on your vision of success, determine what tangible deliverables the workshop needs to produce. These might include prioritized feature lists, customer journey maps, or action plans with clear ownership.
3. Research context thoroughly: Understanding team dynamics and project history represents about 50-60% of effective workshop planning.
4. Connect with key stakeholders: Conduct one-on-one conversations with participants before the workshop to understand their perspectives, concerns, and desired outcomes.

This approach transforms workshops from isolated events into strategic inflection points in your product development process. By starting with the end in mind, you ensure that every activity and discussion directly contributes to tangible progress rather than just generating ideas that never see implementation.

Designing an Effective Workshop

Once you’ve envisioned what success looks like after your workshop, Alison recommended a structured approach to designing the session itself. This process helps product managers move beyond generic brainstorming to create truly purposeful collaborative experiences.

Alison outlined key steps that form the backbone of effective workshop design:

1. Identify Clear Purpose and Outcomes

Begin with a concise statement of why you’re bringing people together and what you intend to achieve. For product managers, this might be “Align on our Q3 roadmap priorities” or “Identify the top customer pain points to address in our next release.”

2. Determine Tangible Outputs

Define the specific deliverables you need the workshop to produce. These tangible outputs should directly support your post-workshop implementation plan. Examples include:

• Prioritized feature list with effort/impact estimates
• Refined user personas with key insights
• Journey maps highlighting critical moments
• Decision matrix for evaluating options

3. Brainstorm Essential Questions

Instead of jumping to activities, Alison suggested brainstorming all the questions you need answered during the session. This question-based approach focuses on curiosity rather than predetermined outcomes.

4. Design Agenda Based on Questions

Structure your agenda to address these questions in a logical flow. This ensures your workshop tackles the right problems in the right order.

5. Select Appropriate Activities

Only now should you select specific exercises and techniques that will help answer your essential questions and produce your desired outputs.

This methodical approach prevents a common pitfall I’ve observed in product teams—choosing workshop activities because they seem fun or trendy rather than because they serve your specific purpose. By following Alison’s process, you create workshops that deliver meaningful results rather than just generating temporary enthusiasm.

Facilitation During the Workshop

Even the best-planned workshop agenda must be held lightly. When facilitating product team sessions, you’ll need to adapt to the dynamics that emerge once everyone is in the room together.

Setting the Tone

Alison recommended starting workshops with an interactive exercise that signals “this isn’t a normal meeting.” These opening activities establish psychological safety and participation norms that carry through the entire session.

Foundational Facilitation Techniques

Alison shared several foundational techniques that she frequently includes in workshops.

• Breakout discussions: split into smaller groups for more intimate discussions.
• Individual reflection: Provide time for people to think about a question individually before discussing it.

The Cycle of Facilitation

Alison broke down effective facilitation into a repeating four-part cycle that product managers can master:

1. Asking questions: Pose clear, thoughtful questions that drive toward your workshop goals.
2. Active listening: Pay close attention to responses, watching for both verbal and non-verbal cues.
3. Managing discomfort and chaos: Get comfortable with the messiness of divergent thinking.
4. Synthesizing insights: Connect ideas and identify patterns to move the group forward.

This cycle repeats throughout your workshop as you guide participants through different activities and discussions.

For product managers, effective facilitation is about creating the conditions where your team’s collective intelligence can emerge. By mastering these techniques, you’ll transform unproductive debates into collaborative problem-solving that drives your product forward.

The Facilitator’s Role The Advantage of Not Being the Expert

As product managers, we often feel pressure to be the domain experts, but this can actually hinder effective workshop facilitation. Alison explained that she has successfully facilitated workshops in industries where she had no specific expertise—finance, pharmaceuticals, energy—precisely because her outsider perspective allowed her to:

• Ask basic questions that insiders might avoid
• Notice when discussions become too detailed or technical
• Pull the group back to higher-level objectives
• Help participants explain concepts in clearer terms

While evolutionary improvements may benefit from deep domain knowledge, revolutionary innovation often requires fresh thinking unencumbered by the way things have always been done.

Separating Facilitation from Content

A subject-matter expert acting as a facilitator may have difficulty separating the needs of the group from their own preconceived ideas about what the workshop’s outcomes should be.

For product managers, this means making a conscious choice before each workshop: Will you participate as a content contributor, or will you focus on facilitating the process? Trying to do both simultaneously often leads to suboptimal results in both roles.

Facilitator as Process Guide

As a facilitator, your primary responsibility is to keep your eyes on the process level:

1. Is the team headed in the right direction?
2. Are we getting into too much detail?
3. Are we managing time effectively?
4. Is everyone contributing?

By focusing on these process questions rather than content details, you create space for your team’s collective expertise to emerge in ways that a single expert’s perspective never could.

Physical Workshop Environment

The environment of a workshop sends powerful signals about the type of interaction expected. Walking into a properly set up workshop space immediately communicates “this is different from a normal meeting.” Key elements can include:

• Post-it notes arranged on tables
• Flip charts positioned around the room
• Different seating arrangement from standard meetings
• Visible thinking tools and workshop materials

These visual cues prime participants to engage differently from how they would in routine meetings.

Dynamic Movement and Interaction

Effective workshops should feel physically dynamic. Participants should:

1. Get up and move around the room
2. Interact with different team members
3. Physically manipulate ideas (moving post-its, drawing on boards)
4. Stand together while discussing concepts

Research shows that standing meetings can be more productive because they engage participants physically as well as mentally.

Choreographing the Workshop Space

Alison thinks about the choreography of a workshop, viewing the room as a canvas for collaboration. She likes to get an image of what the workshop room looks like beforehand, so she can start planning the physical setup of the workshop.

For product managers, this might mean planning specific areas for customer journey mapping, another for prioritization exercises, and separate spaces for small group discussions. This intentional use of space helps guide the energy and focus of your team throughout the workshop.

Following Through Post-Workshop

The excitement of a productive workshop often creates momentum that quickly dissipates once participants return to their daily responsibilities.

Designing for Implementation

Successful follow-through begins during the planning phase, not after the workshop ends:

• When designing your workshop, clearly define the specific outputs needed for implementation
• Create templates and frameworks that make post-workshop action straightforward
• Assign ownership for follow-up tasks before the workshop concludes
• Schedule check-in meetings to review progress on workshop outcomes

The Reality of Behavior Change

Workshops often aim to change behaviors and working relationships. Alison explained that behavior change does not happen overnight. Workshop culture involves the workshops themselves and the work afterward to make sure changes stick.

For product managers, this means viewing workshops as catalysts within a longer transformation journey rather than one-time solutions.

Persistent Follow-Up

Effective post-workshop implementation requires:

1. Regular check-ins with participants
2. Revisiting key conversations and decisions
3. Potentially scheduling follow-up workshops to continue progress
4. Consistent reinforcement of new collaborative behaviors

This persistent attention to implementation is what distinguishes workshops that create lasting impact from those that generate only temporary enthusiasm. For product teams, this might mean incorporating workshop outputs into sprint planning, creating visible artifacts that remind the team of decisions made, or establishing new rituals that reinforce workshop outcomes.

Real-World Example: Creative Agency Transformation

To illustrate how workshop culture transforms organizations, Alison shared a case study from her consulting work. She described a creative agency with ambitious growth goals that struggled with departmental silos despite producing high-quality work.

Breaking Down Silos

The agency’s challenge was familiar: Departments worked effectively in isolation but rarely collaborated across boundaries. Their meetings were primarily transactional, focusing on immediate deliverables rather than strategic thinking or innovation.

Alison’s approach involved:

• Bringing teams together in regular workshop settings
• Facilitating conversations they wouldn’t normally have
• Moving beyond transactional interactions to forward-looking discussions
• Creating space for big-picture thinking and creative collaboration

A Framework for Team Development

Alison implemented a structured framework to guide the agency’s transformation:

This methodical approach helped team members see beyond their departmental boundaries and understand how their work contributed to the organization’s larger goals.

Measuring Success

The transformation became evident when team members began saying, “We need to run more of our meetings like these workshops.” This shift in mindset indicated they had recognized the value of structured collaboration not just in special sessions but in their everyday work.

For product managers, this case study demonstrates how workshop culture can transform siloed product development into true cross-functional collaboration. By creating structured opportunities for alignment and cohesion, you can break down the barriers that often separate product, engineering, design, and business teams.

Conclusion

Workshop culture offers product managers a framework for transforming how teams collaborate and solve problems. As Alison explained, it’s not about running constant workshops but about applying workshop principles to everyday work: starting with the end in mind, creating space for diverse thinking styles, facilitating effectively without dominating, and following through persistently. These practices help break down the silos that often impede product innovation.

If you’re looking to improve cross-functional collaboration and drive more effective product decisions, consider how you might implement these workshop principles in your next meeting or problem-solving session. Small changes in how you approach collaboration can yield significant improvements in both team dynamics and product outcomes.

Useful Links

• Check out Alison’s book, Workshop Culture: A Guide to Building Teams That Thrive
• Connect with Alison on LinkedIn
• Learn more about Bracket Creative

Innovation Quote

“Leaders encourage and support the individuals in those groups because they are the source of ideas that constitute the raw material of innovation. Yet the ultimate innovation will almost always be a collective outcome, something devised through group interaction.” – Linda Hill, Collective Genius

Application Questions

1. How could you adapt your current product planning meetings to incorporate workshop culture principles? Which specific meeting would benefit most from being redesigned as a workshop?
2. When facilitating cross-functional collaboration, how could you better balance the needs of both introverted and extroverted team members? What specific techniques might you implement in your next product discovery session?
3. Think about your last product workshop or collaborative session that didn’t lead to effective implementation. How could you have designed it differently, starting with the end in mind? What specific post-workshop mechanisms could you put in place for your next session?
4. How could your team apply the concept of “workshop choreography” to your physical or virtual workspace? What signals or environmental changes could help transition your regular meetings into more collaborative problem-solving sessions?
5. Consider the tension between individual contributions and collective outcomes in your product development process. How could you structure your next feature prioritization or roadmap planning session to better harness both individual creativity and collective wisdom?

Bio

Alison Coward is the founder of Bracket, a consultancy that partners with ambitious, forward-thinking companies to help them build high-performing team cultures. She is a team culture coach, workshop facilitator, trainer, keynote speaker and author of “Workshop Culture: a guide to building teams that thrive” and “A Pocket Guide to Effective Workshops”. Clients include: Google, Meta, Wellcome and the V&A. With 20 years’ experience working in, leading and facilitating creative teams, Alison is passionate about finding the balance between creativity, productivity and collaboration so that teams can thrive and do their best work together. 

Thanks!

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