Planning a workshop doesn’t need to be difficult. Even on a small budget, and even in London! We’ve hosted some fantastic workshops at our venue and picked up some great advice along the way about what makes a successful event.

Here are 2Northdown’s top five tips for planning a successful workshop.

1. Have a change of scene

An offsite workshop is a really great way to take your team out of the office, out of their set way of thinking about the work, and help everyone relax, reflect and participate. It can also be a fantastic way to introduce new people to your work or product.

Venue hire costs can seem daunting (particularly in London), but if you keep extras to a minimum and choose a great value venue, an offsite workshop doesn’t need to break the bank.

“[2Northdown] were the best value for money of any London venue we've used, the space itself provided the intimate but professional vibe we were looking for and is well located.”
Restless Development

2. Set clear goals

Whether you have an hour or all day, it is helpful to identity the goals of the workshop and what you would all like to achieve in the the time that you have. You can keep track of this throughout the day, and reflect on your achievements as a group at the end of the workshop.

3. Help your participants to prepare for the workshop

Make it clear whether your participants need to do any work before the workshop and what your expectations are. You can support them by making sure that they have the information that they need to hand. This could include suggested articles to read or work to review.

You should also provide timings for the event, directions of how to get to the venue and anything that they need to bring.

4. Be creative with your activities

Make the most of your new environment by creating a variety of activities for participants. Depending on the objective and scope of your workshop, you could prepare films, role-playing, debates, team presentations and even games. People learn in many different ways, so having a broad range of activities will help you to engage a wider audience.

Test any audio/visual activities ahead of time and check that they can be played at your venue.

Try some different activities - like a debate

5. Build in some time to socialise

A workshop is a great opportunity for colleagues to spend some time together outside of their usual environment and to make connections to people in their industry. Be sure to build in some time for people to meet each other and chat before, during or after the event.

2Northdown even has a fully stocked bar that we can offer as part of our hire package. Perfect if you’d like to treat yourselves with a beer or soft drink after all of your hard work!

“Being able to finish the meeting and go straight to drinks was the highlight, we didn't lose anyone between there and the pub as is usually the case!”
Baguette UX, London

Get in touch!

We’ve only just scratched the surface of planning a successful workshop, but we hope that this gets you off to a good start.

To find out more about our great value Kings Cross venue and how we can help you plan your workshop or event, visit our venue hire page, call 020 3371 7124 or email hello@2northdown.com.

Is that six tips?

Five Tips For Planning A Successful Workshop

2Northdown