If your work depends upon generating creative ideas or developing strategy, then workshops will be central to what you do.
_There’s no better way to gather insight from clients or users._
_To break down barriers and bring more clarity to team projects._
_To generate new ideas, improve on your action plans and help make great work happen_.
**Workshops are also fundamental when you’re trying to bottle your brilliance in words.** Especially if your business has changed direction slightly, or if you’ve hired new staff.
BUT a successful creative workshop is only as good as A) the tools you use and B) your ability to [hold the space.](http://www.inkspiller.co.uk/blog/2017-03-08-the-feminine-art-of-holding-space-in-business "")
The bad news is that holding the space is a skill you can only develop with training, time and practise. The good news is that idea generating technique and problem solving tools are something you can pick up fairly easily.
So, over the next few weeks I’ll be sharing ideas, video tutorials and handy workshop tools for pinning down what’s special and unique about your business and your brand personality.
We’ll look at:
- How to run a brand workshop
- How to run a brand personality workshop
- How to run a simple brand values workshop
### Brilliant workshop resources
If you want to get stuck in right away, here are some brilliant resources I’ve used to up my workshop game:
1) To kick off, check out my YouTube video on [“How To Run A Group Brainstorm”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJIWUrk0VXM "group brainstorm") - ideal if you have any introverts in your company.
2) [Jewell Facilitation](http://jewellfacilitation.com/ "jewell") - I recently had the good fortune to be trained by Helene on advanced workshop tools and techniques. You’ll find some fab resources on her website.
3) [How To Run A Great Workshop](https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/cka/How-Run-Great-Workshop-Designing-Brilliant-Workshops/0273707876 "great workshop amazon link") by Nikki Highmore Sims. An excellent resource for inspiring more engaging meetings and designing staff training.
4) [Gamestorming](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gamestorming-Playbook-Innovators-Rulebreakers-Changemakers/dp/0596804172/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1497351955&sr=1-1&keywords=gamestorming "gamestorming") by Dave Gray. A fab book, jam-packed with 80+ hands on games for idea generation. Credit to Dan Gent of [Lighthouse London](http://wearelighthouse.com/ "lighthouse") for sending me this book. Even though, at the time, I thought I’d ordered it from Amazon myself and so didn’t acknowledge/thank him for literally weeks. Rude!
5) [Clarity Cards](http://www.thnkclrly.com/cards/ "clarity") - I backed this when it was a Kickstarter project. Despite looking eerily similar to Cards Against Humanity, it’s actually a card deck full of effective opening and closing questions for brainstorms, meetings and workshops
...And, of course, if you have any questions about designing or running creative workshops, feel free to book a free 20-minute[ Brain Blitz](www.inkspiller.co.uk/blitz "blitx") with me.
