How I've helped a client create a repeatable workshop format
5 questions and a little secret
Hello again!
I want to tell you about a real person in a situation similar to yours, solving problems with a unique method that we converted into a workshop format. A repeatable workshop format. One that she has already adapted and sold to multiple clients.
But first a little context
I've run workshops for companies like Metlife, Coca-Cola, Visa, four of the top five banks in Brazil, and a handful of other companies.
I've conducted workshops alongside consulting companies from Brazil, Portugal, the US, and Norway.
In short, I've seen a lot workshops for many different contexts.
The story I'll share now is not uncommon, but there's a secret to it.
Creating a Product, not just another Workshop
Letícia is the Founder and Principal at Veritaz, a corporate compliance firm. Letícia is smart, fast, and very thorough. Her clients have learned to trust her and come to her for advice on thorny issues that might not be on the typical menu.
A few months ago, a client (one of the largest Energy producers in the world) called Letícia with a special request. This client had world-class compliance processes but sometimes other teams failed to get the intricacies of a specific internal process.
This affected how well teams cooperated in the execution of this sensitive procedure.
This client had seen Letícia deliver extraordinary projects and training programs, so they already knew that she had the tools to solve this.
Letícia came to me, and we got to work.
The workshop format we put together is now proprietary, so I cannot show it here.
But I can talk about how we created it and what impact it has had on that client and also on Letícia's firm, Veritaz.
We focused on creating a repeatable product right from the start.
To achieve that repeatable format, we asked ourselves:
Which outcomes are most requested by Letícia's clients?
How can we create a format that works both online and offline?
How can we make something so simple to explain that even participants with little context can be productive?
Which parts of the workshop can we customize to fit the client's context and make them feel seen and heard? Which parts can we standardize across clients?
And perhaps the most subtle aspect: can we create something that addresses the inner motivations of the team responsible for hiring Letícia? Something that goes beyond the technical demands of a project and taps into their personal and professional needs?
That elusive Win-Win-Win
To say that we nailed it would be an understatement:
The participants - hailing from backgrounds such as Legal, Engineering and Finance - embraced the challenges presented by the workshop and arrived at useful and impactful conclusions.
Letícia's client was so satisfied with the results that they immediately asked for more training , closing an even larger training contract between them and Letícia.
Letícia gained a workshop format that routinely elicits reactions like "That is exactly what we are facing. We need that here." She has been able to adjust that format for different clients and deliver deeply differentiated services.
Many consulting firms run workshops.
Only a few really capture their massive value.
My most consistent realization about workshops is that their power is not how they facilitate collaboration on complex problem-solving.
So now, lean in, this is the secret:
Workshops make it easy for clients to point at something and say, "I want that. How much is it?"
Don't just talk about your firm's capabilities, your team's skills or your client's upside.
Show it with Workshops.
There's a wealth of great information about workshop facilitation.
But there's not much about how to use workshops in a more strategic way.
How you can learn more
I'm building something around that, which will be ready to launch by the end of September.
I'd love to know:
What is one thing you'd love to learn about creating workshops from your expertise?
No poll for today
All the best, João
You and Leticia are the perfect mashup!! Congrats