Participants

Updated July 29, 2020

 

Participants are almost always everyone in the workshop who is not a facilitator or collector. Participants are the stars of the workshop. They have all the answers, all the insights, all the right questions. The workshop exists to help participants generate specific, concrete outcomes.

 
 

In the workshop, participants ask questions, answer questions, and participate in activities.

Do these things

  • Ask questions

  • Answer questions

  • Participate in activities

Don't do these things

  • Frame and manage discussions

  • Generate and manage participation

  • Collect outputs

 
 

How each role compares to the others

To achieve the good, collaborative environments that workshops provide, each role must play their part. There are five responsibilities each role can be accountable for (table 1).

 
Table 1: Workshop responsibilities for each role
FacilitatorCo-facilitatorCollectorParticipantListener
Owns the clock Yes
Manages participants Yes Yes
Collects findings Yes Yes Yes
Asks questions Yes Yes Yes
Answers questions Yes Yes Yes
 

Learn more about workshops and collaboration

Collaborative Product Design collects 11 practical tools and hundreds of tips from the trenches that help teams collaborate on strategy, user research, and UX, ideally suited for agile teams and lean organizations.

Visit the book website to learn more or buy on Amazon.