I dragged myself to a two-day, in-person workshop last month and… guess what? I loved it! Turns out I really missed bonding with other people over piles of pipe cleaners and foam core boards. I missed the smell of Sharpies, and the curiously papercut-free experience of moving sticky notes around.
Here’s why I (an avowed introvert) think it might be time to consider showing up more often this year, whether for in-person meetings or multi-hour/multi-day working sessions.
We’re in the depth of a wet, wild winter here in San Francisco.
You know, orcas swimming in the streets, cats and dogs living together, mass hysteria.
So the last thing I wanted to do was commute into the office two days in a row last week for a workshop. But I was pleasantly surprised by the uplift to my annual SADs – aka Seasonal Affective Disorder.
Benefits of reestablishing physical presence with others
If you’re anything like me, and have spent most of the past 3 years working at home, this blog post is for you.
Full disclosure / Nerd alert: My D&D playing class is the Druid, but in layman’s terms, you can just call me the Trusted Cat Sitter. My character attributes include nappishness, hermitude, and late-night zoomies. So you’d think I’d be the perfect candidate for work at home. And I was. But this atmospheric river has turned me into a blind, star-nosed mole of late, seeing nothing but the same four damp and earthen walls each day.
All the same, I’ve been a long time skeptic, impervious to chirpy Return to Office platitudes. So never fear: I’ll keep my convert’s zeal in check.
Did you know? A change of scene
- tends to make the brain work differently
- helps you make new connections and gets you thinking differently
- gives you a break from day-to-day distractions
- shortens the time it takes to build rapport with others
And there’s more! Physical presence with other human beings
- amplifies the exchange of non-verbal cues
- provides real-time (and easily-missed-online) feedback
- builds unity, cooperation, and partnership much faster than a Brady Bunch grid ever could
Not to be ignored are the proven benefits of movement
- gets the blood pumping
- boosts and maintains energy levels
- sparks creativity – far more than sitting at a desk
Here’s why in-person sessions can be way more effective than virtual
As a facilitator, it’s easier to spot people who aren’t engaging, or aren’t onboard for whatever reason. You can give a little extra TLC to those who might benefit from additional context or attention. Hands-on activities and demonstrations are generally easier to participate in and understood when done in person. Attendees are able to interact more readily with the physical materials and props that serve to make concepts concrete.
Additionally, in-person workshops allow for hands-on practice. Bringing tactile senses, turning work into play increases comprehension and applicability. This especially serves those of us who are kinesthetic learners. Bring out the LEGO, and behold! See the magic castle taking shape before your eyes.
In-person workshops provide a more immersive and engaging experience
We can all benefit from stepping away from the distractions and interruptions that can occur so often during virtual meetings. By using best-practices-driven “rules of engagement” for shared spaces, you empower working teams to focus fully on the topic and task at hand. A no-screens policy, for example, comes in handy for maintaining engagement and motivation throughout the event. Purposeful asides and structured breakout sessions are easier to orchestrate in person, and no time is wasted realizing you’ve been talking on mute for the last full minute.
It’s not only extroverts who can thrive IRL / F2F btw
I mentioned before that I’m an introvert and, by that, I mean I literally crave solitude. I can’t get enough of it. But give me a thoughtfully-designed social setting (or better yet, allow me to design one!) and within 5 or 10 minutes, I leave my shell behind and find myself actually enjoying interactions with other people.
When I think back and compare my favorite virtual meetings to my favorite in-person workshops, I keep coming back to the ones that happened face to face. Joining forces in a shared space with a shared purpose, and making things together is simply more memorable and impactful than doing it virtually. This is because the experience of physically engaging with the material creates stronger bonds, a sense of connection and deeper understanding. Experiencing a-ha moments as a collective and building strategies in a room together tends to lead to better buy-in going forward.
At Sutherland Labs, we’ve intentionally designed spaces for in-person Design Doing sessions, and we invite you to come visit us in person. F2F. IRL. Hope to see you here soon.
Marise leads service design, a collaborative methodology that strengthens connections across digital design and implementation. Her extensive experience in participatory design facilitation empowers cross functional teams to co-create empathy maps, ecosystems, journey maps and experience blueprints.
