If there's one thing I've learned is that the single most important contributing factor to the success of the workshop is who's sitting around the table.
I've always thought that you work with what you have. So if the team is already in place, then that's who you run the workshop with. But that's not always true. The best outcomes from the workshop have always been when I've had access to a diverse group of people. I've always tried finding people that are coming from different cultures and have varying levels of accessibility experience.
So I have a few rules for who to invite in the workshop so that it's a success.
- People who are open to new ideas. Don't kid yourself. Not everyone is. If you can, look for those who try new products regularly and are curious about the world around them.
- People who have opinions. Yes! You want people who will speak their mind and not just nod along to what everyone else is saying.
- People who you'd like to have a beer with. I know it sounds silly, but think about the last time you were out for a beer and the conversation was stimulating because everyone was taking turns to share their views and build on the ideas they heard. That's who you want in a workshop.
- Experts. Because you need to have access to key pieces of information that no one else has. This can be experts in the product you're working with, or even experts in accessibility. You don't need to have them for the entire duration of the workshop, depending on how you structure it.
- Decision makers. The buck needs to stop with someone. Look to attract the people that make the decisions in the product. You don't need to have them for the entire workshop either, but their participation is critical.
Last but not least, I'm a strong believer that the people doing the work need to be the same people making the decisions. You need participation in the decision making if you're to have their real commitment when the work starts. This, more often than not, means counting on the designers and developers who will later do the work to be in the workshop.
The ideal workshop for me is between 7 and 15 people. It's a good number to work with on the low end and a good number to split into groups on the high end. I always insist on having access to the designers, developers and product owner as a minimum.