Session Principles
What is the Session Principles workshop tactic?
This tactic creates principles for a meeting or workshop. This 5-10 minute investment results in a more engaged and effective group of people.
Bad habits have a tendency to create mundane, ineffective meetings that do not achieve their goals. Establish and stick to principles to break those habits. Flexible principles create a container for an effective and productive meeting.
Session Principles Miro Template
How to use the Session Principles tactic in your workshop
1. Write 'Principles' on a whiteboard or a flip-chart.
2. Ask the group for suggestions they can agree on that will make the session more effective.
3. Discuss each principle in brief to ensure there is a shared understanding and there are no differing interpretations or opinions.
4. Explain that throughout the session, it’s okay to pause to ask questions, add to or amend the principles.
Tip: it’s important to make the group self-manage the principles. If the facilitator is the only enforcer of the rules, then the rules lose their power.
5. At the end, revisit the principles by asking:
- “Are our principles still serving us?”
- “Would we like to amend or adapt them in any way?”
Example principles:
- No phones or laptops please!
- Listen more than you talk
- No questions are stupid
- Politely interrupt tangential conversation
- Share your snacks
- Never question the wisdom of Workshop Tactics
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Session Principles is one of 54 workshop recipe cards inside the Workshop Tactics card deck.
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