What are the advantages and disadvantages of workshops?

Answer 1

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The major disadvantages of Workshops include:

· Availability of participants. Workshops require a significant time commitment by the participants. It can be difficult to find dates and times for the workshop meeting given the constraints of the participants' individual schedules and workloads.

· Availability of workshop rooms. It can be difficult to find an available meeting room, especially for an entire one or two day duration of the workshop.

· Workshop costs.Workshops require a sizable investment including the exclusive effort of the workshop participants, who are often very busy with other work. It may be difficult to convince management that the outputs of a workshop will be worth the time spent in a workshop, especially if they do not clearly see the difference between workshops and normal meetings. It may also be necessary to obtain an offsite room for the workshop (e.g., at a hotel) in order to prevent workshop participants from being interrupted or tempted to leave the workshop to perform other duties.

· False impression of completeness. Because workshops are of very limited duration (i.e., a very small number of days), the work products that are produced during the workshop may well be incomplete and require considerable iteration and review before they are done. However, stakeholders (especially management) may get the false impression that the work products were completed during the workshop and that no additional time is therefore needed to finish them.

· Intimidation. Some participants may be intimidated from actively participating and voicing their own opinions because of the presence of other participants, especially if some of the other participants have assertive personalities and tend to dominate the discussion. They may be afraid to raise issues and concerns, especially if they involve sensitive information or are inconsistent with the positions of their superiors such as managers and technical leaders.

Answer 2

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The major disadvantages of Workshops include:

· Availability of participants. Workshops require a significant time commitment by the participants. It can be difficult to find dates and times for the workshop meeting given the constraints of the participants' individual schedules and workloads.

· Availability of workshop rooms. It can be difficult to find an available meeting room, especially for an entire one or two day duration of the workshop.

· Workshop costs.Workshops require a sizable investment including the exclusive effort of the workshop participants, who are often very busy with other work. It may be difficult to convince management that the outputs of a workshop will be worth the time spent in a workshop, especially if they do not clearly see the difference between workshops and normal meetings. It may also be necessary to obtain an offsite room for the workshop (e.g., at a hotel) in order to prevent workshop participants from being interrupted or tempted to leave the workshop to perform other duties.

· False impression of completeness. Because workshops are of very limited duration (i.e., a very small number of days), the work products that are produced during the workshop may well be incomplete and require considerable iteration and review before they are done. However, stakeholders (especially management) may get the false impression that the work products were completed during the workshop and that no additional time is therefore needed to finish them.

· Intimidation. Some participants may be intimidated from actively participating and voicing their own opinions because of the presence of other participants, especially if some of the other participants have assertive personalities and tend to dominate the discussion. They may be afraid to raise issues and concerns, especially if they involve sensitive information or are inconsistent with the positions of their superiors such as managers and technical leaders.