Case Study Design
Case studies are a great way to keep workshop content practical and allow for group work and social interaction.
To design a case study exercise, choose a problem that staff actually faced that demonstrates one (or all three) of the key messages you are delivering. Describe the problem in a narrative paragraph. Provide details of who, what, why, where and how this situation arose at the company. Be careful to not use real client names or other identifying information in the case study description. Also do not give away the solution to the problem.
Break the larger group into 4-5 small groups and provide them with three questions to help guide them towards a solution to the problem. Give each group a flip chart or section of a white board to record their discussions. You can either let the group determine a recorder and a leader or the workshop presenter can assign a role or task to each member of the small group.
Once the small groups have had enough time to discuss the three questions (30 minutes is usually sufficient), come back as a big group and discuss the possible solutions.
A great ending to the workshop is to reveal how the staff handled the real problem and the result of their chosen actions. You can choose and example where the outcome was not as hoped and discuss why and how it could be corrected or showcase an example of excellence in problem solving.
Case studies are very useful when the workshop is on business ethics, sales, customer service, communication, time management, or performance management. Asking the supervisors of the workshop participants for case study examples is a great way to understand the needs of the audience and build practical content.
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If you liked this blog entry, try the articles Keeping Workshops Practical or Focused Workshop Design
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