Unproductive meetings cost businesses an estimated $37 billion annually, according to research from Notta.
Digital product development company Infinum recently hosted Rebecca Courtney, a facilitation coach at the award-winning product design, strategy, and innovation studio AJ&Smart, to discuss the power of workshops to transform collaboration across industries on the agency’s “Delivered” online event series.
By adopting workshop principles, leaders can transform inefficient gatherings into focused, outcome-driven sessions, reducing wasted resources and driving greater organizational impact.
In this episode of Delivered, participants learned how to apply workshop principles to meetings — turning engaging sessions into tangible, productive outcomes.
The discussion was led by Chris Bradshaw, the show's host, and Product Strategy Director at Infinum.
Participants who tuned into Infinum's show could learn about:
- Finding the cause of poor collaboration, and solutions
- Why workshops work, and help teams achieve more results
- The benefits of workshops
- Why idea validation is crucial before a product is launched
- Practical strategies to improve group sessions
The discussion was useful for team leaders and others who take on complex challenges, providing actionable insights on making group sessions more impactful.
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Bradshaw believes workshops are essential for problem-solving or to innovate.
“They provide a solid foundation to foster collaboration and alignment among team members, transforming ideas into actionable outcomes and clarity about who is doing what and when.
At Infinum, workshops have enabled our teams to rapidly tackle complex challenges with our clients, saving them both time, money, and resources while driving incredible project results.”
According to Courtney, it is important to distinguish between meetings and workshops. Although both share some similarities, not every meeting should be workshop-ified.
However, it is important to understand that meetings fail because of poor communication and a lack of facilitation skills.
She highlighted three main benefits of workshops, including:
- Alignment: Workshops mobilize all the decision-makers into the same room and align everyone around shared goals and priorities.
- A sense of ownership: The collaborative environment of a workshop helps people feel more invested in the outcomes.
- Saving time and money: Dedicating focused time and energy to bring the right people together gives teams the momentum to solve problems quickly and move projects forward.
Courtney also provided some steps to “workshop-ify” meetings, from visualizing the discussion through notes and written ideas, giving each participant a chance to provide their thoughts and ideas, brainstorming separately before presenting, and always closing with clear outcomes.
Empowering Teams Through Knowledge and Tools
Infinum has a proven track record of providing valuable insights and guides in its industry, working on the principle that “everyone needs a helping hand now and then.”
From handbooks, to open source tools, libraries, and design assets for the tech community, to its educational program Infinum Academy, the agency continuously supports businesses and professionals to grow their expertise.
“At Infinum, we believe that learning together, solving problems together, and creating innovations together are essential for building healthy, long-term partnerships,” said Bradshaw.
Building innovation is hard enough, so at Infinum, we want to share what we know. It strengthens the entire community, which ultimately benefits everyone.”
He also pointed out how Country’s expertise in facilitation and team innovation aligns with Infinum’s goal of helping teams achieve impactful outcomes for companies.
“We want to work with the best companies in the industry and AJ&Smart is leading in facilitation and workshop training and consulting.
“Rebecca’s insights brought both a meaningful and a validated perspective on the state of company collaboration – something that undoubtedly resonates with our audience.
Not to mention that it complements our commitment to transforming companies through insanely great products and industry-leading innovation strategies, all wrapped in a beautiful collaboration process.”
Through this episode, Infinum continues to empower businesses, helping them unlock their full potential, streamline processes, and achieve better outcomes.
