Teaching workshops are useful during change because they create a live, structured moment where people can understand what is changing, practise the new way of working, ask questions, and surface barriers before those barriers become adoption risks. In change-management terms, the workshop is not just a training event; it is a facilitated live engagement and learning intervention designed to move people toward adoption and use. Prosci’s ADKAR model frames successful individual change around Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, and Reinforcement, which makes workshops especially relevant when people know a change is coming but do not yet know how to work differently or feel confident doing it [Prosci, n.d.]. (prosci.com)

A good workshop also helps close the gap between project delivery and business value. PMI emphasizes that a project output only begins to create value when it is adopted and used in the business, and that adoption and outcomes should be measured, not assumed [PMI, 2013]. (pmi.org)

A teaching workshop is a live learning session with a clear adoption outcome, a defined audience, prepared messages, facilitated practice, issue capture, and follow-up actions. Use it when the impacted group must build knowledge, skill, confidence, or alignment before they can adopt the change. It is especially useful before pilots, before go-live, during manager readiness, after early adoption data reveals gaps, or when people are asking “What does this mean for my job?” [Prosci, n.d.; PMI, 2013]. (prosci.com)

Do not use a workshop as a disguised announcement. If the purpose is only to broadcast a decision, use a communication channel. Use a workshop when participation matters: people need to interpret the change, practise a new behavior, make local decisions, or identify blockers. Adult learning guidance emphasizes relevance, problem-solving, connection to experience, and opportunities to practise and apply new knowledge [CDC Adult Learning]. (cdc.gov)

Start with the change impact assessment and learning needs analysis. CIPD guidance says learning needs should be linked to current and future capability requirements, existing skill levels, performance gaps, and business strategy; it also recommends involving stakeholders such as subject matter experts, managers, and impacted employees [CIPD, 2025]. (cipd.org)

Before scheduling the workshop, define the adoption outcome in plain language: “After this session, claims handlers can complete the new approval workflow without using the legacy spreadsheet,” or “Managers can explain the change impact and coach their teams through first-week issues.” Prepare role-specific scenarios, a short change story, FAQs, system or process demonstrations, job aids, practice exercises, and an action log. Decide who must attend, whether managers attend with their teams or separately, what pre-work is required, what issues can be resolved in the room, and what must be escalated.

Design the session around doing, not listening. McKinsey’s transformation capability-building guidance recommends job-relevant, hands-on learning and “field and forum” reinforcement, where people learn in a forum and then apply the skill back in the workplace [McKinsey, 2017]. (mckinsey.com) Carnegie Mellon’s active learning guidance similarly highlights that learners engage more deeply when they explain, connect, compare, apply, practise, and receive feedback [CMU Eberly Center]. (cmu.edu)

Imagine a company rolling out a new CRM process for sales teams. The project has delivered the tool, but early pilot feedback shows inconsistent opportunity updates and confusion about handoffs. The change manager runs a 90-minute workshop for sales reps and first-line managers. The sponsor opens with the customer and forecasting reason for the change. The manager explains what will change in weekly pipeline reviews. Reps practise entering a new opportunity, updating probability, and handing off to customer success using three realistic account scenarios. The facilitator captures issues: one field label is unclear, managers need a coaching checklist, and the mobile workflow is slow. The session ends with each rep committing to update live opportunities by Friday and each manager agreeing to review CRM quality in the next team meeting. This turns the workshop into adoption work, not generic software training.

For sponsors, adapt the workshop toward storytelling, visible sponsorship, and decision-making. For managers, focus on coaching, resistance conversations, and local reinforcement. For impacted employees, emphasize hands-on job tasks. For high-resistance groups, use smaller sessions, more listening, and visible issue resolution. Across phases, use early workshops for sensemaking, design-stage workshops for feedback, pre-go-live workshops for rehearsal, and post-go-live workshops for reinforcement.

These role distinctions align with Prosci’s view that successful change requires coordinated sponsor, manager, project, change practitioner, and employee roles [Prosci, 2026]. (prosci.com)

Measure the workshop at four levels. First, check participation: attendance by impacted role, completion of pre-work, and manager coverage. Second, check learning: pre/post confidence or knowledge checks, observed performance in scenarios, and quality of participant questions. Third, check transfer: whether people apply the new behavior in the workplace after the session. CDC recommends evaluating both learning and learning transfer where possible, using in-session checks and delayed follow-up after learners have had time to apply the learning [CDC, 2024]. (cdc.gov) Fourth, check adoption and business indicators: system usage, process compliance, error rates, cycle time, support tickets, customer impact, manager coaching completion, and closure of workshop action items.

75-minute workshop agenda

Opening script: “This is not a briefing. It is a working session to help us practise the new way of working, identify what is still unclear, and agree what must happen next so the change can be adopted safely and consistently.”