Workshops.
Reinvented.

Axis is a digital tool that you can use to run any workshop. The thing that makes a workshop a workshop is facilitation. The facilitator plans, runs and writes-up the workshop. Their focus is not on agendas or minutes but on impact. They transform meetings which are often purposeless and ineffectual into workshops, the engine room of creativity, innovation and action.

The problem is that traditional workshops take a lot of effort. So they are only used to address the most important issues. Everything else gets downgraded to meetings and email. By making consistently brilliant workshop facilitation quick, low-cost and simple, Axis means that running a workshop is always an option.

The first thing you need to do is give your new workshop a name, objective and key question. They provide focus and clarity and it is well worth spending time getting them just right. Next up you need to select the steps and methods you are going to use.

Axis has a set of five best practice steps: share, frame, create, evaluate and action. They are designed to create a continuous and integrated flow with the content created in one step progressing into the next. Each step has a variety of available methods and the option to skip that step e.g. if the participants already know each other well share can be skipped.

Which method to select is up to you and depends on what you are trying to achieve. For example, in the create step if you want to have unconstrained brainstorming to create lots of ideas then choose idea creator. However, if it is depth and quality you are looking for then round robin could be a better option.

Once methods have been selected they need to be configured to tailor them to your specific needs. This could involve defining the axes on the two-by-two matrix or pre-adding ideas on the idea creator to kick-start the brainstorming process. With all the methods configured you can see the workshop summary and start the workshop whenever you are ready.

Think of an Axis workshop as a slide-show moving from left to right. You don’t have to create any slides because Axis provides you with a best practice structure and flow. Just launch the workshop and get facilitating.

The page arrows allow you to move back and forth and the navigation bubbles at the top of the screen allow you to jump between steps. At the bottom of the screen are the URL and unique workshop code for participants to join. Above that is the progress bar for each step.

On the first page you welcome your participants and explain how they join and if necessary re-join.  There is also a prompt to mention that all inputs are anonymous to encourage challenge and innovation. You can see who has joined in the left hand pane. Once everyone has joined, you introduce the workshop objective and key question. You might want to verbalise some more context or details but we would recommend keeping this short and focused.

This is followed by an overview of the workshop journey. This is your chance to explain the steps you will work through and the methods you will use at each stage. We have purposefully excluded timings. A start and end time are essential, not least to send out the invite! But you don’t want your participants to be watching the clock, that’s the facilitators job. With the introduction complete you then move into the steps selected.

Once all the steps are complete click right one final time. Then either wait for the countdown to finish or click ‘Complete now.’ This will finish the workshop and make the outputs available for download.

No. We have designed for laptop based facilitation to allow for easy projection and screen sharing.

Participants join through their device: smart phone, tablet or laptop. If people are in the room we would recommend they use their smart phone or tablet as it is less intrusive. It can also work well to split participants into groups with one person using their device to be the group’s scribe.

To join, participants go to join.axis.ws and enter the unique workshop code.

If they leave the workshop they can re-join and access their previous content by entering their Participant code. This is shown when they first join and in the participant tab on the facilitator’s left hand pane.

Remote participation is a big benefit of Axis. It works using standard video conferencing and screen sharing technology. Set-up a conference call for remote participants to join and share your screen. Then facilitate as normal.

Complete the workshop by continuing to click right until you can go further. Once complete select the download tab on the left hand pane.

Yes. Videos, modelling with clay and drawing are all great things to insert into your workshop. Just blend them in. For example participants could all create a drawing to convey the key challenges to frame the context and then take a photo and provide a description using Axis.

Yes, Axis provides this a service. If you want to create your own library of pre-built customised workshop templates or create your own steps or methods then we can build this for you. This is great if you have your own methods that you want to disseminate across the organisation. If this interests you then please get in touch and we can take you through how it works.

We've put together a video which explains how Axis works: https://youtu.be/XfU6miFtAOQ