Planning a Ketso Workshop plus hints and tips

Basic structure of a Ketso workshop

• A trunk – the core focus, which is written on the centrepiece. What is this workshop about?

Basic structure of a Ketso workshop

• A trunk – the core focus, which is written on the centrepiece. What is this workshop about?

• A series of questions (or different ways of thinking about) the core focus. These questions about the trunk are asked in sequence using the coloured leaves for different questions.

Basic structure of a Ketso workshop

• A trunk – the core focus, which is written on the centrepiece. What is this workshop about?

• A series of questions (or different ways of thinking about) the core focus, asked in sequence using the coloured leaves for different questions.

• These questions, plus the order in which they are asked, are called the ‘Ketso Seeds’.

Branches around the central trunk (focus)

• Good aims and objectives• Good indicators• Data gathering and management• Analysis and reporting• Recommendations and future practice• Blank for emerging themes

Basic structure of a Ketso workshop

• A trunk – the core focus, which is written on the centrepiece. What is this workshop about?

• A series of questions about the core focus, asked in sequence using the coloured leaves.

• Plus (often) branches, which provide themes to help structure the workshop. These ‘branch’ off the trunk. They organise and collect the answers. They stay the same for all the questions.

Leaves are arranged around the branches, forming clusters of ideas

The most commonly used Ketso Seed

The core Ketso Seeds

• Explore & Plan• Review & Reflect (slight variation)• Feedback & Discuss• Learn - Beginnings• Learn - Review

Feedback & Discuss - for asking for feedback (e.g. of project or strategy) or sharing ideas

Start with what people know – and help them to relate that to what you are teaching

Useful after a training session or a course, focus on content / skills & what to do with them

If adapting the Ketso Seeds to suit your needs;

• Remember two key principles in terms of sequencing:• Starting with a positive focus (not problems)• • A creativity sandwich – some creative thinking

before thinking of problems, and making sure there is a stage of creative thinking to solve the problems

Branches around the central trunk (focus)

• Good aims and objectives• Good indicators• Data gathering and management• Analysis and reporting• Recommendations and future practice• Blank for emerging themes

Basic structure of a Ketso workshop

• A trunk – the core focus, which is written on the centrepiece. What is this workshop about?

• A series of questions (or different ways of thinking about) the core focus, asked in sequence using the coloured leaves for different questions. (Questions plus sequencing = ‘Ketso Seeds’.)

• Plus (often) branches, which provide themes to help structure the workshop. These ‘branch’ off the trunk.

Advantages of pre-prepared branches

• Greater likelihood of covering all of the key themes - the branches can 'stretch' people's thinking

• Providing a degree of structure and a framework can spark more creativity and ideas, as the branches themselves suggest new avenues of thought, ideas can be explored against the framework

• Easier and quicker for groups to compare their ideas between tables, and thus learn from each other

• Easier to synthesise ideas from several groups (especially important if running a series of workshops)

• It can take less time, as people start to place ideas against themes instead of spending time developing themes

Two key things to remember: Leave felt folded whilst participants start to develop their ideas…

… then ask participants to see where their ideas fit once the felt is unfolded

And leave at least one blank branch (there are spare branches on the back of the felt if needed)

Advantages of blank branches

• Allows you to explore an idea with no preconceived framework

• Maybe more possibility for surprising emergent themes• Participants can feel more ‘ownership’ of the themes (but

these may not be shared amongst the whole group if there is more than one table)

• Quicker to prepare for a workshop (as you don't need to think of themes or write them up in advance)

However, the process takes longer and the discussion may lack focus. It is more difficult for groups to quickly compare ideas and to synthesise key points.

Developing branches: has it been done before?

Generic project planning branches– useful as a starting point for many workshops

Developing branches: is there a good report / strategy you can use? E.g. these came from...

Developing branches: is there a widely used framework out there?

And yes, googling is a good place to start!

• No slides for the stages of this workshop• You can do it, but it is nice to have the slides! • And you can download them from the website and

adapt them to your needs

Developing branches: talk to the people you are working with, what do they want to cover?

Developing branches: do a practice workshop with blanks (& always a good idea to test your branches)

The most common mistake with branches - themes similar to questions asked on leaves

• For instance, it is common to see branches like:• Aims• Barriers• Where are we going?

• These are similar to how the leaves tend to be used in Ketso to ask questions – and will end up with all of one coloured leaf around one branch

• This misses the connections between the ideas• We suggest re-thinking the branches to be more

like sub-themes from the trunk, or workshop focus

A few more hints on branches

• We tend to find that 6 branches works well • And don’t forget to leave at least one blank

branch!• There are spare branches on the back, you can

add as you go along• It can be nice to have a floating branch for things

that don’t fit

• You may have to adjust as you go along

Where to go for more help – a guide to resources under ‘Make the most of your Ketso’

Workshop BASICS (you have already done most of this in the exercise)• BASICS – Beginnings• BASICS – Activities• BASICS – Sequencing (Activities +

Sequencing – A Ketso Seed)• BASICS – Inputs• BASICS – Conclusions• BASICS – Skippables, squashables and

supplements

Re-cap of the top hints for planning a workshop• You do need to plan for your workshop!

• Make sure you are clear about the core focus – what is the workshop about?

• Think through what the different coloured leaves will represent (e.g. what questions you will be asking)

• Think how (and if) you will use the branches to provide themes to add some structure the workshop

• Run a practice workshop (even if just with yourself)

• There are lots of resources on the Ketso website to help you