Time.

It drags and flows.

We’re pushed for it and race against it.

It’s on our hands and flies by.

We kill it and fill it.

We make it up and run out of it.

And it gets the blame when we don’t manage it well:

‘…in the interests of time, we need to move on…’.

(Aside: who invented that phrase? Maybe it was Time herself. I wouldn’t be surprised if she simultaneously said, ‘take your time’).

One of the biggest complaints I hear from clients is that they always run out of time at their workshops.

And it seems to be worse online. Everything seems to take just that much longer.

But we still want to pack as much in.

It can quickly get too much, become too fast and be too complex.

When I design a workshop, I look as much as what to cut out as what to include.

I like to think it’s something I learned from editing films. I used to cut the actual negative. You have to be pretty confident about what’s surplus in that context.

One thing I never cut is the time to connect. I find I often have to protect the time I’ve allocated to connection in a workshop. It’s a no brainer. Time spent connecting makes it easier to work together, to collaborate, evaluate options, consider different perspectives.

Sometimes I’m asked if we can ‘get it over and done with’ and do it in one day. I find I’m constantly arguing the benefits of two shorter workshops, over two days, rather than a one-day workshop. I don’t think anyone makes good decisions after 3.30pm, especially not in an online workshop.

We can’t control time but I know we can make better use of it.

So that time can be more on our side, not working against us.

(as sung by Irma Thomas, long before the Rolling Stones made it famous).

Learn how to make the best use of time – and not run out of it – at my Backstage Masterclass.

It kicks off on 23 February. Every Tuesday, 12pm – 1.15pm, for 4 weeks. All the details and to register, are here.

If you haven’t worked with me and would like to ‘try before you buy’, please join me at my next ‘lunch and learn’ on Thursday 11 February, 12pm – 1pm. We’ll talk about some of the challenges with workshop design and I’ll share some of my tips and tricks with you.

Just comment below or email me with ‘BACKSTAGE’ in the subject line and we’ll send you the link to join.