The World Wide Fund for Nature Sustainable Tuna Partnership 2 Project (WWF STP 2) conducted its 3-day Inception Workshop last March 1-3, 2022, 4PM-7PM (GMT +8). It gathered around 30 participants from the different WWF STP 2 teams from Germany, China, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
The goal of the Inception Workshop were to (1) bring alignment on the objective of the STP 2 project, (2) get teams acquainted with one another, and (3) spark ideas to support the full implementation of the project.
Task
How might we align multiple project staff and units towards the core vision and ways of working for STP2?
Designing for Clarity
Aligning with our partners, we agreed that the priority of the workshop is to have clarity on the project’s objectives, targets, and strategies. All the activities were designed to provide participants space to ask questions and discuss ideas related to the project. Having a clear agenda as well as co-creating norms helped in grounding and guiding the interactions throughout the Inception Workshop.
Designing for Inclusivity
Given the diversity of the participants in terms of culture, we designed the workshop with activities that put focus on the participants. Activities encouraged dialogues and socialization to foster a whole-team spirit across the international teams. Participants particularly appreciated the profile making exercise were they were able to introduce themselves to the larger team even in the online space.
Designing with Humanness
One of the realities of the workshop was working around the different time zones of the participants. With this in mind, we were intentional in making the workshop adaptive, responsible, and flexible to our participants’ needs. Based on their pre-workshop responses, we learned that participants needed generous health breaks during the 3-hour online call. Participants also appreciated having options and alternatives in using tech tools for workshop.
Designing to Inspire
Inception Workshops, in its very purpose, are designed to kickstart teams into a project. To send off the participants with clarity as well as motivation to implement the project, we designed the workshop with activities that provide multiple perspectives for the project (macro and micro perspective); activities that build on the team’s successes, gains, and strengths (best practices sharing); and activities that paint multiple futures and scenarios for the project (best case and worst case building).
