Workshops in Uncertain Times

Why shaky times breed silos

The last year has been fraught with layoffs, return‑to‑office mandates, and shifting priorities. When everything feels shaky at work, team members may respond by pulling back and quietly working in isolation. That instinct is understandable, but it creates separation right when teams most need each other. Workshops give people a structured way to reconnect, share what they know, and rebuild a sense of “we’re in this together.”

The fix that brought my team back together

During the pandemic, when my team was fully remote, I noticed that they had slipped out of collaborative ways of working. Everyone was doing their own thing, which meant the data lead wasn’t partnering with the change management lead on CRM adoption, and the content lead wasn’t working closely with the outreach lead to reflect real gaps raised by internal clients. The work was still getting done, but it wasn’t benefiting from the mix of perspectives that actually makes complex projects stronger.

So I started requiring multidisciplinary working sessions where people walked their peers through in‑progress work and actively asked for input from each area of expertise. That small structural change reminded team members that their peers were subject‑matter experts, and it re‑established relationships as they solved problems together.

How workshops rebuild shared ground

This is the power of workshops in uncertain times. When stress is high, people tend to hunker down and hide, which leads to siloed work that misses important context and ideas. Workshops and working sessions interrupt that pattern by bringing people together around a shared problem or goal that is bigger than any one role.

Good workshops are also a way to intentionally design your team experience, not just your products and services. You can decide what “working together” looks like: when you meet, how you use that time, and how you make it safe for people to share half‑baked ideas and honest concerns. Collaborative work can help build an open, trust‑based environment where people feel seen as individuals and valued as part of a greater whole. In uncertain times, that kind of culture is not a “nice to have.” It is how teams stay connected and resilient enough to navigate whatever comes next.

If you want to dig deeper into designing stronger collaboration, you might like:

A Quick Guide to Designing Collaboration

Building an open and supportive team culture through design