Four AI workshop formats that work for small teams

There is no single right way to run an AI session for a small team. There are four formats that keep earning their keep.

1. The 60-minute reset

For teams where opinion has run ahead of experience. One hour, no laptops, whatever the team believes about AI written on the wall and worked through honestly. Cheap, fast, and it stops a lot of bad decisions.

Delivers: a shared, realistic starting point.

2. The process clinic (half day)

Bring three real tasks that annoy everyone. Map each one on paper. Decide, task by task, which steps a person must own and which could be assisted. Nothing is implemented on the day.

Delivers: a prioritised shortlist with an honest time-saving estimate.

3. The hands-on lab (half day)

Everyone works on their own real work, with the same tools they'd use afterwards. The point is not to learn features; it's to build the habit of checking output.

Delivers: two or three people who will actually keep using it.

4. The governance hour

For owners and managers. What goes in, what never goes in, who signs off, what happens when something goes wrong. One page at the end.

Delivers: a written internal policy you can hand to staff.

How to sequence them

For most businesses under 50 people: reset, then process clinic, then governance hour, then a hands-on lab focused on whatever the clinic prioritised. Skipping straight to the lab is the most common and most expensive mistake — people learn tools with no agreement on where to point them.