5 Must-Dos for Productive Clinical Study Workshops

Dive into these 5 essential strategies to make your sessions more engaging, impactful, and memorable. Let’s get started!

1. Be Problem Solvers

In a world of complex clinical studies, it’s crucial to be problem solvers. But it’s not just about finding solutions; it’s about understanding the problem deeply. Embrace design thinking and creative problem-solving techniques to uncover insights that lead to breakthroughs.

One Tip: How to Be Problem Solvers

Leave your biases at the door. You may think you know the problem but have you validated it? Go out and interview your partners, investigators, study coordinators.
By doing this you’ll uncover hidden obstacles and understand the real hurdles that are holding your study back and pave the way for smoother study operations.

If you are the study sponsor, we realize that you might not be able to do the interview for fear of study contamination but the steps remain the same if you engage a third party.

1. Set up individual meetings with key personnel at clinical sites to ensure focused and candid discussions.
2. Encourage site staff to share their perspectives. Three common questions would be:
   1. What does success look like for you in your role for this study?
   2. Whatis getting in your way success for this study?
   3. What have you tried before that has worked? What has not worked?
3. Listen actively and probe for details. Dive deeper into specific issues by asking follow-up questions to uncover root causes.
4. Theme the responses from all interviews, looking for patterns in problem areas. That starts to get you closer to your workshop problem / challenge.

2. Design for Interactivity

Gone are the days of monotonous lectures. It’s time to design for interactivity by incorporating behavioral science and game mechanics. Engage participants through dynamic activities that foster collaboration, critical thinking, and enjoyment.

One Tip: How to Design for Interactivity

A simple way to add interactivity is to take any / all presentations that are planned to be given atthe workshop and turn them into a game. Behavior science shows that participants will retain more information if it is playful, but purposeful.

“Clinical Study Jeopardy” is a particular favorite. Here is how to bring it in your next presentation.

1. Go through your traditional presentation and pull out all the key points you want the audience to retain (16-20 works well)
2. Theme those points into 4-5 themes. These are your “Jeopardy categories”
3. Turn the key points into questions and try to make the questions increasingly harder within the category. Those are your scoring points under each category.
4. You can find a PowerPoint Jeopardy template online that will make it easy to administer this presentation.
5. Break your audience into teams and you will be amazed at the level of interactivity and the information that is retained.

3. Don’t Forget the Patient

As clinical professionals, it’s essential to center our work around the needs and experiences of patients. Many times, the focus is on the protocol with the patient
being an inanimate object in that discussion.

Share patient stories, case studies, and journey mapping exercises to foster empathy, understanding, and a patient-centric mindset.

One Tip: How to Not Forget the Patient

Lack of patient involvement and engagement in clinical trials is a major issue that results in low recruitment and retention. During your next workshop incorporate a simulation of a study visit. This works best after an introduction or update of the study protocol.

Simulations like this offer interactivity and a reinforcement of the proper protocols and gives opportunities for discussion and learning from other sites / participants.

1. Develop a detailed scenario mimicking a typical clinical trial site visit, including patient check-in, informed consent process, study procedures, and follow-up consultations.
2. Assign participants roles such as patients, study coordinators, principal investigators, and monitors ensuring a diverse representation of stakeholders involved in site visits.
3. Engage participants in the simulation, where they act out their respective roles and navigate the site visit process, encountering realistic challenges and dilemmas along the way.
4. Facilitate a debrief session post-simulation, allowing participants to share their experiences, insights, and observations from the simulated site visit.

4. Create a Community

Build connections beyond the workshop. Foster a sense of belonging and collaboration among workshop participants to create a sustainable community. Those connections remain valuable beyond the workshop walls from study coordinators reaching out to other sites or CRO’s feeling more comfortable with their investigators.

One Tip: How to Create a Community

Allowing participants time to connect with each other during the workshop will allow sites, investigators, and study coordinators to reach out to each other when issues arise rather than always going to the study sponsor.

There are many ways to foster that community. Here is a quick guide on one of those ways.

1. Create opportunities to network throughout the session. One way to engineer serendipity is to have participants answer the following two questions at registration and then connect them based on the answers.
   1. What is one thing you feel you could teach other participants about the study, during the workshop?
   2. What is one thing you hope to learn or hope to get help on during the workshop?
2. Extend invitations to participants to join a dedicated LinkedIn group following the event, serving as a virtual space for continued networking and collaboration.
3. Actively facilitate the group for the first 3-4 weeks following the workshop to ensure engagement builds. Your time commitment just needs to be 30-60 mins per week.

5. Show Some Energy

Amp up the excitement! No matter the content everyone would rather hear it from someone who is excited to be present, injects energy and fun into the workshop. Ensuring all presenters have high energy will keep participants engaged and motivated.

One Tip: How to Show Some Energy

Infuse your workshop with contagious energy and enthusiasm by ensuring all presenters bring their A-game. Participants are more likely to stay engaged and motivated when they feel the excitement and passion radiating from the speakers.

Follow this below for bringing the energy your participants need!

1. Prepare! Encourage all presenter to prepare thoroughly and rehearse their presentations with energy and enthusiasm.
2. Coach presenters on effective delivery techniques, such as varying tone, pacing, and body language, to keep the energy levels high and maintain audience interest.
3. Infuse humor and lightheartedness into presentations where appropriate, as laughter is a powerful tool for energizing the atmosphere and fostering connection with the audience.
4. Set the tone as the workshop facilitator by exuding energy and enthusiasm yourself, serving as a role model for presenters and participants alike.