Hands-On Learning

Skills Workshops and
Behaviour Change Training

Hands-on skills workshops and leadership development programmes for high-performing teams. In formats from a focused half-day to a multi-session programme, your people practise real situations, build the skills behind a high-performance culture, and walk away with tools that drive measurable team performance. If you want to talk it through before committing, start with a free consultation.

Updated October 2026

Why It Works

Learning By Doing

Instead of filling out surveys, our experiential learning programmes put your people inside real-life challenges. Through hands-on exercises and role-play, they practise the leadership, collaboration and problem-solving behaviours that build high-performing teams and embed psychological safety in the workplace. Active retrieval significantly outperforms passive review for long-term retention (Roediger & Karpicke, 2006), and that retention is what turns L&D spend into a high-performance culture. See our approach or browse the cases. Whether role play is effective training is a fair question, and the evidence, limits included, is in that guide.

Share of a text recalled, Roediger and Karpicke (2006), Experiment 2, Psychological Science 17(3), 249-255.
Time of testRepeated studyRepeated testing
After 5 minutes83%71%
After 1 week40%61%
+50%
Retention boost from active retrieval (Roediger & Karpicke, 2006)
100
Max participants per session
n=57
Rehearsal beat slides & video·our 2020 UCL study
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Diverse team engaged in Sidestream training workshop with sticky notes
After five minutes repeated study led, 83% against 71%; after one week repeated testing led, 61% against 40% (Roediger and Karpicke 2006, Experiment 2) Line chart of the share of a text recalled, measured at two points. Repeated study, black dashed line: 83% after 5 minutes, 40% after 1 week. Repeated testing, pink solid line: 71% after 5 minutes, 61% after 1 week. The two lines cross: re-reading wins after five minutes, retrieval wins after a week. Axis from 0 to 100%. Source: Roediger and Karpicke (2006), Experiment 2, Psychological Science 17(3), 249-255. SHARE OF THE TEXT RECALLED 0 50% 100% 83% 71% repeated testing 61% 40% repeated study after 5 minutes after 1 week Source: Roediger & Karpicke (2006), Experiment 2, Psychological Science 17(3), 249-255.

Passive review wins the room. Retrieval wins the week. Students read a short science text. One group then studied it three more times (repeated study). Another did not study it again and instead wrote down everything they could recall, three times, with no feedback (repeated testing). Five minutes later the re-readers remembered more, 83% against 71%. A week later the order had reversed: 61% against 40%.

Source: Roediger, H. L. and Karpicke, J. D. (2006), Psychological Science 17(3), 249-255, Experiment 2. Author copy at Purdue Learning Lab (PDF).

How It Works

The Training Journey

01
Consultation
Goals, outcomes, and format, online or in-person. We listen first.
02
Workshop
Group-based, up to 100 people. Real activities, real challenges.
03
Practice
Putting cognitive tools and techniques into real-world practice.
04
Simulation
Behavioural assessment in a realistic, high-stakes environment.

Workshop Topics

What We Cover

All workshops are custom-built for your organisation's specific challenges and culture. HR directors can start with our employee workshops guide.

Looking for corporate training in London? Every topic below is also delivered as a bespoke in-house programme, built around your organisation's own situations rather than a generic syllabus.

Diversity, Inclusion & Bias

Real, hands-on, and emotional, because exclusion in real life is uncomfortable too. Participants experience what exclusion feels like, helping them understand, reflect, and change. Rehearsed as DEI training in London, unconscious bias training, harassment prevention training or active bystander training, whichever your people need.

Focus on real behaviours, not just ticking boxes
Real scenarios based on your organisation's challenges
Unconscious bias in everyday decisions
Building inclusive cultures as a daily habit
Creativity & Innovation

Beyond brainstorming. Participants work together in real time, learn to think under pressure, and build creative confidence that lasts long after the session. Run as a problem-solving workshop for decisions under pressure, or as a behavioural design workshop that turns insight into everyday behaviour.

Shift from old habits to flexible thinking
Define problems clearly before exploring solutions
Turn creative ideas into real, practical strategies
Support experimentation and smart risk-taking
Communication & Resilience

Build the skills to handle difficult conversations with care, lead under pressure, and develop the psychological capital that sustains performance long-term. Each strand stands on its own: communication skills training, presentation skills training, conflict resolution training and resilience training, all rehearsed rather than lectured.

Difficult conversations at work
Adaptive resilience under pressure
Psychological capital development
Public speaking & confidence
Leadership Development

Teams follow behaviour, not titles. Develop leaders whose actions, not just intentions, create the culture your organisation needs to thrive. From new manager training and coaching skills training to leadership training in London and executive training for senior leaders.

How behaviour change improves leadership performance
Leading with empathy and accountability
High-performance culture design
Crisis management & ethical decision-making
Change Management

Help your people navigate uncertainty with confidence. Our change management experiences build adaptability and reduce resistance to transformation.

Step-by-step problem-solving frameworks
Building adaptability during uncertainty
Stakeholder management & communication
Turning resistance into ownership
Psychological Safety

Immersive labs and manager coaching that actually shift behaviour in high-stakes conversations, creating environments where people speak up, take risks, and own their growth.

Real behaviour change, not awareness campaigns
Manager-led coaching approach
Creating speak-up cultures
Handling challenging behaviour at work

Got a specific challenge in mind? A 30-minute call gives you a clearer answer than the website ever could.

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Sidestream MARVELous Ideas workshop, live session in action

Case Study

MARVELous Ideas: Innovation Training Through a Pitch Challenge

Creativity & Innovation · London Startup

Challenge: A London startup wanted to strengthen creative problem-solving and move beyond conventional thinking patterns. They needed cognitive tools for developing and pitching ambitious ideas.

Approach: An innovation workshop where teams designed and pitched a pilot episode for a new Marvel series using unused characters; each pilot needed a unique hero, an antagonist, a twist, and a memorable ending. Pitches were judged on creativity, appeal, and practicality.

Results: Bold, imaginative concepts emerged. The startup left with a repeatable framework for future pitches and now runs its own pitch-rehearsal ritual internally. The sprint is now a programme of its own, described on our innovation training in London page.

"I never thought I'd pitch a superhero show, this really changed how I approach idea generation."

"Loved the balance of structure and creative freedom, innovating felt effortless."
Formats and group sizes: from a half-day workshop to two or three days, or a multi-session programme over weeks or months; evening, full-day and week-long immersive events; and groups from small leadership teams of 8 to 12 to immersive events of up to 300 participants Two separate scales; steps are ordered, not to scale. How long: half-day workshop; full-day workshop; two or three days; multi-session programme, over weeks or months. Immersive events: evening, full day or week-long. How many: 8 to 12, small leadership teams; 12 to 25, rehearsal cohorts; up to 100, workshop rooms; up to 300, immersive events. Rows of dots grow by one with each step and do not show the number of people. Where: in person, virtual or hybrid. FORMATS AND GROUP SIZES HOW LONG Steps are ordered, not to scale. Half-day workshop Full-day workshop Two or three days Multi-session programme, over weeks or months IMMERSIVE EVENTS Evening · Full day · Week-long HOW MANY Steps are ordered, not to scale. 8 to 12 small leadership teams 12 to 25 rehearsal cohorts up to 100 workshop rooms up to 300 immersive events WHERE In person · Virtual · Hybrid Formats and group sizes: from a half-day workshop to two or three days, or a multi-session programme over weeks or months; evening, full-day and week-long immersive events; and groups from small leadership teams of 8 to 12 to immersive events of up to 300 participants Two separate scales; steps are ordered, not to scale. How long: half-day workshop; full-day workshop; two or three days; multi-session programme, over weeks or months. Immersive events: evening, full day or week-long. How many: 8 to 12, small leadership teams; 12 to 25, rehearsal cohorts; up to 100, workshop rooms; up to 300, immersive events. Where: in person, virtual or hybrid. FORMATS AND GROUP SIZES HOW LONG Half-day workshop Full-day workshop Two or three days Multi-session programme, over weeks or months Steps are ordered, not to scale. IMMERSIVE EVENTS Evening · Full day · Week-long HOW MANY 8 to 12 small leadership teams 12 to 25 rehearsal cohorts up to 100 workshop rooms up to 300 immersive events Steps are ordered, not to scale. WHERE In person · Virtual · Hybrid

The specifics change with every brief. Priced per engagement.

Sidestream's own method description, not a research finding.

Flexible Delivery

Formats &
Options

Delivered across London, from Camden to Canary Wharf: see our eight area guides.

Half-Day Workshop
Focused, high-impact session on a single topic. Great for introducing concepts and sparking conversation.
Full-Day Workshop
Deep-dive with time for practice, reflection, and embedding new tools into day-to-day behaviour.
Multi-Session Programme
Sustained change over weeks or months, with follow-up coaching and reinforcement sessions.
Custom Retreat
Fully immersive offsite experience combining workshops, simulations, and team challenges, the format behind our corporate away days in London.
Virtual Delivery
Same energy, connection, and participation, designed specifically for online teams.
Hybrid Format
Seamlessly connects in-room and remote participants in a shared, engaging experience.

Behaviour change workshops and training: in summary

Sidestream's behaviour change workshops put your people inside real situations rather than filling out surveys, so the leadership, collaboration and problem-solving behaviours are practised, not just discussed. Every session is custom-built for your organisation's challenges and culture, for teams of up to 100, in rehearsal cohorts of 12 to 25, with formats from a focused half-day to a multi-session programme. Active retrieval outperforms passive review for long-term retention (Roediger and Karpicke, 2006), and that retention is what turns training spend into a high-performance culture.

  • Six core topics: diversity and inclusion, creativity and innovation, communication and resilience, leadership development, change management and psychological safety.
  • The training journey runs from consultation through workshop and practice to behavioural simulation in a realistic setting.
  • Flexible delivery: half-day, full-day, multi-session programme, custom retreat, virtual and hybrid formats.
  • Learning by doing builds the behaviours behind a high-performance culture and embeds psychological safety in the workplace. For one team at a time, that is our high-performance team training in London.

Related pages

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