A Big 5 at Work buyer's guide for HR, L&D and people leaders comparing team-building workshops, in person or virtual: how to define the problem, what to check, red flags, questions to ask every vendor and a scorecard you can copy.
The short answer
Most teams buy a workshop on vibe: a good pitch, a fun agenda and a facilitator people like. Then, a month later, nothing about how the team works has changed. This guide shows you how to buy on outcomes instead.
A team-building workshop is worth the money when it starts from a clear problem, uses a credible model of how people differ, gives people real practice on real situations, and includes a follow-up about 30 days later. A fun afternoon with none of those four things is a social event, which is fine, but it shouldn't be bought or measured as a development investment.
Key takeaways
Start with the problem
Start by naming the one problem you most want the workshop to fix. The problem decides the kind of workshop you need, and it gives you something to measure afterward. If you can't name the problem in one sentence, the workshop will probably be generic.
If the real issue is one person's performance, or a conflict between two specific people, a team workshop usually isn't the right tool. Coaching, mediation or a direct conversation will do more.
Buyer's checklist
Compare workshops on nine criteria: clear goals, a credible model, facilitation quality, practice time, format fit, follow-up, privacy, pricing transparency and customization. The checklist below shows what good looks like for each, so you can hold every vendor to the same standard.
Red flags
The biggest red flags are signs that the workshop will be the same no matter who is in the room, and that nothing will happen after it ends.
Compare approaches
Choose based on what you need to change. Games build goodwill, coaching builds one person's skills, and a personality or assessment-backed workshop gives a whole team a shared way to understand each other.
Among assessment-backed workshops, the model matters. Type-based tools, such as DiSC or the MBTI, sort people into a small number of styles. The Big Five (also called OCEAN) is the most widely researched model of personality in psychology. It measures five traits on continuous spectrums, so it can show differences in degree, not just category. If your team has already done DiSC, read DiSC vs. the Big Five to see what a Big Five workshop adds. If your team is remote or hybrid, our guide to remote team-building workshops covers how personality differences show up in video calls and chat.
Format fit
Match the length to the goal. A 2-hour session is enough to introduce a shared language. A half day gives time for real practice. A full day suits deep work on team dynamics, and it works best in person. A short series spread over a few weeks helps new habits stick.
Big 5 at Work's formats follow this pattern. The 2 Hour Session ($2,500) runs virtually. The Half-Day Workshop ($4,500) runs virtually or in person. The Team Deep Dive ($8,500, a full day or two half-days, plus 30 days of Virtual Coach follow-up) is in person only. All three are priced for groups of fewer than 20. For remote teams, the remote workshop guide has sample online agendas.
Vendor questions
Ask these ten questions of every vendor you're considering. A strong vendor will answer each one specifically, without changing the subject.
Scorecard
Use a simple scorecard. Rate each vendor from 1 (weak) to 5 (strong) on the criteria below, then compare totals. Weight goals and follow-up most heavily, since they matter most for lasting change. Copy this table into a spreadsheet and add a column for each vendor.
| Criterion | Weight | What a 5 looks like | Vendor A (1–5) | Vendor B (1–5) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clear goals tied to our problem | x2 | Agenda built around our stated problem | ||
| Credible model | x1 | Named, well-researched model, explained plainly | ||
| Facilitator experience | x1 | Has led groups like ours | ||
| Practice time | x1 | Most time spent practicing on real situations | ||
| Format fit | x1 | Length and setting match our goal and team | ||
| 30-day follow-up | x2 | Concrete follow-up step and a way to measure change | ||
| Privacy | x1 | Clear, upfront rules on who sees results | ||
| Pricing transparency | x1 | Published prices; extras listed | ||
| Customization | x1 | Uses our real situations | ||
| Weighted total (out of 55) |
The weighted maximum is 55: seven criteria at 5 points each, plus goals and follow-up at 10 each.
FAQ
Most interactive workshops work best with about 6 to 20 people, split into small groups for practice. Larger groups can still work, but they need more facilitation or several smaller sessions. Big 5 at Work's workshop prices cover groups of fewer than 20, and larger groups get a custom quote.
Cost depends mostly on facilitator time, the number of participants, any per-person assessments, and travel. As one example, Big 5 at Work's workshops are $2,500 for a virtual 2 Hour Session, $4,500 for a Half-Day Workshop and $8,500 for an in-person Team Deep Dive, each for groups of fewer than 20. Assessments ($4.99 per person, less for teams of 10 or more), a $50 team dashboard and travel are billed separately. See full pricing.
One well-designed workshop, followed by a check-in about 30 days later, is enough to build a shared language. Repeat it when the team changes a lot, such as after several new hires, a reorg or a leadership change.
Short, interactive formats of 2 hours to a half day work well virtually when everyone joins from their own laptop and works in small breakout groups. Full-day sessions are better in person, because a full day on video is hard to facilitate well.
It depends on the vendor, so ask before anyone takes an assessment. With Big 5 at Work, each person receives their own full report, and each person's trait percentiles are shared with the team on the team dashboard. Results are for development and teamwork, not hiring or performance decisions.
People still use the shared language, for example by naming a trait difference instead of assuming bad intent. The team has written working agreements and is following them, and managers refer to what the team learned in one-on-ones. A short before-and-after pulse survey on specific behaviors is the simplest way to check.
Next step
Write down the problem you want to solve, then put two or three vendors through the questions and scorecard above. To see whether the Big Five language fits your team, have a few people take the free Big Five test or read how the full assessment works. When you're ready, compare Big 5 at Work's workshop options and pricing, or find a consultant from the Big 5 at Work Referral Network to lead a session for your team.
Related reading
Christin Camacho is the founder of Big 5 at Work and the author of "Why You Need Neurotic People on Your Team". Take the free Big Five personality test to see your own results.
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