This article has everything you need to know about how to prepare a workshop.
Good workshop is an extremely valuable thing. Bad workshop, on the other hand, is the best way to quickly destroy the reputation of the trainer. So what can we do to make sure that any training we prepare is excellent? It’s definitely worth using these six steps!
How To Prepare a Workshop:
1. Identify the purpose of the workshop.
Whatever the situation, the basis for preparing a good training event is to outline its specific purpose. After all, events of this kind cannot be more or less successful social gatherings where you talk “about this and that.”
What is important here is that our goal is actually achievable in a specific time, place, and set of conditions. After all, we need to remember that by defining the goal, we are informing participants and principals at the same time about the skills we will impart.
And will we be able to teach, for example, the use of advanced business management software in 6 hours? Highly doubtful! At most, we will present the basic issues related to this topic, and that should be our goal!
2. Adapt to the audience
The second very important step in preparing a good training course is to consider the capabilities of our audience. After all, the content discussed and the media used should be closely related to the audience, their age, or their knowledge of the topic.
In addition, the amount of time the audience can devote is also important, as is determining what their real needs are. At a training course for experienced accountants, is it worth wasting several hours discussing basic issues and concepts? Certainly not!
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3. Create a training plan.
The next step in preparing a good training course is to develop the program for the event itself. It should consist of a detailed list of topics and issues to be discussed, as well as the topics covered in the introduction and the teaching or evaluation methods (1) themselves.
This is because such a “roadmap” will help us perfectly in the preparation of the speech as well as during the implementation of the training, protecting us from falling into the abyss of questions and side issues. Having a preliminary sketch of our training, it is worth thinking about it several times.
This allows you to optimally set the order of individual issues so that they not only form a logical whole but also correspond to the psychophysical capabilities of the audience.
4. Confront the plan in real time.
It is imperative that each of the issues we discuss be given an appropriate amount of time. This will allow you to make a preliminary assessment of whether, in general, our assumptions are feasible to achieve in one or two days.
It is also always advisable to include a large number of breaks when creating the hourly schedule, and in the case of the most important issues, to also provide much more time for questions and answers. This is because if we overestimate the amount of time needed, we will always be able to deal more thoroughly with some issues or extend the recovery breaks a bit longer.
In the opposite case, if we set ourselves too few hours and minutes for the implementation of the plan, we will always have a serious problem – either we will have to give up some issues, “cut” the audience breaks, or extend the training.
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5. Prepare training materials.
Once the assumptions of our training have been created, then it’s time to prepare training materials. In fact, for your convenience, it’s a good idea to divide them at the outset into two categories: aids for use during the training itself and those intended for participants.
This will allow us to always choose the best form of materials and adapt their content to real needs. In principle, training aids should take the form of exercises or practical examples, while “post-training” materials (2) may contain more theoretical information, reminding of the most important issues and problems.
When preparing training aids, it is always a good idea to look for the most “light” and accessible forms. Binding files of photocopies is never a good and creative solution, and on top of that, after the training itself, they will most likely end up in the trash. Much better will be any multimedia forms or compendiums of knowledge covering the most important topics and issues.
6. Take care of the training space.
However, a good training is not only a prepared trainer; it is also a properly adjusted and arranged space. Therefore, it is worthwhile to think carefully about what layout of the room, benches, and chairs will best suit the subject matter to be discussed and the tasks to be carried out.
For example, if you plan to work in groups, you should adjust the layout of the training room accordingly from the beginning to avoid wasting time on shifting or “shuffling” office furniture.
It is also important to check whether the room being used will be able to easily display training materials or multimedia presentations, what the sound system is like, and whether it is sometimes stuffy or dark inside.
Implementing the aforementioned six steps to prepare a good training session will certainly give us a good foundation. In practice, however, our success or failure will be determined by the execution of the event itself. Therefore, it is worth taking care of every detail, practicing the speech itself in advance, and learning from previous experiences!
I want to thank you for taking the time to read my article about how to prepare a workshop. I sincerely hope its contents have been a good help to you.
