Making Workshops Work
Wayne Goldsmith
Managing Director | Director level @ Moregold Performance Consulting
To be blunt - most workshops - Don't Work!
In fact, we might be better off calling them Don't-Work Shops!
For the most part, the failure of workshops to work is not the fault of the people who are attending the workshop.
The reason why most workshops are actually DON'T-work shops is that we're all stuck doing the same routine, dull, workshop practices that we've always done.
What we think Works - Doesn't!
I've been to hundreds of workshops, conferences, clinics, seminars and think tanks all over the world.
The three questions I ask every live learning event organizer is this:
- Are you confident you did all you could to ensure this event stimulated, engaged and inspired learning in everyone who attended?
- Are you confident that you've made a real, measurable difference to the people who've attended the event?
- Are you confident that as a result of attending this event, every attendee has got better in some aspect of their work, professional or personal life?
In my experience, in the majority of cases, workshops, conferences and other live learning events etc. are generally a "tick-the-box" activity, a revenue raiser / sales event or a talk-fest where nothing and no-one really changes anything they think, say or do.
But they don't have to be.
Bringing people together is now - as it always has been - a wonderful opportunity to learn, to grow, to engage, to connect, to share, to create, to innovate, to improve and to get better.
However, we've spent the past 30 years or so killing off the power of the potential of live, real-time human connection experiences by blindly following a long list of expected - almost mandated - ineffective conference rituals and routines.
In this article, I'll show you how to turn your back on the good ole' conference practices and programs and outline a few ways you can make your Workshop Work.
Working Workshops - What works, what doesn't and how to tell the difference.
- BAN POWER POINT! It's Power-Pointless. The next time someone stands up at a live learning event and throws slide after slide after slide at you in the name of learning, I want you to get up and walk out of the room. Nothing kills innovation, creativity and communication like a long, dull, boring Power-Pointless presentation. I actually hand out stickers at my workshops with the letters PAPPPP on them and ask every person in the room to wear the stickers proudly on their chest. PAPPPP - People Against Pointless Power Point Presentations. Join the movement!!
- PRE-WORKSHOP BRIEFINGS - MUST BE BRIEF. Ever wondered why they call them "BRIEFS"? Because they're supposed to be BRIEF! Read the following statement fifty times...."People do not read pre-workshop briefing materials". All pre-event briefing materials should be clear, simple, short, engaging and simulating. Try sending out a short, engaging video instead of a long, tediously dull, content heavy pre-event "required background reading" document.
- LIVE LIVE LIVE! Don't waste time at live learning events presenting recorded, on-line, Power Point slides or text based materials. Time together is too precious to look back and study "what was" and "what is". Live learning events are all about creating "what could be". Use the opportunity and capture the moment that only live learning events give you to engage people in sharing thoughts, growing new ideas, innovating and creating in real time. For example, have people in the room taking notes, recording ideas and noting creative thoughts in real time - live and immediate and give these notes to people to reflect on in the breaks so that ideas grow and flow and accumulate over the day. Nothing kills the energy in a room full of passionate people than telling them you'll send them the amazing ideas they've come up with today.............albeit in a few weeks time.
- NO MORE INTRODUCTIONS. If you do one thing - just one thing - to make your next live learning event better - PLEASE stop wasting time on the "let's go around the room. Tell us your name, a bit about your background and the reason why you're here with us today". No one listens, no one cares and all it does is waste precious moments when humans beings could actually connect with and inspire each other to achieve remarkable things. Just get on with it!
- DON'T LET GROUPS BECOME GROUPS. And if you can do one more thing to make your live learning events better, don't let groups become groups! Dare to be different! Swap group members around every 30 minutes. Change the way their chairs are facing. Ask them to stand for ten minutes, sit for five minutes, walk for six minutes...it doesn't really matter! Just do all you can to disrupt the natural human tendency of groups of people becoming tribal, exclusive and insular when you sit them down around a table.
- OUTCOMES. If you want to make money from a workshop, that's great. Just be clear that making money is your outcome. If you want the event to be about learning, growth, creativity, innovation and personal potential - that's all good too. Be clear about your outcome. If however, your outcome is "To put on a live learning event because we always do one in October every year", maybe just send everyone a book voucher and a nice thank you card and forget the whole workshop idea. Here's an even more radical idea...why not make some calls in the months leading up to the workshop and ask the people planning to attend your event what THEIR outcome is....wow! There's a concept! Learner outcome focused events....who would have thought....
- RESPONSIBILITY FOR LEARNING - DON'T TAKE IT PERSONALLY. You can lead a learner to the workshop but you can't make them learn. Ultimately, no matter how good you plan, prepare and produce a great live learning experience, it's up to the motivation, commitment and drive of the individual learner to make the most of the opportunity. Work on the 25 / 25 / 25 / 25 principle. 25 percent of the people attending your live learning event want to learn and are committed to change and continuous improvement. 25 percent are somewhat interested in learning and could be influenced to change their attitudes and behaviors. 25 percent are not all that interested in learning and change but they might pick up a few ideas here and there which may be of some value to them at some time in the future. And 25 percent are there for what I call the three Bs....BOOZE, BETTING (gambling, fun, night-life) and the BOSS (i.e. they need to be seen to have been at the event). Don't take it personally. That's life my friend.
- ACCOUNTABILITY FOR LEARNING. A powerful tool in encouraging learners to learn is knowing that someone or something will keep them accountable for their learning. Why do school students accept accountability for learning? Exams! They know that at some time, their commitment to learning will be measured AND - what gets measured gets done! There's a million ways to encourage accountability post-event. Try creating "learning communities" where small teams of attendees agree to contact each other in a week or two after the conference and discuss how what they learnt has helped them. Or call workshop attendees at random (if they've opted in to being part of it) and discuss how what they learnt at your live learning event has impacted on their business and personal life. This not only promotes accountability for learning but it's a brilliant source of feedback on your last event and will give you ideas and inspirations for your next one!
- DEADLINES. If you make a promise at a live event, keep it. Not only that, live by the motto - UNDERPROMISE and OVERDELIVER. If you tell your workshop attendees that they'll get follow up from the event in two weeks, do it in one week. If you tell them you'll send them an email seeking feedback, call them or Skype them instead. If you've organized an event, you know all too well that immediately post event you feel like you're in a coma. All of a sudden days...weeks....months...go by and all the promises you made to an excited, enthusiastic live learning group have lost momentum and energy. The learners have lost the passion for the commitment to change they made at the event, you've forgotten half the stuff you were supposed to do and when next year's event comes along you wonder why no one comes back.
- FOLLOW UP FOLLOW UP FOLLOW UP. Say no more. Call, email, text, Skype, meet, connect, engage, mentor, coach, guide, partner with....just follow up follow up follow up. As a live learning event organizer you never want to be in the position where someone asks you "How do you know that the workshop attendees actually apply what they learn once they go back home?" and having to respond, "I don't".
Bringing people together to learn, to share, to collaborate, to grow, to create, to innovate...it's a wonderful experience - or it should be.
Too many times we walk away from workshops thinking and saying:
"Well that was a waste of time. The only time I learnt anything was when we were having a few beers at the bar last night when people started to relax and share their actual real-world experiences".
You all do "Feedback" forms.
You already know what the problems are!
Your audiences have been telling you for years but you're not listening:
- Less "everyone does it this way" thinking! Right from the first moment - no more long, boring, dull, tedious, "Let's go round the room and introduce ourselves" type activities. Be different! Be challenging! Be memorable!
- Less formal presenting, lectures and 90 minute keynote speeches.
- Less rigid, structured, overly directed, overly scripted learning activities, e.g. less traditionally facilitated group work.
- More time on swapping ideas and sharing real-world experiences with colleagues and peers.
- More flexibility with the workshop program. Be dynamic! Be adaptable! Be responsive!
- More practical, usable, relevant information: not just ideas but ideas that work!
- More time on real-world practical problem solving than just whining and complaining about the problems.
- More personal responsibility for learning.
- More accountability between learners for effective application of their learning!
- More fun!
Wayne Goldsmith
#learning #conferences #workshops #waynegoldsmith #education #eventorganizing #creativity #change
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