Have you ever attended a workshop? Or maybe received an invitation to one? Almost similar to seminar, business workshop is a frequently-held event for professionals. According to Collins Dictionary, workshop is “a period of discussion or practical work on a particular subject in which a group of people share their knowledge or experience”. Again, pretty similar to seminar, but the main difference is that workshop requires more participation from attendees.
Workshop is more packed with activities and group discussions. Even though it’s still usually led by expert on the topic discussed, workshop is less about speech and is more about knowledge-sharing and problem-solving training. And if you’re tasked with organizing a workshop, here are the steps to effectively plan a workshop so that it gives benefit to everyone who attends.
Goals
First and foremost, define your goal/objective. Start with questions: what do you want to achieve from organizing the workshop? What are you offering to your participants? Is it new skills? How do you want to deliver the knowledge? Be clear in what you want to achieve so that you stay in track in the next steps of organizing.
Audience
After you’re sure of your goal, the next step is to decide who your audience will be. Prior knowledge about your audience can help you preparing the most-suited way of how to conduct the workshop. How many of them will attend? Do they have background knowledge on the topic? Will they be comfortable with particular methods? Always have these questions – and their answers – in the back of your mind. Use them as to guide your on how the workshop will go.
Location
Who and how big your audience is are the base for you to choose the location for your workshop. The location for when your workshop is attended by 15 people will obviously be different to when it’s attended by 50 people. Furthermore, list down all the necessary logistics and details to use during your workshop, such as visual aids and other accommodating equipment.
Activities
Lastly, the final step to plan a workshop will be to start listing down activities that will be included in the workshop. To avoid the event turns boring, facilitator should prepare ice-breaking activities. In addition, facilitator should also prepare the right strategy to ensure equal participation from all attendants in the various activities, such as group discussion and individual task.
References:
http://www.theworkshopleader.org/the-7-ps-of-planning-effective-workshops/
https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/PlanningAWorkshop.htm