“You are passively sitting in a group and not contributing anything at all,” I whispered to a participant during a recent workshop. She hesitated a bit and gave me an awkward smile. During the break, she came up to me and said, “Actually, I didn’t know much about this workshop. My friend dragged me here with her. So I was a little lost during the activities.”
Initially, I had assumed that she was just trying to give me an excuse. But she didn’t know why she was there. Her confession made me think deeper on why participants act the way they do during workshops. And not only the trainer but also the participants should take responsibility for the effectiveness of the session.
As a teacher and teacher-trainer, I believe that a workshop is productive only when participants are ready to explore and co-create knowledge by getting physically, mentally, and emotionally involved into various activities. The trainer’s role is to deliver the content and facilitate the learning but in an effective workshop, participants must also take active role to learn by doing and reflecting on their learning.
When you think about participating in a workshop, keep these ten things in your mind so that you can make your workshop experience worthwhile.
Understand the real reason
Understand your real reasons for joining the workshop and check if they align with the workshop objectives (besides the price, timing, and location). You may have wanted to, for instance, improve your fiction writing skills, but the workshop might be about technical writing. Sometimes you may simply be curious and want to learn new stuffs. No harm in that, but if your goal and the workshop’s objective don’t match there is no use in joining it.
Understand the modality
Understand the modality of the workshop. Ask for the format, duration, and delivery style. Many workshops turn out to be long lecture sessions that put the participants into sleep. You may have different expectations and when your expectations don’t match with the workshop, your motivation (and consequently, overall learning) might slump down to zero.
Get in touch
If you have signed up for a workshop, try to get in touch with other participants. This is easy these days because most of the workshops are promoted through Facebook where you can see who else have clicked ‘attending’. Also, try to get in touch with the facilitator and clear your queries and confusions.
Ways to be productive this week
Prepare
Don’t go into a workshop without any preparation. Yeah, you read it right. You might say, “But I’m not the trainer. Why should I be prepared?” Well, even as a participant, you can add value to the workshop. Read articles related with the theme/title of the workshop. Go with an attitude to contribute. May be the trainer will also end up learning something.
Have an open mind
Go with an open mind, without judgment. Your positive contribution can really elevate the quality of the workshop. Sometimes you may have been compelled to join the workshop. May be your boss convinced you to be there. But even if you are in the workshop without a choice, don’t resist like an insolent kid. Since you are already there, why not make the best out of the situation?
Get out of your comfort zone
A workshop is also a great opportunity to get to know people. During activities, try to pair with new faces. If you have a friend with you, ditch him/her. Go sit with someone you don’t know. It is such a cliché to say but try to ‘get out of your comfort zone’. Even when you don’t get anything out of the workshop, you may be able to build relationship with new people.
Give feedback
Provide proper and concrete feedback to the facilitator after the workshop. Be specific. Don’t simply write ‘it was a good workshop’ or ‘it was not as expected’. Instead, write that the activity after the break was very helpful in understanding the concept. Your feedback can provide a completely new perspective for the trainer, and can also help the trainer avoid the dreaded ‘curse of knowledge’.
Stay in touch
Stay in touch with the facilitator and with other participants. Keep sharing new things and new experiences. Don’t treat any workshop as a picnic spot where you had some fun and you met some new people. Take it as a springboard to jump into another level of skill and knowledge.
Request for follow-up
Request the trainer for a follow-up session. If that is not possible, request him/her to go through your ‘work’ that you have come up with. Newly acquired knowledge becomes meaningful when applied immediately and frequently. If you have attended a workshop on writing, send your writings for review and guidance. Share it with the other participants and ask for feedback.
Share
Share the ideas and skills with someone else – a friend or a colleague. There’s a saying that when you teach, you learn twice. This is one of the best ways to retain your learning from the workshop. This also gives you a chance to assess and reflect on your own learning.
The writer is a passionate teacher and teacher-trainer.
