Turning Ordinary Workshops into Extraordinary Learning Experiences
I just wrapped up a call with a new friend, who had questions about making a workshop more engaging. From our conversation, and some reflection that followed, this was my top of mind (not exhaustive!) list:
Make It Fun
Learning should be fun. I’m not talking about a fun prelude to more serious work — I’m talking about finding the inherent fun embedded in every challenge, and bringing that forward (this merits a dedicated post!). Also, as facilitator, you should be having fun!
Make it Challenging
Challenges are fun. Challenges are how we learn. So long as it’s neither too challenging nor boring (thank you, Csikszentmihalyi!), interesting challenges keep people engaged.
Step into the Background
Your job is to foster discovery. Let people figure things out for themselves. Think of your job more as designing the environments in which learning takes place. My journey as a facilitator has been from lectures supported by interactive exercises to something more game-like, teeing up interesting challenges and being there to guide as needed.
Establish Relevance
You must answer: Why THIS material? Why is this is important to YOU? If people don’t see how this might apply to their work, it won’t stick. This has been a lesson I keep learning. Again. And again. While I might know, or believe, this is really, really important to learn, others might now feel this way — yet. All that follows will be forgotten if participants can’t connect it to a need they have.
Reiterate Relevance
Remind people why this is exactly what they need. Or better yet, ask people to write down — and share — how they’ll use what they’ve learned.
Debrief & Reflection!
I’m increasingly of the opinion that holding space to debrief and reflect on an activity is the most critical part of a workshop — especially if the goal is learning.“How was that experience? What did you learn that surprised you? List two things that you can apply immediately. What links can you see between this activity and other things we’ve explored today? What might you do differently in the future?” Whether in group activities or alone, making time for reflection is part of how learning sticks.
Create Essential Reference Materials
…for use after the workshop. What are the vital things people should recall, or might find useful, months later? I try to save paper (or print files) for stuff that will be useful later.
Offer coaching services as a follow on.
Honestly, I don’t know why I’ve never done this before!
Design for YOUR OWN LEARNING
We tend to default to all the stuff we can offer others, but what do YOU want to learn from this workshop? How are you designing for your own learning? Once I started asking myself what I’d like to learn from others, it changed my workshops. I now hold more space to listen to — and learn from — the room, and have my own “expertise” challenged!
Whew.
