Posted by Celia Couture on Tue, May 11, 2010 @ 10:30 AM
We've all been there. We attend a workshop because it has a great title, impressive speaker, and a timely topic. We leave feeling that we didn't get our money's worth or we're bored half-way through because it is the same material we've heard about forever it's just been repackaged!
If you are a responsible for identifying appropriate workshop for your company or you are simply looking for a good program to enhance your leadership skills you need to be able to assess its viability for you as well as for your company. How do you determine whether a workshop is right for the people that work for and with you? How do you ensure that the facilitator of the workshop has a strong track record for engaging an audience and more importantly, how do you ensure that when your employees return they can put what they've learned into practice right away.
What is the anatomy of an effective workshop?
1. Is the facilitator a subject matter expert?
Make sure the facilitator has a background in the material being presented. Look for unique deliverables. Has the facilitator written articles, a book, a white paper about the subject matter. Is the facilitator a popular speaker at events? Does the person have the ability to translate or convert information into a form suitable for the audience?
2. Does the facilitator engage the audience?
Despite the fact that attendees tend to sit in the back of the classroom or conference room hoping to spend a few hours hiding out, most attendees at workshops what to be engaged. One of the goals of a strong workshop is provide learners with multiple ways to achieve knowledge. Does the workshop allow for working in groups, in teams, in some interactive way? Is the workshop designed to provide multiple analogies for attendees to grasp the material? Adult learners need variety in teaching techniques. Is some of the material designed for self-development? Very few workshops are successful if they just include a whole bunch of power point slides and little else.
During the month of May, CC Consulting, LLC is offering companies the opportunity to WIN A WORKSHOP. Go here to read details on how to enter: http://www.ccconsultingllc.com/win-a-workshop/
Remember: "Teaching is not about imparting information; it's about making learning irresistible"
--Larry Goldfarb
Posted by Celia Couture on Tue, Nov 10, 2009 @ 08:13 AM
It is becoming clear that after we get through the downturn that more and more companies will be looking for expertise in managing people who manage projects. I believe that companies will need to regroup to ensure that deadlines are closely managed and that customers are hearing from company representatives on a regular basis.
If we stop to take the time to look at our to do lists as well as the deadlines imposed for getting things completed, we can easily become overwhelmed. It is really important for company leaders to develop a mechanism to track not only what they need to do, but what expectations they have set for the people who play an active role in completing tasks.
Each of us has our own mechanism for time management. Some processes are more successful than others, but regardless of the process we choose to use, it is clear that without vigilence few tools work effectively.
Tips for successful time management:
- Ensure that your team has a mechanism in place for reviewing due dates and action items. Make a review an integral part of your management meetings.
- Ensure that your team is being held accountable for meeting deadlines especially as they relate to client/customer deliverables.
- Role model the behavior you want repeated from the members of your staff. If you are diligent as the leader and you follow-up with members of the team then they know that these actions are important to you.
- Support and reward those employees that do a good job with integrating time management tools in their day-to-day job functions
- Offer to support additional training and facilitation if employees are struggling with time management.