How to Develop a Training Workshop
Workshops are an excellent way to teach employees new skills or to help them learn new tasks. In order to be effective, a training workshop must be carefully planned and developed to ensure that the subject matter is covered thoroughly and reinforced in a way that will allow employees to use it on the job. Effective development will take some time upfront, but following the proper steps helps ensure that the workshop will be an effective training experience.
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Instructions
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Identify the specific goals of the training workshop. These will be your learning objectives. What should employees know at the end of the training? What should they be able to do? You cannot develop an effective workshop if you don't know exactly what you want the attendees to learn and how they should that knowledge after the training.
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List the steps it will take to achieve each of the identified goals. These steps will form the core material for the training workshop. If needed, consult subject matter experts who help you identify these steps. Break the goals down to their most basic level, as you will need to gear the training workshop material to employees who may have little or no knowledge of the skills you want them to acquire.
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Develop the workshop material. You will most likely need the help of your subject matter experts for this step, too. They can give you the technical information, and you can translate it into easy-to-understand lessons.
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Decide how the material will be presented at the workshop. Will you be breaking it down into individual sessions, and if so, will how will the sessions build and complement each other? Will the material primarily be presented through lectures, or will you also be using group activities and other methods? Will you be using supplementary materials such as slide shows and handouts? How will you assess the employees at the end to make sure they understand the material?
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Finalize the workshop presentations, and prepare a schedule. Include enough breaks to keep the employees from getting restless and uncomfortable. It's best to schedule a break at least once an hour so people can go use the restrooms, go outside to smoke or attend to personal business.
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Run a test session of the workshop, using employees with similar backgrounds to those who will be attending the actual event. At the end of the test workshop, thoroughly debrief the participants and incorporate their feedback into the final version.
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After you run the workshop, conduct an evaluation. Gather feedback from the employees on what they liked best and the areas that could be improved. Incorporate their feedback into future presentations of the training material or in development of other training workshops.
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Tips & Warnings
When you are deciding on how the training material will be presented, work in opportunities for interaction, discussion, and group activities. In a training workshop, you'll quickly lose the employees' attention if you rely too heavily on lectures. The workers will stay attentive and the material will be reinforced if you draw them in with active participation.
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