How to Plan a Business Workshop

Preplanning Makes Workshops More Effective

Effective employee training can make a positive difference in the company's bottom line; it can help make a company more competitive; and it can increase employees' motivation. A business workshop can be an effective part of that training.

Instructions

Before Setting Date and Time for a Workshop

1. Determine the topic or skill set that you or your employees need a workshop or training program to help develop or improve. One way to do this is by using an assessment tool such as an online survey or a printed questionnaire distributed to your employees.

2. Assess the needed skill level for the training (e.g., basic, intermediate, advanced or refresher). This can also be determined by using the assessment discussed in the first step.

3. Determine the group of employees who will be attending the workshop. Again, determine this through the results of the training assessment.

4. If you are going to pay someone else to come in to do the workshop, call and talk to at least two different business training providers. Set up an appointment to meet with those providers you want to know more about. When talking with the training providers, ask about instructors, talk about pricing, ask if they will train at your company location and, most importantly, ask for the names of customers who you can call and ask about their training experience with the provider.

5. When you select the training provider, go over all of the results of the training assessment and provide every detail about the workshop that you want from the provider, including how many people can attend, cost of additional materials, certificates of completion and evaluations.

6. If you have a training department that will be doing the training for your employees, go over all of the findings of the training assessment so that the workshop can be designed specifically to meet current training needs.

Determining Particulars and Informing Participants

1. Set the location. Determine if the training will be held at the company location or if employees will be sent to a training facility such as a local university.

2. Set the date and the start and end times for the training.

3. Inform employees at least two to three weeks before the scheduled date of the training so that they can plan their schedules accordingly. Send all employees eligible for the workshop at least two notices of the workshop. Notices can be sent via a printed flyer or through email. Include a detailed breakdown of the workshop. Let everyone know the objectives of the workshop, the topics covered, the desired outcome and information about who is presenting the workshop. Also ask each participant to arrive at least 10 minutes before the start time of the workshop.

Day or Two Before the Workshop

1. Prepare the training room at least a day before the training date. If the workshop is being held at your company location, call one or two days ahead of time and ask equipment, room setup, and other particulars that the trainer will need. Confirm that the training room has everything available and is ready and working.

2. Provide refreshments for the participants. Having fresh coffee, water and some fruit or pastries will make the workshop more enjoyable and will encourage employees to attend more training workshops.

3. Attend the beginning of the workshop to show support for the participants.

4. Discuss the workshop with the participants on an informal basis before it begins, during a break or immediately after it finishes.

After Workshop Is Completed

1. Have a training measurement tool ready to distribute at the end of the training. If an outside training company is conducting the workshop, ask if you can receive copies of the evaluations or if you can distribute an evaluation form developed by your company.

2. Develop a way to do ongoing measurement to see how well the participants use the training during the next 6 to 12 months.

3. Ask for input from participants verbally. Did they like the instructor? Was the information presented in an understandable and enjoyable way? Did they learn new processes or techniques?

4. Send a thank-you email out to all participants a few days after the workshop and ask for suggestions on future topics or training.