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see also at: www.toonloon.bizland.com/tot

The aims of the session were that the participants should become better able to say:

• what is involved in being a good trainer and
• how to prepare for before, during and after a workshop

Morals were generated - click HERE

The handouts were:

We began by considering the five points of the workshop pyramid (aims, objectives, content, methods and monitoring & evaluation) and noting that there is a continuum of options for each of them relating to the management styles of tell, sell, consult and share.

CED is different from other forms of training because people are not forced into it by external pressures. Therefore, motivation and attitudes is even more important than in other forms of training. It is useful to think of CED workshops in terms of before, during and after. The following points were highlighted during discussion.

BEFORE – there is no law or employer saying that people must attend CED workshops. People will come only if they think that it will be useful and/or fun. And different people will come for different reasons.

Moral = analyze felt needs (they may not be the ‘correct’ ones but they are where we must begin) and design the workshops accordingly

People will come only if they know when it is on. Plain letters are not as good as more attractive posters/leaflets.

Moral = ‘branding’ is important

Before and/or after sending the leaflets it helps to phone round to make sure that people know about the session and have understood its significance to them.

Moral = the better the marketing the bigger the crowd

Super moral = set aside time for these ‘before’ jobbies

DURING – different strokes for different folks. You can’t please all the people all of the time. Even in a short workshop it helps to have several different types of activity to add variety and interest.

The time spent chatting (networking) before and after the official session can be as useful as the session itself. So get there early and do not expect to leave as soon as the official session is over. Organise ‘assistants’ to deal with the logistics so that the main trainer is free to focus on the professional aspects.

Moral = be prepared, focused and flexible – and delegate as much as possible.

Beware of the furniture. Avoid straight rows with people facing the front – this sets the meeting up as a lecture. Arrange to have people facing each other. Getting people to rearrange the furniture at the beginning or half way through is a good ice breaker.

Moral = be aware of place/space and change it as required. (+ other workshop logistics)

Super moral = everyone is beautiful (?) in their own way - aim to please everybody at least some of the time.

AFTER – some workshops are designed to make changes in attitudes, skills and knowledge and thus in what people do and how they do it; other workshops are designed to create a product e.g. a brainstorm, a comprehensive list, an agreement, a plan, an evaluation etc. In either case the organisers need to know how successful the workshop has been i.e. how much impact it has had. If you are clear about your aims and objectives it is much easier to design the monitoring and evaluation.

Moral = know where you are going and plan ahead

If the workshop involved a lot of interaction and discussion it helps enormously to write up what was said (it may need tidying and interpreting) and to sent it to the participants. There is much scope for creativity in this act of ‘being the scribe’.

Moral = embrace the hermeneutic dialectic (www.srds.ndirect.co.uk/4th.htm ) - each ‘after’ is a new ‘before’^[1].

But people might not read the report so budget time to visit or phone afterwards to ask what they thought about the workshop and/or the report. (Also phone to ask why they were not at the workshop!). This personal touch makes the difference between token and genuine consultation and thus between token and genuine commitment and buy in. If ‘they’ are obviously paying attention to what you think, feel and say then you are more likely to put time and effort into the process.

Moral = follow up, follow up, follow up

Super moral = set aside time for these ‘after’ jobbies.

The bigger picture:

Look at each workshop as one of a strategic set of battles in the war against apathy and dependence, as one tiny mouthful of that tasty elephant which is community-led action in the new Scottish democracy.

When you begin to panic because of all the ‘crises’ that are building up take a deep breath, get on board your imaginary helicopter and view the big picture from a great height:

• You build a house one brick at a time (it helps to have a plan!)
• Banff wasn’t built in a day.
• The longest of journeys begins with the first step.
• Two heads are better than one
• When two upon a journey go one sees before the other.
• In the country of the blind the one eyed man is king.
• An expert is somebody who knows the same as you but is more organised and has a power point presentation.
• Many hands make light work (Chinese Electricians Union)
• Everyday in everyway we are getting better and better.
• In the long term we are all dead (Milton Keynes)
• You gotta have a dream cause if you don’t have a dream, how you gonna make a dream come true.

Notes of session by George Clark, 10 March 2001

Notes:

1 "A culture policy should be forever in draft" - Assad Shoman

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