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Workshops have been a fantastic way to gather people together, share ideas and work towards a common goal. Ever since the beginning of the pandemic, workshops have been transitioning to virtual, which can create a challenge for any hands-on workshop activities. Workshop events are now able to be held either in person or virtually!
A workshop event is defined as a hands on experience for employees on a specific subject matter. When selecting a topic for your workshop, choosing one that is specific to your company or industry will help your employees learn and grow. The main goal of a workshop is for employees to learn a new skill or idea, and then apply that knowledge to either their profession or everyday life. When employees can receive hands-on knowledge on a certain subject or topic, they are more likely to remember the workshop and use their newfound skills more effectively.
Employees who attend workshops have a goal to learn a new skill, or even earn a new certification that they can take back to their job and apply to their work. Workshops are typically smaller events with a small audience. However, workshops are also able to be held with a larger audience. If your workshop audience is larger than usual, using breakout rooms will help with hands-on activities. Having employees interact and engage with each other will help them get to know each other better and leaves room for plenty of networking opportunities! Learning new skills, brainstorming new ideas or obtaining a new certification will help employees in their professional career and in their personal lives.
We have all experienced sitting in a meeting, listening to the speaker or moderator, and suddenly realized you have zoned out and missed what was being said. In order to prevent this, having your employees get up and move around the room while interacting with one another will keep their minds focused. Something as simple as changing the room layout or hosting a class will stray away from the everyday, mundane meeting. We have created a list of 10 events for you to adopt for your next workshop.
Technology is ever-changing, and you may need to adapt to using new technology if your company introduces it. Some employees may be better at using new technology than others. Having a workshop that introduces this new technology and how to use it will be helpful and beneficial to everyone! If the new technology is something that your employees can get their hands on, allowing them to spend time using the product will help them better understand it. Sometimes new technology is a piece of software on their computer; In this case, the use of tutorial videos for your employees is the best way for them to become familiar with the new technology!
Everyone in the corporate world knows how important networking is to professional careers. Networking gathers people from all sorts of backgrounds, companies and industries and allows them to interact and start conversations about work. Gathering with people and getting to know them better on a personal and professional level can help to jumpstart your career! You may have an idea or a thought, and you’re just not sure on where to start to get that idea off the ground; at a networking workshop, you may get talking with someone who knows exactly how to get that idea started. Networking is all about building connections with people you may not get a chance to meet, but getting business cards or even connecting on LinkedIn will keep you in touch!
Food is a great way for your guests to relax in a comfortable atmosphere, while still making connections with one another. The great thing about hosting a breakfast meeting is that you can gather people in person. Providing breakfast items such as coffee, tea and pastries allow your guests to have a small bite to eat while they chat and mingle with the people at their table. If your event requires a virtual meeting with people in a different location or time zone, you can still gather together while enjoying a light breakfast. In order to feel like you are truly interacting face to face with the person on the video screen, invite them to have some small refreshments as well! Coming together to discuss business, network or learn a new policy will feel comfortable and inviting to your guests.
When you’re in any kind of meeting or workshop event, you may feel the need to get up, stretch your legs or even take a walk. Even working from home you may feel the need to step away from your computer and stretch out your muscles. If you are an event organizer, scheduling in stretching and meditation breaks will be helpful and beneficial to everyone. Incorporating wellness into your event will decrease stress and improve mentality. If you have more than one speaker at your workshop event, using meditation or stretching can be used as a transition in between each speaker. Breathing exercises can help to center and refocus your employees after a full day of learning.
Networking is usually done with some light refreshments, and maybe some drinks. This helps people to relax and be themselves as they meet new people to bring into their networking circle. Another great idea for a workshop is hosting an industry lunch! Having lunch stations or even food trucks will be a great topic of conversation and will let your employees choose what they want to eat. Once everyone has their food, then the learning can begin! If the weather allows, this event can be held outside, just to give everyone a nice change of scenery. Changing up the way you learn will be beneficial and you can also have fun while doing so!
When it comes to coding, many people might not know where to begin. By offering a coding workshop, you will be able to teach eager employees a new skill for them to have in their toolbelt. Coding can be difficult to learn initially, but through courses, teaching and coaching, coding is a skill that can be used by anyone! Teaching comes with answering questions and problem solving, and your employees will definitely have questions when learning something new! Having a Q&A session will let employees ask any questions they might have, and you are able to answer these questions to the group. More than one employee may have the same question, and answering these questions on a larger scale will put all of their minds at ease.
As we all know, all day meetings, conferences or workshops can become heavily information based, and it may be a lot to take in in one day. In order to break up the learning process, using games will help to keep employees focused and keep their mind sharp. We all know how important taking breaks throughout the day is, and using games is a fun way for employees to change up the way they take breaks! Puzzles, brain teasers and memory games will keep their minds sharp, while taking a break from the day. Keep in mind that your employees do have to return to their learning. Adding a time limit or using games to end a speaking session is the easiest way to transition into a new portion of your workshop.
Self care is such an important part of working in the corporate world, but it seems like not everyone practices that concept. Self care can come in many forms, and can be personalized to you as an individual! Self care can be as simple as breathing exercises and meditation, or it can be reading a book or cooking your favorite dish. In terms of a workshop setting, having a portion of the day dedicated to self care is so important for your guests. Using a round robin method to discover what everyone’s favorite form of self care is may give new ideas to guests who may be struggling to find a self care activity that works for them.
With almost all communication within the corporate world being done through a computer, writing things down by hand could possibly become a thing of the past. Writing workshops don’t have to be formal; they can be as simple as writing a letter to a friend. Hosting a writing workshop complete with paper, pens and other writing tools can inspire your guests to get back to actually writing things down. To be more inspired, choose a venue that will inspire people to clear their mind and write down their thoughts, such as an outside venue or a cool, quiet room. Sending letters to your colleagues, friends and family is a wonderful way to get back to writing and is a great way to express yourself.
Industry influencers can be a huge selling point to your potential guests! As you market and advertise your workshop, be sure to include any influencers or guest speakers who have confirmed they are coming! These influential people can be upper management within your industry, and they can speak to motivate your guests! At the end of the event, having a panel discussion or a Q&A session between the influencers and your guests will connect everyone on a personal level. Your guests can take their stories, advice and influence and learn to apply that to their career and everyday life.
As an event organizer, your main goal should be to plan a workshop event that your guests will remember and also have fun at! From giveaways to even picking the best motivational music, keep in mind that your guests are going to be the ones who takeaway the most information. Setting your guests up for success and retaining them as guests for the next workshop event will be beneficial for everyone.
Hosting a workshop in a conference or meeting room is the standard way to host. This can become a little too predictable for your guests. However, changing the venue into something unexpected will keep your guests on their toes and will be a nice change of scenery! Hosting your workshop at a cool new restaurant or a funky coffee shop will get the conversation going between your guests! One thing to remember is that wherever you choose to host your workshop, make sure there is enough space and seating for everyone. Also, double check with the venue to ensure that hosting your workshop there won’t be a problem.
Instead of the traditional set-up of chairs pointed towards the front, play around with the layout of the room! If you have the space, the addition of tables along with the chairs will let your guests sit with people and get to know them better! Using tables and chairs will create small groups for people to brainstorm ideas, share thoughts and possibly network! If you really want your guest to feel comfortable and at home, using furniture like lounge chairs and ottomans will help to promote comfort! People learn in all different ways, and something as simple as changing the layout of the furniture will help people learn more effectively.
When the time comes to break out into smaller groups during your workshop, playing motivational music will help your guests think and perform better within their group. At the beginning of your workshop, playing pump up music and letting your employees move around will shake any nerves out of them! If the situation arises for breaking out into small groups, playing motivational music lightly in the background will provide comfort for your guests as they work. If you are looking to motivate your guests even more, find out what kind of music your guests enjoy! Sending out a simple survey before your workshop to get a better understanding of the music your guests enjoy will provide you with all of the information to make a great playlist for your workshop!
As a thank you to your guests for attending your workshop, giveaways will keep your guests engaged and will be a great surprise at the end! Depending on the size of your workshop, you may have a budget to give every guest a swag bag. Swag bags may include items such as a reusable water bottle, a t- shirt or keychains. If you don’t have a budget to provide a swag bag to every guest, having larger giveaways to a smaller number of people will keep everyone on their toes! Use your attendance roster to choose names at random for your guests to win prizes, such as a gift card, professional notebooks or even a donation to charity in your name! Giveaways are a great memento for guests to remember your workshop and all of the information they gained from it.
Receiving feedback from your attendees on how your workshop was will be crucial to planning your next workshop! While you have all of your attendees gathered together, ask for their feedback in person and what they would want to see for future workshop events! Let your attendees brainstorm ideas for your next workshop, and even leave it to a group vote for which one should be the next workshop! By allowing your guests to choose which workshop they want to see next, they will be more inclined to return to participate in your next workshop!
Like any event, workshop events can be held both virtually and in-person! Reaching out to a virtual event platform host like Hubilo can help take all of the guesswork out of planning! Workshop events can be informative, with panel discussions and conference style learning. On the other hand, workshops can also be more casual, where the guests are working on puzzles and brain teasers. The main thing to takeaway is that your guests are going to be receiving information in a variety of ways. Planning the way your guests receive that information from your workshop can be the difference between the attendees having fun and your guests not returning for the next workshop. A fun and engaging workshop hosted by Hubilo will ensure that your attendees will have a great experience and will want to return to the next workshop.
