Preparing yourself for a workshop...

[martinogg]

Do you have any tips for preparing yourself for a workshop day?

The sorts of things I'd have thought would be valuable would be preparing to be most receptive to the information given during the workshop and keeping interest in the subject to be good participants.
Maybe also do some background study in the particular field.

I'm thinking not just for Personal Growth, but also for training days, refresher courses or introductory courses to new topics at work and for personal benefit.

thanks

martin

[CoolBee]

One of the things that was important for me when running some management workshops here in Cairo was to understand the different culture.
For example many of the things considered normal on workshops in the UK and US and probably most of Europe - ice breakers, 'games' and the like - need to be treated with extreme care here.
There is a resistance to being treated like children and these things are often perceived as children's games and you could easily lose respect if you introduce them without much careful thought.
I spent quite a while with the HR manager in advance discussing these matters and agreeing what to do
The educational system means exposure to anything like role playing etc is very limited and there is a great deal of uncertainty on what to do.
They were somewhat uncomfortable with the idea that their views and insights were as important as those of the 'doctorah' at the front of the room.
While they were ok (after a while) with breakouts and bringing back and discussing their ideas and posting up on flipcharts, I realised after the first session that once we have done that, they are most comfortable if they are then given a page of theory that could be memorized in the event there was to be an exam on the subject (which there wasn't - but it's their comfort zone).

[Angela]

Hakalau!

[CoolBee]

Ah sorry I thought you meant running it not attending it.