Aside from all of those, workshops or seminars are where we learn things with the predisposed idea of us learning them, and these are where we can get the surplus of information that are not necessarily taught in school. Schools teach the most primary things, albeit developing into more complicated concepts as we move further, however, they employ a systematic and uniform discussion of different information. It is as important to outsource, and learn from direct institutions that impart knowledge that may not be that orthodox, or available in schools in and of themselves.

25+ Sample Workshop Action Plan

What is Workshop Action Plan?

Workshops, by definition, are meetings that are conducted for a specific group of people, either voluntary or selected, in order to dive deeper into a certain field of knowledge or skill. They provide extensive knowledge regarding a chosen topic, and promises expertise, or perhaps just familiarization by the end of the session. After the discussion, constituents mostly create output with respect to their topic in order to showcase what they have learned so far. A workshop action plan is the behind the scenes of actual workshops, or seminars which they may come in the form in, in order for the event to be successful and directed to its goal better. The action plan is just as important as the event itself, by virtue of it being the backbone of it. It makes things a lot more organized, making the execution a lot smoother.

What are the characteristics of a Workshop Action Plan?

Because a workshop action plan is the backbone of a whole workshop session, it needs to possess a few significant traits in order to fulfill what it promises. A workshop may be done for the sole purpose of imparting knowledge, or prolonging a legacy, however, it could also be set to serve as a form of fundraising, since participants may have to pay for a registration fee. There are a lot of reasons why workshops are still very prevalent up until today, despite everything being available on the internet. Workshops not only tell you how to do things or how things work, but it also provides a sense of community and unification among the other people who chose to be in the same workshop as you. These primary goals are easily achieved when even in the planning process, the vision for the whole event is already very clear and concise. Here are the characteristics of a workshop action plan.

Has Clear Objectives : According to definition sources, objectives provide a clear-cut quantifiable target out of a mere vision in and of itself. Objectives are good to have because they enable you to formulate better plans and tasks because you now know where it should lead, or what the necessary outcomes should be after you wrap up the program proper. This means that you are able to coincide the things you have to do with the values that you aim to achieve by the end of everything. Having clear objectives is the first characteristic a workshop action plan should have, because of its significance in the planning of a workshop session.Good Activities : Because the objectives are already set, it would not be hard to formulate activities to do. Make sure that the activities are interactive since these are what make the workshop alive and well. The tasks to do will always be in line with the spirit of the workshop itself, hence, if it is a poetry workshop, for instance, your activity could center on the participants getting to write their own poems and present them in front of everybody. This enables you to gauge their learning, and gives them the avenue to interact with the other people in the setting as well.Strong Strategies : The teaching or discussion strategy should be well thought of, since this determines that sustainability of the audience’s interests. Teaching strategies should also be interactive, in order for the audience to feel like they are part of the discussion going on in the room, as opposed to an experience that pretty much similar to just listening to a radio at home. The goal of your strategy is to make your workshop stand out, and become something that is different from your audience’s previous learning experiences. You may be able to use your creativity in coming up with a strategy, perhaps you could present through having a PowerPoint presentation, having a few guests over, frequently asking questions from participants, and a lot more. This tests your ability to use your social skills, and turn them into something you can use for the workshop.Satisfactory Outputs : Desired outputs are based on the activities you have instructed your audience to accomplish. The activities are the process, and the outputs are the results of those processes. Your desired output could be a well-designed polar bear statue, or a kind of poem. This lets you know how much of the discussion your audience is able to able to their individual work. If the outputs are very satisfactory, then that means you have successfully delivered your knowledge during the workshop.Precise Time Frame : Like all other important programs or get-togethers, a commencement time and expiry time must have direct numbers tied to them. Your workshop does not have to be long because it is not the duration that makes a workshop good, but the strategy of discussion, as well as the level of participation of the audience. The time frame also allows other people to join in due to its fixed nature. Perhaps people are more likely to join your workshop when they know that the schedule does not coincide with their other responsibilities. But all in all, the time frame generally enables you to keep your discussion intact, precise, and clear due to you not having the ultimate luxury of time. Audiences also generally do not want excessively time-consuming activities.Effective Responsible Person : A workshop is made of people facilitating the venue, or organizing the whole event in and of themselves, as well as perhaps the speaker who is a promised expert of your topic. It is important for your workshop to have an effective responsible person to deliver the discussion in order for participants to want to join in even more. Other than that, it is also important to gather a responsible and united staff since you are more able to get them to work together and smoothly deliver the session.Complete Resources : Resources ought not to be scarce when having a workshop. You need to make sure that the venue, for instance, is secured, as well as the people needed to make the workshop whole. A good workshop action plan has contingency plans if other resources are unattainable, however, the ultimate execution should be impressive in order to leave a mark, and we are better able to leave a mark when we are not short in resources in the workplace.

How to Execute a Training Workshop

Training workshops are very important, especially when you have your reasons why you are conducting a workshop in the first place. After making sure that your action plan has the characteristics in the other slides, you also need to be wary of the necessary steps you need to make in order to achieve a satisfactory execution of a training workshop.

Step 1: Outlining your plan

Using the characteristics listed in the latter part of this article, you need to outline your workshop action plan in order to have a document that records your formulated ideas. Your plan should contain the details of your workshop, like the topic at hand, for instance, the program flow of the whole session, the learning activities, venue, time frame and date, and the requirements that participants should bring. The outline of the plan should contain the who, what, when, and where of your workshop. Your objectives must directly reflect on your outline, specifically in the activities that you made to be part of the workshop. Your expected outputs should also be part of the outline, since it is the arbiter of your workshop fulfilling its goal to educate your audience, and instill a new skill within them. List down your possible speaker of the program, as well as the resources you are planning to use within the flow of the program in and of itself.

Step 2: Formulating Your Strategy

Your teaching strategy is an integral part of your workshop, because it determines the level of interaction and your catering to the different learning preferences of the audience. Your strategy should be diverse and well-thought of even in the primary stages of your workshop action plan. You could first think about your way of presentation, wherein you can use slides for instance, or a flip chart. This is to cater to visual learners in the audience, and having a good presentation in terms of visual aids enables them to be hooked into your discussion more. You also need to be very clear with your delivery of thought, since there are also auditory learners that pick up information more through sound. You may also allow them to have individual readings or reflection, if you need them to think about something unique and tailor-fit to them as a person. Group discussions should also take place for audience interaction, and it enables them to feel a lot more comfortable with the presence of other people in the workshop.

Step 3: Making the Final Schedule

It is important for you to compartmentalize the workshop and the activities to be done and make sure that they do not take up too much time, because programs that are too long may cause dread or boredom. Your discussions have to be compact and worth while, and they have to not exceed the given time frame you have intended for them. Creating a final schedule with the specific time frame you want to assign to a certain segment of the program makes you follow the schedule better, and make sure that you don’t go overtime. This enables you to get into the point right away, and dissect only the most important parts of your discussion, enlightening your audience better. The final schedule should embody all of these things in order for your workshop to be highly effective, and to be a satisfactory experience to your audience.

Step 4: Listing the Needed Materials

During activities, it is important for you to have materials for crafting in order for your participants to be able to reflect their learning better, or perhaps have a souvenir they could bring home from the workshop. During your preparation for your workshop action plan, the list of needed materials should be included for you to be prepared of the things you need to have during the program proper. With that said, you must coincide these materials with your learning strategies for you to know what kind of things tailor-fit the nature of these strategies in and of themselves.

Step 5: Reviewing

Going over the whole outline is important in order to check if your body is without any errors. In the latter parts of your formulation of the action plan, you may feel like a change, and the need to update these information and guidelines. The reviewing process enables us to check and balance these things, and gauge whether or not we still find these relevant to the goals we are trying to forward through our workshop.

Who usually attends workshops?

It is important for you to know the main demographic of your workshop in order for you to cater to their interests and incorporate information that you know they would want to learn about, making your workshop a very pleasant experience for them. People from all walks of life attend workshops, and they would always depend on the topic of your session. Individuals from varying backgrounds and callings happily attend these workshops such as teachers, specialists, therapists, well-being experts, IT individuals, researchers, writers, and college understudies.

Do you offer certificates of completion?

It is a lot better if you prepare a certificate of completion since this makes your participants’ learning experience more credible, and they may be able to use this in the future. It is completely optional, but it certainly is better to offer a certification.

How long do workshops last?

There is no one-size-fits-all policy for workshops, but for some 1 day workshops, it usually takes about 2-3 hours, and for 2-day workshops, it could take about 45 minutes each day.

It is important for you to have a workshop action plan, since having everything planned out before the execution enables you to commit less errors and mistakes. Following the important characteristics and steps to be taken to formulate one, you should be able to have a very successful workshop session with your audience and impart the necessary knowledge they need to have by the end of your program. The supplemental information workshops provide are truly essential, and should be delivered well and exercised by your participants by the end of the session.