About My Workshops
y workshops make a lasting difference — both for participants and for my client organizations.
Part of the reason is that I offer an array of services designed to prepare participants to make personal
commitments to actually use what they learn. And I offer these additional service options for no additional
fee.Before the workshop
The offerings below are designed to enable your organization to understand the workshop objectives, so participants and their managers can easily decide if it fits for them. These pre-event materials are designed to maximize participation, and to enable your organization to benefit from the event even before it happens.
- Availability to participants and managers
- During the enrollment period, I'm available by telephone or email to participants and managers in your organization to answer questions about the workshop, its objectives, and content.
- Intranet Web page
- I can provide a Web page for your use on your Intranet to advertise and explain the workshop opportunity.
- Reading list
- A complete bibliography of optional reading material is included, both in MS Word format and as part of the Intranet Web page if you elect that option. And you have permission to freely copy this material for internal use.
- Current topical material
- During the six months prior to the event, it sometimes happens that news items appear that are relevant to the workshop objectives. When this happens, I'll forward copies to you, either electronically or in hard copy, for duplication and circulation to prospective participants.
- Support for managers
- Each participant will be asked to identify three "keepers" — three ideas they intend to do something about. At your option, I can inform participants' managers of this, so they can know what to expect and follow up with them. This helps build the expectation that training counts.
During the workshop
- Participant involvement
- My workshops are more than PowerPoint presentations. Learning opportunities include both cognitive and experiential formats, in a mix including stories, humor and simulations. Handouts are included, but normally not used during a session. My objective is to give participants experiences they can remember "in the moment" when they return to work — experiences that model real situations.
- Keepers
- Participants are encouraged to collect "keepers" as the workshop unfolds, and to share their collection with other participants. The hunt for keepers becomes a key focus of the workshop activity. I also provide guidance in converting participants' keepers from a list of concepts to a plan for action.
- Additional resources
- With each key idea, I present avenues for further learning, which reinforces the idea that this workshop is not the "end" — that there's more to learn, more to practice. At all workshops, I make available to all participants a browsing library including many of the references provided earlier on reading lists prior to the workshop.
- Modeling
- By walking the walk, I demonstrate to participants how to do what it is that they are learning. For example, "keepers" for me are new insights about the material, about my own conduct, or about the design of the workshop. When I find a keeper, I write it down, and I explain to the participants what I am doing. This illustrates to them how they can collect keepers during the event, on the job, or anywhere in life. It is a basis for lifelong learning.
After the workshop
The period immediately after the workshop determines whether or not participants really do something different. The first few months are critical.- Keepers
- Participants are asked to select three of their keepers for action, and to share them with a friend. At your option, I can also ask that they write them on a card addressed to their managers. I will then deliver the cards to the participants' managers with an explanation of how they can be used to follow up.
- Ongoing support
- At your option, I can encourage participants to meet regularly
in a continuing format. At these meetings participants review
with each other how they are doing-whether they are able to apply
what they have learned in the workshop, whether they are having
difficulty or success. These sessions can provide reinforcement
of participant's goals.
- At your option, I am also available to participants and their managers by telephone or email for a period of three months following the event.
- Again at your option, I can ask the participants to write a letter to themselves, seal it, and address it to themselves at work. The contents of the letter can be of a "how am I doing" nature. In the letter, each participant can ask themselves about their progress toward implementing the goals they set for themselves at the end of the workshop. I'll keep these letters for three months, and then mail them to the participants.
- At your option, I am also available to participants and their managers by telephone or email for a period of three months following the event.
- Email newsletter
- Participants can receive, at their option, a weekly email
newsletter describing events, resources, news, and ideas related
to the workshop material. The newsletter is free and brief. It
reminds participants of the workshop experience, and energizes
them as they apply and extend their learning.
Download vCardRichard Brenner
Chaco Canyon Consulting
700 Huron Avenue, Suite 11J
Cambridge MA, 02138
Phone: (617) 491-6289
Toll-free: (866) 378-5470 in the continental US
Fax: (617) 395-2628
Email: rbrenner@ChacoCanyon.com
Copyright © 1998-2008 Richard Brenner. All Rights Reserved.
Site Map Terms of Use Privacy Policy Returns Policy
Date and time limits of special offers on this site are New York time.
Last Modified: Wednesday, 06-Aug-2008 04:36:00 EDT
Site Map Terms of Use Privacy Policy Returns Policy
Date and time limits of special offers on this site are New York time.
Last Modified: Wednesday, 06-Aug-2008 04:36:00 EDT
