I tend to scribble some of my best ideas on post its, the side of my notebook, my calendar, and any other random piece of paper around my desk. I decided to start being productive about my scribbles, and post them to a blog to share with friends and colleagues. But, most importantly at least I have them all in one place for that rainy day when I can start to make them happen.
As promised, the first in a series of posts. Teaching event management the "anti-workshop way". So before we get started I have identified a few key components of the anti-workshop approach.
The learners need to be involved in the teaching. Whether it is through reflection, exercises that force the learner to teach others, or through much discussion and interaction.
Identify the expert. I'm not talking about the guy in the office down the hall that has done a workshop on this topic before. The expert in events management are the people that are behind the events you and I go to, the one's we pay money to get tickets to. Think big.
Design an experience. Learning that is "sticky" will "stick" with the participant for many days, weeks, months after the learning occurred. When someone experiences something they are more likely to talk to their friends and family about it. The more they talk it through, the more they learn.
Ok, that's enough of that. As a professional staff member in the orientation office I am assisting with the management of 15 "events" over a 3 month time period. Each event with close to 400 participants attending, and each event lasts 2 full days. I am talking about the summer orientation sessions. I am accompanied each summer by a graduate and leaderhsip team staff that serve almost completely in a logistics and problem solving capacity for each of these "events". This year we will be doing some intensive trianing with this group designed to explore the skills needed to be a successful event manager.
Who are the experts (that are somewhat local) in managing logistics, problem solving on the fly and producing event after event? Well the people working everyday to put on live shows like the Today Show, SNL and Jay Leno probably know something about all that. I would also assume the people that work as stage managers and actors on Broadway might have some wisdom to bestow upon our team about problem solving and managing multiple logistics at one time. The cool thing is that if your willing to look for it, a few hours of intense googling does the trick, there are experiences out there already packaged to meet the needs of your training. Does your school have any alumni working the field? Maybe a cast or crew member is a alumni from the school you work for, and if that's the case, chances are they would be psyched to sit down with your students to meet with them and share some tricks of the trade. For instance, NBC studios already packages a behind the scenes tour, but just doing the tour doesn't maximize the learning experience. However, following the experience by having lunch with an alumni working there as a crew member or producer to process through the experience does maximize the learning experience. Not everyone is a train ride away from NYC, but the point is that there most likely is something nearby that serves the purpose. By experiencing something out of the typical work environment and meeting with experts you can set the learner up for a memorable and "sticky" experience. The key is to integrate plenty of opportunities for reflection and processing throughout the experience. That sets the day apart from something that is just fun but empty, and ensures that the focus is on learning. If time allows, give your students time to present what they have learned to other colleagues or to their peers.
Ideas don't come from watching television
Ideas sometimes come from listening to a lecture
Ideas often come while reading a book
Good ideas come from bad ideas, but only if there are enough of them
Ideas hate conference rooms, particularly conference rooms where there is a history of criticism, personal attacks or boredom
Ideas occur when dissimilar universes collide
Ideas often strive to meet expectations. If people expect them to appear, they do
Ideas fear experts, but they adore beginner's mind. A little awareness is a good thing
Ideas come in spurts, until you get frightened. Willie Nelson wrote three of his biggest hits in one week
Ideas come from trouble
Ideas come from our ego, and they do their best when they're generous and selfless
Ideas come from nature
Sometimes ideas come from fear (usually in movies) but often they come from confidence
Useful ideas come from being awake, alert enough to actually notice
Though sometimes ideas sneak in when we're asleep and too numb to be afraid
Ideas come out of the corner of the eye, or in the shower, when we're not trying
Mediocre ideas enjoy copying what happens to be working right this minute
Bigger ideas leapfrog the mediocre ones
Ideas don't need a passport, and often cross borders (of all kinds) with impunity
An idea must come from somewhere, because if it merely stays where it is and doesn't join us here, it's hidden. And hidden ideas don't ship, have no influence, no intersection with the market. They die, alone.
Brainstorming
Having a hard time thinking of a new idea or an alternative solution to a problem? Check out this quick video showing a unique approach to brainstorming. I went to an "accidental creative" workshop in January and used the process shown in this video. We got a lot of new ideas out of it.
Have you ever been to a crappy workshop? Someone reads a book or tries something once and all the sudden they are the expert on the topic. They whip up a boring powerpoint, maybe add in a little interactive piece and for the most part just speak at you and the other attendees for an hour and a half. This is not my idea of learning. Here is my other issue...The thought that training is just a coordinated effort of presentation after presentation. Yuck! I can't just complain and not offer any solutions, because I don't like that either. So here is the plan: I will write four posts (well at least as a start) on four different typical training topics and identify a few "anti-workshop" approaches to the topic.
For those of you that know me, two of my favorite (work related things) would be data and stuff that looks pretty. I have a few design blogs on my flipboard that I will peruse from time to time and recently came across the wonderful world of infographics. Below is a sample infographic I designed to illustrate the assessment data collected after our January Kick off retreat. It gives some information about the retreat and provides the reader with a snapshot of the assessment data collected.
This is just one of the ways these can be used. Infographics can be great visuals to use during trainings. I am working on one now that is designed like a board game and along the path of this game are the different parts of the orientation program. At the very least it has potential to help the student staff learn the program, and what role they play in each part. If I can dream big a little, the hope is to get it blown up to life size, lay it on the ground, and have students literally roll the dice and walk through the game with different challenges along the way. Tell me what powerpoint lesson can beat that...
If this is something your interested in there are a lot of good resources and examples out there. This link is probably my favorite to get started with.
