Workshops have long been an important part of many businesses, but with COVID pushing many to work from home, these workshops have gone digital. Workshops can help your team learn, grow, and build camaraderie. They can be done for a variety of reasons from training to celebration, and they can come in nearly any form. Creative workshops can energize your team and get them inspired for projects to come. There are workshops for nearly everything from cooking and painting to SEO and marketing. If you are planning on conducting a virtual workshop, the first step is going to be ideas.
Ideas are the base of your workshop. Without virtual workshops ideas, you have no workshop. So you need to figure out what exactly you want to do during your event. Think about what is necessary for your team right now. Do they need training on a specific topic like cryptocurrency? Do they need a fun break from work in the form of something like an art workshop? Questions like these help in the process of narrowing down what you want to do. Brainstorm as many online workshop ideas as you can, then consider what would benefit your team the most. Ideas can also be found online. Just be sure to modify these ideas so that they are custom fit for your specific circumstances.
Virtual workshop best practices are also something you should keep in mind while coming up with ideas. Best practices can help a workshop stay on track, focused, and achieve its goals. For example, remember that things always take longer when done digitally. Even something as simple as having attendees do introductions could take much longer virtually than in person. Be sure to manage your time effectively and avoid over scheduling. Another example is to plan in breaks. Maximizing time may seem like a good idea, but people will lose attention eventually without breaks. Including short breaks throughout the workshop can keep the attendees engaged the entire time, making your workshop more effective in the end.
No matter what kind of virtual workshop ideas, they need to be creative. Boring and stale ideas can cause attendees to disengage and not be excited about the workshop. Workshops are much more effective when they are fun and excite the participants. This means that coming up with creative workshop ideas is essential. When coming up with ideas, be sure that the intended platform is capable of handling them. Since not all virtual meeting platforms are equal, some will not have the necessary features for your workshop. It is also important to keep the meeting platform in mind because that may inspire ideas. If a specific platform has certain features, that may influence the ideas you have. Filo for example has a wide variety of features, and these features may lead you in a certain direction for your workshop.
Another way to approach workshops is from a creative perspective, as in the focus of the workshop itself is creativity. These virtual creative workshops might seem less useful than a training focused workshop, but they often have a massive impact on the attendees. Thinking creatively is an essential part of nearly every business, and creativity can easily stagnate without inspiration. Creative workshops are one way to inspire creativity and get the ball rolling again.
Lastly, do not underestimate the power of fun. Having a good time with coworkers can strengthen relationships and result in better collaborative work. Fun workshop ideas can go a long way in changing the morale of a business, while also energizing and exciting the employees. It’s also just fun to have fun, so don’t be afraid to have a workshop where everyone can laugh and let off some stress. Just remember to keep workshop best practices in mind so the workshop goes as smoothly and efficiently as possible.
Once you have decided on the general direction of your workshop, finding engaging activities for that workshop is the next step. These activities will be the main focus of the workshop, so what you decide on will greatly influence how well the workshop goes. Engaging activities for workshops can be hard to come up with however. Many ideas have been done so many times that they can be tiring for attendees. Avoiding repeating workshops can help keep the audience excited and engaged. A good way to start is searching the internet for interactive workshop activities examples. Interactive workshops demand the audiences’ participation and attention, making them very effective at engaging.
Always keep the audience in mind. A virtual ornament making class may be the perfect activity for one team, but it may be boring and uninteresting for another team. Make sure you know your audience well. Their likes, dislikes, hobbies, etc. will all impact the kind of activity that engages them. For a team that really enjoys being creative and making things, a virtual craft workshop could be a great way to boost morale. For a team that is competitive and fun, an activity like a rock paper scissors tournament might get them engaged and excited. It all depends on the specific audience and context of the workshop.
Again, it is important to keep the meeting platform in mind. The right platform can ensure the workshop is engaging and exciting. Choosing a platform with limited functionality can leave your workshop bland and boring. This is not an ideal outcome, so a well made and robust platform is essential. Filo is especially capable of hosting events that truly engage, meaning your workshop will do the best it possibly can. There are a multitude of options in the virtual meeting platform market, but Filo is one of the best in terms of capability, customization, and functionality. No matter which platform you use, be sure it can handle what you have planned.
When it comes to workshops, there are many types of workshop activities. From virtual facilitation activities to creative activities like those previously mentioned, there is a wide range of activities that can be used in a virtual workshop. The type of activities chosen for a workshop will define how it actually goes. If the focus is on activities that are more straightforward and training based, that is what the attendees will get out of it. If the focus is on fun activities that build relationships and inspire creativity, that is what attendees will get out of it. Choosing the type of workshop activities for a workshop is one of the most important aspects of planning a workshop.
As previously mentioned, keeping the audience in mind is essential. If the workshop is for employees, workshop activities for employees specifically are needed. Virtual workshops for adults are going to look very different than virtual workshops for college students or for kids. What is a good engaging activity for kids may bore adults and vice versa. For adults, it is important not to underestimate them and treat them like teens. This may seem like an obvious suggestion, but it is relatively common for bosses to treat employees like children unintentionally. Do not be afraid to challenge adult employees and let them tackle something that seems difficult. Trusting employees to do a complicated task can help overall morale. Giving them independence to do their own work without micromanaging or stepping in to immediately fix any mistakes can also boost confidence, which ultimately helps everyone involved in the workplace. Confident employees are generally more creative, productive, helpful, friendly, and engaged. Their confidence also spreads around the workplace, resulting in even more employees doing the best work they can.
A good topic is also an essential part of planning and running a virtual workshop. The topic is what the workshop will focus on, so it should be relevant to the goals you have in mind for the workshop. Thankfully, there is an abundance of good topics for workshops readily available all over the internet. As always, keep the platform in mind when thinking about topics. A platform that is bug-ridden and bland can ruin a workshop, so choosing a platform like Filo that enables events that connect and inspire is crucial. The virtual meeting market is fairly large, so be sure to carefully analyze all the available options before choosing one.
Figuring out what topic the workshop will be depends on what you want to get out of the workshop and who it is for. If the goal is to inspire creativity in teenagers, creative workshop ideas for youth are going to be necessary. For inspiring creativity and having fun in a business team, craft classes for adults might be a good idea. If the focus is on training employees on a specific topic, educational workshop ideas could be beneficial. Like everything, it will all depend on your specific context, goals, and audience. No matter the kind of workshop you are planning, the chosen topic is one of the most important aspects.
Finally, consider choosing a topic that focuses on the workplace itself. Overlooking workplace culture and practices is a common mistake many businesses make. This can be avoided by doing occasional workshops that center around the workplace. Training on teamwork, diversity, giving constructive feedback, managing time, work life balance, and more can go a long way in improving day to day operations in a business. Do not underestimate the impact that these work culture centered workshops can have on your organization.
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