Imagine you have a huge bowl of cereal in front of you. If you try to gulp it all down in one bite, you'll probably not get full, you'll choke. It's better with a dash of milk and in bites. So nothing gets dusty and the desired effect of feeling full sets in slowly but steadily. Goal reached, put the spoon down (don't hand it in ;-) )
You should also feed the synapses of your participants in team workshops in the same way. Everything you want them to learn should be presented in the smallest possible chunks. In team building, for example, you start with the participants playfully learning each other's names, then interests, strengths, and so on. Only then can you tackle good teamwork. A team that doesn't know each other already has problems with basic communication if one team member doesn't know how to address the other.
So that your participants understand as quickly as possible what you want from them, you should pay attention to the following:
- Clear, understandable and as precise as possible language
- If possible, support what has been said with visual means (demonstration, video, drawing, pictures, ...)
- Correct participants during execution (if you have to touch participants, for example to position their leg differently, etc. Announce what you intend to do in advance! Nobody likes to be touched without being asked and this way you also increase trust and your reputation. )
Think of keywords for the learning steps
With keywords you have a powerful tool in your hand. If you want to teach certain processes, think of bullet points for the individual steps.
Example of movement of throwing the ball:
- target
- Take the ball in your throwing hand
- Bring arm into throwing position
- Let your arm fly forward
- open hand
Of course, most of them should be able to throw the ball without using catchphrases. But if you want to drum a certain combination of movements into a high diver, it makes sense for the diver to recite the order of the figures in the correct order before the jump, so as not to think along the way...
For processes in companies and associations, it is also advisable to develop a structure with as few clear keywords as possible, which ensure clarity.
Examples of offices that are not meant to be taken seriously:
- print email
- place the printed sheet on the scanner
- Scan and save printed mail for archiving
- ;-)
Keywords work like checklists that lead to routine.
Start from scratch if you don't know where to pick up the group
Most of the time you have no idea what your participants can already do or know. So start easy and then slowly adjust the difficulty to suit the group or individual.
If you assume knowledge or ability at the beginning, you should be sure that this is also available. You can't build anything on anything. Since you can still explain the ongoing stuff so great. If the basics are missing, it won't work. Use the right tools for your workshop: take a look here!