“The Best Minute I Spend Is The One I Invest In People”
~ Ken Blanchard, PhD
Your return on investment will be determined by how your people prepare for the workshop and the actions they take afterward. Their ability to apply the skills and techniques we discuss is determined by their level of commitment and accountability.
Client success is the direct result of workshop set-up and actions put into place after the session. To set our clients and participants up for success, we recommend taking the following steps before and after our workshops. These recommendations are key to participants’ post-workshop success:
Two Weeks Prior to the Workshop:
- Participants are asked to complete a listener analysis and view our pre-workshop video. Please emphasize the importance of these steps to help them prepare.
- Participants are encouraged (required) to share their completed listener analysis with their supervisor or direct report.
One Week Before the Workshop:
This is the responsibility of the participants’ leader: Schedule a 15-minute conference call and invite all participants. The purpose of this call is to:
- Communicate the expectations and objectives of the workshop;
- What do you want them to accomplish as a result of attending this workshop?
- How will you assist them in holding them accountable for their continuous development?
- Emphasize the importance of clearing their calendars for scheduled workshop(s) days. This workshop will require their full attention and participation.
- Communicate that participants attending the two-day workshop will need to devote about two hours the first evening prepare for a three- to five-minute talk they will deliver the next morning. This is also communicated to participants during the pre-workshop video we send along with our listener analysis two weeks prior.
Post-workshop Success:
- Within one month of our scheduled workshop, we will reach out to the buyer/leader of the group to schedule a 30-minute Insights Call. The purpose of this call is to receive feedback from participants attending our workshop, (to discuss how to’s for continuous practice and development) and for their leader to receive a return on their investment.
- We highly recommend that the participants’ supervisor or direct report help hold them accountable.
- Together they schedule a meeting within one week of attending our workshop to discuss what they learned and to identify action steps on how they will apply what they’ve learned.
- We suggest that participants and their supervisor or direct report follow these questions as a framework for identifying their action steps:
- What specifically will you begin using today?
- How will you practice?
- How will you get constructive feedback and hold yourself accountable?
- The supervisor and participant identify how often they will check in with each other to discuss the progress of the participants’ action steps.
- Supervisors who have incorporated our skills and techniques into the participants’ performance reviews have had the greatest success.
Accountability Partner:
- In addition to partnering with a supervisor or direct report, participants are asked during the workshop to identify an accountability partner in their personal and professional life.
- We recommend that their Accountability Partner (AP) has also attended our workshop.
- Action steps to take with the Accountability Partner:
- Participant shares action steps with AP (what specific skills and techniques they want their AP to give them feedback on).
- Sets a time when they will share their action plan with their AP.
- Determines how often they will meet with their AP. Ex: every day, once a week, etc.
- Decides where and how they will meet. Ex: via Skype calls or lunch, etc.
- Creates a 90-day action plan stating how they will hold each other accountable and how often they will meet.
- Discusses which mechanisms they will use to receive ongoing feedback. Ex: video or audio recordings, daily or weekly feedback from their AP.
Weekly and Monthly Commitments:
- Participants audio-record a conversation at least once a week. They immediately play back the recording to observe:
- What worked?
- What didn’t work?
- What am I willing to change?
- How and when will they make these changes?
- How do they come across compared to how they want to be perceived?
- Participants video-record a conversation at least once a week. They immediately play back the recording to observe:
Takeaways Participants Receive:
- Video recordings of their workshop exercises. We recommend they share these recordings with their supervisor and AP. Their supervisor and AP will be able to continue providing constructive feedback based on their level of development during the tapings.
- (Coaching) feedback forms completed by the instructors, including action steps. Participants are encouraged to share these forms with their supervisor and AP to continue receiving constructive feedback.
- Personal action plan, which participants complete at workshop conclusion.
- Influence model as a quick reference of the skills and techniques.
- Detailed online participant manual – downloadable version
- Communication Quick Start™ – organizational tool
