Being a facilitator and a participant

Over the weekend, I was scheduled for a workshop that I hosted and a course that I was taking. I experienced both being a facilitator and a participant and learned something new.

I would like to share with you what I learned and what I was conscious of from the workshop I organized.

1. Checking if the content is being conveyed clearly and if there are any questions

This time, the first half of the workshop consisted of information and the second half was more experiential. Especially in the informative part, I paired definitions with actual examples to make the explanations easy to understand. I also made sure to check if there were any questions from the participants at regular intervals.

2. Creating a positive environment

Focusing on creating an environment where the participants feel like they are participating, and building a relationship of trust with them

3. The importance of follow-up

Conducting questionnaires each time. To listen to the participants' viewpoints and honest opinions. It is important to follow up with the participants, as they may have additional questions or comments they wanted to share but they did not notice at the time of the workshop or had the time. Also, it is easier for some participants to express their opinions in writing, rather than verbally.

As a participant, I joined a self-coaching course.

This was a course organized by my coaching instructor in Singapore.

While attending this workshop, I realized a few things:

1. It’s important to clarify what you want to learn and what you want to get out of it.

Of course, you already know what you are going to do, but visualizing in advance exactly what you want to learn and what you want to get out of it makes a big difference in the results you get at the end.

2. Check your current “location”

I've been aware of the importance of this for a while now - about being aware of where I’m at now, so that I can move forward in the best way possible. Where am I in the learning process, and how do I use what I learned to apply it to my future?

Having experienced both the organizer's side and the participant's side this weekend, I realized even more the importance of having both perspectives.

January is over. And in some countries, Chinese New Year is coming. I hope we can start the new year off with a bang!

I wish you all a week full of smiles!