Pre-course and side events

Organizing a social event the day before (or on the first day) of the workshop, has two objectives:

1) It provides an alternative way for those involved to get to know each other and helps establish trust for the group work and broader networking;

2) It aims to create a broader base for follow-up training, e.g. the implementation of the participants’ Action Plans.

See Tool II.5 Example agenda for a pre-course event. Alternatively, or additionally, a side

event or “market place” where participants exhibit their products and services can be

organized. It is a learning exercise in communication: participants will need to explain the objectives of their organization and promote their goods and services (see also the suggested session plan inModule 3andTool 18.2Organize an exhibition). Participants will also learn from each other’s service offers, production techniques, packaging, etc. When combined with a pre-course event, the market place will reach an even broader public.

10.5 Logistical arrangements

The time and place of the training programme should be compatible with the participants’ professional and family responsibilities. This obviously applies more to small business owners than to staff of support agencies or persons employed by the SBA. Issues to take into account for logistical arrangements include the following.

Duration. It is difficult for small entrepreneurs, especially the self-employed one-person businesses, to be away from them for a consecutive period of time. In this case, consider spreading the training over a longer period with shorter sessions.

Location. Proximity to the place of training allows for more flexibility. On the other hand, concentration may be lost when participants are available to cope with daily demands from their work and family life. A training programme with staff of support agencies, is usually more effective away from their regular workplace thus allowing them to remain focused.

Special arrangements.It may also be necessary to arrange for transport, accommodation or translation facilities, to make the training accessible to all. For example, the deaf may need the presence of a sign language interpreter. SBAs should be encouraged to organize such arrangements for their participating members. Training organizers may also consider cost compensation, in case the expenses would prevent SBA members from participating. However, it should be kept in mind that training is a major way to invest in your business and association. Inevitably, this involves time, effort and costs on behalf of the participants.

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Box 2: Main steps in preparing the training workshop

1. Define selection criteria participants (8 weeks before the training)

2. Send out invitation letters and/or advertise the course through (local) media and networks (8 weeks before the training)

3. Select group of participants (6 weeks before the training)

4. Inform participants and send out questionnaire for needs assessment (6 weeks before the training)

5. Establish final training programme: content, resource persons and logistics (4 weeks before the training)

6. Prepare the pre-course event possibly including a market place (2 weeks before the event)

7. Select and invite persons for the pre-course event (2 weeks before the event) 8. Pre-course event (1 day before training workshop)

9. Start training workshop

11.

TRAINING TIPS

This Chapter contains training tips to help facilitate the course. Content related tips for each module will be dealt with in Part III, Part IV and Part V.

Time management and focus.Ask participants to write questions on a card that could not be raised or answered during the session. Attach them to a “hot issues” board. At the end of each day, decide whether you want to address them later in the programme or get back to participants individually.

Logistics.Practical arrangements such as cost reimbursement, etc. need to be dealt with efficiently. Build in additional time to clarify such issues. Appoint one of your co-trainers as “logistical adviser”. Participants can approach this person outside the training sessions if they need further help.

Openness.Leaders and members of the same association may be participating in the same training and, therefore, find it difficult to express themselves freely. In this case, it may be useful to separate members and leaders during the group work sessions. Another option is to help participants formulate their ideas on the basis of (fictive) case studies rather than on the basis of their own association.

Action Plans. The course is action-oriented. Participants have a mandate from their organizations to apply what they have learned for the benefit of their organization. Throughout the training, the participants will be requested to work on their Action Plan. For this purpose, specific Action Plan exercises are provided in Part IV and V.

12.

TRAINING SESSION

The Manual is based on training sessions that take around 90 minutes. If you feel more time is needed to treat a subject, it is better to do so in two separate sessions. Sessions are based on experiential learning, meaning that “the experience” comes first. A standard session can be set up in the following way:

Opening The trainer explains the objectives of the session (5 minutes) Plenary discussion The trainer introduces the subject and evokes participants’ interest,

for example through a case story or raising some (provocative) questions (20 minutes)

Exercise Plenary, groupwork or action plan exercise followed by a discussion on the outcomes (40 minutes)

Presentation Further elaboration on the subject with, perhaps, a presentation from an expert or the showing of a video. (20 minutes)

Wrap-up Summarize key points presented and discussed in this session (5 minutes)

13.

EVALUATION

Trainers need to know whether participants have achieved their aims. Each training event is also a learning experience for the trainers and will enable them to improve and adjust future training programme courses. Your own observations and informal discussions with co-trainers and participants are complemented with a more or less extensive evaluation. See Tool II.6 Training evaluation form.

14.

FOLLOW-UP

The course will have equipped the participants with skills, information and tools to undertake follow-up action. It is the participants’ responsibility to apply what they have learned and initiate activities in this regard. However, they will require technical assistance to implement parts of their Action Plan. For this purpose, monitoring visits, by the trainer or experts, need to be included in the training programme. Such visits can take place after training or between training sessions. Other forms of follow-up activities are: exchange visits, e-mail lists or common websites.

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