WORKSHOP

The Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ), in its dictionary, does not recognize the word workshop . It is a term in the English language that, in our language, can be referred to as “workshop” .

In the field of business and marketing , however, it is common for the concept of workshop to be used to name an event in which attendees can train on a certain topic intensively .

Acquiring new knowledge or skills is the ultimate goal of those who choose to attend a workshop, which, as a general rule, does not usually last more than 4 hours.

In general, a workshop has the participation of one or more specialists who are in charge of giving a talk and imparting certain theoretical knowledge. Then, under the supervision of the moderator, the participants carry out teamwork or develop some type of activity that allows them to put that theory into practice. The combination of the expert's dissertation and the work carried out by the attendees themselves during the meeting constitutes the main characteristic of a workshop.

Unlike other types of events, such as conferences or debates , the workshop encourages the active participation of attendees. That is to say: who attends a workshop is not limited to being a spectator or listener, but also engages in certain activities proposed by the organizers. In this way, learning is strengthened and teamwork is encouraged, as the participants work together during the workshop .

Although they are similar notions, generally the workshop lasts less than a seminar or a course . Therefore, the workshop involves training of greater intensity.

In addition to all the above, we can highlight another series of peculiarities about this kind of active and specialized workshops, among which are the following:
-There are many companies that are already developing them, in order to get their employees to improve in certain activities or even achieve knowledge that will influence their performance and production.
-The companies that decide to start one or several also do so with the clear objective that their employees learn to work better as a team. This will have a positive impact on both the work environment and efficiency, performance ...
-In the workshops, it is the participants who come to establish the final conclusion, thanks to the activities they have been developing.

Among the tips that should be followed to organize a successful workshop are the following:
-You have to choose a place that is spacious enough to accommodate the participants, that has very good acoustics and that has the facilities that allow you to comfortably develop the proposed activities.
-It is essential to exhaustively prepare the material that will be given to the participants in the first moment. It must be comprehensive and useful.
-It must be disseminated in an appropriate way, making use of all the means and resources that are at hand.
-Accreditation must be established for participants.