| What makes the Intensive Weekend Workshops so successful?
We are passionate about learning and unlearning and about continually increasing the sustained practical outcome of the Workshop. Our success lies in the conviction that our participants are co-producers along with us, and that we cannot let them down. This means that we continually improve the way we do things, and that we are continually shedding stereotyped, stale and unchallenged methods of presenting workshops.
Shedding stereotyped methods? Can you give me an example of what you do differently?
There are many. We do not use PowerPoint. We use no fewer than seven flip charts. The illustrated workbooks are unique and fun to work through. The group composition, from the number of people around a table to their selection based on their backgrounds, is based on accountable, studied principles.
Why do you publish less flattering and ‘negative’ comments?
We regard all comments as possible sources for change and improvement. We embrace unfavourable comments because they are precipitated by feelings of unease about some or other aspect of the Workshops. By analysing these comments, we are able to align the Workshops to the needs of the largest number of participants without negating the specific requirements of others.
| Does this mean that ProjectManagement.co.za will reach the stage where you receive only positive comments?
No. Prospective participants read the favourable comments of previous groups, and therefore have ever-increasing expectations, raising the bar for us every time. We expect an increase in the discernment and the demand that we should exceed excellence, with constant suggestions for refinement.
Previous participants build a connection to the Workshops, and our role has become one of custodianship of the quality and of sustained excellence. We will let them down if we slacken now. We welcome this close association with previous participants. It is not about us getting brownie points; it is about the value of the investment of a weekend by the Workshopper and the validation of a previous Workshopper’s recommendation that others should attend.
So, who is your typical Workshopper?
Our quest is to make the Workshops remarkable — but the Workshops are not for everyone. Our qualifying criteria for participation are that the person should really care about his career and have the desire to up his skillset. A large number of our Workshoppers have their own businesses, and more than 90% of them pay for themselves, even if they work for corporations.
Our typical Workshopper is someone who values excellence, and for whom the 80/20 rule is of little value when it comes to learning. Training materials which are 80% cool, a presentation which is 80% good and content which is 80% great would not significantly elevate the Workshops above most other training options available. Which of the remaining potential 20% of relevance of content or excellence of presentation would you select to forfeit? In life, as in business, it is that which is attained in excess of 80% that makes the real difference, that distinguishes ‘excellent’ from ‘good enough’. In training, ‘in excess of 80%’ means that which distinguishes crucial-to-implement strategies from useful-to-know facts. Unless the outcome of the training is practical implementation, it remains just that: training.
Our typical Workshopper wants to implement as much as possible on the Monday following the Workshops, and is prepared to sacrifice money and time to achieve that.
Aren’t you a bit overambitious about what can be achieved in 15 hours of weekend training?
The attainment of Project Management skills is about implementing the principles. More theory does not translate to better proficiency at implementation. (In fact, the contrary is often true!) The purpose of the Workshops is to give you the insight about what you, at your level and where you are now, need to do first as you work towards becoming a great project manager or project team member. We strive for a Workshop that entrenches relevant Project Management skills that can be applied immediately .
So what do you impart?
Let 's start by stating what we do not impart: We do not try to shed a huge mountain of impressive and daunting information that may possibly be relevant someday. It is easy to burden people with a bewildering volume of ‘knowledge’. But this would serve no purpose.
Rather, the Workshopper leaves with a a basic and solid foundation in Project Management basics to build upon immediately. But it is not easy to achieve that. Striving to be the best requires a lot of introspection and self-examination. In the world of Project Management training, we do not offer a wandering, vague generality of outcome; we provide very meaningful implementable specifics.
Does this mean it’s ‘strictly for beginners’?
Project Management consists of ‘Project’ skills and ‘Management’ skills. The techniques and tools of Project Management, the ‘Project’ component, can be learnt through skills training. The ‘Management’ component, is a different story altogether. Experienced project managers and even PMP candidates attend our Workshops to experience the dynamics of teamwork (the essence of Project Management) and to observe the methodologies used to support the learning process. At some stage in their careers they will lead teams who are less informed and less skilled than they are, and these workshops give them the ideal opportunity to experience and to observe firsthand the power of structured group dynamics for the transference of skills and knowledge.
You’ve mentioned teaching methodologies. Can you tell me more about them, and how they fit into the Workshops?
We employ three main teaching methodologies. One of them is Bloom’s taxonomy, where the learning process starts off with the available information, and then moves through the enquiring stages of comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and finally to evaluation or insight.
It sounds a bit academic. Explain to me how you do it practically.
We tell a story. Storytelling is powerful.
Instead of teaching the theory, and then trying to figure out the application, we start the training with a scenario (story) from which Project Management theory is extracted and onto which the application is practically applied.
In dissecting the story, the aim is to move from level one, the mere information level, through the different levels of learning to the highest level, the level where the participant evaluates with insight. It is at ‘insight level’ that we make our best decisions, where our contribution adds the most value and where we start to value that which we do not know.
That sounds very serious. How do you make it palatable to participants?
The training material is presented using cartoons. A picture is worth more than a thousand words, and with a compelling story line we engage participants from different cultures, enabling them to cut through different backgrounds, mother tongues, work experiences, academic proficiencies and gender. The training material focuses the Workshopper’s mind on the process and the content. A humorous approach raises the groups’ creativity.
What do you consider the most important next milestone for the Intensive Weekend Workshops?
Adding further value to the package. We have received very insightful recommendations from previous Workshoppers, and we are looking at ways to incorporate these recommendations into the overall ethos of the Workshops. | MORE ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
Overview, fees, dates and cities
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What you can expect
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Detailed description
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Comprehensive comments by previous participants
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