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How to evaluate a workshop
Workshop evaluation is a very important part of every workshop. However, this part is often forgotten. Don’t underestimate the power of evaluating your workshop as it provides you with the way forward for improvement.
When evaluating a workshop, you should think of two aspects: evaluating yourself as a facilitator and evaluating the learnings of the participants.
As a facilitator, you are in a constant state of development, thus assessing yourself after a workshop is the perfect opportunity to develop and learn. Think of evaluating your skills with a self-assessment checklist that you set before the workshop and go back to after; you can also ask the participants to give you constructive criticism or fill out an evaluation of your facilitation style and skills.
Evaluating yourself will help you to identify your strength and weaknesses. Take note of the things that need improvement and challenge yourself to work on these skills for your next workshop!
Always remember that no one is perfect! You will always find a way to improve!
Other than assessing yourself, evaluating what the workshop participants have learned and if your goals were met is another very important aspect. This can be done through evaluations at the beginning of the workshop and at the end to compare the knowledge that the participants acquired.
Sometimes you will not meet all your goals. But as long as the process is interactive and the dialogue is carried on in a safe space taking into account the needs of the group, you will have achieved the most important goal of all.