negativity at workshops

I am sure we have all attended a workshop either on-site or off-site and have had one person's negativity impact the rest of us. Either we ignore it and try to stay focused or we succumb to their negativity and find ourselves becoming more critical. When I talk about negative behaviour, I am not referring to people that question your tools or approach, I am referring to people who make irrelevant side comments and look to others to support them in their opinions.

As a facilitator and a teacher of hundreds of workshops and student classes, I can see the dynamics from the front of the room. It is like being on a lake and watching a rainstorm approaching. You can see it coming, but you are not sure of how hard it will hit and how long it will last. You do everything to minimize the impact, but you have to wait and watch.

I understand that people attend workshops under pressure and therefore do not want to be there and hope others will express the same feeling. Some just want the day off and could care less about the learnings - the food is of more interest. However, thankfully most attend because they want to grow professionally.

I remember hearing Peter Drucker say that as a teacher he had to learn to teach to those who wanted to be there and not to those who are not motivated. That is very hard to do because you can see changes in people that rise to the challenge, but in many cases, it is at the expense of those who are already motivated and ready to learn.

How can you tell who are motivated? They tend to be the happiest people. You can see it in their eyes and in their manner. They ask questions respectfully, they participate and they take notes on points of interest to them. When there are enough motivated people, they set the tone, and in many cases, they can actually change the negativity of others. It is rarely the facilitator.

Something to think about...when you attend your next workshop.

Labels: attending workshops, negative environments

posted by Brenda Northey @ 6:16 AM