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Getting different numbers from those you planned for It’ s not uncommon to plan a workshop for 12 people and then find that only six show up, or vice versa. When preparing, work out how you can adapt activities to deal with different numbers, or whether at a certain point you might cancel, or run the workshop twice in smaller groups.
Late arrivals Especially if you are feeling nervous you may be tempted to wait until more people have arrived. In this situation you could check what the people who have arrived on time want to do. They might prefer to wait until everyone is there, or prefer to get the benefit of the full workshop you had planned. However, if it was clearly stated that the workshop will start on time, feel free to get going, particularly if you know that starting late would be detrimental to the workshop.
When people arrive late you need to find a balance between welcoming them and disrupting the workshop for everybody else. What you do will depend a lot on what’ s going on in the workshop when they walk in? If it is a small group activity, you could assign them to a group and ask the other participants to fill them in on what they have missed, or you could take the time to give them a quick summary yourself. If they arrive in the middle of you talking to the whole group, just acknowledge them with a smile until you reach a good moment to pause and welcome them, and then later take them aside and offer a brief rundown of what they have missed.
Getting your timing wrong Working out how long activities are going to take is always a guessing game, especially when you first start running workshops. During the workshop keep checking the time and if it is obvious that you are getting through things too quickly, or( more likely) too slowly, then allow yourself a moment to work out what to do about it. If an activity is taking longer than you expected, but is providing useful learning that meets your aims, then you may want to cut something short later in the workshop.