WLD Guide to Facilitating_UMass Amherst 1 | Page 13

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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 .