How to Plan Your Next Business Workshop

And Find the Perfect Boise Meeting Space for Your Needs

You’ve got a workshop or training coming up for your company team, and you want it to be memorable. You want your employees to look forward to these kinds of events, not roll their eyes when they see the next one pop up on the calendar.

To make business events — trainings, workshops, teambuilding — land positively, it takes a little up-front planning. The basics steps for a successful business event are to:

• Set a clear goal for the event.

• Plan out the event agenda beforehand.

• Pick a space that’s the right size for your team.

• Verify the event venue has the features you need.

• Create a vibe or a theme for your event to make it memorable.

• Review budget, parking, and other logistical considerations for each venue you’re considering.

Keep reading for more details.

What’s the Goal for Your Business Workshop?

The primary aim of your workshop or training event is going to inform all the decisions you make as you plan. It’s worth spending some time getting specific with your goals.

From a bird’s eye view, your goal for a business workshop or training event may be to meet continuing education requirements, upgrade your team’s skills, increase productivity, or learn a new tool.

The goal for a team-building event might be to improve communication, build trust, or increase loyalty.

Those are important top-level goals to work from.

But also consider smaller goals. Things like:

• Sticking to your agenda and finishing on time.

• Positive feedback from a certain percentage of attendees.

• High engagement during the event.

Picking some smaller goals for your business event can help you make decisions as you go. And it can result in an event that your whole team considers a success.

What’s the Agenda for Your Business Event?

Once you know your main goal and you’ve set some smaller goals for your business event, the next step is to plan your agenda.

For this step, begin by getting everything down on paper that you’d like to happen. Sometimes it’s helpful to visualize how you want the event to go.

Do you want it to be casual with lots of breaks for mingling? Or do you want it to be more structured?

If there are specific blocks or sessions for your event, how much time will you want in between those?

Don’t forget to consider things like time during the day for attendees to grab a snack, stretch their legs, or use the restroom.

Once you have a rough itinerary to work from, give some careful thought to how much time each item on your list needs. Be conservative in your estimates. Sometimes things run longer than expected, and building in a little extra time can help you stay on track.

Then, if things run short, there’s time for a Q&A or for a longer break in between.

With your agenda in place, you’ll know how much time you need to book at your venue and you’ll have an idea of what kinds of amenities you may need. 

How Big of a Space Do You Need for Your Group?

Based on your team size and what you want to accomplish, what’s the perfect size venue for your group?

Choosing a venue that’s the right size makes more difference than you might realize.

If you choose a space that’s too big, it can change the entire vibe of the event. Engagement becomes more difficult. Attention wanders.

But if you choose a venue that’s too small, that causes problems, too.

Often, for small business events, like a workshop, a smaller space works better. It allows for more comfortable interaction and better conversations to happen.

A good rule of thumb is to look for a space that accommodate the number of people you expect to attend plus 10 to 20 percent.

Blazek Event Center is the perfect space for a small business workshop or training event. It gives you all the advantages of a hotel meeting room, but the space is far more inviting, and easier to customize to your needs. Check availability.

What Are the Must Have Features for Your Venue?

You need to know what your venue provides in terms of tables, chairs, screens, wifi connections — all the things you need for a without-a-hitch workshop.

When you plan to rent an event space, make a list about what you’ll need for the event to go smoothly. Be specific. How many chairs do you anticipate you’ll need? How many tables? What size and shape do you prefer?

Does the venue have wifi available to its guests? Is there a basic audiovisual set-up if you need to share your computer screen with the room?

What about tableware? Does the venue provide glasses, mugs, plates, and silverware?

Some of the items on your list will be dealbreakers, and others will be nice-to-haves that you can make arrangements for if the venue doesn’t provide them.

The key is knowing what you need ahead of time. That will help you make an informed choice about your venue. And it will help your event plans and set-up go more smoothly… you won’t have any unexpected, unpleasant surprises.

How Will You Make Your Business Workshop Feel Special?

This is where things get fun. How do you want your business workshop to feel? Think of this as the vibe for the event — this is what’s going to make your workshop feel like something more than a humdrum business training event.

Do you want decorations? Music? A certain arrangement for the seating? Do you want to have a theme?

Do you want a set-up that encourages conversation? Or one that encourages mingling? Or one that fosters focus and attention on the speaker?

The more you know before you actually start booking out services — including reserving your venue — the easier your event is going to be to pull off.

Logistical Considerations for Your Event

Finally, as you review event venues, you want to make sure you know what each venue has to offer in terms of the nitty-gritty details.

• How much will the venue cost? Is there a minimum?

• How far in advance do you need to reserve the site?

• How easy is it to get to the venue from your business location?

• Is there plenty of parking?

• Is catering offered through the venue or can you bring in your own choice in caterers?

• What’s included in your rental fees? Tables? Chairs? Linens?

• What kind of support does the venue offer?

If you can’t find the answer to these questions on the website, make a quick phone call or drop the event venue a line to get the information you need before your book.

Business events and training workshops can be something your employees look forward to. It just takes a little foresight and planning… and the right venue.

Planning a small business event in the Boise area? Blazek Event Center could be just what you need to make your event everything it deserves to be.