Friday Financials (re: Professional Development Workshops)
- Teachers, pay the fee. Take the course.
The things you learn in professional development courses work at other jobs.
If you ask, "How would I use this in other professions?", the presenter will tell you how it translates to other areas, if the presenter is any good.
Invest in your ongoing education with your future (not just this job) in mind. It's worth it. - Administrators, feed your people well.
If you're in a position to have the final say in the budget regarding PDs, pay the cost to feed your people properly.
2.a. If I may go off on a tiny tangent...
The best professional development workshops have the best food.
There. I said it.
The people who care enough to get that part right tend to care about the
rest of the program, including pacing, breaks, extra copies of itineraries,
accessibility, and so on.
This doesn't mean bad food = bad PD. I've attended PDs where the food
was...eek...yet the speakers were on their game.
It also doesn't mean good food = great PD. I have attended PDs where the
best part about it was the food.
However, if you're leading workshops or if you're an administrator who is in
control of the budget, and you have the wiggle room, get great food to
nourish the minds and souls you want working for you.
b. For budget concerns, I found success by calling local culinary schools,
and the local Chamber of Commerce to get catering recommendations.
Feed your people well.
- Enjoy it.
Enjoy it when the course goes well. Laugh when things go awry.
Why is this is a financial tip?
People who love what they do will perform micro-acts that indicate such enthusiasm. This is what separates someone who is a pretty good singer from someone like Ella Fitzgerald, for example.
Both may be well trained, both may have incredibly range, but Ms. Fitzgerald went deeply into the note or the words or the phrasing and was throwing those grace notes and vocal trills around and you can definitely tell she thoroughly enjoyed what she was doing.
A tidbit for Future You: That's who's going to get hired, that's who is always going to be in demand, all the time, every day, 24/7/365--the one who is technically outstanding, knows their stuff, AND is having a fantastic time sharing their knowledge.
Invest in your growth, feed your people well, and enjoy it.
We teach this.