Dr Jess Berentson-Shaw and Lizzie Edwards
Kia ora from Jess and Lizzie,
As we approach Matariki we want to take a moment to reflect back on eight years of The Workshop, and share some important updates with you about our team and work.
In our first few years The Workshop had just three staff. We launched at a time when there was a strong focus on systems change and the use of evidence, and interest in our work soon took off. Over the next few years we grew quickly, before scaling back down in 2022 to become a busy smaller organisation of seven. The last twelve months have seen considerable political and economic change which has impacted organisational budgets, and our training programme has been especially impacted by these tougher economic conditions. This has meant that like many small organisations of late, we have had to make some hard decisions in order to keep The Workshop sustainable. As a consequence we are sad to farewell Carolyn Blackwell and Sarah Metcalfe from our training programme.
Caro has managed our training programme since 2021, coming on board as a Training Assistant and then becoming our Training Manager who also dipped her toes into delivering the training. Caro played an important role organising and developing training and supporting the training team and clients. If you have done our online training programme, then Caro would have been guiding you expertly through the process and answering tricky questions you had. Caro has been a consistently kind member of our team, and we will miss her thoughtful gestures, as well as videos in our team chat of her performing with ease and grace on the silks at circus!
Sarah came on board last year as our administrator for the training programme, and with a practical can-do attitude got her head around our many online systems. We will miss Sarah’s dry wit and cheese scones, and we wish her well in her new role at her local school. These are difficult times for many organisations and people, it is always hard when continuing an organisation requires restructuring. We want to thank Carolyn and Sarah for their commitment to The Workshop and everything they have brought to the work and our team.
Public Training Update
Due to the drop in demand for public training, we have chosen not to schedule any further offerings for the foreseeable future. Public training is one of those areas that has required increasing resources to organise and promote, while the cost of registration has moved out of reach for many organisations juggling stretched budgets.
This change will not be forever. We know there is a need for this kind of training, and we will once again look to deliver our public training when demand increases. We invite you to register your interest in public training here, and we’ll keep you up to date when we are able to offer public training opportunities again.
Workshops and Private Training
For organisations looking to quickly level up your storytelling, we’ve developed two packages which will drive your work forward while being lighter on the budget.
Our Unlocking Your Story workshops are intentionally short and focused, and are designed to get colleagues and collaborators on the same page about the changes or interventions that will make the biggest difference and that are most relevant now. We’ll bring your team together for three hours to hone in on exactly what you are advocating for, and define the building blocks of your story.
Through Crafting Your Narrative workshops and advice, we help you tell a clear and consistent story about your organisation, the work that you do, and the impact you have. This package is designed to give you and your team a shared language which will help you to consistently frame your organisation or issues in ways that deepen how people think and talk about your work.
We are continuing to deliver private training and workshops to organisations and groups on request. If you’re looking for training that will supercharge your team’s communications, or topic-specific training for a group working on specific kaupapa or campaigns then we’re here to help. Get in touch with Lizzie for more information - lizzie@theworkshop.org.nz.
Resources
Our website is full of resources which are freely available for you to use. Check out our publications page for reports, messaging guides, and tools on a range of topics, as well as our blog for news and updates. If you’re interested in learning more about specific research or kaupapa we’ve worked on and how to apply this in your work get in touch with us at hello@theworkshop.org.nz.