YOU ARE HERE:
Documentation toolkit info card: workshop reports
| Last updated: 02.07.02 |
A workshop report is a documentation and communication product that records the key activities and results of a workshop or meeting.
A workshop report:
- Can be used to share the methodologies, lessons learned and results of a workshop or meeting.
- Provides a summary of highlights of the workshop, rather than a word-for-word account.
- Can target the people who participated in the event and/or external audiences.
- Should be thorough, but concise - usually not more than 25 pages long.
Key questions
Key questions to ask before developing a workshop report are:
? Is the main audience for the workshop report the participants or others? What difference does this make to the content?
? Is the workshop report written to be of practical use, such as to show how methodologies have been used, or is it written to share the experiences and discussion points? How will this affect the information gathered and structure?
? How will the information for the report be collected during the workshop? Who will do what? Are there enough people to document all of the sessions?
Structure and content
These pages show an example of a structure and content outline for a workshop report on sharing lessons learned about HIV/AIDS community care and support. The outline shows what the product will contain and in what order. The boxes around it provide some key "dos and don'ts" about how to make a workshop report as effective as possible.
DO draft an outline of the report and check it with the workshop organisers before you start writing it.
DO be systematic about collecting information for the report. For example:
• Ask if copies of presentations will be available before taking notes.
• Copy out flipcharts while the context is fresh in your mind.
• Date and label the information that you gather.
• Write your notes in clear handwriting or straight into a computer.
• Use breaks and evenings to review your notes and to clarify anything that is not clear.
List of abbreviations
DO explain complex terms in full. If appropriate, translate them from or to the local language.
1. Executive summary
DO keep the Executive Summary focused on the key details and limited to one to two pages.
2. Introduction
2.1 Background to the workshop
2.2 Timing and participation 2.3 Expectations, objectives and process
2.4 Facilitation and methodologies
DO acknowledge the donors for the workshop on the cover and/or in the introduction to the report.
DON'T cover the general introductory information in much detail. Save the space for the main contents of the workshop.
3. Overview of care and support activities
3.1 Overview of care and support activities
4. Themes
4.1 Community home-based care (methodologies, experiences, lessons)
4.2 Continuum of care/referral systems (methodologies, experiences, lessons)
4.3 Involvement of people living with HIV/AIDS (methodologies, experiences, lessons)
4.4 Orphans and vulnerable children (methodologies, experiences, lessons)
DO use a similar format for each of the key themes - so that the readers know what to expect.
5. Putting lessons into practice
5.1 Developing participants' action plans
DON'T include all of the materials produced by all of the participants if you do not have space. Instead, include a few good examples.
6. Conclusions
6.1 Summary of conclusions
DO check your understanding of key conclusions after each day with the workshop facilitators.
7. Evaluation
7.1 Summary of workshop evaluation
DO include feedback about how the participants felt about the workshop.
Annex 1: Participant list
Annex 2: Workshop schedule
DON'T use annexes to add extra information. Instead, use them to include essential information which would otherwise disrupt the flow of the report.
Style
This page looks at the style of workshop report - meaning how they are designed. It provides some ideas about how to make them as interesting and attractive as possible.
Reflect the style of the workshop in the style of your workshop report. For example, was the workshop formal or informal, participatory or presentation-based?
Include case studies, stories and drawings in your workshop report- to bring it to life and explain difficult ideas.
Use photos to illustrate the nature of the workshop, but ensure that permission has been given by the people in the photos so that their confidentiality is respected.
Use a clear structure in your workshop report - so that it is easy to use. For example, organise the information into sections, number the pages and include a contents list.
Use a strong and simple design for the front cover of your workshop report - showing the key information, such as the theme of the workshop, the date, who organised it and who funded it. For example, the International HIV/AIDS Alliance included the logos of the partner organisation at the top of the page and those of the donors at the bottom.
Source: Documenting and communicating HIV/AIDS work
This is an extract from Documenting and communicating HIV/AIDS work: a toolkit to support NGOs/CBOs, published by the International HIV/AIDS
Alliance in October 2001.
To view the whole toolkit follow this link.
To download this card and three others, complete with graphics, in pdf format (which requires Adobe Acrobat software to read it) follow this link (file size 482kb).