Right first time, every time

Recently I've been in Shanghai, running a workshop for some high-performing Assistant Managers. We'd put together a highly experiential workshop and had tried very hard to make the whole event different.

Different for the participants, of course, but not different for us, the training team. We had run workshops like this many times before. Plus, we'd spent several months designing and living with the programme - to us, it was old news. We were comfortable and relaxed. Just another day at the office. No big deal.

Participants were coming from all parts of China but heavy rain in Shanghai the day before the workshop delayed a lot of flights. We kept track of where everyone was and greeted them as they made it to the hotel until there was just one participant left - he'd been stuck in Guangzhou airport for over eight hours and wasn't expected to arrive at the hotel until 11:30pm.

I settled down in reception to wait for him. I imagined that when he arrived he would be exhausted and grumpy - travel in China can do that to you - so I was composing my sympathetic face as his car pulled up. Imagine my surprise when he bounded into reception, spotted me and jogged over to shake my hand.

I was somewhat taken aback. You've had a tough day, I started to say, but he cut me off by thanking me for the invitation to the programme, for the opportunity to be there, for giving him the chance to develop himself. No sign of fatigue or annoyance - just enthusiasm and high hopes for the workshop.

We got him quickly checked in and I went back to my room to finish my prep. But something had changed for me; I wasn't so blasé any more. His attitude brought home something I hadn't thought of for a while. It might have been just another workshop for me - the day job, business as usual - but for the participants it was very different.

No matter how familiar with the workshop the trainer is, no matter how many times they’ve run it before, for the participants it's the first and only time they'll attend. That means it has to be perfect. Like actors in a play, there’s no room for “off” nights or phoning it in - it has to be your best, every time. It was a good reminder that for trainers there’s no such thing as business as usual.