I want – no, demand – value when I’m taking part in continuing professional development (CPD). Possibly because I’ve been to a few events over the years that felt as if they owed me.

 

Most memorable was the guy who announced at the start of his session, at 7.30pm, on a Friday night (yes, true) that he just had 80 slides to show us . . . and yes, tried to do just that, reading the overflowing content packed with technical data that no one understood, until at 9.30pm someone made their excuse to leave. Can’t you just picture it? So, you’ve been there too.

 

And of course I’ve been to some excellent CPD events too. One only last week contained several elements that make it a good use of your time: well-delivered by an expert in the field who had subject knowledge and the ability to build up rapport with her listeners.

 

With cuts and budgets and austerity and freezes and targets making the offer of CPD a rarer commodity these days, I’m determined to make sure that it doesn’t waste my time, and that my organisation gets the value out of it that it deserves.

 

So, I’ve devised a checklist.

 

Nothing fancy. If I can’t predict the answer as yes or positive to over half the questions before I sign up . . . then I won’t be attending.

Hope your next CPD is valuable too.