Transfer This – Before You Purchase Training that makes No Difference

Would you transfer funds from your account into an asset that does not enable you to measure its contribution to your business? That is effectively what you are doing when you send an employee on a training course without giving any thought to what you expect from your investment following the event.

In the training and development industry there are players  who will take advantage of customers who are not educated in the identification of need and the transfer and application of training back into the work. These purchasers of training are easy prey for many training providers because they effectively ignore the responsibility upon themselves and the trainer for  addressing the real  issues impacting  business and individual performance.

The consequence is that the trainer designs something generic that is inappropriate  and fails to consider the learners needs and the organisations development requirements. The learner becomes confused and cannot make the connection between what is being delivered and its relevance to the job role. People only develop competence only after they recognise the relevance of their own incompetence in the skill concerned.

Whoever purchased the training slowly reinforces the reputation shared by managers in the business that training and development is making little difference to business or personal performance.

Many customers assume that a training and development intervention will automatically lead to a change in employee/team behaviour or performance, and therefore take no responsibility  to take initiative to ensure that happens. You might as well make a fire and throw your training budget onto it as commission a training event that makes no measurable difference.

So, why focus on transfer?

1. To ensure a return on your investment which can be measured in terms of business benefit
   
2. To encourage and empower learners to apply the learning
3. To ensure accountability for implementation

Who can contribute To encouraging learning transfer?

Three groups of people influence the transfer of learning process at three distinct timescales:

Before Training Management Interventions

The Manager plays a vital role in clarifying expectations with  an employee by agreeing outcomes prior to the training.  Without the perception by the trainee of the need for new behaviours, there is no motivation to change and, therefore, no readiness to learn. An Epic Failure! Managers who reinforce the new or changed performance expectations prior to a training event enable participants who are ready to learn when the training program is offered and who are able to articulate their learning needs during the event.

Before Training – Involve The Trainer

There are many benefits to involving the trainer prior to the training event. Research clearly demonstrates pre-exposure to learning through an intervention designed to reach out to learners prior to the training can significantly accelerate the likelihood of learning.

Trainee readiness can be developed via a number of methods designed to generate curiosity and interest in advance of the training session. Techniques include attractively packaged pre-course materials distributed before the start of the program including  descriptions of how the program fits into the mission of the organization, how and why the training impacts their role. Examples of prerequisites prior to training include: pre course competitions, quizzes or simple self-assessment exercises that allow trainees to score themselves and identify areas for potential development

These activities help to introduce key concepts which  generate interest and enthusiasm, and connect the content to the employee’s expected  future contribution to the organisation; this ensures the training has meaning for the employee. Involving the trainer at this stage almost certainly contributes to ensuring the design of the training  is practical, targeted at developing the competencies required by the business and relevant to individual development needs.

During the Training

Goal setting is a powerful motivational tool. Trainees can build goal setting into their learning strategy by committing themselves to sit down for a few moments at the end of the session to answer the questions what will I do with what I have learned,  how can my manager support me? What can I do more of, less of, what do I need to do differently, and what performance improvements/goals can I identify that would tell me I was doing things better?

Transfer of learning occurs when learning in one context with one set of materials impacts on performance in another context or with other related material

Following the Training

Managers, team leaders and supervisors can make a valuable contribution to ensuring learning transfer following the training event by providing on the job reinforcement and opportunity to support and encourage trainees to apply training. Simple steps include removing interference in the immediate environment, to ensure that employees are able to practice their skills without encountering obstacles (real or imagined) in their way. One to one discussions help to identify opportunity to apply and further develop new skills.

I frequently work for providers of public training programmes, whose sales personnel make little attempt to understand their client’s business and what drives business strategy, consequently with little information to inform the design of training, the output is a generic programme which fails to meet the specific needs of the attendees and only a very experienced training consultant can address the spontaneous needs of a diverse group of learners on the spur of the moment and in situ.

Generic “off the shelf” training which has not been designed to address a specific purpose impacting people in an organisation or develop specific competencies may increase an individual’s knowledge, but may not influence them or motivate them to apply the knowledge therefore making no difference!

Understanding real world issues such as the context and culture in which the new skills will be transferred before designing a development solution is the most important preparation a trainer can do. An organisation spending considerable money on training should ensure that the trainer is aware of the issues the training must address and the potential to apply the new skills and knowledge.

Find the best fit

It is essential to research the most appropriate methods to develop the skills that are critical to improving your situation; we can acquire learning in a variety of ways job-shadowing, coaching and mentoring, these methods are often under-used because organisations do not recognise their value to the learning transfer process. . Sadly, those clients who ask for specifics about  how training and learning will impact on their organisations performance and how they might support this process are rare.perhaps their staff would benefit from our consultancy skills for training and development professionals programme to ensure that the training they commission is aligned to the needs of the organisation

If you want to ensure return on your investment as a result of your training activity take a look at some of our sample outlines and our clients comments on Http://www.spectrain.co.uk

Design Crimes in Learning & Development

Recently I have been “Optimising” a huge library of learning and development materials for an organisation who wish to transfer traditional teacher-focused learning to a flexible blended approach.

The collection of  learning materials has been designed by a variety of individuals and consists of a mixture of styles, templates, fonts, this is a mistake the approach has diluted the organisations branding and provides no consistency for learners, however this issue is relatively easy to address since in the future the material will be presented via a variety of methodologies aimed at producing learner-focused experiences which were simply not possible using the traditional classroom methods only.

What is difficult to comprehend is why the organisation failed to provide those they commissioned to design the learning materials with a standard template, and why these materials failed to deliver against objectives.  However the worst crimes have been committed by those who have designed the materials.

I am trying not to rant here, however when you have finished reading this article if you are remotely interested in ensuring the effectiveness of your training and development materials to accelerate learning, I suggest you go check them for examples of the following design disasters:

1. A picture is worth a thousand words, but are the selected images appropriate to convey information and to communicate goals? I am finding clipart for ClipArt’s sake in workbooks and presentations mainly, for the sake of aesthetic’s rather than to convey information. In many cases I find myself distracted by inappropriate and ineffective images and puzzled by the presentation which often became a media showcase the message or content buried.
2. Obscure objectives – Clear objectives help designers to figure out what content and activity is required to meet them and set expectations for learners. When clearly defined aims and objectives are lacking, there is no sound basis for the selection or design of material content and methods. I am also finding examples where objectives have been clearly stated and not met.
3. A focus on activities not information –workbooks stuffed with activities with no information about the purpose of the activity and no opportunity for the learner to evaluate the activity. Often the workbooks were designed  thrown together as support materials for accredited training courses which required participants to write assignments but of course when the material lacks the information required to generate new knowledge it is useless as a vehicle to provide continuous and effective learning reference resource
4. What does the learner need to know that is useful in the real world? What is the learner supposed to be able to do and what behaviours must people take to reach that business goal and acquire skills and/or knowledge that will be immediately transferable in their role at work? Oh dear I could weep –94% of the masses of material that I have assessed has been populated with excessive information about established models and left me as a learner asking “so what, how can I apply this, and why is it helpful”?
5. Spending too much time on the nice-to-know versus the need-to-know and therefore creating an information dump. You’re almost always going to have more information than you need and clear learning objectives provide a framework for filtering out the critical information. If learners have too much information they effectively overload and  unable to see wood for trees. Cover the need-to-know and put the nice-to-know in an appendix if necessary.
6. Using language that is inappropriate or patronizing. Use of unexplained acronyms, slang, culturally offensive and excessive text. The language used between the learning resource and the learner must be common to both rather than use few words to express meaning I have found pages upon pages of text pasted from Wikipedia which obviously hasn’t been proof read.

 The effectiveness of training and the ultimate transfer of learning starts at the design stage and the design provides an opportunity to take the first critical steps to engaging your participants – stakeholders if you are reading this perhaps now you might understand why your training and development materials dont achieve all they might and need to be overhauled.

Avoid design crime visit us at http://www.spectrain.co.uk/ for  bespoke effective competency based learning  and development designs and no crimes!

It’s a terrible thing to see and have no vision

Every great achievement was once impossible until someone set a goal to make it a reality. Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass contains a story that provides an example of the need to dream the impossible dream.

There is a conversation between Alice and the queen, which goes like this:

“I can’t believe that!” said Alice.

“Can’t you?” the queen said in a pitying tone. “Try again, draw a long breath, and shut your eyes.”

Alice laughed. “There’s no use trying,” she said. “One can’t believe impossible things.”

“I dare say you haven’t had much practice,” said the queen. “When I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”

When you see yourself doing what you dream about in your mind, not only does it makes appear real and achievable, but  it helps to programme your mind to believe it.

The trouble is, some people have stopped dreaming and abandoned all hope of achieving their aspirations and other people never had dreams to begin with

Helen Keller once said “It’s a terrible thing to see and have no vision”.

If you don’t have a dream, where does that leave you?

STRETCH YOUR MIND BEYOND FANTASTIC DREAMS ARE MADE OF STRONG ELASTIC

Training Tips – Are doodlers distracted?

I am a doodler! There….I said it!

I can’t help but doodle, it’s not that I am bored, I am listening to you my doodling is helping me to pay attention, and if you look at my doodles you may notice some association that is linked to what you are saying.

 Misunderstood!

I am aware that teachers and trainers misinterpret my doodling as failing to pay attention. I have scars ingrained on my memory where you have verbally humiliated me in the classroom and I know you wonder how I dodged the board dusters your threw at me….perhaps you fail to realise that when I doodle I am present and I am focused.

Of course you never once looked at my doodles and simply wrote me off as having the attention span of a flea, you failed to engage with me and I am determined to avoid that mistake with my students.

 Behaviour that is Focused on Learning

Identifying behaviour that is focused on learning is a key skill for trainers, I guarantee that every student in your classroom has a smart phone, and devices like the iPad are becoming common. Consequently these devices have changed our learner’s mental reflexes and habits, the way they learn and absorb information.  These devices allow for increased sharing of information, and this can be a benefit to instructors if only you set ground rules for their use and you recognise that what is going on “outside” can be deceiving a learner who is focusing on their iPad may not have eye contact with you but please don’t misinterpret that as failing to pay attention.

Research has shown that doodling actually helps learning!! Individuals may not look like they are paying attention but science says otherwise. In research published in Applied Cognitive Psychology test subjects who doodled while listening to recorded messages had a 29% better recall than those who didn’t.

Various articles on associative memory state that doodling can boost retention up to 50% for immediate recall. In other articles there is information that doodling actually helps the learner attend to discussions by enhancing recall invigorating multiple neural pathways. (A message to all those teachers who wrote me off – SEE I TOLD YOU! You were scientifically wrong.) Time Magazine quotes a study that defines the benefits of doodling very simply. It prevents daydreaming. Daydreaming tends to trigger the brain to recruit other networks that shift your attention to other things so you cannot focus on the tasks at hand. Doodling does just the opposite; it keeps the motor running so the brain can focus

Encouraging Doodling

I was recently reminded of how we can easily misinterpret our student’s intentions when during a recent training course, Mohammed arrived with his IPad…Mohammed had just finished a nightshift. The environment would have challenged most trainers, and learners, on day one nine learners arrived who had been “Sent” on an advanced presentation skills course a topic not remotely linked to their job roles, the temperature averaging at 50 degrees and the usual comings and goings of people arriving late or finding themselves in the wrong classroom. Mohammed could have been forgiven if he had gone into a coma under the circumstances, never mind a daydream! But he did neither; during the parts of the course where I was talking, he quietly doodled.

I could see him out of the corner of my eye, completing tasks when required and then back to the doodle, imagine if I had misinterpreted this behaviour as failing to pay attention……I would have never have seen THIS amazing doodle!

Paying attention in the classroom no longer means sitting up straight – eyes focused on your work or on the trainer, and if you are a trainer who is upset by doodling i suggest you get over it! Rather than a distraction, doodling can assist in triggering many major routes for us to store information into long-term memory because doodling enables a connection between the conscious and unconscious and that is where we learn.

 Doodle by Mohammed Sadeq Booalyan

Leaning Transfer – Developing Wings

For Khalid Al – Shammeri and the dream team in Kuwait

 Three challenges confront designers of learning materials and those who deliver training.  Challenge one is linked to interest, how to turn on the learning machine and ensure that the learner is motivated to rehearse or apply the techniques. The second challenge is related to creating memories: and processes that prompt learners to identify appropriate things and to respond in appropriate ways. The third is to ensure retention to ensure the learning is the cause of the organization and fixation in long term memory.

 I recently designed and delivered a course entitled “enhancing personal productivity” for an organisation in Kuwait and of course, during the design stage I encountered all of the challenges related to learning end retention mentioned above.  Once a training course is designed it is a responsibility of the trainer who through delivery creates a memorable experience for the learners but the trainer does not have sole responsibility – the interaction, humour, sharing, challenge and honesty of the learners plays a huge part in ensuring that learning event is successful.

 So, memorable training events are fuelled not only by the trainer but by the extent of learner curiosity, commitment, and engagement. I recently had the pleasure of facilitating an event in Kuwait that has imprinted such a positive powerful memory on my brain, to the extent I wish I could capture it and bottle it but then I guess it wouldn’t be a special memory any more.

 As you might expect from a course entitled enhancing personal productivity, there was a focus on goals and the behaviours, habits and personal disciplines that support the achievement of those goals.  There was a recurring theme throughout where we used birds as a metaphor to analyse behaviour.

 This theme was deliberately chosen when I was designing and was repeated in different ways over the three days. Why was it a success?…..

 Imprinting – Learning From Birds

Events in a bird’s life can trigger what can be called insight or recognition that leads to the bird’s further learning. When a bird learns something very fast because a certain event occurring at the right time manages to trigger the learning process, it’s called imprinting.  An example of this:

Soon after hatching, if baby ducklings see a cardboard box pulled by a string passing by, they’ll follow the box as if it were their mother, as the ducklings grow up, they’ll continue following the box. They just do not catch on… These ducklings have been born with the instinct to follow the first thing that passed by. The moving cardboard box appeared and triggered the response of following the box. The ducklings consequently imprinted on the box. Strange how Mother Nature found it easier to program the ducklings to “follow the first moving thing passing by” than to “be smart enough when you’re born to be able to recognize your mother.”

Magical Memories

When presenting content during training we are interested in the creation of memories, of different kinds for different purposes, we want to make some memories durable, able to last for a long time, for a goal setting training course we want to make some memories transient or open to change.  We are also interested in making some memories readily accessible so that they are available for repeated use in the course of the day. For a course focused on GOALS – we want to avoid duckling behaviour by imprinting memories that encourage our learners to follow the first thing that passes by.

 

Thanks for the Memory

A trainer’s reward comes from seeing the group support each other until as individuals spread their wings and fly towards their goals. The individuals involved in this course fully embraced that responsibility and I was presented with a parting gift, a poem, created by a motivated learner……and providing me with a magical memory…thanks Guys!

We had so much of fun,

Three days of shining sun,

It’s nice to tell the truth,

The course was going smooth.

 You touched all our hearts inside,

Being the guide we don’t mind,

We came across so many things,

Made us grow feathers and wings.

I like the way she puts things together,

This makes you remember it forever.

Her teaching style is one of a kind,

We really don’t know where to find,

Such a person like Joy.

 Her teaching is fun to enjoy,

We wish you the best of luck,

While travelling you don’t get stuck!

 Khalid Al – Shammeri