Trainer Tips

On this page you will find articles packed with tips and techniques related to improving aspects of individual or organisational performance.

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Taking Action before & after Training

 Being the star of the training course is all very well, but what happens when you return to your desk? Steel yourself – this is where the real work begins…

It seemed so good at the time

 There you were, role-playing your heart out and earning brownie points from the trainer. You spent the day wondering why you hadn’t thought of any of this yourself and looking forward to putting it all into practice as part of your daily routine. You read all your course notes on the way home and arrived in the office next morning brimming with ideas and enthusiasm. You ignored the cynicism of colleagues and set to work.

So why was it that by lunchtime you were back to your old habits?

Training’s about real life

The situation of people going on courses, then falling at the first hurdle when they return to their desks, is far from uncommon. ‘Many trainees – and I don’t just mean people with no work experience, it includes those who’ve been around a while and should know better – see training courses as a bit of a break. They think training isn’t real life. What the intelligent ones realise, is that training is all about improving real life.’

One of the ways in which trainees can help themselves is to book time with their manager or coach immediately after training sessions to go over the outstanding points of the course and work out how these can be implemented into the working day. But, ‘Often, people forget that, once the course is over, it’s really down to them to ensure they put theories into practice.’

‘I see the same people coming back on advanced courses, and I can tell immediately which ones have developed, which ones have actually used what they’ve learned in the workplace. The change can be dramatic – or it can be invisible.’

Steps to take immediately

Trainees can take proactive steps themselves to ensure that they take full advantage of the knowledge they gather on courses:

• Make a list of four or five key action points from your course
• Book a session with your manager – it needn’t be more than half an hour – to go through these action points
• Discuss how you are going to implement these points as part of a development plan with your manager
• Remember that your manager may not be as familiar with the techniques you picked up, as you might think – be prepared to ‘train upwards’
• Decide how you are going to measure your progress
• Set a deadline for a marked improvement and book another session with your manager to review your progress

 Old habits die hard

 ’It takes at least three weeks to break an old habit,’, reflecting on trainees who leave courses full of enthusiasm and eager to throw off the shackles of bad practice, ‘but it’s amazing how fast revolutionary ideas are cast aside once the afterglow of training fades.’

One of the reasons trainees find it hard to make fundamental changes to their working patterns, is that their efforts are minimised by cynical colleagues. ‘You know the type,’ ‘They’ve seen it all before. They’re too ready to put down anyone who shows initiative or who threatens to change the status quo with new ideas.’

The way to deal with this sounds simple. In fact, it can be difficult. Essentially, you have to realise what is important to you – the advancement of your career, your effort to improve yourself, your own personal gain – or on the other hand, the opinion of other people?

‘You have to accept it may happen,’ ‘But ask yourself – if you want to get on, then the only way is to try new ideas, take risks and be seen to be improving yourself. Learn to pre-empt it. Most importantly, realise that a training course is a time to be selfish. It’s your opportunity to develop your own skills and abilities. You are the most important person. It stands to reason that that continues after training. Tune out the negative comments. Ignore the urge to go back to your old ways. Give in and you might as well never go on training courses.’

Involve your manager

Of course, capitalising on excellent training courses isn’t something you should have to do on your own. Your manager shouldn’t need it pointed out, but you may have to force the point that, by being better at your job, it makes his life easier too. Often, it’s only after going on courses that trainees get to see their manager in a new light. Politically, it can be tricky confronting your boss with the notion that what he’s been telling you to do is wrong – but a good manager will not shy from learning, whether it’s from a junior or senior member of staff.

Why not arrange your post-training session with your manager before you go on the course. If your manager knows you’re going to be learning something new on a particular topic, it may well spur him into brushing up his own skills in that area, or making a mental preparation for your meeting, ultimately making it a more productive one-to-one.

So, talk to your manager before going on the course:

Find out what he expects you to get out of the course; is there anything specific he has identified that he particularly wants you to focus on?

Show your boss any pre-course action or notes – this will help him to consider how best to help you when you come back

Ask for a commitment that you’ll be able to test out your new techniques in your day-to-day activities immediately

 Following up is key

There’s no doubt about it – when you come back off a training course, there’s no time like the present for getting stuck into a new regime or putting your newly acquired skills to good use, be careful not to expect your life to change in one day. Training courses are all about teaching you how to be more self-reliant – it may take a while for you to see tangible results. The important thing is to begin practising as soon as you get back to your desk. Make a big noise, by all means tell your manager you’re going to revolutionise the office – but actions speak louder than words. And never forget – when you next go back to your training department, they’ll know if you’ve been using the techniques you’ve learned. Trainers can spot fakes a mile off!

Getting Value from Training & Development Activity

Training Sessions

You can do the following in advance of the training session to increase the likelihood that the training you do will actually make a difference.

•  Make sure the need is a training and development opportunity.
•  Conduct a thorough needs and skills analysis to determine the real need for training and development. Make sure the opportunity you are pursuing or the problem you are solving is a training issue.
• If the employee is failing in some aspect of her job, determine whether you have provided the employee with the time and tools needed to perform the job. Does the employee clearly understand what is expected from her on the job? Ask yourself whether the employee has the temperament and talent necessary for her current position; is the job a good skill, ability, and interest fit?

Create a context for the training and development.

Provide information for the employee about why the new skills, skill enhancement, or information is necessary. Make certain the employee understands the link between the training and his job. You can enhance the impact of the training even further if the employee sees the link between the training and his ability to contribute to the accomplishment of the organization’s business plan and goals.

It’s also important to provide rewards and recognition as a result of successful completion and application of the training. (People like completion certificates, for example. One company I know lists employee names and completed training sessions in the company newsletter.) This contextual information will help create an attitude of motivation as the employee attends the training. It will assist the employee to want to look for relevant information to apply after the session.

 Provide training and development that is really relevant to the skill you want the employee to attain

Or the information he needs to expand his work horizons. You may need to design a session internally if nothing from training providers exactly meets your needs. Or, seek out providers who are willing to customize their offerings to match your specific needs.

It is ineffective to ask an employee to attend a session on general communication when his immediate need is to learn how to provide feedback in a way that minimises defensive behaviour. The employee will regard the session as mostly a waste of time or too basic; his complaints will invalidate potential learning. Whenever possible, connect the training to the employee’s job and work objectives. If you work in an organization that invests in a self-development component in the appraisal process, make sure the connection to the plan is clear.

 Favour training and development that has measurable objectives and specified outcomes that will transfer back to the job.

Design or obtain training that has clearly stated objectives with measurable outcomes. Ascertain that the content leads the employee to attaining the skill or information promised in the objectives. With this information in hand, the employee knows exactly what he can expect from the training session and is less likely to be disappointed. He will also have ways to apply the training to the accomplishment of real workplace objectives.

 Make clear to the employee that the training is her responsibility and he/she needs to take the training seriously.

The employee is expected to apply themselves to the training and development process before, during, and after the session. This includes completing pre-training assignments, actively participating in the session, and applying new ideas and skills upon returning to work.

The Trainer Survival Guide Part One

The average adult can sit and just listen for about twenty minutes. After that, concentration starts to wander. The question is what can you do to keep your participants engaged? Talk faster? Outline the bullet points?  No, of course not!  But you can build active learning techniques into the structure of the training course and I guarantee you will maintain your audience’s attention Here are some great and guaranteed ways to engage participants

Question for another Group – In this activity, participants are divided into groups of 4 to 7 people. Together, they develop between 1 and 3 questions for another group to answer based on presented material. Once all of the questions are written, they are switched among groups to answer. This provides you with a great opportunity to assess what has been understood and to clarify misunderstandings

How to Use this at Work – In groups of 2 to 7 people, have participant’s list ways that they will use the presented material back at work. If the group cannot come up with any application, you can throw their problem out to the whole group. If nothing develops, move on. Be aware of the anomaly, however. If this happens repeatedly, it may indicate the course is not appropriate for the audience

Case Studies – Divide the class into groups of 2 to 7 people. Provide them with small case studies, based on the material covered. This often works best if you tell them where in the workbook they can start looking to find or confirm the answers.

Beat the Trainer – Either in groups or individually, ask the participants develop questions based on material presented for you to answer. They may either be basic or more complex. This activity will give you a good idea of how much detail and the level of difficulty they can handle.

Turn to Your Neighbor – When a portion of your lecture has ended, have participants turn to each other and discuss two or three main points  Summarise the main points on a list on the flipchart and ask the pairs to consider when, and how they could use the point at work and what potential barriers they may need to overcome. This works best if you have them write down their answers. Writing the answers will keep them focused on the task of learning.

Quick Quiz – After a portion of your lecture has ended, pass out a short quiz of no more than 5 or 6 questions based on covered materials. Ask participants to answer the questions, and then go over them. For maximum interaction, you can then have them work in groups for a group answer before reviewing the answers yourself.

Fill in the Blank – This technique is a good one to use while you are lecturing. Simply leave blanks in your workbook or pass out worksheets with blanks for participants to fill in as you lecture. Most people don’t like to have empty spaces on their pages, so they will fill in the blanks with the information you provide.

Crossword Quiz – After a lecture segment, hand out a crossword puzzle quiz to each participant. Wait an appropriate amount of time for participants to complete the puzzle. The amount of time allowed will vary depending on the group’s prior knowledge and complexity of the puzzle. Consider giving a prize for the first correctly completed puzzle. To ensure participation or if you have a mixed group, you may want to have participants complete this activity in groups or pairs. You can find templates for your puzzles at:

http://school.discovery.com/teachingtools/worksheetgenerator/index.html

http://puzzlemaker.school.discovery.com

Trainer Survival Guides Parts 2 & 3 Available From

http://www.spectrain.co.uk/resources/index.php

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Check out our Strategic Training & Development courses here: http://www.spectrain.co.uk/Managing-Training–Development

Employee Recognition Following Training

Being recognised as an organisation which invests in its people through training and development can impress prospective customers, suppliers and new recruits it can also contribute significantly to employee retention.

Employees who work through and complete courses should also be recognised for their hard work and dedication. Many businesses use a newsletter or intranet to announce employees who have successfully completed training courses. This recognition rewards individuals for their effort and also motivates other members of staff to also consider taking on a training course.

Below is a checklist of ideas on how to ensure employees get the recognition and encouragement they deserve and continue to be motivated long after attending your training event.

•  Ensure employees get a mention in the company newsletter, at staff meetings, at team briefings, on notice boards and on the company intranet take photographs during the training and ensure distribution to newsletter editors
• Contact department managers and tell them how well participants are doing –– encourage senior managers to send an e-mail/memo/note of thanks to participants.
• Send participants e-mail message or a /memo simply to tell them that they are doing a good job.
• Send participants a photograph of them successfully engaging during a course activity
• Phone participants congratulate them for doing a good job.
• If someone else tells you what a good job participants are doing, make sure you pass the message onto the participant and their manager
• Send participants an E- card, or small promotional gift to recognise their achievements.
• Attend project team meetings to express your appreciation.
• Encourage senior managers to drop in on participants to express their appreciation.
• Nominate participants for ‘employee of the month’ and other appropriate company schemes.
• Get participants to make posters about their projects and display them in the canteen, reception and other ‘public’ places
• Arrange an evening out for participants and invite senior managers as well.
• Encourage participants to make presentations about the success and learning from their projects to management groups
• Use one of the free press release services to promote the success of your trainees
• Catch employees doing lots of things right and reward that performance!