Overcoming The Pros & Cons of Training
What can be the possible reasons for facing problems during training:
A failure to identify the specific needs of learners and for learners to own their own development needs
Objectives set by trainers, rather than the learners
Little acceptance by learners of the need to take responsibility for their own development
Constraints of time for preparation and participation in learning events
A failure to follow through learning beyond an event or course
Failing to achieve high value via transfer of the learning
No one learns anything when they’re bored or unconscious
Core principle: you have to invest in ways to keep people engaged, interested and involved.
Instead, the goal has to be to do something better, each and every time you try to teach something.
Realize that some of the teaching methods you may have grown up with are obsolete, or in need of serious retrofitting.
People’s attention spans are shorter, they may work in demanding and sometimes engaging jobs, and if the training sessions they attend doesn’t stand up well against the rest of their lives, and they won’t be paying attention for very long.
If you want to improve the quality of something, change (and risk) is required.
Know your audience and engage them early
Generally, people like to smile. They like to laugh. They like to listen to people that are not insulting their intelligence, that talk to the audience as peers regardless of their knowledge, and show consideration for their time. It’s all about respect.
The best way to establish respect with and from the audience is in the first session. Often this opening act is called the keynote.
Many conferences invite speakers in, because of their reputation or knowledge of a subject. Unfortunately, they may or may not be interested in or qualified to set the emotional and personality tone for the day. That first session, however long or short, is an opportunity to form a first impression. If the session is concise, smart, lively, fun and interesting, it sets a baseline for everything else that follows.
If 3 or 4 short key points are made well, with a few laughs in between, and the other speakers are in attendance those points can be echoed and reused throughout the day by other speakers. Give them a reason to show up and a reason to stay
You can’t please everyone
No matter what you do, someone will complain. The more people involved the more people that will complain.
If you make sessions longer, because some folks complained last year, it’s guaranteed that someone will suggest that you make them shorter.
If you spend more time teaching X, some people will ask why you didn’t teach more about Y.
Think of the best experience
I believe that these three things (fun, passionate, caring) are the recipe for good learning experiences. Think of the last few conferences you’ve been to, and rate them just on these 3 things. Now think about what could be done differently towards achieving these goals.
An event requires a design process
Create opportunities for people to meet and exchange ideas
Provide a forum for experts to lead and share knowledge
Enable memorable and unique experiences
Quality control for your presenters
Provide training for all speakers at the event.
Give a short course on presentation skills and common mistakes to avoid.
The earlier you do this, the more time speakers have to make adjustments to their presentations.
Review their presentation materials.
Collect feedback from the audience on the speaker’s performance, and pass this on to the speakers.
Support different learning styles
Instructional design research tells us that individual’s differ in their ability to learn knowledge, depending on the medium in which it is conveyed.
Some people learn faster by reading, others by listening, and most, by doing. To succeed at creating a healthy learning environment, you have to use different mediums and formats, and create different kinds of opportunities for learning to occur.
Make sessions interactive.
Remove barriers to interaction
Make workshops, small discussion groups, based on submissions or assignments, part of the format. If possible, do this before, or as the first session of the conference. A workshop gives 10-12 people an intimate format to discuss an area of mutual interest and expertise. If it goes well, they will have formed relationships that can be built on through the rest of the conference. Running a good workshop is another essay altogether: facilitation is a tricky thing.
Do one experiment in every conference
Cheat when necessary
Collect feedback and use it with care
Typical[/b] Reasons for Employee Training and Development[/b]
Training and development can be initiated for a variety of reasons for an employee or group of employees,
When a performance appraisal indicates performance improvement is needed
To "benchmark" the status of improvement so far in a performance improvement effort
As part of an overall professional development program
As part of succession planning to help an employee be eligible for a planned change in role in the organization
To "pilot", or test, the operation of a new performance management system
To train about a specific topic
Increased job satisfaction and morale among employees
Increased employee motivation
Increased efficiencies in processes, resulting in financial gain
Increased capacity to adopt new technologies and methods
Increased innovation in strategies and products
Reduced employee turnover
Enhanced company image, e.g., conducting ethics training
Risk management, e.g., training about sexual harassment, diversity training
What can be the possible reasons for facing problems during training:
A failure to identify the specific needs of learners and for learners to own their own development needs
Objectives set by trainers, rather than the learners
Little acceptance by learners of the need to take responsibility for their own development
Constraints of time for preparation and participation in learning events
A failure to follow through learning beyond an event or course
Failing to achieve high value via transfer of the learning
No one learns anything when they’re bored or unconscious
Core principle: you have to invest in ways to keep people engaged, interested and involved.
Instead, the goal has to be to do something better, each and every time you try to teach something.
Realize that some of the teaching methods you may have grown up with are obsolete, or in need of serious retrofitting.
People’s attention spans are shorter, they may work in demanding and sometimes engaging jobs, and if the training sessions they attend doesn’t stand up well against the rest of their lives, and they won’t be paying attention for very long.
If you want to improve the quality of something, change (and risk) is required.
Know your audience and engage them early
Generally, people like to smile. They like to laugh. They like to listen to people that are not insulting their intelligence, that talk to the audience as peers regardless of their knowledge, and show consideration for their time. It’s all about respect.
The best way to establish respect with and from the audience is in the first session. Often this opening act is called the keynote.
Many conferences invite speakers in, because of their reputation or knowledge of a subject. Unfortunately, they may or may not be interested in or qualified to set the emotional and personality tone for the day. That first session, however long or short, is an opportunity to form a first impression. If the session is concise, smart, lively, fun and interesting, it sets a baseline for everything else that follows.
If 3 or 4 short key points are made well, with a few laughs in between, and the other speakers are in attendance those points can be echoed and reused throughout the day by other speakers. Give them a reason to show up and a reason to stay
You can’t please everyone
No matter what you do, someone will complain. The more people involved the more people that will complain.
If you make sessions longer, because some folks complained last year, it’s guaranteed that someone will suggest that you make them shorter.
If you spend more time teaching X, some people will ask why you didn’t teach more about Y.
Think of the best experience
I believe that these three things (fun, passionate, caring) are the recipe for good learning experiences. Think of the last few conferences you’ve been to, and rate them just on these 3 things. Now think about what could be done differently towards achieving these goals.
An event requires a design process
Create opportunities for people to meet and exchange ideas
Provide a forum for experts to lead and share knowledge
Enable memorable and unique experiences
Quality control for your presenters
Provide training for all speakers at the event.
Give a short course on presentation skills and common mistakes to avoid.
The earlier you do this, the more time speakers have to make adjustments to their presentations.
Review their presentation materials.
Collect feedback from the audience on the speaker’s performance, and pass this on to the speakers.
Support different learning styles
Instructional design research tells us that individual’s differ in their ability to learn knowledge, depending on the medium in which it is conveyed.
Some people learn faster by reading, others by listening, and most, by doing. To succeed at creating a healthy learning environment, you have to use different mediums and formats, and create different kinds of opportunities for learning to occur.
Make sessions interactive.
Remove barriers to interaction
Make workshops, small discussion groups, based on submissions or assignments, part of the format. If possible, do this before, or as the first session of the conference. A workshop gives 10-12 people an intimate format to discuss an area of mutual interest and expertise. If it goes well, they will have formed relationships that can be built on through the rest of the conference. Running a good workshop is another essay altogether: facilitation is a tricky thing.
Do one experiment in every conference
Cheat when necessary
Collect feedback and use it with care
Typical[/b] Reasons for Employee Training and Development[/b]
Training and development can be initiated for a variety of reasons for an employee or group of employees,
When a performance appraisal indicates performance improvement is needed
To "benchmark" the status of improvement so far in a performance improvement effort
As part of an overall professional development program
As part of succession planning to help an employee be eligible for a planned change in role in the organization
To "pilot", or test, the operation of a new performance management system
To train about a specific topic
Increased job satisfaction and morale among employees
Increased employee motivation
Increased efficiencies in processes, resulting in financial gain
Increased capacity to adopt new technologies and methods
Increased innovation in strategies and products
Reduced employee turnover
Enhanced company image, e.g., conducting ethics training
Risk management, e.g., training about sexual harassment, diversity training