New year, new training goals PART 1

News FLASH!

New Year's goals aren't just for losing those 15 pounds you put on during the holidays.

It's also a great time for reviewing last year's training program, and planning next the next year. Before you set your 2010 company training schedule, consider these questions and planning ideas.

LAST YEAR'S TRAINING

Start with a list of all training from last year. It's time to look at what worked and what did not. Consider:

Which two training classes or programs got the highest ratings from participants? Which two or three garnered the lowest participant ratings?

Which training programs had the fastest participant sign-up rate? Which had the lowest?

Which training resulted in the largest impact on your employees' behavior, performance or productivity?

Which training was a complete flop? This could be people falling asleep, disappearing after breaks, daydreaming, texting under the table, negative behavior not changing or really awful-terrible-miserable evaluations by participants. Be honest. Even if it was your absolute, favorite personal pride and joy session, if it flopped, it flopped.

Which training was the hands-down best for 2009? Again, be honest. Maybe it was one you hated or it was a pain to put together. But it worked and it worked well.

FINDING THE COMMON FACTORS

Now look at your list and find the things your really good training sessions had in common. And the things your really miserable ones had in common. You've heard of 6-Sigma? I call this 6-Tau. Consider:

Technique -- was it a lecture, video, activity, panel discussion or brainstorming session? Define the way information was conveyed.

Topic -- Categorize your training sessions into a few topics. Management skills, productivity, legal issues, etc.

Training Location -- Where was the training presented? In a conference room, on the factory floor, offsite?

Teacher(s) -- Who presented? Was it an individual or a team?

Tools -- What tools were used in the training? Computers? Game show-like elements? Toys? Paper and pencil?

Timing -- When was the training presented? First thing in the morning or right before quitting time? Over lunch or during a busy time of day? And how long did it last? An hour? All day? All week?

As you list these elements of the 6-Tau evaluation, odds are you will see some patterns emerging. Training that is scheduled in the morning may be more effective than in the late afternoon. Shorter may work better than longer (or vice versa.) Certain instructors may be key to effective training. And certain techniques or tools might work better than others.

Once you've identified what works and what doesn't, it's time to build your 2010 training program. Stay tuned tomorrow for more on building a training program that works.

"Do or do not -- there is no try" -- Yoda

Whether you're a Star Wars fan or not, the quote in the title of this post probably resonates. How many times have we heard (or said ourselves), "I will try to..."

The question is, how does this relate to training?

The answer? Too many people wearing the title "trainer" are out there saying "I will try to train the staff to..." And as Yoda so succinctly stated, that just doesn't cut it.


Why do we bother with training if it does not train?

As the trainer, either you do -- or you do NOT convey the information, demonstrate the steps, impart the knowledge or inspire the change. If the trainer is not even sure of his or her ability to really teach, how can there be ANY level of confidence in the outcome of the training?

The worst part is that most would-be trainers are pretty bad at teaching. Yet well trained employees are critical to a company's success!

A few examples:

• People who need to learn how to maintain federal or state-mandated records, and do not learn well can cost your company money in fines and penalties.
  
  
• Employees who fail to learn the lessons on sexual harassment, discrimination or workplace violence can open your company up to costly lawsuits.
  
  
• And when it comes to how to operate a dangerous machine or handle a hazardous substance, that failure to have the right training skills can be deadly.

Training the trainers

The solution is to go back to Yoda's statement and apply that to every training program and trainer in your company. Ask yourself...are they "trying to train" or are they doing it?

If not, it's time to take a step back and provide your training staff (or training person, these days) with the tools they need to effectively convey critical information to employees. Whether that involves classes, feedback, training books, exercises, teaching practice, role playing or maybe just some new training tools, it is essential that it be done and done well. If you're the trainer in need of better skills or tools, what are you doing to correct it?

Bad training is worse than none. If you're an employer, what are your trainers offering? And if you're a trainer, have you fallen into the "I will try to.." trap?

Lectures are the worst way to teach employees -- and the most common

Isn't it about time we hunted down and laid to rest lectures as a way to teach employees?

New Moon just opened in theatres, so maybe that's why I have vampires on my mind.

But as I was looking over yet another mailing filled with dry "training" books and canned lectures, I could not help but think of putting a stake deep into the heart of this long-since-dead training method and making the corporate world a whole lot safer for the rest of us.

We all know that standing at the front of a classroom talking at a group of people who would rather be almost anywhere else that this is a lousy way for one adult to teach other adults. Heck, we've suffered through it ourselves since elementary school and well into our professional careers. Over and over and over. And yet we do it.

Thank about what you and I and almost everyone else does during a training lecture...

We sit. We fidget. We doodle. We check our watches a dozen times, then count our blessings when the lecture is over, hoping no one answers the call for "Questions, anyone?"

Sound familiar?

How much learning do you think goes on in that kind of setting? So why, why, why are we STILL doing it?

Some alternatives to turning employees into glazed-eyed zombies drawing endless circles and squiggly lines on their notepads....

1) Give your employees something to read about whatever it is they're supposed to be learning. Oh, and make it entertaining. Boring is NOT more professional -- it's just boring.

2) And give them someone or something to watch so they can SEE how the process works. Again. Scrap the boring. Make them smile and their learning curve goes up. An example?



3) Let them try it out. Yes, they may mess up. But they will learn much faster and understand much better if they work through it with their own two hands. If it works for brain surgery -- that's what internships and residency are all about, after all -- it will certainly work for most of the things your company needs employees to do. Learning by doing. Or at the very least, a simulation of doing, followed by for-real doing.

4) If it's not something that can be taught by doing because it's an attitude or a personal skill, let them pretend they're doing it. Or trying to stop someone else from doing it. Or someone is doing it to them. This role-playing approach works great for intangible lessons like discrimination, harassment prevention or managing a group of difficult, opinionated, clueless...opps, sorry. Got off the track a bit there.

Back to what I was saying....

The only part of training employees that really matters is actually TRAINING them! Seat warming and doodling does nothing for them, for you, or for your company.

Get people out of their chairs and get them engaged in whatever it is they're learning.

If it matters that they learn it, make sure your training will actually teach them.

Bring your (inner) child to work day

Time to get your dodgeballs and jump ropes ready, this Thursday, June 18, marks the sixth annual Recess at Work Day.

Held every year on the third Thursday in June, it’s a day set aside for “employees and employers to take a break from the stress of today’s economic worries and celebrate their successes.”

“It has been proven that breaks are essential for satisfaction,” says Rich DiGirolamo, founder of Recess at Work Day. “Breaks lead to satisfaction; and satisfaction easily transfers to increase morale, reduced employee stress, more engaged and healthier employees; ultimately having a positive impact on productivity, absenteeism and profits.”

There are no set rules to the day, just a mission to take a break from our daily work routines and get engaged in something fun with your peers.

It could be as simple as starting up a game of dodgeball or adding a new event to your office Olympics competition, as long as it gets you away from your desk and into something fun.

What are your thoughts on Recess at Work Day? Just a silly idea, or something to get excited about? Could you see your office participating?

Leave a comment and let us know.

More Friday training fun: Turkey Bowl 2008

Think you know everything there is to know about Thanksgiving? Test your Thanksgiving Trivia knowledge in the Turkey Bowl 2008, the latest training game from C3 Visuals.

Top scores will be entered in a contest to win BRAVO!, a new software suite that helps you create engaging and fun training games that make users feel like they’re in the middle of an online quiz show.

For more training quiz shows or to learn how to make your own visit the C3 Visuals profile at TrainingTime.com.