Ah yes, the three Rs: Reading, ‘Riting and ‘Rithmetic. Educators have long relied on that cute turn of phrase. As it turns out, we have one of our own in training: Relevance, Rationale, and Realism. Let’s look at each of these terms a little closer.
Relevance
When people come to training, their main concern is learning skills they can use in their jobs. No matter how interesting a fact may be when you design a course or prepare to deliver a course, if it doesn’t focus on how to perform work, it probably shouldn’t be in there. This is at the heart of the lean training approach. It has been said that in every fat course, there’s a thin course trying to get out. What this means is that your course content should focus on job tasks, and avoid topics or non-relevant information as much as possible.
Rationale
People love when instructions are clear-cut, but they also tend to question things a lot. Employees seem to constantly be asking themselves, “Why should I do it this way?” Don’t allow your learners to begin doubting the reasons for the work processes taught in the course; begin every lesson with a rationale for the process. Describe the personal and professional benefits people will gain from using the new process.
Realism
Look at any training that teaches skills where lives are at stake. How realistic is the practice in that training? Consider the training an airline pilot gets, or a firefighter gets, or a soldier gets. Guess how much of their graded activities are paper-based tests versus practical simulations of their work. We should be emulating that philosophy whenever possible. Rather than prepare written tests or oral quizzes, we should be creating practical exercises that resemble the learners’ real jobs as much as possible.
GRRREAT!
Yes, three “R”s in “great” because that’s what your training will be if you apply Relevance, Rationale, and Realism to your training. There are hundreds of ways to implement these concepts in your courses; you’re limited only by your creativity. But it’s nice to have something catchy that keeps that training design and delivery philosophy anchored in our minds. That way we don’t lose our way when we’re eyebrows-deep in the details of a specific course.
Alan
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