• What I hear I forget, what I see I remember, what I do, I understand
• Training should not be ‘Death by PowerPoint’
• If you think training is expensive, try ignorance
• There are two ways to undergo a training project at work: with management support, or unsuccessfully
• In training, Content is King

That last one is quite catchy. In fact, I’ve heard it so often it’s approaching cliché status in my book. But here’s my real issue with it: It leaves a lot of room for various interpretations that don’t always serve trainers’ interests.

Let’s explore a couple of those interpretations to see when content is king and when it is not.

Choosing an Instructional Strategy

Let’s say you need to train 120 people on a new software system. Should you run some classroom sessions? Should it be done on-the-job just as the software launch occurs? Perhaps some virtual classroom sessions would do the trick? Or maybe you should create some online tutorials employees can access on their own?

If we apply our royal catchphrase, the content would be the biggest factor to consider in choosing the right training strategy. You’re helping people use a piece of software, so why not teach them on a computer? This would seem to indicate virtual classroom or online tutorials would be best.But if they’re all in the same building and you have only one week to design the course, an e-learning approach wouldn’t be optimal.

So content isn’t king when it comes to choosing a training strategy. Other factors can overrule it. Some of these factors are: target audience size, location, prior experience, computer-literacy, and training team’s design experience.

Choosing Instructional Methods and Media

Okay, so you’ve opted for classroom instruction. Now, which presentation and application methods will you choose within that course? Seems obvious: Present with demonstrations, projected for all to see. Get learners to practice using computers in the room with the new software installed.

Content is king here. The skill being learned is the most important factor in choosing among the myriad of presentation and application methods available. Other factors play a role, but they will rarely, if ever, overrule content. Some of those factors are: group size, prior experience, location, equipment available, and training team’s design experience.

The True Meaning

Here’s how I believe this catchphrase can serve us best: Content, if properly analyzed and structured, can produce dramatic improvements in employee performance. You have two options when it comes to structuring your training’s content. It can be based on topics (knowledge) or job tasks (skills). One type of content is bound to be a pauper, scraping by, doomed to serfdom. One type is destined for glory, ruling all other issues in training. That’s right: Performance-based content is king. If your training actually gives people the skills to do something, all other issues will bow in deference to your eventual success. But if your content is limited to facts, principles, ideas and such, you will be overthrown by other issues. Those issues become problems because the content doesn’t deliver true value.

So here’s ultimately how content is king: If it’s valuable, task-based, how-to content, it will rule other issues and prevent them from being problems in the first place. If your content is purely topic-based, you are bound to be mired in seemingly unending issues that just won’t go away.

Alan

Years ago I was a sales professional at a large company. The sales department trainer always conducted some type of team building activity once a year. I want to share a tale of two team building activities where I was a participant, one good and one bad, to show the importance of planning and execution.

First, here is my great team building experience. At the start of one of our annual sales meetings we were divided into teams. Each team received a box of toothpicks and some Styrofoam at our tables. The facilitator told us to build the tallest structure possible with only the materials on the table. The team with the tallest structure at the end of 20 minutes would win.

This activity was successful for several reasons. First, it was short. We were busy salespeople who wanted to get in and out of our sales meeting so we could get out on the road and make money. Second, the facilitator observed each group closely to see how we were working together as a team. Finally, at the end of the activity, the facilitator helped us process our experience by asking specific questions designed to ensure that we came away from the experience learning key things about our communication skills and our ability to work as a team. After the activity our Vice President kicked off our sales meeting and discussed how communication and teamwork were going to play a large role in our department’s success. The activity was fun, safe, simple, relevant, and well executed.

My nightmare team building experience occurred a year later. My colleagues and I volunteered to work at a nearby children’s summer camp located in the woods. Each team received a different project. One team would plant flowers. One team would paint picnic tables. One team would decorate the recreation center. Then there was my team. We were going to clear an area of forest! We spent all morning dragging extremely heavy tree branches towards a wood chipping machine! We did not have safety glasses, gloves, or helmets! At one point a tree branch kicked out from the chipper machine an almost hit one of my colleagues in the head! Many of us experienced cuts and bruises from the heavy labor, not to mention very sore muscles the next day!

This team-building event failed, for my team anyways, because the trainer who coordinated the event ignored the all-important tip:  Know your audience! We were salespeople and not lumberjacks! The activity was not suitable for us and it was downright dangerous!

So if you are asked to conduct and/or coordinate experiential team building exercises for your company, here are some helpful hints:

• Plan, design and setup your team-building activities with care. For example, if you train busy sales people, plan on short team-building activities! Design your activities to ensure they create the type of learning experience you need and allow for full participation so that everyone benefits. Also, make sure you set up the activity to make sure the participants understand your directions and can follow the rules.
• Make sure the team building is relevant to how it will help the employees succeed in their jobs. For example, if you train customer service representatives, the activity should show how using teamwork can lead to the customer receiving timelier, more accurate information.  Otherwise, learners will think the activity is a waste of time.
• Prepare yourself to debrief the activity. Be prepared with questions that will help each team and the group as a whole process their experiences upon completion of the activity. While monitoring, be sure to observe how each team is working together – or not, as the case might be. What does each team do to foster team work? What, if anything, gets in the way? Then, as part of the debriefing process, and without pointing fingers or naming names, you can use some of your observations to encourage further discussion and bring home the point of the activity.
• Last, but not least, if you do not have prior experience designing outdoor experiential activities then I would recommend using a consulting company that specializes in such things. This way your participants will learn from the experience in a safe fashion!

In summary, there is tremendous value in team building experiences. If they are chosen, designed, and facilitated well, they truly bond groups of people together in positive ways. And, they can be fun! Just be sure to make them memorable for the right reasons by being mindful of the tips above!

Do you have any team building stories you’d like to share?

Lynne

Malcolm Knowles dedicates a chapter titled “Making Things Happen by Releasing the Energy of Others” in his book The Adult Learner. In this chapter he asks, “What might be done to release this energy for accomplishing greater goals for the system and the individuals in it?” As I reflect on this idea, I do understand that there is a balance we need to maintain to support learning. But how do we take advantage of this idea without letting it become a learning distraction?

I have found two ideas that are easy to implement and can increase the energy in the room.

The Power of Small Group Activities

One of my biggest Langevin “ah-ha” moments came as I attended my first Langevin course in 1995. I watched how the energy grew when the instructor effectively used group activities. Well-planned group activities can add significant energy to a class. They can be spread out throughout the entire to session, allowing the learners to teach as well as learn from each other. I decided in 1995 that group activities would always be a key component of all courses I would design from that time on. Now I will admit that this isn’t always easy, sometimes the learners’ mobility can be restricted by the physical environment, or other training restraints can make group activities difficult. But I do know that without these activities learning can be more difficult. I have to become as creative as possible to structure these activities and use the energy to help learners gain more from the sessions.

The Effect of Music

Another big component for me is the use of music – I love music. I use music to energize myself as well as the learners, but I have to be conscious of when and how to use it. The trick is not to overuse it or it may become annoying to some participants. Using a wide variety of music also helps. I find tunes that you would hear at your average wedding reception to be the most popular. Just remember that using music in the classroom can mean paying royalties. Purchasing and playing CDs allows you to avoid those fees.

I agree with Malcolm Knowles. Increasing energy can lead to a more productive learning environment. I think that we need to stop being afraid of losing control and start taking chances. As trainers, we have the ability to change activities to reduce the energy if we see the room is getting out of control. By simply changing our instructional methods to something like reading or listening to a lecture are two simple ways to reduce the energy in a room.

To help illustrate this concept, I compare training a class to flying a kite. As a child I loved flying kites. I can still feel the string running through my fingers as I eagerly discovered how high I could get that kite to go. As I let the winds take the kite from my hand, I held on to the string. I quickly learned that by giving too much string the kite would flutter and crash back to earth or worse yet get lost in a tree. I also learned that if I held on to the string too tightly, the kite just hung around, and never really soared into the sky. The more experienced I became the more I learned I had to constantly adjust to the winds.

In my role as a trainer I have learned not to fear the winds of the class. I take chances and let learners take the courses where they need to go to learn. And yes, there are times that I see that we need to bring down the energy. I smile and know that just by flicking on the LCD projector, an energy-sucking lecture is just seconds away.  For more information about adult learners, see our workshop “How Adults Learn“.

Langevin Team

We know we have a responsibility to offer participants value for their training time and training dollar.  Participants also have a responsibility. They have the responsibility to participate and some participants even have the  responsibility to expect more from their investment in training than just ONE thing.

Three days later, when leaving the workshop, the same participant, who would have been happy to learn “just one thing” said, “That was great! I learned so much! There are so many things that I can apply as soon as I get back to work – and, oh I had fun, too.”

Isn’t all training supposed to be like that? Every participant should be walking out the door with a sense of satisfaction, feeling that they got value for their valuable time and money.

So what does it take?  We know a lot has to happen for participants to have this feeling at the end of a course. We need to have the right people in the right course at the right time. By right people I mean people who want and need to be there, and can apply the new knowledge and skill back on the job as soon as possible. The right course means that the course is well-designed, well-delivered, and has the “need to know” content for the participants. The course should be as skill-based and practical as possible – keep in mind that no one gets paid for knowing things – people get paid for doing things. If participants get lots of practice during training, it increases the chance that they will be successful in performing the skills learned back on the job.

Even if the course is well-designed, the instructor must be able to deliver it effectively. Many instructors don’t get sufficient preparation time which sometimes results in a lot of reading from slides. In addition to knowing course content, the instructor needs to have classroom management skills – meaning the ability to manage the group, the training environment, and themselves. In too many situations we have subject matter experts, without any classroom management skills, delivering training.

It is also important to note that my participant said she had fun. I believe that if the course content is relevant, challenging and sets participants up for success then people will have fun. This fun is a legitimate part of the learning experience and will help make people want to come back for more.

So, if we can get the stars to align – meaning the right people, in the right course, at the right time – we can anticipate that the participants will leave the workshop with a sense of satisfaction and value. If we can do that, then people will expect to “learn more than just one thing.”

Langevin Team

Why

Why are we doing this program? To address this critical question we must conduct a Training Needs Analysis to determine it training is really needed. If the answer is yes, we must then ask if training will produce the necessary change in the learners’ behavior or skill? If the learners leave the session without achieving the benefit of the training we have wasted their time and ours, no matter how great or dynamic the training program.

What

What decisions have been made? When training is requested the requestor often has “ideas” about how long the training should be, the method to be used for delivery, the budget, etc. Our task is to determine whether the “ideas” make sense and can we create effective training given these restraints. Based on the constraints we must then determine how we can use the principles of ISD to create effective training.

Who

Who are the participants? Identifying the characteristics of our audience will significantly impact our design. We need to look at generation, education, previous training, job experience, etc. and then determine whether our learners will be prisoners, vacationers, or explorers. Once we know these details, we can create a training program that contains examples and features that will help to connect with our audience. Connecting with our audience greatly increases the chances of transferring the learning back to the job.

What

What do our learners need to learn so that they will be successful back on the job after the training? This is critical to make the course content relevant to the learners and to the company. By determining the answer to this question, we can define the expected outcome of the training.

How

How are the learners’ tasks done? Once we know what tasks the participants need to learn, we need to know the level of detail to include in the step-by-step process we will be teaching. Other how questions to ask are:

• How will the training be delivered (instructor-lead, job aids, e-learning)?
• How will the activities (tests and practices) reinforce the learning?
• How will success be measured (reaction, learning, performance, or results)?

By following Langevin’s Instructional Design Cycle you will learn how to ask all of these questions, plus many more, so you can create training that will be effective and fun, and your learners will learn how to do their jobs better. What more can you ask than that?

Martha

Phase I:  Planning & Analysis

E-learning, like any training strategy, takes time and money to build. You either build it yourself or you hire a consulting firm to build it for you. Before you spend money on any e-learning project, it is wise to do some advance research. If you understand, and apply, the planning and analysis steps in instructional design, your e-learning will:

• Meet a legitimate business need.
• Stay on time and on budget.
• Include content targeted appropriately for your audience.
• Contain only relevant content for your learners.
• Produce desired performance outcomes.

Phase II: Design & Development

Depending on your learning goals and circumstances, e-learning can be more cost-effective than traditional classroom methods. How do you guarantee that e-learning will save money and meet your learning objectives? Start with good design. If you understand, and apply, formal design and development steps, your e-learning will:

• Be the appropriate strategy to use to teach your content.
• Contain assessment tests to measure knowledge, skill, and retention.
• Be structured properly to maximize learning success.
• Include feedback mechanisms and any additional job aids.

Phase III: Validation & Evaluation

e-Learning is no different from other methods of training in that it needs to be validated and evaluated. Does the e-learning course need any final revisions before implementation? Are the employees performing their jobs effectively after completing the e-learning course? If you understand, and apply, formal design validation and evaluation steps, your e-learning will:

• Incorporate Adult Learning Principles in its design.
• Be targeted to the appropriate experience level of your learner population.
• Run properly without any typographical or grammatical errors.
• Enable you to evaluate your training effectiveness.

So pull that design manual off the shelf or take a workshop to learn the basics of design and then enjoy playing with your new e-learning toys!

Lynne

In this world we are constantly competing against technology. Everyone wants it faster, better, and more entertaining. We are expected to cram a lot of content into a small amount of time.

Do all the bells and whistles make for good training? No! Those additions add interest and fun, but alone they don’t count for much if there is no solid foundation.  In fact, it’s just like putting lipstick on a pig! It may be pretty but it’s still a pig! And, if people only remember that they had a good time in training, we have not done our job. We need to incorporate (PAF) Presentation, Application, and Feedback into every training program.

Presentation

First we need to present (P) what the learners need to know in order to be successful on the job. The training can be instructor-led or we can get the learners involved in the delivery. We can use e-learning or any other training strategy for that matter. But, between the glitz and glamour, there has to be content that is relevant to the job. And we need to use a variety of methods so we can engage the different learning styles and generations.

Application

Good training is not just delivering or presenting content. Once we have the need-to-know down, the learners require practice – application (A). As the saying goes, “Perfect practice makes perfect.” And we want to make the practice as real world as possible. It’s better to have the learners make mistakes (and get feedback) in the learning environment than back on the job. We can use role-plays, practice exercises, simulations, case studies, scenarios, etc., and these can be instructor-led or web-based, or something else. We just need to make the application exercises and activities hands-on whenever possible.

Feedback

Since training is a place where people come to practice their jobs, they need to know how they are performing to the standard. They need feedback (F). It doesn’t matter if the feedback is self disclosure (individual – i.e. how do you think you did?), peer delivered, or instructor-led. And, along with the feedback, we should provide tips on how they can perform the tasks better (if necessary).

I know that I’m preaching to the choir here, but I get excited about all the possibilities! We can still look for fun and excitement when we are deciding how we will deliver the content (presentation), how we will have the group practice (application), and how we will inform our learners about their performance (feedback).

Just remember, poor training in a pretty package is still poor training. Proper use of PAF will significantly increase the chance of having an effective training class. Training can be (and should be) both fun AND a great learning experience.

Martha

So what can you do to convince your company that the hours employees spend in training and the dollars it invests in its people are time and money well spent? Start by evaluating your training programs! I’m not talking about the Level 1 “smile sheets” you hand out at the end of your trainings. I’m talking about the deeper levels of evaluation that increase your department’s credibility and justify your worth to the “powers that be.” These evaluation tools can save your department.

The Kirkpatrick Model gives us 4 levels at which to evaluate the effectiveness of our training programs. This article will explore levels 3 and 4; what they are and when to use them. In my next post, I will outline the “how-to’s” (guidelines for designing evaluation instruments) for both levels.

Level 3:

What happens when employees leave the classroom and return to their jobs? How much of what they learned in training actually transfers to the job site? In other words, what change in job behavior occurred because people attended a training program? This is what a level 3 evaluation attempts to evaluate. One of the more common ways to conduct a level 3 evaluation is observation. An observation involves either a Manager or Trainer observing employees perform the tasks (just trained on) according to standard or performance checklist (a performance checklist ensures objectivity on behalf of the observer). The challenge with this method is getting management’s support and commitment to implement it or do the observation themselves. Many managers feel it’s disruptive and/or don’t have time to observe their employees. Creating a partnership with managers and communicating the benefits (of employees performing to standard) is crucial to getting buy-in and cooperation.

Level 4:

This is the most important and perhaps the most difficult of all the levels – what final results occurred because the employees attended a training program. Results can include increased production, improved quality, decreased costs, reduced frequency and/or severity of accidents, or increased sales. Consider the following 5 guidelines when conducting a level 4 evaluation.

Assemble a control group if practical (a control group refers to a group of employees that does not receive the training. The group that receives the training is an experimental group). Any difference between the control group and the experimental group can be explained by the results achieved because of the training program. I liken it to using a placebo group in drug trials/testing.

1. Allow time for results to be achieved. Time has to elapse before the evaluation can be done. Each situation is different, so timing depends on the skills taught in training.
2. Measure both before and after the program, if practical. Fairly easy to do at this level, as records are usually available to determine the situation before the training program took place.
3. Repeat the measurement at appropriate times.  Each organization must decide how often and when to evaluate.
4. Consider cost vs. benefits. Generally, it isn’t nearly as costly to evaluate at this level as it is other levels.

Implementing a level 4 evaluation provides the greatest challenge to training professionals as some training programs show tangible results, some don’t.

In summary, most of us are concerned with our department’s and our own credibility. We want to be accepted, trusted, and respected by senior executives. When we’re accepted and respected, lots of wonderful things happen – not to mention you sleep better, worry less, and enjoy life more. The best way to earn this trust and respect is by evaluating and reporting the worth of our training – now more than ever! Be sure to watch for my next posting on how to design traditional and alternative evaluation instruments.

Melissa

“Miracle on the Hudson” Stories

I’m sure we all remember hearing about “Miracle on the Hudson,” the miraculous landing of US Airways Flight 1549 into the Hudson River, on January 15, 2009.  Captain Sullenberger – “Sully” to his friends – was able to safely land the plane in the freezing waters of the Hudson, with no fatalities. Larry King interviewed the flight crew, some of the passengers and members of the first response team, and here are some of their stories:

Captain Vincent Lucanti, of New York Waterway Ferry said, “I think about all the training that’s put into this, it’s for a reason. It pays off. We proved it. We’re trained to remove people from the water, whether a sinking vessel or an aircraft, and that’s what we did. Usually not 150 at a time, but we just put it all in play.”

Petty Officer Second Class Ian Kennedy, of U.S. Coast Guard, New York, said, “We do the training for things like this all the time, pulling people out of the water. And to be so successful with everyone living, I’ll never forget it. It was just an amazing day.”

Passenger Alberto Panero, sitting in seat 16F said, “Never underestimate the little things that you do in life and the training you have, because when it comes down to it, that’s what you’re going to rely on.”

Does it get any better than that? Lately, I’ve been sharing this story at the beginning of my workshops because I like to remind participants how important our jobs can be. At the end of the day, it really doesn’t matter what you’re training people to do. If the training works, it makes an impact!

Another Favorite Story

My other favorite story is called, “There’s a Hole in my Sidewalk,” and was written by singer/songwriter Portia Nelson, illustrating the difficulty of making changes.

Chapter 1
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost.
It isn’t my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.

Chapter 2
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don’t see it.
I fall in again.
I can’t believe I’m in the same place.
But it isn’t my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.

Chapter 3
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it there.
I still fall in.
It’s a habit.
My eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.

Chapter 4
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.

Chapter 5
I walk down another street.

What a powerful way to end a workshop. Even though it sounds ridiculous, it’s a lot easier to keep walking down a hole in the sidewalk then try another street. Let’s acknowledge that change is difficult and encourage our learners to apply their new skills back on the job.

Inspiration can play an important role in training. If learners are not inspired and motivated to change, how can we expect them to learn and ultimately, discover new ways of doing things?

I’d love to hear what inspires you to sustain your enthusiasm for training and more importantly, how do you inspire your learners?

Marsha

Whether you are a designer, or an instructor, there are some things you can do when you anticipate or encounter resistance to a class.

Designers

For the ever-challenging and mandatory annual training, consider…

• Conducting an assessment: Could an assessment – online or face-to-face – determine competency and remove the need for some learners to attend the class?
• Changing the delivery strategy: Is there an off-the-shelf or home-built e-learning module that would satisfy the requirement?
• Changing the class design: Could the class be changed to something more engaging such as a pre-test coupled with a “lessons learned” discussion of areas that the group or the organization struggle with?

For a class about process change within an organization, think about…

• An Icebreaker. An out-of-the-box-thinking icebreaker can help set the tone. Challenge your learners to “Be a gardener star-plant 10 trees in 5 rows of 4 trees each” (see end of blog for answer), where the answer is not intuitive. This icebreaker could serve as an analogy for a necessary but unpopular change in organizational life. Tie the icebreaker to the need for out-of-the-box thinking when confronted with organizational change.
• Exercises geared to handle learner resistance: You can’t sweep resistance under the rug, so try designing an exercise early in the training where problems are acknowledged and then focus on how to make the best of the new processes? Something like, “list the reasons we should not adopt this procedure,” followed by, “identify those factors we have direct control over.” Offer to act as an anonymous ombudsman to bring the learners concerns to management and then concentrate on how to make the best of the situation during the class (i.e. learn the new process).

Instructors

The techniques for designers can also be used by implemented by instructor on the fly when encountering serious push-back from a learner group. Sometimes all it takes is carefully moderated “air time” to defuse resistance.

What do you do to handle learner resistance? Feel free to post your ideas.

Paul

Oh, the answer to the brain teaser? Sketch a 5-pointed star. Where the lines intersect, plant a tree – you’ll end up with 10 trees; in 5 rows with 4 trees in each row. It looks something like the image below.