Anti-wrinkle creams are now a billion dollar industry. New antioxidant foods and liquids are popping up everywhere. By the way, who ever heard of Botox 15 years ago? I have read a lot of literature on the topic of staying young (I am a baby boomer after all!) and I have discovered there is a common theme when it comes to maintaining youthfulness and vitality – live a stress-free life and laugh more.

Being a traveling trainer can often be frustrating and tiresome – or can it? I guess it depends on how you deal with life’s everyday challenges, especially the airport kind. So, are you ready to laugh? I will tell you a funny story that happened to me while conducting a workshop in a distant suburb of Chicago.

I called a reputable shuttle company to pick me up at the hotel to take me back to the airport, which was approximately 45 minutes away. The shuttle driver arrived about ½ hour late, and after loading my bags, drove to the end of the hotel and asked me, ”Do you know how to get to airport, it’s my first day on job, and I just moved here to the US.” He proceeded to get his map out and we hit the road. After about 10 minutes, you guessed it.  We were lost! He pulled into a small pizza shop for directions, but that didn’t help because we were still lost. So I moved up to the front seat and began to read the map and give him directions. Surely this must have been my once-in-a-lifetime Candid Camera moment!

He took the wrong highway, but decided to pull off the exit ramp and BACK-UP. I screamed in fear, “You can’t do that, you’ll get us killed!” He started mumbling over and over again, “I go home soon, upset stomach.” My anger then turned into compassion. He was just as frightened as I was. Finally we arrived at the airport more than an hour past my flight. Of course he was not trained to run a credit card, which upset him even more. Calling his dispatcher/office for help many times did not help either. I told him it was OK, and as it turned out it was, because my flight was delayed for over two hours.

So, there you go. I now have a priceless story that I have shared at least a dozen times, and everyone, including myself, gets a good laugh out of it. We don’t laugh about the person, but at the situation, because while laughter is good for the soul and a wonderful coping mechanism, a lack of training is no laughing matter.

Ron

For training to be truly effective, people have to care about the course, its content and its outcomes. If you are cynical while you design your training by putting it to the “Who Cares?” test, your learners won’t have the opportunity to be cynical when they experience it.

To do this, any time you’re thinking of adding content to a course, ask yourself: “Who cares if I add content?” Whenever you’re thinking of selecting a particular exercise for a training session, do the same by asking yourself: “Who cares if they practice this skill?”

Think about one of the courses you offer. Consider what it is teaching. Focus on one specific lesson in that course. Think about how the content in that lesson is presented. Now think about the activity or exercise that follows the presentation. Put them to the “Who cares?” test: “Who cares about what is in this lesson?” “Who cares about the way in which it’s presented?” “Who cares about the way employees practice using that information?”

There is one answer to all these questions that ultimately determines your lesson’s fate: “Management cares.”

There are two ways to go about training in an organization: with management support, or unsuccessfully. If management doesn’t care about something, then focus your efforts somewhere else. The training programs that truly succeed are those that managers really care about.

From this point on, do yourself a favor: Be the steward of your courses’ content and teaching process. Any time you’re considering what the content of a new or redesigned course should be, ask yourself that question. Any time you’re selecting a way to present course content, or determining how learners will practice using course content, ask yourself that make-or-break question. Any time a subject-matter expert throws a bunch of facts at you during course design, ask yourself the training quality assurance question: Who cares?

If the answer is significant, it belongs in the course. If the answer leaves you nonplussed, that’s just how the rest of the organization will feel about it when it’s being delivered.

Alan

Whether we are conducting a training needs analysis, directing a performance consulting process, or managing subordinates, we need to make sure we are not only hearing what is being said, but we are truly listening as well. The difference, according to Webster, is that hearing is the act or process of perceiving sound or of receiving information whereas listening is the act of hearing attentively and paying attention to the person speaking.

Verbal communication has four forms: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The average person spends 70 to 80% of their active hours (11 to 12 hrs per day) communicating with others. The two forms of verbal communication we use most often are listening and speaking. Is it any surprise that these are the areas where we have the most difficulty?

Whenever we are involved with a training needs analysis, a performance consulting process, or managing subordinates, we really must communicate clearly and be prepared to be non-judgmental. Some things we can do to help with communication are:

Establish Rapport

Greet the person by name and clearly state the purpose of the meeting. Use clear, concise, and common language, and solicit any questions before you start.

Have Empathy

Put yourself in the other person’s place or position. The issue you are discussing is real to them – and may be quite different from your own.

Don’t Interrupt

Be patient. Sometimes a little rambling reveals a big reward. We know what we want to accomplish and while the other person may not take the same road, we can usually get to the same destination.

Don’t Jump to Conclusions

Until we have all the facts from the speaker and can validate our suspicions, all we have is basic information with no clear path to an immediate destination.

Don’t Judge the Speaker

Just because the person isn’t providing the answers that we expect, doesn’t consider him or her to be out of touch, misinformed, or a loser. The speaker may be giving you all the information he or she has and this can be an indication that other problems may exist.

Ask Questions

Let them see the list of questions prior to the session, use more open questions than closed. We want them to talk.

Pay Attention to Your Non-Verbal Behavior

Make eye contact. Look at them for a while then glance at your notes then look back at them. Remember, you’re not trying to make them feel uncomfortable – just engaged. Maintain a pleasant and relaxed facial expression. Try to mirror the demeanor of the person you are talking to. Be aware of your posture – lean toward the person when they are responding but avoid violating their personal space.

Don’t Forget Active Listening Skills

Paraphrasing, reflection of feelings, use of encouragers, and summarizing.

One of my favorite quotes (by the prolific author, ‘anonymous’) is, “The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn’t being said.” This is true for the messages we are sending as well as those we are receiving during the communication process. By practicing some, or all, of the tips in this blog, you may find you never have to ask the question, “Are you listening to me?” again because you will know that the answer is “YES”.

Martha

Early in my training career, I would get frequent calls for “refresher training.” These courses included topics and tasks that the audience should know, but somehow forgot. So once again, the training department would take on the role of “Train it Again Sam.”

What can we do to help organizations use our training resources more efficiently and effectively? We can start by educating the decision makers who request training. And yes, these people can be our most challenging audience. So, what can we do to help them “get training?”

Let’s look at a couple of key steps:

Performance Analysis

The first, and most important, step to successful training is conducting a Performance Analysis. This is where we will discover the primary cause of poor performance. And remember, training can only resolve performance issues that are caused by the lack of knowledge or skill. Many of my Langevin students will confirm that if they try to provide training without first conducting a Performance Analysis, they end up wasting resources. Time, money, and training credibility can be lost on courses that aren’t really needed. Completing a Performance Needs Analysis is a crucial step in determining if training is even necessary.

Training Goals

Another step that can help the organization “get training” is to incorporate training goals that include measurable results as a part of every employee’s annual performance evaluation. Once an organization realizes that the goal of training is to actually improve job performance, the perception that training is just another event to send employees to, will end. And, once the organization supports a learning environment, training will be encouraged at all levels. As organizations are constantly changing, this element greatly helps with these changes.

As we end this discussion we see that just a couple of basic ideas may affect the perception of training in our organizations. By conducting a Performance Analysis and implementing individual training goals we can become an integral part in improving our organization’s learning climate as we work to gain the help and support of management to make training as efficient and effective as possible within our organizations.

I hope these ideas help you in this process. What ideas do you have? I’d love to hear them.

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

Transitioning to performance consulting has become a necessity in today’s turbulent economy which means initiating a cultural shift on how the training department is perceived and valued. We can no longer be a “yes” person whenever someone requests training. Put on an investigator’s hat by asking the most powerful question  – WHY???

Next, you need to ask, “What does success look like, and how will we measure it?” The answer to this two-part question will give you a clear indication whether it’s a training issue or not.

Over $62 billion dollars is spent on training in North America annually, while up to 75% of that training is for the wrong reason. Wow! You do the math, and you will quickly realize how much money is wasted. And nobody can afford to waste money these days. With these numbers in mind, you can see how important it is to you and the credibility of your training department to determine whether a performance problem is training-related or not.

You may be wondering why anyone would train an employee who does not need it. The root causes of employee performance problems are often never looked into, because sending them to a training class becomes a painless “quick-fix.” By investigating a little further, you may find that an employee is not performing because of a lack of job standards or measurement. Another reason could be the lack of tools/equipment needed to do a job. Perhaps the employee has never received constructive feedback on how to improve. Or maybe they do not have the correct incentive to perform.

So what are you to do? Don’t despair – we have a solution. Come join us at our Consulting Skills for Trainers workshop where you will learn a simple, yet powerful step-by-step process to identify and resolve job performance gaps. This workshop just might be one of the wisest investments you will ever make.

See you at our workshop and happy training!

Ron

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

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.

Once we identified the training needed, we began the process.  I did the homework: pulled articles off the web, purchased the book “The Miniature Schnauzer” which included a DVD on training.  With this information in hand we discussed process and procedure.  We were ready for dog training 101.  Not so fast.  Even though we agreed to what and when (now!), we didn’t agree on a plan of action.  Even though we had information in writing, we still reverted back what we “knew” best.  My husband didn’t grow up with dogs as pets.  What he used was what he heard and his experience with Copper, the Cocker Spaniel we used to have.  My son viewed Munchie as his playmate, therefore, training was primarily up to his father and me unless it suited his need.  I grew up with dogs as pets and had my view on what to do.  Munchie had three different trainers with the same objectives, but with different ways to achieve them.

Sounds familiar?  Imagine how confused Munchie was with three different trainers giving the same command but using different hand signals, different expectations about how long is a good stay, and when he deserves a treat.  Imagine when Munchie is talking with the other dogs and he is saying how confused his trainers are.  They can’t even get their process the same. One person is saying stay.  Another person is saying sit. Another person lets me on the sofa and the others won’t. Who should he obey?  And until they get it together I will do what I want to do.

Wow, we really could have used a lesson plan…

A lesson plan is a job aid for the trainer/instructor/course leader.  It provides the details necessary to conduct a training session.  My husband, my son, and I had collaborated on the content.  The lack of structure (i.e. the lesson plan) created inconsistent training, a confused Munchie and no real change in behavior.  We cannot afford the luxury of a confused learner in training.  Additionally, the lesson plan helps to present a consistent message.  Every time training is delivered, it is the reputation of the training department that is on the line.  If there is an inconsistent message delivered, there is the potential for doubt about your department’s credibility.    The lack of consistency in training also gives learners the perception that they can choose what they will or will not do back on the job. Our message must be strong and clear if we are to create a performance change on the job.

I’m not suggesting that training adults is like training dogs, just that lesson plans are a great tool for ensuring consistency and quality regardless of who you are training. Munchie better watch out because we are getting our plan together and taking back our house!!!

Martha