As a trainer, you want to create and deliver engaging and effective training content that meets the needs and expectations of your learners. But how do you choose the best format, platform, and style for your content? In this article, we'll explore some of the factors and options that can help you make the right decisions for your training delivery.
The first step to delivering your training content is to know who you are training and what they want to learn. You need to conduct a thorough analysis of your target audience, their goals, their challenges, their preferences, and their existing knowledge and skills. This will help you tailor your content to their specific needs, interests, and learning styles. You can use surveys, interviews, focus groups, or other methods to gather this information.
Additionally, there may be specific regulatory and operational criteria that need to be met, based on each employees position requirements. Along with identifying those needs, I would say you need an understanding of their current knowledge to accurately and effectively provide a training program to assist them in meeting those requirements. Some positions may even require the application of this knowledge in a skills performance setting.
The next step is to choose the format of your training content, such as text, audio, video, images, infographics, animations, or interactive elements. The format should match the type and level of information you want to convey, as well as the attention span and engagement of your learners. For example, text can be useful for detailed explanations, audio can be convenient for busy learners, video can be captivating for visual learners, and interactive elements can be stimulating for active learners. You can also combine different formats to create a rich and varied learning experience.
This is an interesting area for application of the training material, especially with the ever developing technological applications that may be applied to the training program. Obviously you would want to measure the effectiveness of the program and employee knowledge retention. I have used several platforms to assessing these areas of performance. Technologies now can place a person in a virtual environment utilizing platforms like Zoom or Teams, others can use Virtual Reality that can can applied to knowledge and hands-on performance. Computer-based Training platforms are an easy way to train employees at various locations without program application degradation or teacher variances.
The third step is to select the platform or tool that you will use to create and deliver your training content, such as a learning management system (LMS), a web conferencing software, a social media platform, or a mobile app. The platform should suit the format of your content, the accessibility and convenience of your learners, and the features and functionalities that you need. For example, an LMS can help you organize and track your content, a web conferencing software can enable live interaction and feedback, a social media platform can foster community and collaboration, and a mobile app can offer flexibility and portability.
It may be easier to gradually implement the training format in stages, or if you have the ability to do so in-house, the program can meet organizational needs. Canned programs may meet a majority of your needs, however there will always be a need for modifications and these come at an additional cost. As I mentioned earlier, because there is a need to verify compliance to standards, training records and training efficiencies, there should be a program that is able to manage to various training criteria, regulatory compliance, and KSAs of each employee. Employees come and go, so the data should be in a legacy format to access from the future. Deleted as compliance requirements dictate. Searchable for audits, issues and performance plans.
The fourth step is to develop your style or personality as a trainer, which can influence how you communicate and connect with your learners. Your style should reflect your values, your expertise, your passion, and your authenticity. You can express your style through your tone, your language, your humor, your stories, your examples, and your visuals. You can also adapt your style to the context, the purpose, and the mood of your training. Your style can help you establish rapport, credibility, and trust with your learners.
What I have found that works for me is to actively engage each person. Make it fun! Make it enjoyable! Ask questions of the group. Don't preach to them. Make sure PowerPoint slides have few sentences, and more topics. Teach to your skill set and knowledge. Always know your material. Be open to discussion and ask for perspectives. This not only drives the conversation, but encourages it after the session is over. Never give the answers, try to have the audience identify the answer. There is a time and place for very formalized training and that is typically regulatory compliance, operational procedures, etc. Use a combination of visual aides, have physical objects to see and touch, have documents that need to be completed by the student.
The fifth step is to test your content before you deliver it to your learners, to ensure that it is clear, accurate, relevant, and engaging. You can test your content by reviewing it yourself, asking for feedback from colleagues or peers, or conducting a pilot session with a small group of learners. You can use various criteria to evaluate your content, such as its objectives, its structure, its design, its usability, its interactivity, and its outcomes. You can then revise and improve your content based on the results of your testing.
Agreed, feedback in a neutral format is always the best way to build credibility and buy-in. If the requested modifications aren't feasible, identify why.
The final step is to deliver your content to your learners, in a way that maximizes their learning and satisfaction. You need to prepare yourself, your environment, and your technology for the delivery, and follow the best practices for online or face-to-face training. You also need to engage your learners, facilitate their participation, monitor their progress, provide feedback, and support their retention and transfer of knowledge and skills. You can also evaluate your delivery and collect feedback from your learners, to measure the impact and effectiveness of your training.
Delivering your content is an exciting time. You’ve tested it with a pilot group and are now ready to unleash it to everyone. Be ready for setbacks and technology challenges that might occur. Yes you have tested it but there are always surprises during a delivery or a launch. For example, if you’re releasing the training to an organization of 100,000 people and you’ve never used the platform for a group that size then there might be challenges if everyone tries to login at the same time. Have a team on standby to remedy these challenges quickly. Once training is delivered, set milestones for your impact and effectiveness and see how they align with your goals. Then of course revamp and update as needed based on new information.
The final step is to deliver content to your learners, in a way that maximizes their learning and satisfaction. Prepare yourself, your environment, and your technology for the delivery, and follow best practices for online or face-to-face training. As Judy mentions, if the employee base is substantially large, you may want to do it in phases, especially if you haven’t gone through test implementations with a select sample group. Consider engaging your learners, facilitate their participation, monitor their progress, provide feedback, and support their retention and transfer of knowledge and skills. You can also evaluate your delivery and collect feedback from your learners, to measure the impact and effectiveness of your training.