(All-Too) Common Mistakes in Training
Whether you’re new to training as a profession or you’re a seasoned veteran of it, you’ve probably had occasion to be a trainee too. And on those occasions, you also might have noticed a thing or two you would have done differently. I get that. We all get that. I’ve had lots of these experiences in my career and began to notice patterns in the things I didn’t see—things that would have made the session more productive, more fun, or just generally better.
Sending vs. receiving – Remember that scene in The Matrix where Neo gets plugged into a computer and learns kung fu? Watching a giant spike get shoved in the back of his head may have made you cringe (it made me cringe) but after that, you probably thought, Wouldn’t that be awesome? Just plug in and download the ability to play the piano? Pretty neat.
Unfortunately, that’s not how things work here in the real world—or are we in the Matrix? I forget. Regardless, sending and receiving knowledge is less like uploading/downloading than it is trying to feed someone by throwing popcorn into an open mouth. Some will hit, but a lot will miss, and reinforcement and repetition is critical.
The idea that saying something (sending) is the same as someone understanding (receiving) is a big problem for both trainers and trainees.
You’ve heard the phrase “drinking from a firehose” as a metaphor for trying to take on knowledge coming at a fast pace. It’s important to note that the rate of delivery can be very different from the rate of absorption. That’s one (of a few) reasons that classroom exercises are so important. Verbal delivery—yes, even when accompanied with the visual of PowerPoint slides—is the beginning of proper delivery, not the end.
Too much content – There is an all-too-common belief that training programs should contain “everything you need to know in order to _____” almost no matter the length of the class.
How long does it take to learn how to tie your shoes? Not long, since that’s a single, very simple task. But selling? That’s an incredibly broad skillset (not skill) with hundreds (thousands?) of skills inside it.
Let’s take the greeting. A greeting should be pretty simple, right? But think about all the things a good greeting should contain. And why it’s so important. And how it should be delivered. And what can go wrong with it. Now model it. Then have each and every person practice it (see “Not roleplaying enough”). Doing all of that—and you really should do all that—takes time.
If you wonder whether you’re providing too much content, calculate how long it would take you to deliver it all, just you, in an empty classroom. Now multiply that by five. It’s not a hard number, but it’ll work for this point.
That’s the time you should be allotting for getting the information across (teaching) and then starting the process of training, starting with role-playing. Hey, look! That’s next up! (It’s almost like I planned it.)
Not role-playing enough – Years ago, I was the manager of a high-end consumer electronics store. I was terrible at it, but that’s another story for another time. The VP of the company was really big on a training process called “show me,” which requires that you tell someone how to do something and then ask them to do it so that you can see that they understood. Good idea, and that’s great for tasks. But when it comes to selling, it’s all about behaviors.
A greeting (here we are again) should contain:
- A warm/sincere opening
- Something a bit unexpected (pattern-interrupt)
- A 5-second introduction
- A request for the person you want to talk with
- A very brief explanation for why you’re calling and why he/she should care
- A request to continue
Now, you can ask a classroom full of people if they got all that, and they’ll all nod. Now ask them to try it and watch the hilarity ensue. The training environment is the flight simulator of selling--it’s a safe place to try and then fail. It’s where no damage can be done. Role-playing develops a muscle memory so that when the brain fails, the body takes over. It puts all the things someone needs to do live and puts it in a buffer so that it’s ready to roll, even when there’s not enough processor speed. Oh, and practice makes perfect.
“Allowing fun” (but not creating any) – I’m not sure if I’ve ever been in a class in which the trainer didn’t tack “And we’re going to have some fun” at the end of his/her intro. How many training classes have you ever attended that were actually fun?
The problem, I think, is that most trainers mean that they don’t have a problem if you have fun, but almost none purposefully build something fun into the class. Unless you count learning, you insufferable nerd.
Don’t just have quizzes and ask questions, take the time to create games and competitions that drive your points home. Ask people to answer questions in the form of a question. Ask them to write a nickname on their name tents, or create one using a name generator. Include activities that require them to get out of their seats and their comfort zones. Involve kooshie balls, stickers, and buzzers. Whatever!
Not arranging for coaching – The last thing I’ll ramble on about is what happens after the class. Have you ever heard of Nitinol? It’s a metal that, in wire form, you can bend and twist into any shape, but the moment you heat it, it will return to its original shape. More important, it’s a perfect metaphor for what happens to all that training you delivered the moment a trainee runs into a spot of trouble. His mind will go blank and he will grab the first comfortable thing he can: his old habits. And just like that, your training is out the window.
Unless you’re there to make sure he doesn’t give up, that he continues to work on it and that he tries again on the next interaction and the next, and the next. You think great athletes are told and then shown what to do once in their careers? Nope, they’re told thousands of times, by dozens of coaches who are there, in the moment, offering real-time feedback and constantly honing the athlete’s skills. And that he continues to improve. Why? Because the best training in the world is fleeting in the face of adversity.
Most professional trainers know these things, at least on an intuitive level. But just as it is with our trainees, we need reminders every so often, and I hope you’ve found value in someone else’s take on it.
