Does Your Training Suck? 6 Ways to Make it Suck Less

At some point, we have all sat through a presentation where a trainer stood at the front of a room of people and read off every sentence from a PowerPoint slide with excessive amounts of information on it. I hope that we can all agree that this type of training isn’t beneficial to anyone. Most folks will nod-off, pull out their cellphones, start doodling on their worksheets or just stare off into space instead of actually learning. These six steps should help you to avoid being “that trainer” you know, the one who everyone loathes going to see.  

Before you can even begin creating your new and improved PowerPoint learning program, think about what makes training an adult difference from teaching a child. Is it the way you speak to them; is it the lack of crayons or history books? There is such a vast difference that the principles have different names; andragogy and pedagogy. “Andragogy is a set of core adult learning principles that apply to all adult learning situations”[1]. It is natural for trainers to create programs based on how we all learned as children. The downside is that these programs are not successful because they aren’t designed with adults in mind.  

When designing your program consider the following concepts based on the Andragogic principles:

1. Focus on solutions and not subject matter
When I conducted my first training, I believed that adults don’t really want to learn anything new. This assumption mainly came from my own experiences of sitting through hours upon hours of training that led to nowhere. However, adults can and do enjoy learning if the learning is built to solve problems they are currently facing. If what they believe they are listening to is more announcements or going through check-boxes then they will tune out.  

2. Don’t be rigid with your timelines
Allowing your learners to guide the training might seem like a guaranteed way to throw-off your daily agenda but you could be missing important questions that need answers. In my experience, you focus on going through all of the items on your syllabus without stopping to think about whether the information makes sense. Many times trainers have a plethora of knowledge and could skip right over common questions and information areas because they are so familiar with the content. Go with the flow of the room and the questions that are coming up naturally.

3. Don’t waste experiences
 Along with giving them information that will help them to solve problems, you want to utilize their experience to relate the learning materials. Rooms full of adults who are sitting silently listening are more than likely disengaged. Incorporate discussion and activities that allows the learners to compare the things they are learning with their past jobs, experiences or situations they are familiar with. Taking advantage of the on-the-job examples could resolve issues that an entire class has been having or allow others to retain key pieces of information in ways you didn’t think of.

 4. Don’t waste their time
Training something new to folks that have been at a company for a long period can sometimes feel like pulling teeth. They are under the assumption that learning something new is going to mean more work for them. This is where utilizing real situations they deal with every day will come in handy. Point out problems that they deal with in their positions and guide them through how the training information will help resolve those issues. Everyone’s time is precious so they want to see the value in spending hours or days in a classroom.

5. Solutions fill seats
Have you ever elected to attend a seminar, conference or course because the information taught was something you needed help with? Keep that in mind when you are creating the descriptions for your courses and the content. Training classes that have these types of descriptions: ‘learn the newest skills regarding the SAP December Rollout’ automatically turn people off. Instead try phrasing it as ‘New SAP December Rollout: Finding notes easily, adding tasks in 30 seconds and more’. Tips, tricks, solutions and workarounds catch people’s attention more than industry updates and rollouts.  

6. Motivate with individuals in mind
It can be hard to keep an entire class motivated especially if you are teaching week-long classes. An important thing to keep in mind is that different things motivate people. One person could focus on pay while another wants to gain real world experience in a specific area. Try to relate material around these motivating factors. Learning a new skill can help to advance a person’s career or give them enough experience to be a manager while doing team activities can tap into people’s competitive nature. Not everyone is going to be motivated in your training and that’s okay but you do want to try and keep them engaged

References:
[1] Knowles, M. S., Holton, E. F., & Swanson, R. A. (2005). The adult learner: The definitive classic in adult education and human resource development (6th ed.). Amsterdam: Elsevier.

Boyd, R. D., & Apps, J. W. (1980). Redefining the discipline of adult education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.