New Trainers? - 6 Things to Remember about Your Learners!

New to your training role? 

Perhaps you are a subject expert who has been asked to deliver training or maybe you have decided to move into a training role as your next career move. Working with adult learners can be fun and rewarding but there are some basics that you need to consider.

 Adult Learners: 

1.    Want to be respected – make sure you listen to your learners and that they know you are listening. You might disagree with what they say but take some time to understand their perspective. You might find that you, or they, have misunderstood what was being said.

 2.    Are not a ‘blank canvas’ - your learners will already have knowledge, experience – and opinions! Find out what they already know, what they consider to be helpful or unhelpful. Adult learners will be less engaged by a trainer who relies on their ‘expert’ status. We are all always learning – the best trainers ‘learn from their learners’.

 3.    Need to see the benefits – when people are busy, training can be seen as taking them away from their work, creating more pressure. It is important that learners understand what benefits they will get from the training – a new procedure that helps them to get things done more quickly or with less risk of error? Be clear about how your learners will be able to use the training – give relevant examples, including issues that you know people struggle with. Once people realise what they will gain, they will engage with the training.

 4.    Want training that is relevant to their job – if your learners cannot see how the training relates to their job role, they are unlikely to be interested. Sometimes people are ‘on the fringes’ of a process, so the relevancy is not always clear – as a trainer you will need to help them to see the bigger picture and how they fit in.

 5.    Have different goals – people are naturally goal orientated. Your learners will all want to achieve something by the end of the training – but not necessarily the same things! You will of course have agreed learning outcomes for the training but it is always good to ask your learners whether they have anything else they would like to cover – if it is relevant. Often it is fairly easy to cover additional points; if not you can always follow up with the learner afterwards.

 6.    Are self-directed – most of the time! Make sure that your training is not too regimented – include activities that give your learners choices or some freedom in how they work on training activities.

Good luck in your new role as a trainer – remember if you need to access some free training resources let me know and I will send you more information.