The Numb-er Game

The Numb-er Game

'Don't believe in rat race'.

'Competition is with yourself only'.

'Numbers don't matter,quality does'.

'Age doesn't matter experience does'

'Don't judge others by numbers'

These things we read and hear daily. However what does it mean?

Does it say 'One bird in hand is better than 2 in the bush?'

Or

'When you have a lemon in hand make lemonade out of it!'

In training (learning and development) industry numbers do matter. This is the only place where the teachers receive a marksheet for their performance, and that too from students. Not otherwise in most cases.

These numbers help the decision makers to take decision on future course of action. Whether or not they will repeat the trainer and training organization or depend on these feedback sheets.

Numbers also decide if there has been a progress of the participants after attending a training session.

So the trainer is under the scrutiny even after the training session is over.

What an irony! The trainer who is giving life lessons and uttering some of these above mentioned dialogues have to go through this everyday in his or her life.

So the question arises from there only.

Should a trainer only depend upon numbers?

My answer is NO.

Numbers can only validate your passion towards your profession and occasionally you can revisit those numbers when you are feeling low. That's it! Nothing more than that.

Participants give those numbers on the basis of their own belief system and their personal interaction with the trainer. If trainers begin to take those numbers too seriously then they will stop experimenting with new games,tools and eventually start terming them as too risky. Playing safe will create monotony among themselves. The numbers will rise as they have mastered the art. Creating a dillema among ownselves. Isn't it? The box of thinking is closed by themselves only as and when they create a box which is sealed by number lock and they forget the numbers to unlock it. Most of the traditional L&D personnel have become 'Chalk and Talk people' forgetting their own roadmap and destination (however popular).

So what is the solution?

In my opinion the solution is to discuss the reasons of the number given by each and every participant so that we can know what is working for certain participant and what is not! So that we can address the issue faced by the participants in our next session with them.

This way we can work more closely and go much deeper in the mind of every participant.

A participant profile sheet only gives few informations. There should be a Participants' Mind Sheet. Within which trainers should fill up remarks after the training session. While trainers have a glance before the next refresher program with certain participants who could not manage to pick up the learning tools. A methodology to caution the department of L&D about baby-boomers. Then they can also monitor the progress easily. Power to the participants is great however we should play fair. Even #fifa made fair play a criteria to go to the next round. Why not us?

Hopefully #learninganddevelopment #hrd #trainingmanager #hr #traininghead will understand and work closely with the trainers to have better results rather than depending upon numbers.

Don't get numb by numbers that generate something new everyday like dumb&dumbers.

~ A thought provoked by

Supratik Bhattacharya & Avik Dutta