Legal Law

3 signs of a poorly designed training program

Here are three things to look for in program design.

1. Too much at once

Suppose you want participants to embrace the company’s values, see those values ​​in action, and practice feedback around those values. That’s great. Just don’t do it all at once.

Think about how you would teach baseball. First explain how to swing the bat. Then you work on hitting from a pitch. Then you can show them how to handle bases and even talk about strategy for stealing bases, and so on. Each skill is a layer that is built on one at a time. Teaching soft skills should be done in the same way.

To avoid presenting too much at once, follow these steps:

  • Introduce a concept and let people become familiar with it.

  • Add the following layer of information that complements or complements it

  • Allow time to practice and integrate the information.

2. Not related to actual work

You can have a great discussion or the best activity, but if the participants can’t see the “so what,” you’re in trouble. People don’t want the hypothetical, they want to see how things connect to their daily work. And if the design and / or delivery fails to make that connection, you are wasting your time and investment.

When introducing a theory, concept, or tool in the program, make sure there is ample opportunity for participants to absorb how they can apply it again at work. Here is an example of how to do that …

Let’s say you are offering a course on “Conducting Effective Performance Reviews.” Ask participants to bring notes to use in preparing an actual performance review. In this way they leave with an almost complete document in hand. Participants will thank you not only for sharing valuable information, but also for taking time to do the work as part of the course.

3. No time to process / integrate

Some people may think that allowing “thinking time” in a course is a waste. I do not agree. Let’s say the course presented is “How to Train Your Team to Achieve High Performance.” In the course, managers are presented with a team assessment tool and asked to assess what is happening (or not) with their team. In a poorly designed course, it all ends here and managers have to bring in this information without a clear plan. Here’s a better approach.

Once managers have a clear vision of what is wrong with the team, ask them to come up with at least one action they can take to improve the team’s performance, based on their assessment. This could be having a conversation with one person, asking the whole team to complete the assessment, or planning time for the team to relax and have fun. This is the most important step: the action plan.

Sometimes it makes more sense to divide courses into two sessions; present information in the first session, allowing time to practice and integrate the information before the second session. People will appreciate having the opportunity to report on their progress and even ask for feedback in the second session.

In summaryA well-designed program allows time to contemplate, discuss, and integrate new concepts and ideas. People walk away feeling that they not only learned something, but actually applied it and achieved something during the course.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *