A great Train the Trainer program can lead to great ROI

I hear people frequently complain about how they attended a lecture, seminar, or training program and had information dumped on them in a severely boring, mind-numbing fashion. Long, drawn-out lectures put them to sleep and robbed them of the opportunity to truly engage with the material. PowerPoint slides jammed with bullet points and data displaced real instruction and learning. It is no wonder that people often dread these events, or even refuse to attend them.

The person responsible for the delivering the information may not have the tools or know-how to make the training more interesting, engaging, and brain-friendly. Presenters and instructors are often “stuck” in old habits and do not look further to expand on their skills.

While in-house training programs are necessary to keep a company’s workforce armed with knowledge and skills, typically those who attend a training program do not retain more than 5%-30% of the content. This leads to wasted time and training dollars spent with little return on investment.

Training is a skill

It’s often assumed that training is something anyone can do, as long as they know their material well. However, simply delivering information does not mean that attendees learn. This is flawed thinking that stems from the traditional educational system, and the “factory” model approach to education. Training is a skill, and subject matter experts must develop that skill to become effective trainers. The best way to do that is to attend a Train the Trainer program conducted by a company that understands the fundamental problems that trainers and learners are facing in our information society.

The bottom line is that we are not wired to sit passively and absorb information. It simply doesn’t happen that way. It’s a waste of time. Yet, this is how most training is conducted. We sit in our chairs, listen, take notes, look at PowerPoint slides, and are expected to learn. With the cutting-edge brain research that has been done in the past two decades, it’s a surprise that passive learning is still the norm in most educational institutions and company training programs.

Factors that affect learning

Several factors influence our learning; our physical state, our emotions, our thoughts, and our environment. Each of these domains can be further broken down into several sub-components. A good trainer must consider these factors when offering a training program. The trainer does not have to assume the role of a counselor or psychologist. But the trainer can with the proper skills orchestrate the training program and training environment to create an optimal state of learning for the participants.

A new approach to learning

A new methodology is being born where participants are not only learning multi-dimensionally, but also enjoy the learning, and experience a moral boost from engaging in the process. If we accept that the brain is far more powerful than what we have given it credit for in the past, then it behooves us to orient our curriculum, or presentations, to maximize that potential. A good Train the Trainer course will do just that. It’s not about packing more information into a shorter time span; it’s about making sure that comprehension and retention is at the highest level possible, and that our attendees are walking away with confidence in their new skills.

For starters, trainers should ask themselves the following questions:

1. Do I speak most of the time?

2. Are my participants physically passive during the training?

3. Do I spend most of the time showing PowerPoint slides?

4. Do I cram a lot of information into the allotted time?

5. Do my participants seem distracted, bored, unmotivated, or unable to perform?

6. Are my results unsatisfactory?

If the answer is yes to one or more of the above questions, then help is needed, and it’s wise to invest resources to get help. I could simply recommend speaking less, getting participants physically involved, scrapping PowerPoint, and cutting down on information. But it’s not that simple. Do not recreate the same problems by simply tackling components in an isolated fashion. It is crucial to look at the big picture, get input from all stakeholders, and analyze how everything fits together as a whole. Avoid a hodge-podge of solutions. Strive for coherence and integration between all components. A training program or presentation can be seen as a symphony where each instrument has a specific function and part perfectly synchronized and tuned to the whole.

Peter Garnvik is an associate of Training for Excellence, a leading-edge Train the Trainer company that provides innovative programs, workshops, and consulting services internationally. For more information, visit www.wetrain.biz or call 1-800-697-9910.

Article Source: http://www.rightbiz.com

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