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If evaluations of subjective how to evaluate trainers?
If evaluations are completed dependent on past experience how can you see if a trainer is actually any good? How can you evaluate a trainer?
Knowledge
This one should go without saying but I have come across too many trainers who do not qualify for this one, knowledge. Instead of training out of a book the trainer should be able to apply the knowledge. A trainer cannot know everything but they should be able to pick up information quickly, each course they train they learn more and then have the ability to add that information into the next course if necessary.
Interaction
Does the trainer interact with the delegates at all? Questions are one way, but they should also be listening for answers. This means that questions do not have to be just on the subject matterial but how the delegates use the software, what their oppinions are, can they see how this might be useful?
When people are engaged and topics discussed rather than being talked at the subject becomes more interesting and personal.
Relevance
Making the training as relevent as possible is important. Sometimes it is not possible to have exercises or sample data that is familiar to the delagates but by using interaction the trainer can find out how the delegates can use the topic or how they currently work and how they could be using the subject matterial.
Even if the trainer has never met the delegates and has no idea what they do in their jobs they should be able to ask questions and create discussion to be able to tailor the training as they go, especially when they have enough knowledge level.
Interesting
Boring training is forgetable, all people remember is that it was boring. By making training interesting it becomes memorable. This can be done through stories, humor, interaction and relevance.
Balance
In most courses there is a variety of knowledge levels of the delegates, this means that the training has to be relevent and interesting to all levels not just the unknowledgeable or the knowledgeable. I tend to have a large repository of exercises or practice that I can call upon so that everyone can start but those most knowledgeable can do more than those less knowledgeable, by using a time limit this works well. By knowing more than the course entales the trainer can cover more or less to ensure that saturation or bordom does not happen.
The parts I have discussed here are all combined. They all need to be incorporated into the training to make the training work.
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Evaluations, are they any good?
Evaluations are not always a good indicator of good or bad training. Think of all the training courses that you have attended. When you complete an evaluation on a course are you comparing it to all the training you have attended?
We all do this, a course is only as good as what you have experienced, or as people have built it up to be. If you are told that the course is brilliant by your colleagues then you are expecting it to be better than the best course that you have ever attended. In reality your colleagues will be comparing it to all the courses they have attended.
I was given very dirty looks by two ladies at the start of one course because the admin person brought the manuals into the room at the beginning of the day and I did not hand them out. At the end of the course they both said how wonderful the course was and the reason behind the looks at the beginning of the day.
Both had taken training only once before, several years before. The trainer handed out manuals at the beginning and told them that they were to start on page 1 and he would be sitting at the desk at the front and they could come to him with any questions.
mmmm. Don’t think I would call that a professional training course. You can imagine how shocked they were when I actually taught each lesson, asked questions and gave tasks out. Then at the end of the day they received the documentation to remind them of all we had covered during the course.
Just a note, the training company the ladies first attended has gone out of business.
Why is it better to include training in a bespoke software package?
When you give your proposal of software design to your client do you include training? Is this training by professional training consultants rather than sales or programming staff?
Training the end users to use the software you designed is very important in ensuring that they get the most from it. Not everyone can understand new software immediately even software that is intuitive, having a little training and support can help.
The training needs to be able to pass the maximum amount of information across without the attendees reaching saturation (too much information being passed and the attendees not being able to remember anything), interesting, relevant and memorable.
A professional trainer can create courses that do this and deliver them so that there are less help desk calls during go live and the users will be able to use the software from day 1.
When a person who does not understand the learning process and learning styles creates training they do not know how to maximise the training for the learner. Evaluations may be good but there is no reduction in help desk calls or in praise from the users.
Comparing a Sales person to a trainer is like apples and oranges. Does the sales person understand how much information is too much, what to tell and what to leave out when dealing with the end users? Do they really need to know the full background or everything the software can do?
A trainer can be more cost effective, less need for support at go live, user buy in of the product and telling others how great it is. You may think I am exaggerating but I have been brought in late on many projects where I could have designed the courses and trained the trainers, instead the project team were doing training and the users were extremely hostile. That soon changed, once the documentation and training courses were altered everyone realised that the software was much better than they thought, it was easy to use and they had a process they could follow.
Several years later I am told that the users are still using the documentation as reference for new people.
How can IT training be fun?
I was on a project this year where one of the other trainers (not an Epiphany trainer) expressed their surprise that I was working hard and personal time to find ways to make the training interesting and memorable.
By reading this you are probably with me, training should be fun. How can you do this? Depends on the culture within the firm. If everyone is relaxed an up for the unusual you can do a lot more to start with at a more staid firm. But keep at it and any firm will accept it as long as the delegates learns from the training.
- Change of activity
- Challenge
- Thought inducing
- Focused
I have seen people add in an activity that had nothing to do with the topic at hand, not even in a round about way. I have so many books on training activities but I have never worked them as is, I have always changed them to suit what I am training and the group.
Look all around for inspiration, buy training activity books, but try them out and see if it works with the topic you are training.
Some activities I have used:
- Puzzles – group had to put together
- Pop Verbal Quiz – candy as prizes
- Brainstorming, volunteer taking notes on whiteboard
Try some out and see what happens.
How to select a training company
Selecting s training company can be confusing. If it is a small company you may get to talk to a trainer or for larger companies a sales person. I bumped into a trainer this week who said he had appeared at a client site to find out that the sales person had promised more than what could be delivered.
How can you avoid this happening to you? Try talking to the trainer rather than the sales person. Don’t get me wrong sales people can be great but it is nice to meet the actual trainer. They can talk you to about your needs and how the training will work, you can also get a feel of what the trainer is like in the classroom.
Referrals, ask colleagues from other companies who they have used and what the results were. Try smaller companies, they may use associate trainers but they can be better at communicating and allowing you to talk with a trainer directly.
Take a look at how they select their trainers, companies that use anyone may not care how good the training is, also they should alwasy have an evaluation process so the attendees have a change to voice how they felt about training.
Do you have any advice on how to select a training company?
Does doodling mean boredom?
This is a learning style that is close to my heart. I lean heavy on kinesthetic learning. What is it? Tactile learning. Might not mean what you think it is.
Have you ever been to a meeting where someone was doodling all through and you thought they were not paying attention but at the last minute they came out with a gem? They are Kinesthetic.
Been to a training course where the trainer left toys such as stress balls and puzzles on the desk and someone on the course could not leave them alone? Kinesthetic. Continue reading
Why can’t anyone just call themselves a trainer?
This is an interesting issue. Many companies I work with move people from other departments into training and suddenly the person is training courses without ever taken a Train the Trainer course. But when compaired to a professional training consultant the difference is made clear.
Why is this? Continue reading
What is a Training Needs Analyses (TNA)
The term Training Needs Analysis has been used for many years within the training industry. But what exactly is it and how can it help your firm?
Image: Jeroen van Oostrom / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
TNA as it is known, is an extremely important tool that can make training easier by creating tailored courses for the delegates attending. Instead of every receiving the same training each course can focus on the topics that are most important to the delegates. This delegate focus creates a more positive environment where the learners feel their personal concerns have been listened to. In order to do this several things must be done:
- A TNA questionnaire needs to be written in a language the delegates will understand
- The results need to be compiled and sorted into groups.
- The topics for training used to create training for the groups.
This is a simplified version of what is done.
Have you had any successes or problems with TNA’s that you would like to share?
Why less slides are more
A friend of mine went on a “training” session where the speaker was proud of the fact that they had over 200 slides to cover that day. Is this a course that you would sign up for? No it was not about powerpoint.
PowerPoint is meant to be a prop or aide for your presentation rather then the focus if you are going to a live session. Your talk, rather than the slides are what people are to be paying attention to you and the slides are to enhance what you say.
If you need to emphasise a point, that should be on the slide. Key ideas, and graphics that show in pictures what you are saying. Bullet points should be short, no full sentences. Graphics can include charts, clipart, photos and movies/video that emphasise a point. If your presentation contains information like a table of numbers, you could have a table with the numbers or possibly a chart or other visual representation about them.
Think back on all the presentations you have seen. Were the best ones the one where the person read out the slide word for word or where the slides were an aide? If in doubt, rehearse for someone who will be honest. Another way is to video tape yourself and watch it. Most people hate this option but it can help. If you are having a struggle with your presentation try the book “Your One Week Countdown to a Brilliant Presentation” by Hazel Walker. This is the best book I have found. (Amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/Your-One-week-Countdown-Brilliant-Presentation/dp/0956815006/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1309796189&sr=8-1)
Epiphany Training Sponsors ADERANT Momentum London
For the third year Epiphany Training Ltd is sponsoring Momentum, ADERANT’s conference in London. Our experienced staff enjoy meeting clients old and new at what is a highlight in Epiphany’s calendar.
As the event grows, so does Epiphany. This year we have added another branch to our company, www.BusinessITTraining.co.uk, providing online and on-demand training videos to small businesses.
All of our trainers are experts in Microsoft Office and have spent time working on Office 2010. Most recently two of our trainers worked on the Office upgrade training and floorwalking for Gibson Dunn in London and in Germany.
ADERANT training has been busy working with Berrymans Lace Mawyer on their implementation training then returned to work with the Partners on custom Enquiries training.
Here at Epiphany Training, we like to ensure our clients get maximum benefit from the investment they make in software, enabling staff at every level to exploit every available feature, establish robust streamlining strategies and respond to the demands of the business quickly and efficiently.