As I get older and wiser (one hopes for that anyway), I become more and more convinced that training needs to be as natural and uncontrolled as possible. That’s right uncontrolled – the less I try to control the training, the better it is. As a long-time recovering control freak, this has been a difficult journey for me. I love to control things! Not trying to control training is a wonderful thing. It takes some courage and confidence, but it always leads to a better outcome. This is also the case when managing meetings and projects.
The most effective learning sessions are not polished, practiced, or choreographed ahead of time. The best training sets the stage for something to happen and let’s things happen. This facilitator’s guide reflects these thoughts and does not offer scripts or minute-by-minute facilitation instructions. I don’t want the material presented in a polished way because I don’t think this approach will encourage application of the techniques.
You might call this the salon approach to training and I think this is the right method for management and leadership development programs. Salons are organic, stimulating, and transformative. Comments become catalysts that change how people approach their work.
10 Factors That Enhance Learning and Application
Here are my top 10 list of the factors that I think improve the application and habituation of learning:
Sound Science
The training needs to be built on a solid foundation. The techniques need to work. The theories ought to make sense. This may seem like something that does not need to be said, but I have attended training programs that were way off the weird scale. Managers don’t have time for this mumbo jumbo – they need real life concepts and practices that will help them get their jobs done today. Challenging the status quo is wonderful, but introducing something for the sake of being fun or intellectually stimulating is a waste of time and resources.
Star Power
Let’s face it; famous people sell their concepts well. If your managers can see Marcus Buckingham, Tom Peters or Benjamin Zander in person (or even on DVD), that has power. What does this mean? Don’t be hesitant to get a famous face to say what you want to say. Open your training with an inspiring DVD or ask participants to read an article from the Harvard Business Review as prework. There are a lot of famous people saying the same things we are – use that! One caution – resist latching onto gimmicks, acronyms, or flavor of the month type stuff. Our managers have become very sick of this stuff and rightly so. I know this seems like a strange recommendation, but I have seen really smart people swoon over a sexy high profile business DVD. And this can help prime my audiance for a great conversation.
Magnetic Trainer
Are you a magnetic trainer? Magnetic trainers are people who others like to hang around with at work. They’re magnetic because people enjoy talking with them for some reason – maybe they’re fun, interesting, a great listener, or super smart. We all have qualities that help draw people toward us and we need to use that. If people like being with you, they will come to more training sessions and they will participate more fully. Both introverts and extroverts can be magnetic trainers. Being an awesome listener is likely a common trait most magnetic trainers share.
Provocation
Learning often occurs as a result of dissonance – or some difference between what we thought was so and a different perspective. When our training is provocative, it challenged participants to think in new ways. We should not endeavor to be provocative just to be provocative. We need to notice where participants are getting stuck and then offer development that nudges them forward. Sometime is provocative when it causes a strong reaction – for example all of these emotions might be caused by provocation: annoyance, anger, excitement, fascinating, curious, or inviting. While we don’t want to routinely anger our training participants, an occasional bit of anger or frustration, followed with good deep conversation, can be a great learning enhancer.
Evocation
When we are evocative, we help other see things from their perspective – we put people in the scene for themselves. Evocative learning is very connecting. When you see people think about a concept or when they apply it to their situation, they are being evoked. Great training provokes evocation. We want managers to be imagining how they will apply the concepts or techniques in their departments.
Connecting Conversation
Connecting conversation is dialogue that brings concepts, people, and things together. Trainers need to help make connections between what’s being discussed in a training class and real business opportunities and challenges. Have you noticed how lively and engaging conversations are when lots of people jump into it and share their unique perspectives? Connecting conversation draws in participation because it is interesting, helpful, and mentally stimulating.
Diversity of Thought
I love putting together training groups filled with people who seem to share nothing in common. Oh what fun it is to bring these diverse perspectives together on one topic. Everyone learns more and the conversations will tend to be both evocative and provocative. I also like bringing in diverse expert opinions by having participant read articles with opposing viewpoints for prereading. Diversity is not just interesting and healthy, it’s necessary for managers to make good decisions. The training environment is a perfect place to help build managers’ appreciation for diverse thoughts, opinions, and approaches.
Deep versus Wide
I prefer to address fewer training topics for more time. The deeper you can get into a topic, the deeper the learning will be. Trainers often make the mistake of acquiescing to managers who say they don’t have time for training. We pack in 12 topics in a one-day training session knowing all the while that this is not going to lead to a good result. Great training goes deep – it takes some time with the concepts and techniques so that managers can make the connection to their work and realize the training’s relevance.
Does a Job
Great training meets a need. It gets something done. It does a job. When managers need help, there’s a job to be done. Training might be the answer to help fill that need (it is not always the answer, of course). Our training needs to serve managers, employees, and the organization. If we cannot identify the job we want our training to do, we ought to question whether it’s the right training at the right time. This does not mean that the training must be technical. The job might be: help me pump up creativity and energy.
Tactile Trying
Great training invites people to touch it, feel it, and give it a try. Training ought to be a laboratory for safely testing thoughts and techniques. Most of the exercises I recommend are based on real life job tasks and challenges. The best training engages people in working with the material. We should encourage people to take the training apart then put it back together in the way that best works for them – like a car buff would do to better understand how the engine works.
There you have them, my 10 factors that enhance learning and application. Think about the next training session you plan to facilitate, plan or attend (or send your people to) and how you might be able to strengthen some of these factors for that session. The changes required to help a session go from flat to engaging – from boring to provocative – from abstract to concrete – are often very small. If your training department leaders don’t read blogs (shame on them), print this out and share it with them.
Implications for consultants: What I have just written is not likely music to the ears of traditional training consultants. The traditional business model is to have standard modules, practice the heck out of them to polish your delivery, create a demo video and then pitch. Well, sorry, I would not spend a nickel on most of these programs and I hope you don’t either. Training consultants need to generate the learning experience – fresh each time. But hey – if you disagree, feel free to share your opinion in the comments!
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