Are you one of those people who spend some of their time away from work on Windows-bundled games? I am. Who would have thought there are lessons we, as trainers, can learn from solitaire? 1. Learning can—and should—be fun. When Microsoft Windows was a new product, it had an advantage and a challenge. The advantage was that the interface with mouse clicks and icons was easier to use than memorized character-based DOS (disk operating system) commands or the more proprietary commands of DOS-based software packages like WordPerfect or Lotus 1-2-3. The challenge was that a mouse with its right and left clicks was new technology for many of us. Microsoft was very clever in bundling into the operating system some ways of gaining mouse proficiency. It had an interactive tutorial which was, of course, a traditional e-learning strategy. But it didn’t stop there. It included several games; solitaire was one of them. These games incorporated the need for mouse skills. Solitaire included the need to click and to drag. Additionally, you could use the menu system, function keys, and keyboard shortcuts to accomplish common tasks like viewing game statistics or undoing moves. These lessons were repeated so frequently when playing the games that they became second nature. In short, the games taught you how to use the mouse and other systems to do productive work when you got back to business. Fun and games became an effective learning tool. 2. The power of UNDO. Solitaire can be fun, but can also be frustrating. Once you’ve played a card and seen what’s underneath it, you sometimes find you’ve made the wrong move. The same thing occurs in the classroom when you try something and it doesn’t work the way you wanted it to. In solitaire, you just go to the menu and select UNDO. Then you can change your move and do it better. In the classroom, you can UNDO, too. Well, you can’t take back something that was said or done, but you can clarify or restate during class and change your approach in the next class you deliver. While it’s not UNDO in the true sense, it’s pretty close and does allow for improved performance. 3. There is a learning curve. If you’ve never played solitaire, the first time you do, the game will be over pretty quickly as you box yourself into a corner. The fifth time you play it goes a lot better because you’ve learned things to do and things to avoid. The fiftieth time, it goes better still. This is a parallel to a class and a classroom. The first time you are in a classroom as a facilitator, it is a strange and often challenging environment.    With more experience, it goes better and you become more comfortable. The same applies the first time you facilitate a given class. No matter how well you prepare, there are some parts that don’t go as well as you had hoped. With more experience teaching that class, it gets better. As a participant of mine once said, in response to a trainer who remarked that his learners "just weren’t getting it," "You’ll be surprised how much smarter they are when you get more experience training." Life’s—and training’s—little lessons are where you find them, even in a computer game! What other parallels can you draw between solitaire and training? I welcome your ideas! Paul

I just watched one of the most inspirational segments on television and I’m just bursting with joy. It was about Sal Khan, an accidental educator, and his free homemade video tutorials. He has been called a Teacher to the World and has become a phenomenon in the world of education. His mission is to provide a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere. Sal Khan records 10-minute video lessons on math, science, history, finance and other topics. When he finishes the lesson, he uploads it to his website, Khan Academy, where it joins over 3,000 other lessons he’s already done. Now, here’s the amazing part; over four million students from across the world visit his site every month. And get this: the students don’t even see Mr. Khan. They can only hear his voice and see his colorful drawings on a digital blackboard. They comment that it feels like he’s sitting next to them and he works through the problems in real time, so he humanizes the experience. It all started in 2004, when Mr. Khan’s seventh-grade cousin was having trouble with algebra. He agreed to tutor her remotely and posted the lessons on YouTube. Over time, he learned that strangers were also using his videos. Here’s where the story gets really exciting; Bill Gates discovered the videos and used them to teach his own kids. Now, you know they must be good if Bill Gates is using them! So with the backing of Gates and Google, Khan Academy grew even more and moved into the classroom. His videos and software are being piloted in 23 schools in the United States. There are no textbooks or teacher lecturing at the front of the room. Instead, students watch Khan videos at home the night before to learn a concept and come to class the next day to practice what they’ve learned. The goal is to have less lecturing and more interaction! Sound familiar? It’s called "flipping the classroom." What you normally think of as homework is done at school and schoolwork is done at home. Teachers say they can now use their time more effectively. If some students are struggling, they can be pulled for a mini-workshop, while the rest of the class is working on other exercises. Of course, some educators are complaining about Khan Academy, arguing that live interaction is needed for learning and you can’t learn from a video. Mr. Khan counters by saying that his videos take the passivity out of the classroom and make the teachers’ role even more important. Now a teacher can take on the role of a coach or a mentor, not just a lecturer! Can you see why I was so excited? We use adult learning principles similarly the training world; we let adult learners learn concepts on their own time using self-paced methods and allow more hands on practice in the classroom.   Marsha

I’ve had hundreds of conversations with training professionals about instructional design/development time. They almost always take the same detour; people hear how long it takes to create the average training program and respond with, "Oh, we’re way under that. I wish I had that much time to create my training." The reason they react this way is because they aren’t thinking about this statistic correctly. First, let’s get the statistic out there: the average time required to create an instructor-led training (ILT) program is 45 to 1. This means a one-day ILT program takes about 45 work days to create. Design time for other types of training varies. So let me guess; you’re thinking, "Oh, we’re way under that. I wish I had that much time to create my training." Here’s the thing; this is not a suggested amount of time to spend on course design/development. This is an average of historical data for actual past projects; it’s how much time organizations are currently spending creating classroom training, on average. And just so you know, we’re talking work days here, not calendar days. The total number of days invested by every person involved in the project can be added up, then divided by the number of days required to deliver the course. This is how a design ratio can be calculated on a past project. If you tally up all the time invested by all players, you won’t be far off the average. This means every bit of time from everyone who worked on it; the designers, the subject-matter experts, the writers, the graphic artists, the proofreaders, the reviewers, the managers, the consulted learners, the validators—and the list goes on. Keep in mind, this is an average; some training projects are way above or way below this. The ones that are way below the average are most likely projects where parts of the work didn’t need doing; revision projects, training on skills that didn’t need analyzing, projects that reused a lot of existing content, activities, or materials. The projects that are way above the average are probably due to these factors: difficult or brand new skills to teach, a lack of subject-matter experts, or design issues like complex testing requirements or sub-optimal delivery locations or class sizes. You may also be way above or below the average design ratio due to your own processes. If you use a performance-based training approach, you’re probably being more efficient. If you focus on lean instructional design, you’re shaving more design time off your ratio. If you apply a structured design model that avoids rework, you’re also ahead of the curve. In a perfect world, we would make no mistakes and our design ratios would be significantly lower than the current average. But in the real world, we must use best practices to minimize wasted effort and produce leaner, more performance-based training. Alan

You may have heard the following statistic: people learn 70 to 80% of what they need to know to perform their jobs through informal means. While traditional classroom courses and e-learning programs aren’t likely to fade away, it is time to focus some of our efforts on that 70 to 80%. Let’s take a look at a three-step strategy that can help you incorporate informal learning in your organization. Step 1: You first need to have a clear understanding of the informal ways people learn. Surfing the internet, talking with co-workers, reading trade journals/newspapers, and watching people perform their tasks either live or through YouTube are all just a few informal ways that people learn their jobs. Once you have a clear understanding of informal learning, you can choose methods/strategies that will work for your company. Step 2: Any initiative requires upper-management support, and encouraging informal learning is no exception. As training leaders, we need to "pull-out all the stops" by marketing/promoting informal learning. Talk to as many leaders as possible in your organization about the benefits of informal learning and the strategy you plan to implement. Hold lunch-and-learns, town hall meetings, and attend management meetings where you can communicate the values of informal learning. Encourage all levels of management to allow their employees time to share their knowledge. Don’t be too critical of people who are talking at the water cooler, for example, because it could be informal learning in action. Step 3: Few new initiatives get incorporated successfully without some form of incentive. Incentives could be as simple as free donuts in a break room where people can meet and share, to gift cards, days off, or fun/friendly competitions for helping others perform better in their jobs. Be creative when creating incentive programs! As training leaders, we need to embrace a new culture of learning in our organizations. Just remember to always stay positive and up-beat during the transition and be as visible as possible because you are politicking for an important cause. How are you encouraging informal learning in your organization? Ron

As trainers we are vitally concerned with the quality of the learning experience we provide for our participants. Of course, we want them to acquire knowledge and skills and use it back on the job; but we also want them to enjoy the training. For years trainers have been debating the value of the level 1 "smile sheet" that is used when evaluating training. Its purpose is to determine learner reaction to the training. Usually we ask questions about the training materials, the training environment and, of course, the instructor. Over the course of my 18 years in training I have changed my perspective on the level 1 end-of-course evaluation. As a new trainer, I was overly concerned about participants’ comments about me; I really wanted to be liked. Sure I liked high scores, but I took the comments very personally. I would agonize over written comments about my clothes, facial expressions, height, and my hair (or lack of it). I realize that, in some instances, these personal comments might be intended to be playful but I would sometimes allow them to overshadow an otherwise successful workshop. If the comments about the workshop were positive, the learners felt they learned a lot, and the course exceeded their expectations, I still took the personal comments to heart. As I progressed in my training career, I began to get a sense of what was really important on a level 1 evaluation. I’ve always wanted high ratings, and that hasn’t changed, but I’ve learned to focus on the meaningful comments and to work on the things that I can change. If a participant comments on my instructional ability, time management, or listening skills, for example, these are areas that I can look at and work to improve. For as much as I may try, I can’t get any taller. And since I can’t change that, I don’t worry about it. Now I’m able to take most personal comments in stride and just smile. I’m sure it is a combination of a better understanding of evaluation of training, experience, and maturity that has helped me to realize what is important on those surveys. When I look at the comments on the evaluations I focus on the things that are within my control—things I can work on and improve. So, when it comes to level 1 evaluations, try not to take them personally! Steve

Whenever I ask the question, "What makes a keynote speaker really shine?" the answer that comes up time and again is, "Their ability to connect with the audience." I have always said that the one common trait shared by superb speakers is the ability to make each member of the audience feel that "He/she was talking just to me." But how do speakers achieve that effect, that level of connectivity, with both themselves and especially with their audience? There is a 4-step process that I rely on that I call the LDPS process. The L stands for LIST. As you sit down to conceptualize your presentation or speech, you will soon realize that you have a myriad of ideas that bombard your brain. Which do you actually include, and in what order? Which do you discard or save to speak about during your Q&A session? The important thing to realize is that at the list stage you do not worry about what to keep or purge; you simply jot down anything and everything that comes to mind that you believe may be important or relevant to your presentation. You can use a whiteboard, index cards, "sticky" notes, an outline, a mind map, or a piece of paper to brainstorm all these ideas as they pop into your head. Once you have exhausted the influx of ideas you can proceed to organize them in the order that will make the most sense, depending on the purpose of your presentation. The D stands for DETAILED DRAFT. I know those two words almost sound like antonyms but there is a very reasonable explanation for my calling it that.  Most people are not in the habit of actually writing - word for word - their speech, and when and if they do, they end up writing it in the same style as they would write a magazine article.  Do you know any great speaker that actually sounds like a magazine article when he or she speaks?  No.  When we write our speech we write it in the same voice and style as we plan to speak it.  And before you are too quick to type it up on your laptop, extensive studies have proven that the act of writing the contents of your speech in longhand increase retention and improve flow.  The word DRAFT is used to remind you that as detailed as the message is once you have finished writing it, a professional speaker always remains open to using the language that comes up most naturally at the moment of presenting.  In other words, although the message will remain intact at the time of the actual presentation or speech, a professional speaker allows himself/herself the liberty to paraphrase when they have the real audience before them. The P stands for PRACTICE! Just because we are a subject-matter expert on the topic we will be speaking about, we still need to practice our speech over and over until we have acquired the level of comfort necessary to stand before an audience and deliver it. I support practicing in front of stuffed animals, imagined audiences, and real audiences. (I tend to offer my friends a good meal before I do a dry run in front of them.) I, however, am not crazy about practicing in front of a mirror as it can be distracting to watch oneself. One technique I always use is imagery. The night before the speech I run through the entire program, in detail, word for word, in my mind and visualize myself delivering it using all the presentation skills and techniques (i.e. the stops, pauses, gestures, etc.) I will use when I step in front of my audience. Because the brain does not know the difference between what happens in the physical realm versus the realm of imagination, for all intents and purposes I have already delivered my presentation by the time I stand in front of the real audience. Finally, the S stands for SHOW UP like a STAR! What I mean is to purge all your fears, all your worries, all your index cards, and your presenter’s notes, and speak from your heart. Audiences are not there for your multimedia slide show; they are there to hear you and they want you to connect with them. If you’re too attached to your script, your notes, or your cheat sheets, it is impossible to be available to your audience. Trust the work you have done. If you have written what truly matters to you from your own personal angle, and have practiced it…just let go. Release the dependence on all that and just speak with your audience, not at them. Be yourself. Be vulnerable - it’s a beautiful quality of all human beings and it creates common ground. Share with them your point of view and your interests in the subject. Tell them as if you were telling a curious child about the most amazing thing they’ve heard about and watch the magic happen. Please share with our fellow bloggers; what techniques work for you when you are writing, preparing for, and/or delivering important presentations? And, if you want to gain more practice in speaking like a pro, consider taking our Professional Presentation Skills course - it’s a winner! José

For a Training Manager, planning is an important part of the job. In our three-day The Successful Training Manager workshop, we teach both strategic and operational planning as a crucial part of aligning training with the needs of the organization. I’m often asked about the difference between the two types of planning, so in this blog, I’ll define each and outline the high-level how-to’s. In The Successful Training Manager, we offer lots of tools and templates to make the overall planning process user-friendly and simple. Langevin defines strategic planning as a "top-down" approach meaning the directives come from the ‘top’. Strategic planning is visionary or future-oriented, and sets the strategic direction of your training function as it relates to the achievement of the organization’s objectives. It has several components or steps, whereas operational planning requires fewer steps. It’s a "bottom-up" approach and addresses an organization’s current job performance needs. The strategic planning process is typically done by a Training Manager (though you can certainly get your staff involved at all levels). The first step is to write or revise a mission statement for your training department. Make sure that your training department’s mission statement reflects that of your organization. The second step involves identifying your organization’s goals and objectives in order to create training department objectives. You may have to look to annual reports, business plans or simply interview executives to get the information you need. If the objectives of your organization are unclear, you may have to conduct interviews with executive management to get clarity. Once you’re clear as to your organization’s goals and objectives, step three is to write the training department’s objectives, using a simple formula (identify a specific target or result and a set period of time) based on what the organization wants to achieve. Don’t forget to align any existing training department objectives with those of your organization. Objective alignment is a must (and a great CYA tool) for any training department! You shouldn’t have a bunch of training department objectives that don’t align with the organization’s. The last step is to establish/revise policies for your training department around design, delivery, training needs analysis and administration. I would describe a strategic plan as a "work in progress", so updating it frequently is normal and part of the process. Operational planning is pretty straight forward and involves looking at two things: auditing your existing training programs (will you continue to offer the course, revise it, or cancel it?) and forecasting new training programs based on data collected in a Training Needs Analysis. Again, make certain you can link each of the training programs on your plan to an organizational objective! I’ll close this by sharing one of my favorite Zig Ziegler quotes, "People don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan." And with that, I’ll simply say, "happy planning." Melissa

If you’ve ever been employed, there’s a good chance you have worked a job where you received some sort of on-the-job training. Whether formally or informally, you likely learned some (if not all) of your job tasks in a "learn-as-you-go" environment. On-the-job training (OJT) is defined as: Providing training at the job site, usually one-on-one, where the learner either performs or simulates the job or task(s) to be learned. OJT is actually one of the oldest forms of training. Long before the invention of other training strategies, such as classroom training or e-learning, the only practical way of learning a job was to work alongside an experienced worker in a particular trade or profession. Think about the Middle Ages when skilled master craftsmen taught their young apprentices to become blacksmiths, cobblers, or carpenters. Just as with any training strategy, OJT must be implemented and facilitated properly in order to be successful. Below are four tips to successfully implementing an on-the-job training program. The OJT trainer must be trained to assume to the role of "instructor" If on-the-job training is not provided by a member of the training staff, the OJT instructor must first be trained to provide training. Often OJT is conducted by a manager, supervisor, senior employee, or subject-matter expert. These individuals are not typically professional trainers and may not be skilled in all the nuances of adult learning. Before allowing them to simply go forth and train, it may be wise to conduct a train-the-trainer session(s) with them. I’ll share with you a success story from a friend who once managed the training department at a credit union in Warner Robins, Georgia. She admitted their OJT program for their newly hired tellers was unsuccessful when they first implemented the program. In its early stages, a new teller would shadow any seasoned teller who just happened to be available. After receiving lackluster training transfer results as well as negative evaluation comments, my friend and her team went back to the drawing board to revise the program. In the revamped version of their on-the-job training program, the OJT instructors were required to apply for the position and had to be recommended by a member of management. The instructors also attended a mandatory train-the-trainer course and were provided financial compensation for their newly awarded role. According to my friend, the results of their revised OJT program improved drastically. She attributed the improvement to the fact that skilled individuals who wanted to do the job were providing the training and they were even compensated for it. Learners must do the application themselves Adults have a tendency to learn by doing. OJT may fail if the instructor/mentor never gives the trainee an opportunity to practice or apply their newly acquired skills. I briefly worked a part-time job where the only "training" I received was a quick demonstration by a team lead and a verbal explanation of what seemed like hundreds of tasks. As a kinesthetic learner, I got very frustrated, as I rarely got the opportunity to practice any of the tasks that I was expected to perform. Once shown the tasks, I was then required to execute them in the real world. I was constantly reprimanded when I didn’t perform the tasks correctly. Out of frustration, I ended up quitting the job not long after. The training message must be consistent If multiple individuals are providing OJT, the training message must be uniform and consistent. Confusion and disconnects occur when a learner sees the same task performed in different ways by different instructors/mentors. Granted, many job tasks have short cuts or alternative ways of achieving the same result; however, for the sake of learning, it’s best to teach the standardized way first. Only after mastery of that task has been achieved, is it then safe to teach different or alternative ways of performing the task. That was another issue I had with my short-lived part-time job. One team lead would teach me his version of a task. Shortly after I learned it, another team lead would re-teach the same task, but only her version. If either team lead observed me performing the task the alternate way, I was reprimanded. I couldn’t win for losing, due to the inconsistent training message. Distractions must be minimized in the work environment One advantage to OJT is the fact that it allows the learners to practice their new skills in the real environment in which they’ll be working, using actual tools and equipment; however, this can quickly become a disadvantage if the real world work environment is too distracting for learning to take place. Before becoming a Langevin Course Leader, I worked as a trainer in a call center. We used OJT as part of a blended learning approach with our new hire classes. During the first few days of training, our learners attended formal instructor-lead courses. After acquiring some significant skill and knowledge, they were then placed with a veteran employee in the call center to observe the real world environment. Unfortunately our initial attempts at OJT failed, because we didn’t strategically consider the day in which we placed our learners in the call center. The new hires were in the classroom, Monday through Thursday. They were then sent to the call center on Friday, which just happened to be our busiest day. Our naïve thought of letting them get a taste of the real world was a failure due to the hectic nature of the day. Although the new hires observed numerous live calls, they never got the chance to see the job tasks performed slowly or methodically. I remember one trainee describing her experience as watching a video in fast forward. There were hardly any opportunities for the trainees to ask questions. Nor did the veterans have an opportunity to provide any instruction to the new hires. No sooner than the vet would attempt to explain the specifics of the last call, a new call was holding in the queue, waiting to be answered. Just as my friend at the credit union did, my colleagues and I went back to the drawing board in regard to our OJT implementation. We eventually had greater success with OJT when we had our new hires observe the veteran employees during the middle of the week, when it was much slower and with fewer distractions. On-the-job training can be an effective training strategy, providing an employee with an abundance of real world skill and knowledge; however, it must be carefully implemented and facilitated in order to achieve the maximum results. What are some of your lessons learned from your OJT experiences? Jeff

As long as we train employees, there will be a need to keep them engaged. The challenge is to continue that engagement while incorporating new technology. I’d like to talk about the three boards that will keep your participants from being bored. EASEL BOARD Yes, historically called a "flip chart," but more recently shortened to "chart," this is the old fashioned way to scribe in the classroom. While some feel this technique is outdated, I still find great value in the use of charts. For example, a Carousel Review is a wonderful instructional technique to get every participant involved in reading and writing on the charts, and to get them moving. This method involves putting charts around the room, and giving participants time to visit each chart in pairs or small groups to read what others have already written, and to add their own thoughts on the topics or ideas on each chart. DRY ERASE BOARD While it is often called a "whiteboard," the board doesn’t stay blank for long. The instructor and participants can use it in much the same way as a chart. The difference here is that when you erase what has been written or drawn, it’s gone (unless you used the wrong marker, then it stays until the office gets remodeled). Of course, as some of our participants suggest, you could take a picture with your phone or other hand-held device, then erase what was written. Unlike a paper chart, you are not as limited by space. I’ve even been in training rooms where every wall was a dry erase board. That made scribing fun for me and my participants. SMART BOARD This electronic board is making its way into company training rooms as well as school classrooms. It actually combines the best of both boards and then some. Like the chart, you can print out paper copies of anything that has been displayed or written on the Smart Board. Like the dry erase board, you can write (with an electronic marker), and then erase anything you write (with an electronic eraser) on the Smart Board. Some of the other features of the Smart Board include the following: Advance slides by tapping the screen Write with a variety of electronic marker colors Retain drawings and written text on previous screens for future reference Smart Boards keep your participants engaged by providing the freedom to create and access course information in a variety of ways. When hosting remote training, some types of training/meeting software enable you to all make contributions on a virtual board. Each participant becomes a different color to maintain identity and individuality. Scribing in class is not new, but using the variety of boards available to facilitate the process will keep things fresh, and keep your participants engaged. What tips do you have for using any of the boards mentioned above? Jim

I’d like to share a story with you. Recently my friend and I participated in an all-day cycling event. We cycled a total of 75 miles through the main streets, back roads, and surrounding towns of Boston. All total, including breaks, we spent over 5 hours riding our bikes. Needless to say, at the end of it all, we were tired both physically and mentally. When we returned to my friend’s car to leave, she accidentally locked her car keys in the trunk while tightening the straps on her bike rack. We spent several minutes frantically trying to figure out a way to get the keys out of her trunk. The car doors were open but the backseat would not fold down because it was locked and if you lifted down the armrest in the backseat, there was a door to the trunk but it also seemed to be locked. My friend tried calling her daughter on her cell phone with no luck and even considered calling AAA for help. I decided to re-visit the backseat armrest hatch and, much to my surprise, the door that had appeared to be locked was just tightly closed. I just had to push a special latch and it opened! We were saved! I reached inside the trunk, pulled on an internal cable, and popped open the trunk to retrieve the car keys. The next day my friend contacted me via email and exclaimed, "I can’t believe this but I just realized that the driver-side door of my car was open yesterday when we were in the parking garage and all I had to do to open the trunk was to reach down by my front seat and pull on the trunk release lever! Why didn’t I think of that?!" We had wasted 20 minutes trying to figure things out when the solution was right in front of us! Neither of us remembered the trunk release lever because we were so tired. Our minds were not thinking clearly. What does this story have to do with training? Simply this: If our learners are tired, they will disengage from our instruction and not learn from us. So, what can we do to prevent learner fatigue? Here are five suggestions: Get your learners out of their seats periodically to work on flip chart exercises. Give periodic breaks every hour or so for learners to refresh themselves both physically and mentally. Provide some opportunities for fun and laughter with brainteasers and/or icebreakers during your training so minds stay alert and focused. Give your learners chances to present content in class. Make sure your e-learning courses are manageable in length and encourage periodic breaks to reduce eye strain. Keep your learners awake, alert, and focused during your training sessions so they can enjoy themselves and learn! What tips do you have to help prevent learner fatigue? Lynne