Written by: Paul What do a bicycle tour guide and a trainer have in common? Solid facilitation skills and the keys to co-facilitation. It’s not a trick question or a lead into a joke… During my time off, I’m an occasional bicycle tour guide in the Napa Valley. Ride a little bit, taste a little bit—it’s a fun day. Occasionally, I’ve been a guide for large corporate tours. In that circumstance, a second guide is usually assigned to the tour because of the size of the group. I quickly found the value in spending a few minutes with my fellow guide to discuss the following details: How do we get the pre-tour logistics out of the way? Who will speak in the pre-tour briefing? When will they speak, what will be covered, and how long will we spend on the briefing and on the tour? Who will lead the tour? What are the other guide’s responsibilities and where will they be located? What to do in the case of an emergency? What to do in the post tour wrap-up? As a trainer, you can probably see where this is going. I have, as have some of you, occasionally worked with a co-facilitator. Some typical situations where you might have co-facilitated include: when you were breaking into a new job or when a co-facilitator was new. Some of you routinely work with a co-facilitator due to the length of your training sessions, or because you need to integrate a subject-matter expert into your training. But if coordination between co-facilitators doesn’t go well, the training doesn’t go well. The following questions apply not only to tour guides, but also to the coordination that should occur between co-facilitators. Their answers will help ensure a well-run and successful co-facilitated course. How do we get the pre-course logistics out of the way? For example, what time do we meet, what do we bring, what should we wear, and who will be setting up the room? These are the sorts of questions that should be addressed. What will be covered by whom, and what times are allocated for the segments? Ultimately, who is responsible for success of the training? You may not have a supervisory relationship with your co-facilitator, but somebody should be "driving the bus." This could be established a number of ways. For example, by seniority, management direction, who is currently presenting, or by position within the organization. How will you support each other when not on the podium? Will the other instructor be in the room? Are they available to answer difficult questions? Can they step in to clarify points? When should they not speak or interrupt? How do we handle challenging situations or participants? What will each of your responsibilities be after the training finishes (e.g. pass out surveys, tidy classroom, and reset computers)? In any case, a little coordination goes a long way whether on a bicycle tour or in the classroom! What are some tips that have made your co-facilitated sessions a successful experience? How have you enhanced your facilitation skills to ensure seamless transitions, etc. between you and your co-facilitator? For more information on handling challenging situations or participants, we have several blog posts that cover this very topic—check them out!

Written by: Marsha I hear it all the time…"Why can’t managers be more involved in training?" "How can we get their buy-in?" "How else will learners apply what they’ve learned back on the job?" It’s probably one of our biggest challenges. And let’s face it…if learners don’t use it, they lose it. Even worse, as trainers, we have accomplished nothing when this happens. It doesn’t matter how well the course has been designed or delivered. It’s about improving performance back on the job! Let’s start by looking at two fictional companies, Alpha Limited and Bravo Corporation. While reading, think about which one resonates with you. Alpha Limited does nothing to prepare their employees weeks or months before the training. Their employee, David, attends the training and returns to work. Immediately following the course, David attempts to implement his action plan. His manager is unaware of the new skills David has acquired, and expects no change in behavior. David is inundated with work from his absence. To catch-up, he shelves the action plan for a later date. Months after the course, David has forgotten most of what he learned during training. In contrast, we have the Bravo Corporation. Months before the course, the manager at Bravo Corporation meets with the employee, Joe, to discuss the course objectives and what he will get out of the training. Joe attends the training and updates his action plan. Immediately following the course, Joe meets with his manager to review his action plan. The manager schedules work that allows Joe to practice the knowledge and skills he has acquired. Joe implements his action plan items, applies techniques and skills from the course, and utilizes the job aids from the session. Months after the course, Joe meets with his manager for a performance review. So, here’s the question: which fictional company do you identify with? Perhaps you’re somewhere in-between? The good news is that you can achieve Bravo-like status—our workshop, Make Your Training Stick, will help get you there! The key is setting up a training partnership with select managers, learners and trainers, with new roles and responsibilities for each group. These new responsibilities take place before, during, and after the training. In the workshop, we help you facilitate these partnerships, showing you how to take on these new roles. Keep in mind, the emphasis of the workshop is to improve and do a better job when it comes to training. Let’s not lay fault on one group. Instead, as trainers, we must learn to work with all departments to ensure the transfer of training so our learners are successful after training has taken place. This can be a major change for some departments, and it could be met with resistance. I once had the privilege of delivering this course to an on-site client. Interestingly enough, my audience was mid-level managers; there wasn’t a training professional in sight. It was a senior management initiative, to get managers more involved in training. I explained the partnership idea and new responsibilities for the management group. One manager said, "Ok, Marsha, can you please explain to me where I will find the time to do this pre- and post-training stuff, in my busy day?" I started a reply, while looking at the senior vice president, to help me out. He stepped in and we all agreed that the managers would spend up to five minutes before training, briefing each employee. Afterwards, mangers would take ten minutes with each employee. It was a small change, but it had a huge impact on their behavior and the training department! I share this story to show you that change is possible, and so is getting management buy-in! What about you? Are you ready to take your training to a whole new level?

Written by: Alan Have you ever stopped reading a piece of technical writing because it became too frustrating to continue? People tend to be bad at giving instructions. Have you ever become lost following someone’s instructions on how to get to their house for the first time? Even pros mess up badly at times. If you create training materials, you are also a technical writer. Here are some tips that will help you create better training materials. 1.      Keep your sentences short Short sentences highlight the ideas that they express. Long sentences hide them. Aim for an average sentence length of 12 words. Go back over your writing and count the length of each sentence. Add up all your totals and divide by the number of sentences. If the average is above 12, you should shorten them. I analyzed a software license agreement. Its average sentence length was 37 words. That could be one of the main reasons people rarely read them. I also analyzed this blog. It has 344 words in 35 sentences. That’s about 10 words per sentence. 2.      Use simple, direct words In technical writing, clarity is more important than great vocabulary. Use words like "send" instead of "disseminate," or "help" instead of "facilitate," or "use" instead of "utilize." Every fancy word you use makes your writing a little bit harder to read. People’s focus should be on learning your instructions, not on marvelling at your vast vocabulary. 3.      Use bullet points When you use bullet points, you leave out extraneous detail. You tend to focus on the most crucial ideas. Here are some benefits of bullet points: They make training materials leaner. They are easier to read. People find them less intimidating than paragraphs. They are less prone to complex writing errors. They allow more white space on a page. Final Thoughts Technical writing is a huge discipline. It has thousands of rules. Most of those rules are about the mechanics of stringing words together to make sentences. The three rules in this blog will help you apply those rules more easily to create better written training material. The simpler your writing content is, the simpler it is to apply the rest of the rules of technical writing. To learn how to write clear, concise, performance-based training materials, attend our Writing Skills for Trainers workshop. It’s full of tips and techniques to help you!

Written by: Steve When the core learning solution is complete and learners return to the workplace, additional information and practice are often needed. Without specific performance support activities, the knowledge and skill acquired during the core learning solution may not transfer to the workplace. Here are five performance support activities that will reinforce learning after the core learning solution has been completed. 1.      Coaching Session A post-course coaching session is an effective way of providing a learner with the help and support of an expert who already has the knowledge and skill. Coaching sessions are particularly useful when a longer learning curve is expected. 2.      Follow-up Workgroup A follow-up workgroup reassembles learners after they have had a chance to start applying their new knowledge and skills. This performance support activity can be done face-to-face, by phone, or via the internet. 3.      Knowledge Database Orientation Assignment This post-course support activity is most effective when the core learning solution delivered software training. The database assignment allows learners to practice and reinforce content from the training by completing an assignment that requires them to reference specific items in the database. 4.      Assigned Reading This is a simple exercise that requires learners to read information that supplements the content covered in the core learning solution. The reading can be done traditionally with paper-based reading materials or via the internet. 5.      Scavenger Hunt This "search and learn" exercise familiarizes learners with the company’s internal and external websites, databases, and paper-based resources by sending them on a "hunt" to find specific information. This performance support activity can be done traditionally or via the internet. Supplementing a good core learning solution with one of these performance support activities (blended learning) will increase the likelihood that the knowledge and skill delivered in the core learning solution will transfer to the job.

Written by: Linda Trainers often complain about participants "not getting it," or they ask, "How can we make our training interesting?" When I ask what methods they are using to deliver their content, they often reply with, "PowerPoint and lots of it!" The bad news is, presentation alone is not training. Boring people with a slide show will not make the training interesting, nor will it help the participants retain the content. Remember, "The brain can only retain what the bum can sustain." The good news is, PowerPoint is a wonderful visual aid. It should aid in our training but not be our training. The mistake is many instructional designers and trainers are asked to put together a slide deck and call it training. As a result, trainers along with learners are craving for other ways to present and receive content. The following tips are basic principles that will assist you in your efforts in creating interesting training that will enhance retention. 1.  Focus on the need-to-know versus the nice-to-know. Courses are often top heavy with content because we want to put everything into the course. The question we want to ask is, "What content must my learners know to improve their job performance?" The answer to this question will provide the content that needs to be covered in the course. 2.  Provide access to nice-to-know information. Include information in the appendix of the participant manual or a website where nice-to-know information can be accessed. This creates an opportunity for adult learners to take responsibility for their own learning. 3.  Select a variety of presentation methods. We all know that lecture has been the most common way to deliver content. Now it’s lecture with PowerPoint. I once heard an instructor describe lecture as "the notes of the instructor transferred to the notes of the listener, without passing through the minds of either." Fortunately, there are other ways to deliver content. If you want to stay sharp as an instructional designer and/or trainer, and keep your participants stimulated, it is important to select methods that promote two-way communication as opposed to traditional lecture, which is often one way. We must also consider selecting methods that appeal to different learning styles. This leads me to tip number four. 4.  Use more than one visual aid. PowerPoint, when not overused, is a fantastic tool. However, it should not be considered training or the only visual aid. Other visual aids include flip charts and white boards. PowerPoint appeals to the visual learner, while the kinesthetic learner eagerly desires more hands on activities. Using flip charts and white boards allow for group exercises and often appeal to the kinesthetic learner who will most likely volunteer to be the scribe. I also appreciate that scripted work on flip charts can be posted around the training room, which supports retention in multiple-day courses. 5.  Demonstrate polished presentation skills. As trainers we must skillfully model strong verbal and non-verbal behaviors. Without solid presentation skills, everything else can fall flat. Following these five tips will surely set you and your learners up for a successful training experience. In addition to offering a glossary of 50 presentation and application methods, we emphasize these principles in much more detail in both our instructional design and instructional techniques courses. I hope to see you in those courses real soon!

Written by: Jim When conducting training, your participants want to be involved. You can give them the opportunity to share their experiences and demonstrate what they are learning by asking questions along the way. The direction of the question will assist in getting the participation you desire. Here are three types of questions you can use. Overhead Question When you want to review course content that has already been covered, or ask about experiences that your participants have had, try using an overhead question. This open-ended question is asked to the entire group. For example, "What positive customer service experiences have you had as a customer?" Once you ask, wait for someone to reply. If no one gives an answer after ten seconds, consider giving a hint or rephrasing the question. Relay Question Sometimes the learners want to get the perspective of others in the group rather than always getting the answer from the instructor. In situations where that can be achieved, consider using a relay question. Start with a question asked by a participant. Get the perspective of the group by directing it to them as an overhead question and give them the opportunity to answer. The participant’s question might be, "Jim, how would you handle a participant who is always late?" I would then turn to the group and say something like, "Group, how have you handled participants who are always late?" Reverse Question The opportunity for a reverse question comes about when a participant asks a question, and the details of that question lead you to believe what is being described: Has already happened Is currently happening May happen in the near future You simply say to the participant, "Well, what would you do in a situation like that?" Usually, the response is as follows: "It happened, and here’s what I did…" "It’s happening right now, and I’m currently…" "It may happen, and I’m thinking I could…" In rare situations, the participant may insist that you answer as they have asked you for information. If that happens, simply answer the question and offer to talk with that person more in depth on a break or after class. Using these question techniques will keep your participants involved while adding variety to your discussions. Typically, we answer questions for our participants, but also having them answer some questions themselves helps them think about and process the content in a different way.

Written by: Martha In business (and in your personal life) you may have the opportunity to use influencing skills to impact a decision that will help you accomplish a goal or objective. In these situations you need to influence the decision-maker and create an influencing strategy. Before you speak to the person you need to influence you may need to interact with several other people. Sometimes this process can seem like the "Who’s on First" routine by Abbot and Costello. Below are some items to consider when identifying who should come first in the influencing interactions. Know your culture, the people involved, your power base, the image you have, and the relationships that exist. This may seem like a lot to know, but if you want the influencing interaction to be successful, it is necessary to do your homework. If your culture has a hierarchy, then consider approaching the decision-maker last. This will give you time to get the support you need prior to influencing interaction. Some decision-makers may want to know if you have gone through the proper channels before speaking to them. Some decision-makers want you to come in with a plan. In this case you should start with the individuals or groups that will give you the cooperation and support needed. Did you speak to IT to find out where your goal/objective fits into their schedule? Do you have peer support? Is there an individual in the organization who can act as a mentor? Use them as a sounding board and let them share their experiences. If you don’t have a direct relationship with the decision-maker, build support from those that do. Start by asking yourself the following questions: Who does the decision-maker respect and how can you get them on your side? Who are your advocates and how can they help? Since the objective is to use your influencing skills successfully in your interactions, try to avoid involving individuals who may not be receptive to your goal. Their tepid reception may cause a delay in the pursuit of your goal. Even though you want to be inclusive when getting support, be wary of individuals who may be tempted to sabotage your efforts. You are in a business environment so be cautious of any confidentiality issues that could be impacted by those you choose to be a part of your influencing strategy. As I stated in the beginning "Who’s on First" may not be as easy as it seems. First know your culture and its politics, then create a plan, and then go for it!

Written by: Paul As a training manager, have you ever had an instructor who didn’t "cut the mustard?" Maybe the instructor’s evaluations were a bit lower than other instructors, or you heard a critical comment from some of the participants or from a manager? What to do, what to do? You want to be fair to your employee, and if s/he is also an instructor who has subject-matter expertise in some of the offerings in your syllabus, you know they will be hard to replace. Here are five tips for developing and keeping that "problem" instructor: Stay in touch with what’s happening in the classroom. By "spot checking" all your instructors, you set an expectation that it is normal for you to drop in to the back of the classroom for a short visit. This means that observing the problem instructor is a not viewed as an exceptional visit. Frequent, short visits to supervise what’s happening in the classroom allow you to identify the good as well as the opportunities for improved performance in all your staff. Don’t "garbage bag." Training managers should provide feedback to instructors after every classroom visit. Always identify the positive behaviors in the classroom before identifying those opportunities for improved performance. Close with a positive. This is referred to as the feedback sandwich. It is formulaic, but effective. The same technique should be used when reviewing participant evaluations of a given training. Frequent feedback sessions, with specific suggestions for improvement, are more valuable than saving comments for the annual performance review. Try co-facilitation. Working with a really effective instructor, or even just observing such an instructor, may be informative for a weaker instructor. In turn, this helps strengthen their delivery and facilitation skills. This can be especially valuable if you point out behaviors of the exemplar instructor that the weaker instructor should look for—then follow up afterward to see what they’ve learned. Try professional development. Are there classes offered that could address the instructors identified weak areas? Langevin Learning Service’s offers a number of courses that may be valuable. Just like any other employee, instructors need skill and knowledge in order to improve performance. Establish a performance improvement plan. In an extreme instance, a formal performance improvement plan should be put in place by the training manager to establish specific areas for improved performance and a timeline to be met in relation to those areas. It’s only fair to your instructor to provide a clearly defined path to acceptable performance. The bottom line is that you owe it to your employees, and those that come to your training, to fully develop the talents of all your staff. What other tips can you share that have helped improve an instructor’s performance?

Written by: Marsha Developing rapport with learners and establishing a good learning climate can make or break your sessions; these are key facilitation skills for instructors and facilitators. Learners need to feel welcome, safe, comfortable, and understood in our classes. We also strive to build cohesiveness amongst the group. All good facilitators know that learner relationships are just as important as course content. In our Advanced Instructional Techniques workshop, we discuss facilitation skills and many tips to build cohesiveness. Some of the suggestions are as follows: Create an identity for each small group (e.g. a name, location in the room, or nickname). Use an icebreaker that brings out shared experiences. Set-up mild competition between groups to encourage a sense of "team." Set-up exercises so that the team is successful. Promote social activities. So, the question becomes, as facilitators, how social do we need to be? Obviously, we can have informal conversations with the group and individual participants, before class and during breaks. But what about the lunch hour and after class? Is that also part of our job? I know some instructors like to spend lunchtime on their own, enjoying some quiet time before starting the afternoon session. Let’s face it; we’re "on" for most of the day. And after a long day, I understand why instructors would want to head home and regroup for the next day. One could also argue that we need to maintain a professional relationship with the group, and socializing after hours could impact that. I can only imagine the damage that could be done if we were to share too much or slide too far into the personal realm. And let’s not even discuss the possibility of having too many cocktails! Haven’t we all seen that co-worker who drank too much at the Christmas party and was never able to live it down? Having said all that, I must say, my preference is to socialize with the class. I like to have lunch with the group, and spend at least one day after class together. I find these informal times to be critical to the success of the workshop. It gives me more time to learn about the participants and connect with them. We can continue discussing some of their challenges, or I can answer any questions that we didn’t have time to address in class. I probably socialize more often when it’s a smaller group. I find I’m able to build those relationships and foster that cohesiveness with fewer people in the room. So, my fellow trainers, what’s your position on promoting social activities during training? Are you for or against it? Do you include "social activities" in your facilitation skills toolbox? Does it depend on the group size or location of the training? I’d love to hear your point of view!

Written by: Alan ADDIE is a simple and effective approach to instructional design. Each letter is a phase we go through to meet a training need. Here is a quick breakdown of each phase: Analysis: Determine the training need, and the skills and knowledge that will meet the need. Design: Select the training activities that will teach the above skills and knowledge. Development: Produce the materials that will be used during the training activities. Implementation: Deliver the training created above. Evaluation: Determine how well the training needs have been met. There are hundreds of ways to implement these phases of instructional design. They are all subject to one common and frustrating drawback — stakeholders don’t see the finished product until after the development phase, which is usually quite close to the delivery launch date. When they do see it, they want to make a lot of changes, improvements, and tweaks. This leads to a mad dash in the final days of the allotted design/development time. Here is one adaptation to the ADDIE model that can dramatically reduce the rework I just described. It’s called Iterative Design. In this approach, you don’t do all your analysis, design, and development work in one fell swoop. You chunk it up into mini-projects, which you repeat until the course is completely developed. Each mini-project, or iteration, is on one segment of your course content. Each iteration is reviewed by the stakeholders as it is completed. This means stakeholders see the finished product much earlier in the life of the project. It also means the changes requested by reviewers get smaller and fewer at each iteration. Some professionals who’ve used iterative design have estimated it saved them 30% of the time they needed compared to prior projects. And the best perk: no mad dash near the delivery launch date. How much of your course to put in each iteration is up to you. The smallest unit of instruction you can use is one lesson. You certainly can include a few lessons in an iteration, however, the trick is to find a balance between two factors. Make your iterations small enough that the review/revision process won’t be daunting, but not so small that clients get annoyed by the number of requests for review/revision. There’s a lot on the web about iterative design. Feel free to explore the different ways others have used it. Using it as your project structure, you can save time and better meet your clients’ expectations. May all your instructional design projects be great successes!.