Category: Human Resources

Can you actually guarantee training results? Can you? The simple answer is “Yes, you can.” Of course, if you aren’t very good, it’ll be a financial disaster–not to mention the people who lost the benefit of good training. Or, maybe you aren’t so bad, but the client is ruthless and found the loophole to not pay. Not trust building to be sure, but it can happen.

I can’t with absolute certainty guarantee those results either, but I will. Maybe you will, too, after you hear the rest. The practice does have its advantages.

Obviously an arrangement like this is appealing to the buyer and has a potential for disaster unless it is worked out well. Here are the basic steps:

1. I offer to work out most of the details in advance. You can rest assured there will be more details you and the client “forgot” when you arrive. The trick for you is to try not to forget the important aspects of the training course with this process.

   

2. Travel and accommodations are paid up front and are reasonable. Basically what the company would pay for a junior executive or middle manager to travel and stay in another location. Nothing lavish. That way the client doesn’t feel taken advantage of, and it puts you in the same category as one of “his” own.
3. Before arrival and upon arrival many of the needs are worked out. I like to know in advance exactly what I’m in for. Build a checklist of your needs as a trainer and use it as a guide to work out the details. Get the client to sign off on what “he or she” will provide you and make sure the actual conditions that may affect the outcome–don’t. You know–the too hot room, uncomfortable chairs, not enough room to move about, poor acoustics. These are things a client may assume is perfectly fine. Reserve the right to add it to the contract after you arrive.
4. If you need the technical side taken care of by the company, obviously you can’t be responsible if it doesn’t work. If it doesn’t work in the end and that is why some of the trainees are disappointed, it is not your fault–therefore, not a part of your guarantee. So, make sure it is part of the contract.
5. Eliminate any factors that will take away from your “fantastic” performance and address possible factors that may make the experience not so great for the attendees. If this sounds like you’re covering your bases, you are. It’s like going to the theatre and seeing a terrific show, but the air conditioning was turned off because it interfered with the acoustics and the audience couldn’t hear the actors. Some audience members will understand; some will not appreciate the treatment they received and forget the stellar performance in front of them.
6. Be very careful to detail what you are going to be doing and what the objectives will be for the class. Ensure this is agreed to in writing before you make the trip. Allow for changes, if you wish, but only if you also make them part of the result. So note them in the contract.
7. Everyone will admit a hundred percent acceptance of your training performance is unrealistic. Try to keep this an informal arrangement. Use qualifiers when talking to the client and the class evaluations. That way no one expects you to be perfect.

These are just seven steps. You may think of others as you go along. Make sure to tie the possible negatives to the outcome. Let your trainees know to be specific on what was not good–in anything. The idea is to allow no surprises and if there are, you have established a good, honest, upfront relationship that may make it not a big deal. I admit that this concept of guaranteeing my performance or my results is risky, but in this economy everyone wants reassurances they are spending wisely. Me, well, I’m really just starting out on my own after 30 years of experience and a few more studying the market and the field. You’ve probably heard the songs from “A CHORUS LINE,” I Hope I Get It or I Can Do That. There is a certain desperation when the actors sing, “I really need this job.” Stop applying for the job. You can do that! Take the risk to lay out what you can guarantee.

In some ways, this is a trick blog, if there is such a thing. Guarantees are nice, but I find too often in this business there seems to be an arrogance in the marketing on behalf of those who are successful, and an ignorance and tentative approach on behalf of those just starting out. For the latter, that makes them perfect prey to the more powerful and experienced. It doesn’t have to be that way. Other merchants take risks that you won’t like the product they sell and offer a money back guarantee. Is this any different? If you are that good, there’s little risk. If you question you’re own abilities to “knock ’em” dead, at least you are aware of it and will take particular care in designing your training.

As for the contract itself, it keeps everyone honest and focused. It makes you and your client do the necessary homework to have the best training session. What’s the worse that can happen? Lessons learned by all. Some time wasted maybe–if you don’t count the learning you did in the process. Use the process to make sure you know your audience and what is expected of you. A little afraid you don’t know the subject? Having a contract guaranty will make you research it, learn it, know it.

Finally, the process will help you understand yourself and your client to realize just how complicated and how important good communication and training is. Bottom line: who can argue with results.

As always, these comments are my own, dredged up from my brain alone. Mine is an earthy approach to training; I try to look at it–not always as a trainer but an outsider looking in–an outsider who is a communicator, a trainer and a manager. I’ll come back with a technical look at developing training–the details I assume you already know in this post, but I’ll be back. Got a great article you’d like to do on the Developing a Training Plan, for example, let me know and it can be yours. Or look at one of the related ones that deal with terms and explanations. It only has to be substantive and not overly promotional on your part. Oh, and it helps if you can write it in an interesting way. This training and development stuff can be so boring if we let it… Smile! Want to be a guest blogger on training and development or any other subject in The Management Library‘s repertoire, click the link at the top for Guest Writers.

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For more resources about training, see the Training library.

My website is always available should you not tire of my remarks. I am working on a book of my blogs from my commonsense “caveman training” approach to training, which is not at all near completion so this is not a plug. As a performance coach, I also talk about communication in general, theatre and write performance criticism under the drop-down heading of What I Say. Click on it too long and you get my demos. I apologize for the site’s look at the moment, but I’m adding some other features that are under construction.

Know your audience, know your subject and, by all means, know yourself. For a look at the human side of training from my Cave Man perspective, please check out my book, The Cave Man Guide to Training and Development. Happy training.

It seems traditional classroom training as we know it may be dying, but there are ways to bring it back to life.

“Recent remarks* by Tony Bingham, CEO of ASTD, suggested that much of the formal classroom with instructor-led training has gone the way of scheduled classes, blackboards and overhead projectors. Replaced by the ‘pull’ of social media from the digital natives who will become more than 50% of the USA workforce by 2015.”

The term “Digital natives” makes perfect sense in this world so deeply entrenched in social media.

“Digital natives, Millennial Generation (born 1980) and Generation “i” (born 2000), have grown up digital. Their life experiences have been digital instead of analog which created values different than more seasoned generations.

These ‘Net Generations’ will expect, require and demand a more digital learning experience.”

And, of course, this brings up the usual questions. From the article:

How do we make the career transition to a more digital-based, social media-inspired learning profession?

How will employers recycle the classroom trainer?

*Tony spoke at the Southwest Learning Summit & Exposition hosted by the Dallas Chapter of ASTD. He showed several videos to accent his talk. You can see two of those videos at the links below.

A Vision of K-12 Students Today

According to the producers of this video:

“This project was created to inspire teachers to use technology in engaging ways to help students develop higher level thinking skills. Equally important, it serves to motivate district level leaders to provide teachers with the tools and training to do so.”

Don Tapscott “Growing up Digital”

Most of us are neither Generation (to be Generation “i” we’d be under age 11), but I think we have to be aware of the changing learning environment. However, one thing that never changes are how we use our senses to learn. If 99% of how we teach or train is verbal and 87% of how we learn is visual, it makes sense that speaking without engaging students or trainees visually is not going to hold their attention.

Now, I have never said just stand and talk in the classroom. Most good trainers and teachers I know use visual as well as auditory and kinetic learning. If we aren’t incorporating the latest in “digital” offerings we need to start.

Teachers in schools may be too strapped financially to make use of those Web 2.0 resources. They are also forced to teach the content testing requirements of the state, which, when in doubt they will be able to accomplish that in time, forces them to cut back on creative teaching methods and rely on what they know best: telling. Is that the best for the school? Probably not. Wealthier school districts are able to provide tablets or laptops for students and use the media, and are doing it today; those schools rank high in learning scores. Thankfully most teachers are younger and grew up with the technology themselves.

How does this affect training classrooms? I think it means we keep doing what we are doing if we are engaged in classroom training. Here’s how we face the challenge–what we can and can’t do…

• Don’t forget to be part of the visual yourself, gesturing, using facial expressions and moving, which are also visual.
• Be conscious of the digital possibilities.
• Use the latest technology if you can. It will be even harder to incorporate a “WOW” factor without the latest digital offerings.
• Educate yourself on the digital media that may be available. Some of it is readily available through YouTube.

For teachers, that challenge is no different, but it appears they are aware, which is good news. Here’s a comment from a teacher on the first video:

“So then the challenge becomes, how can I use or integrate Facebook, Twitter and other Web 2.0 technology out there into the curriculum so that I can engage students with it and use it as a vehicle to teach? Part of our jobs as educators is to teach students SELF-discipline. We cannot do that by taking away technology. We must teach allow them the technology and teach them to be disciplined and self-directed in their responsible use of it.”

I know there are specialists out there already engaged in promoting the Web 2.0 technology. Keep in mind that there are many tools to communicate and some better than others, but each serve a purpose. Some techniques and tools work well individually, while some work better when added to program using a variety of learning methods. I like to cover my bases and use a little of everything in my training. I use the basic verbal, visual and kinetic techniques.

Nothing beats experiential learning, instilling motivation (the why), getting a student or trainee committed to learning–realizing “what I am learning I can apply to my job and my future career.” The digital factor only makes that even more hands-on for our “Digital natives”–our Generation Millennium and Generation “i” trainees-to-be, and students.

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For more resources about training, see the Training library.

My comments and views are my own. I thank the Free Management Library for the opportunity to express them in this forum. I hope that you get something out of them. Haven’t had enough? Check out some of my other training articles that try to make common sense out of what we do. This is an exciting field. It is a time to exercise creativity in how we do our jobs. I’m always open to new ideas and related content. Comment here or e-mail me. I have a website, too, where I have more to say on topics other than training and development such as communication, theatre and I even write theatrical reviews. You can also find me on Twitter and Facebook (under actingsmarts), LinkedIn and GovLoop under Jack Shaw.

Looking forward to your feedback, I’m as interested in making this work better for you. There are sites out there that will give you only definitions and the basics; I try to do more. If you want it more basic, just let me know and I’ll do my best to accommodate. Forgive me if I slip in a little opinion, which, by the way, is my opinion and mine alone and not the opinion necessarily of other folks associated with The Free Management Library. For a look at the human side of training from my Cave Man perspective, please check out my book, The Cave Man Guide to Training and Development. Happy training.

In the world of training, there comes a time when the trainer feels he or she is not “on.” Is it that important? It can make the difference between a successful and unsuccessful training session.

Do we fake it? Now, I’m not talking about subject matter here–not knowing what we are talking about–but faking the passion and enthusiasm to motivate your trainees to learn from the training session. Some would say the solution is acting (pretending is what they really mean). Under my definition of acting, I would not agree. We all have off days. Ever fake being glad to be at work? Same thing.

However, I think trainers (and public speakers) feel the “off day” more because the very essence of what they do is tied to a genuine connection they make with the audience, whether it is to convey information in a training setting or motivate or persuade in a speaker’s setting. If we can’t maintain that connection, everyone loses.

In keeping with the purpose of the training and development blog, I’ll try to concentrate on the trainer rather than the speaker, but the answers are pretty much the same, and trainers are speakers, too. In fact, the original question was asked of speakers. For trainers, the real question remains: if you are faking it, do your trainees know and what can you do about it?

The idea from this post came from a related question posed in a LinkedIn forum. That question actually being addressed to professional public speakers: How many feel that “acting” in a speech is faking it? The question was posed by a theatrical and speech coach, Barbara Kite, who uses acting techniques to work with executive and professional speakers. I do the same–with a bit of a difference. The question itself is a bit ambiguous, basically delving into the notion of being someone else when you are training or speaking, and not yourself; therefore, you are acting. Are you being perceived as genuine by your audience? That may depend on how good an actor you are, but I would maintain”faking” it is never a good idea–especially in the training environment. One blotched speaking engagement isn’t going to kill a professional speaker; he or she may not get an endorsement, but I’m sure there are plenty more of those for the good days.

I would say most speakers (as I’m sure many trainers and coaches have) in this LinkedIn forum have “acted” in various community plays and some in more professional outings depending on experience and opportunity, but I would suggest that some might not be able to pull it off acting that calls on the “actor” to come up with really deep insights during the audition process. That is the real thing. And that is what we have to do as trainers: find those parts of us that are real and share them. Sharing who we are–even at that moment–is part of being genuine.

Everyone has a bad day. Maybe it’s hot, or a sick child kept you up all, or your allergies are getting the best of you. Apologize within the normal boundaries of politeness, but mostly share with your group how you’re feeling and compare notes. It may even bond you to them more–like self-deprecating humor–and make you one of them: human.

Speakers who speak for a cause they strongly believe in are probably not acting. They have no reason to since their natural sincerity for their cause will come out. But any speaker who gets paid for his or her efforts has to get results? Great trainers and speakers are really good at making the audience believe they are not acting. I’m not saying they aren’t communicating “real feelings, real lessons, real meaning,” but there’s an effective process to do it that involves “acting” a certain way, being a certain way, and understanding your audience. While it’s not acting the classic method, it’s still using the basics of acting to include stage presence–if only to achieve a greater interaction with the audience.

My acting experience is not any more of an advantage to me as a speaker or trainer than anyone else who has learned the same things about reading an audience and expressing his or herself effectively from a different environment.

What I see happening here is what happens on LinkedIn occasionally because many use it as a forum to promote themselves and their work rather than network, but the questions are stimulating. Sometimes the forums are filled with blazing egos; sometimes a few show up and leave when the going gets too hot or irrelevant. It happens that there can be a lot of name dropping, numbers of speaking engagements mentioned, acting in significant plays, prestigious schools, as a way of establishing marketable credibility is not uncommon–as if it all has to do with the basic question: How many speakers believe acting is about faking it? I’d say quite a few. That’s it. The point. The common view of what an actor does is that he or she pretends. Right at the most basic level, I suppose. Quite wrong at a deeper, more important level.

How is an acting education that different from any other communication program except in the medium? And, there are cross-over commonalities. I’m sure we could fine point the differences to death, but the basics are the same: communicating with an audience.

Acting class is not a requirement for a trainer or a speaker (although it might be of a college speech program), but it’s good information for speaking or communication in general. How many haven’t had a traditional class in public speaking as opposed to oral communication? How many received their training via Toastmasters or from the pulpit? Not a problem either.

The answer is that you should take an acting class if you think acting is faking it is hard to take. Why? Because the definition recited by so many individuals is that acting is faking it. I think Barbara may have been marketing her own program; however, I’d say, no, you don’t have to take an acting class to learn about acting, but maybe if speakers who don’t know the answer or like the response should look into learning more what acting is about beyond the Wikipedia answer.

By the way, I’m not all about “method” either, which does call on the actor to dig deep personally to find a similar emotion. Nor am I all about improvisation. I’m probably more psychological, but that works for me. Acting in the deepest sense is really about not acting, but “being” to some people. Even for actors, like training and speaking, there has to be control on stage that comes from acting, not “being.” That basic acting that comes with facial expressions, natural gesturing and stage movement. These are things we may not think about anymore, but they are a part of acting or whatever field you studied to learn what enhances communication.

As a speaker or trainer, I don’t act on stage or in the classroom unless I am doing it on purpose to prove a point and I want my audience or class to know I am acting–because sometimes that is the point. I’m as genuine a speaker as I can be because that’s who I am–not who I’m pretending to be. I don’t like pat speeches with the same jingoistic words and phrases used over and over again because we know they work. Isn’t that fake? Or, have you found the universal truth? I can’t think of anything less ingenuous and more fake. Talk about actors memorizing lines! Sometimes just using enough repetition to keep you audience on topic and less connected to your brand is more genuine and from the heart. Remember to share with your audience. You have empathy for your audience and it is reciprocal by default.

Do actors keep their persona separate while trainers/speakers are their persona? I think there are speakers in that same category as the actors. Actors may adopt another persona but they shouldn’t do away with original; that makes for “crazy” results. You’ve heard of losing oneself in one’s part? If it goes too far…

Some trainers/speakers have separate persona in that speaking or training moment, although I agree they probably shouldn’t. A bad actor can be a good speaker in the same way a great speaker could be a bad actor. A good actor can be a good public speaker, but there are no guarantees either way. Don’t give me the Academy Awards as an example either. I’m sure if the actors/movie stars were getting paid for their acceptance speeches, we’d see different “performances.”

Any decent speaker will use the basics of acting in the course of doing a good job of communicating with an audience from the stage, but they don’t necessarily have to have the depth of “acting methods” to get there. As with anything, there’s a benefit to do what works for you as a speaker. Some speakers benefit greatly from Barbara’s techniques or mine as they do by working with other coaches who have found techniques that work for their students. Barbara and I may have some similarities in background and approach, but I think the common thread that goes through all of us is that we look to the whole person we are coaching, that we look for the ways to bring them out, to help them achieve the persona they seek.

I started to write this for my STAGE Magazine column because it dealt with acting, but it seemed it was more a topic to mull over for training since it sort of began in that arena with a LinkedIn question. Anyone can present information but it takes communication skills have the information listened to intently, understood and remembered. Check out Barbara’s page and mine for more information on the topic of using acting skills in training or public speaking. Know your audience. Know your subject. Know yourself. And, your training session, your speaking engagement, or even your one-on-one coaching session will all come together. For a look at the human side of training from my Cave Man perspective, please check out my book, The Cave Man Guide to Training and Development. Happy training.

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For more resources about training, see the Training library.

A great training package! This outside training group has a super online presence with an impressive list of companies, the right degrees (the right schools, too), tons of publications and pre-packaged training developed by someone else–experts, of course, and best of all–they are going to come in and tell you what they can do for your company. I hope by now you can tell I’m being facetious. I can think of a lot of clichés right now, but I’m going to resist and let you fill in the blanks. You know…the importance of what’s outside and what’s inside.

We all know how complicated the world of business is, and how easy it is to let someone tell us what’s going to work for us because it worked elsewhere. Did it really work elsewhere? This group said it did. There are company testimonials on the fancy, very professional-looking website, or the brochure, or the presentation; however, you know the proof may be in the phone call you asked your assistant to make to all the companies listed as references before you talk too much about business.

If the training group representatives are too busy to wait, maybe they don’t have the time to really take a good look at your company and see where it is differs from other companies, or see what your company really needs in the way of training that really does need customization, or really do the homework required. That’s a problem.

Does this particular training outfit look for ways your company is similar to other companies it has worked with and bring in the same or slightly modified to look customized for your company? Although it may sound a little fishy, it is a business reality in a capitalistic world. Time is money. An easier client may be the next appointment. That’s the reality.

I don’t like a hard sell, and I don’t care for flashy tactics. But we do get busy and the flashier professional look often wins. Why? Because it looks good on paper and can sell, sell, sell. Is that what you really want? To be sold, or to get results? I doubt being “sold” a bill of goods is what made you what you are today. Are you one to order a steak cooked one way and when it comes back another, do not send it back? Not unless you are willing to accept whatever the server brings you. That doesn’t sound like money well spent. The best return on the investment. So, what is? That depends on what your company needs.

I’m not saying the not-as-shiny-looking training group or individual that comes into your office promising results is better either. You want a return on your investment. A little research, a little more time spent checking references can save a lot in the long run. The new guy, the break off company, may take the time to see you get what you want. He has to earn your respect and the respect of those you know. If he broke away from another training group and started his own, check it out. It could be he didn’t like the way the group did business, and wanted a chance to try it another way–his way–or what he thinks is the right way. How does he answer that very tough question? Like someone in business competition or with sincerity you can feel. Feelings are allowed in business I understand. Facts and figures can be made up easier than creating a whole person. Feelings can fare better than facts and figures when personality and character counts.

Of course, when it comes down to it, busy people skip steps, multi-task, try to do it all; some times that’s not a good idea. Resist the urge. The bottom line is at stake. Yours. Your people trained in the way they need to be trained may not be in the “book” or “pre-packaged proven” tactics. They may be perfectly fine packages and tactics, but I’d rather have someone hash it out with the same kind of passion I have for my company, with my goals in mind–not a group or individual looking for a quick fix to throw together that will impress you and win the contract. Don’t be sold efficiency. Demand it. Demand it of vendors, too. Ride the bull if you wish, just watch out for the horns.

One last word of advice: look at the training representatives and ask yourself some questions. Are they salespeople or trainers? Are they looking to close or looking for opportunity to do it right. It’s all in the perspective.

There’s nothing wrong with big training groups, professional-looking accouterments, and strong, dynamic personalities. Some may be a perfect fit for your company; some not so much. You want employees to fit your company so why not hire the people who train them to be what you want them to be? Shouldn’t they fit, too? If you don’t do the hiring of outside trainers yourself and have an HR or training officer do it, you wouldn’t be wrong to ask them to check references before they bring you the possibly glitzy package they decided on. We aren’t infallible.

Of course, all opinions here are my own. Want to see more on this and other topics, check out my website. You’ll find my training and development articles, right here on the Free Management Library site. I write on other things, too, mostly about communication, behavior and human performance. Want to tell a different side to the story? Please comment here, contact me on my website, or e-mail me–and I promise to respond. Or, do a longer piece by guest writing on The Free Management Library by following the directions at the top of the page.

For a look at the human side of training from my Cave Man perspective, please check out my book, The Cave Man Guide to Training and Development. Happy training.