Category: Training & Development

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.

Some days I long for the days of just knowing and doing my part for the cave, but that was a long time ago. It was more basic then. I taught myself. Not really. I observed and modeled the behavior of others, my elders. They knew what to do. Sometimes, I saw what they did and thought another way might be useful and tried it. If that new way worked better, I kept doing it that way. If not, there was no point to keeping it.

I looked outside for the best ways to do things, and found others who had already discovered very good ways and copied them. It was simpler that way and saved time. I learned that if I sharpened my spear and kept it sharpened I was more likely to kill the first time I threw it and struck my prey. I already knew where the vital organs were; my father taught me–or was it my uncle? I taught my brothers. Later, when game was scarce I had to do what the others who couldn’t hunt did. I gathered roots, herbs, berries, fruits and vegetables–anything edible–even bark for medicine. Who taught me how…I can’t remember, but she was old and wise, experienced in the ways.

I became more and more experienced myself in other matters of my cave as well. Others sought me out to share that experience, and some of my own good ideas, too; and so I was proud. We even shared those ideas with other caves or tribes of the plains. In my own cave, I was recognized as someone good to follow–and others who sought to learn from my example, who followed me, who saw what I saw and did what I did.

It was a simple life. Hard but good.

Then, a stronger cave combined forces with another cave or tribe came and took our land with our natural resources, and many of our people. It made that cave stronger and us weaker. Only a few of us survived, and we started again. As one who was more experienced, I became one of the leaders. We found new land and new resources, and others like us, or those with another clan or tribe looking for a chance to do more for themselves –too make us strong again. And, we were.

We are strong and get stronger everyday. We stand up to the clan/tribe that defeated us before, and they regard us with respect; they dare not attack. They know we are smart. We find ways to work around each other, even together when we must. We map out territories; it works out well for everyone. We have even begun to send old and wise ones to teach them some of our new ways–especially if it helps both our clans. We have much to share. It is making us both solid and safe. It is our hope it will make us thrive as a people for a long time, and there will always be plenty.

The leaders must keep us secure. They know things. They must continue to be clever. That way we can always keep our people fed and healthy. The caves and the tribes all have smart people who learn what they need to learn. They seem to never stop. This, I think, is a good thing. We will survive and grow. We are a wise people.

Training changes you. It makes you better for the company and you can never get away. They won’t let you; you’ve become too valuable to lose to a competitor. Sure it makes it easier for you to do your job, but it makes you think of more things that make you even more invaluable to the company; it makes more work for you–okay, and more money, promotions-therefore responsibility, and prestige or reputation. Credibility. Can you handle it?

A little different approach, I admit. But don’t you get the feeling that sometimes it’s just so obvious–that it’s all around us, waiting for us to take advantage? The survival skills we learned in prehistoric times are still valid–only we have labels. See another article of mine, What Would the Cave Man DO: How We learned All We Know About Training. Training is not just part of a job; it’s part of life and survival of the fittest. The fittest are those who keep learning when you don’t have time to wait millions of years for evolution to kick in. Sorry, Darwin.

Please check out my other articles here on the subjects of training and communication. I love credibility in the workplace, seeing good plan come together, and I love seeing people who love their jobs. Specialists are great, but thinking outside the clichéd box belongs to those specialists and others, who are always willing to learn, always looking for connections; they are the cave man learners of today. I also have a website where my views go beyond training and development. I co-exist in another world of performance criticism and commentary as you’ll find on my website. Look under WHAT I SAY. You’d be surprised how these worlds intersect. Communication is after all, communication. The best communicators can sell anything or not have to. Our job is only part of who we are. Now, where did I put my spear…

For a different approach to what training is good for, check out this article by Robert Bacal, of Bacal and Associates: Training — Ugh! What is it good for?

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For more resources about training, see the Training 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.

We have to understand and cater to our worker needs now more than ever for a company to be successful. I’ve been mulling over this for some time–since I received the following comment:

In the past few years the training field perhaps more than any other has been undergoing tremendous transition and evolution–from a warm-and-fuzzy function housed in an office all the way down the hall to a strategically aligned business unit to…what? First lets review why training unequivocally has arrived as a profession…

I believe it was my job as a teacher of “fuzzy” subjects, as now, to take those “warm and fuzzy” subjects and demonstrate their relevance in the real world. When you’re a teenager, even a smart one, you still see the world in black and white. I probably won’t surprise you that I delighted in getting my college students to see the gray areas and venture out in the colorful creative world.

Funny thing. We admire those heroes who think outside the organization protocols; if what they do benefit us, we are happy.

These heroes do not see black and white, but many shades of gray or even color; in some cases they see more of the real world we do not. I’d be willing to bet they are more than engineers, scientists, or business strategists; they are Renaissance men and women. They understand people and behavior, and they understand how they interact with one another.

Where did they get this wisdom? They may have learned the business and corporate side of an issue, but underneath it all is communication, plain and simple, as well as philosophy and psychology, and the arts (how we humans behave in a variety of situations), which we know was here long before discussion of management as we know it today, and I might even be willing to bet some of the principles we so admire in that field may have come from philosophy.

As for problem solving, decision making and leadership you have to go back much further.

So, “training unequivocally has arrived as a profession,” not today, but long before there was even such a thing as business management. See my article on “What Would A Caveman DO?” You may not like the idea that training may be “a strategically aligned business unit.” It doesn’t elevate the status of a “warm and fuzzy” to the cold, empirical world of business, does it? A hundred or so years ago, business could be just calculating and its only worries were profits and growth. Today the business world is different. It’s more sophisticated, more complex and based more on human ingenuity–human engineering–many different people and their innovations. There’s also a “warm and fuzzy” unit called customer service. Our people who work for us have to be motivated to work, and people have to want to deal with us as a company. It’s not just about survival–at least not what we usually think of as survival.

As we became bigger than a series of teams and become individuals working alone or sporadically in different teams, we began to work different projects with different people and stopped looking after one another. It became important to communicate well to make sure our orders were understood; it became important to have the entire company follow the boss’ vision.

We compartmentalized, and with compartmentalizing we put functions in separate areas so we could concentrate people on what they did best. Sometimes the compartments become disconnected through no fault of their own because they appear not to have a valid function. I worked at Air Force Logistics Command (that’s what it was called then), and wrote feature articles for the command news service. We had so 90,000 people in the command with more than 7,000 in the headquarters building alone. You could argue the Pentagon had more “compartments,” but I doubt it. The easiest way to get a story was to walk into an office at random and ask what they did there. Compartmentalization had gone so far as to make them lonely for attention even though I’m sure they had important jobs.

Like public relations, you may not think you need them until there is a crisis. Training has the ability to be a part of the organization because it deals with keeping people proficient and happy in their jobs; it promotes the company’s future without depending on sales, bonuses and profits.

If the term offends, don’t call it training. If it makes workers wary, call it something else. I’ve always liked “professional development” or even “personal development.” In the past, smart big companies someone or several people served those functions–maybe not in the same compartmentalized way as we do now, but they were aligned to business interests at the top.

My own definition of training is broad. Most activities I call training are as benign to you as reading email, reading a magazine on a related subject, listening intently at a staff meeting. These are all a part of continuous training. Our assessments tell the managers what is needed on the human resource side of things, our training plans tell us where we are going and how long it will take to get there, and if we have to hire more people.

Cathy Missildine-Martin, SPHR, of Intellectual Capital Consulting, has been a Human Resources specialist for more than 20 years. She knows how important it is for HR to be a part of the whole business picture–and that includes training. She is often asked by college students about why get into HR. I love her enthusiasm, and I think you’ll see some similarities in our answers:

1. Our company led a strategic boot camp in Atlanta a few weeks ago. It was an all day event spent working on linking organizational strategy to HR activities. It was awesome. I saw HR professionals from some of our biggest companies, from government and education and small business, roll up their sleeves and really get the “hard-stuff.” The conversations were awesome and each person was truly speaking the language of their business.
2. I see a lot of interest around metrics and analysis from HR professionals. As this work is my passion, I see the demand rising for this type of knowledge. Our C-Suite demands data and HR is gearing up to deliver. Brilliant!
3. Gone are the days just talking about being strategic and business partners and table sitters. I am so glad as I was so tired of those conversations. I now hear conversations around real business topics like how to drive strategy and how to make sure the workforce is as productive as it can be. Love it!

“So my message is this…Go into HR but go in with a business perspective. Lead the change, and make a difference. People being productive at work is the end game and HR can impact whether that gets done….or not!”

I’m sure, depending on your business size, training and development may not play a direct part all the time, but it certainly plays an important part. Remember, public relations and customer service? Someone has to consider issues other than business, but they are important issues that affect business, aren’t they?

Well, those are my thoughts on the subject. Applying what I know, coupled with some guesswork. We don’t have time for a history lesson, but if you have more information on the subject and care to share, please add your comments below. We can always learn from a good dialogue. If you want to know more about humble me and my thoughts on other subjects, besides training and development, check out my website. Thanks for taking the time to read this commentary and don’t hesitate to add your own.

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For more resources about training, see the Training 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.

The Need: Training for Change ~

Marsh & McLennan Companies put out a white paper on Strategic Organization Design: An Integrated Approach

In the paper it states “every industry and business sector, competition continues to intensify. New players are suddenly changing the basic rules of the game with new products, technologies, distribution patterns, and business models. To succeed, leaders must understand the concepts and learn the skills involved in designing their organizations in ways that will unleash and maximize these core capabilities.”

Senior organizational leaders are constantly facing the need to restructure their organizations. That means changes. Changes in leadership, shifts in strategy, or other needed within an organization, creating the need for reorganizing. While organization design is one senior managers’ most powerful tools for changing the direction of their organizations, it can’t work without everyone being on board. Only then can it be a key in directing attention and energy to certain critical activities in an organization.

Organizational leaders, however, often lack the totally objective ability to go about it. It seems they know how to structure their organizations, but it’s not a one -person job. According to the Marsh and McLennan white paper:

“Efforts at restructuring are often uneven and unsystematic. Decisions to reorganize are often made with insufficient information and without a clear process to guide the effort. The result is that reorganizations often fail to produce the desired effects, leading instead to further confusion or problems within the organization.”

How does training fit into all this? Changes big and small must be made for a restructuring or reorganization to work. Ultimately no one can be left out. People need to accept change wholeheartedly for it to work. It is the disgruntled, misinformed employees especially among key staff, giving lip service to your ideas, that will bring it down or make it ineffective.

I have seen reorganization that involved only senior staff and the result was a long-term disaster, leaving not only organizational staff confused but also key partners and stakeholders. Clients were frustrated. Keeping as few key personnel as possible in the initial process is not such a bad idea, but there is one key I would not leave out. The training director, who will be invaluable when it comes to moving the entire organization to the implementation process with minimal difficulty and buy-in.

Granted there will always be issues when change comes into play, but leave that to those who can soft-pedal notion of change because that is what’s really bothering them–not the re-organization itself.

Change is more than just about immediate concrete changes. Let someone qualified in change to keep an eye on the personnel needs to deal with change; the training director should have a key role in analyzing those needs going into the process. Assuming the training director has a fair degree of autonomy within the company, he or she should understand how the company operates–if not the training director’s job just got more complicated. The same goes for public relations, public information, employee relations, and corporate communication.

Strategic Organization Design is a four-phase participative process intended to provide senior leaders with a systematic, step-by-step method for examining the structure of their organizations. The four-phases are as follows:

• Preliminary Analysis
• Strategic Design
• Operational Design
• Implementation

The preliminary analysis involves the collection of information necessary for making design decisions. Once you have accomplished the preliminary analysis. I am assuming it involves a participatory process providing for a systematic, step-by-step method for examining the structure of the organization.

The process should involve facilitation as a means of including participative training and gaining buy-in. Facilitated interviews are conducted focusing on the strategy of the organization, the key tasks being performed and current strengths and weaknesses of the organization. Some like to use the term, “structured” interviews, but I think that leaves opportunities for others to say just what you want them to say. With objective facilitation, more of the truth comes out. Not that your people are trying to deceive you, they are trying to be team players. That, of course, doesn’t help at this stage of the game when you are looking for flaws in current organizational design. Operational design involves the structuring of supervisory roles, information flows, and jobs within the context of the strategic design decisions. Implementation involves managing the transition from the current design to a new design.

Training or informing of those changes is a critical role the trainer can simplify. It most likely will involve key staff, including the CEO. If everything comes down from the top, it will be disputed–especially if the employees feel they weren’t consulted along the way; again, that’s the job of training, public information even an employee representative.

If you do nothing else, enlist the aid of training to start a campaign of adapting to change; that, at least, will tell people change is coming and how to cope with it. Knowledge of the some of the options won’t hurt a thing and might help. You might have a genius out there who sees what you and your senior staff do not–maybe a process so simple it elicits a, “Gee, why didn’t I think of that.” Yet, another good reason to them involved.

While an employee representative sounds perfect, be careful. You most definitely need information on the employee impact of the union to your plan, but you also want to work out solutions beneficial to management and employees before implementation. Training and public relations can help since it is their jobs to communicate the right message.

To get people thinking about change, hold a good idea contest, with the winner getting some time off or a bonus, for the most innovative idea for moving forward with the reorganization. Now you’ve stimulated the employees, maybe even excited them with the prospect of change. If your changes involve letting personnel go, a box as for suggestions on dealing with that issue might be useful to generate ideas while letting everyone know that is not the primary goal of the reorganization.

Marsh and McLennan Companies also have white paper on Using Organizational Assessment to Lead Change.

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For more resources about training, see the Training library.

For more information on training development or delivery, presentation development or presenting, speech development or speaking, check out my website. Please feel free to comment. I’m open to all views. My own views of training are influenced by a background in psychology and communication as much as my experience as a national training developer and trainer. My views are my own and I hope that I stimulate ideas in the course of presenting them. 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. I look forward to hearing from you.

In response to one of my articles, someone asked me, “Since when did training become part of a company’s success strategy?” Or, something like that. I think it was when companies started giving employees the freedom to control their professional destinies. At least that was when it became necessary. Before then, employees were told every move and how hard to work to keep their jobs. If you depend on people to do their jobs without a whip or club of losing their jobs–if you don’t need to motivate them to do what you need them to do, or don’t care if your employees contribute extra and unique ideas to the success of the company, I guess you don’t need training to be part of that equation.

Once people know their jobs, it is critical to maintain that level of proficiency, hopefully without whip or club, through continuous learning. I never gave the that training label much thought, and a definition here is really unnecessary. It’s perfectly stated, at least the way I see it. There are no steps because we are doing it continuously. We don’t take steps. Every article I write on training belongs under the Continuous Learning category. Why? Because if we hold a job–any job really, or we are involved with training in any way, learning to do our jobs better, maintaining our competitive edge, we need continuous learning. It’s not just about reading the latest journals. Even reading our emails that have nothing directly to do with our jobs contribute to our continuous learning.

If you believe that you have to sign up for additional training courses, refresher courses, enrichment courses, education courses to be completing your “continuous learning” requirement, I think you would be mistaken. In times of plenty it was so easy to use that avenue to check it off the training list. The trainers said you had to have it, and that was one way to take care of the requirement, and, of course, there were and still are, plenty of peddlers who will sell it to you online, too. Was it so easy that way that we have become complacent in seeking out other kinds of sources? There are other sources for learning everywhere you look–that is, if you’re looking for them.

Actually, it’s even easier than you think. We even have some free sources we can turn to as well, and some as useful, depending on how we use them. What if your company can’t afford to buy the commercial products or services? That’s a reality in today’s market. We trainers certainly want the business as much as anyone, but there are ways we can recommend that are free that can help in tough times. Anything that helps us stay current, consider other options, reflect on best practices or failed practices is worth learning. While paid “extra” training is nice, it’s sometimes just not practical or affordable to everyone in business. An employee who shows initiative in seeking out expertise, knowledge, etc., that will help him or her do a better job can only look good to his superiors. Continuous learning opportunities abound right in front of you, and those are the ones most overlooked.

Everything related to what you do for a living is reflected everyday in the media. An article talking about the current economic trends so common today mentions your particular type of business, or related business. That’s information you can add to your knowledge of what it is you do. It’s important to know how to relate what you do to the world around you. In talking about training and development, and education in general, we have to talk about the world of work. Educators need to know what companies want so they can prepare students to enter the world of work. That’s your world. Some great scholarly knowledge or research might just be waiting for you to add to your professional knowledge repertoire.

Not only does the news and information media provide learning, but so do the social and professional networks. They are filled with perspectives, best practices and good ideas we can use. Twitter can be a wealth of knowledge if you check out the links. Granted, sometimes these links are filled with “selling points,” but even what someone else is selling and how they are selling it can be important. Get in the social and professional mix by throwing in your expertise and opinions, ask questions, and build professional relationships with others in similar positions in similar companies. You never know what expertise will be yours for free. It’s bound to make your job more enjoyable. Problem solve, exchange ideas. The networking, useful in so many ways, is a bonus.

If you have read many of my articles here, or others on my website, you’ll notice I am always looking for connections. And, with my diverse background my connections may seem far afield, and yet, I am amazed at how so much connects. Now, I’m not trying to be the smartest kid in the class, or the one with the most knowledge on everything; I’m always looking for ways to do my job better. Continuously learning and noting new information (at least being aware of it) is essential to demonstrating you are on top of your game. This includes making connections with material you come across in related areas. I’m sure you’ll agree that not knowing so and so at Company X was doing this truly innovative practice and his company was getting tons of notice is not a way to impress your boss. Knowing similar approaches that might work for your product or service, or the mere fact you have explored these other avenues makes you look good.

I’m always interested in what you have to say. Never know when you will spark an idea for a new blog–one you’ll appreciate. Don’t agree with my point of view? give us you. I’m all about communication and networking. I’ll probably ask to connect with you on LinkedIn. For more articles that reach as far as business applications communication and performance skills, please check out my website. Also, check out my site if you need training developed or a program presented? Let’s chat. I mean what I say when I say my place or yours; have passport, will travel. All you have to do is pay travel and expenses. For reasonable market prices, you get guy who’s passionate about communicating, who looks at motivating people to love what they do and to love training. I love a good challenge. I’m the guy who said “you could train people to read minds“–almost. I also said I’ll “make your mission impossible an affair to remember.” I’ll work with your trainers, staff, executives at any level to get the job done. Oh, and did I say I’m a believer in continuous learning?

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For more resources about training, see the Training 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 multiple recent posts, I discussed techniques for building training that is more likely to result in actual learning. And while I believe that effective training is an investment that will yield a very positive ROI for companies, organizations cannot ignore where the majority of actual learning takes place. The majority of learning in an organization is a result of informal interactions. Employees learn by observation and dialogue with peers, leaders, managers and others. They learn limits by watching reactions of their supervisors and the consequences that come with pushing the limits. It is also within these same interactions with peers, leaders and managers that can make or break the learning transfer after a training session. So while training and HR departments are building programs to develop skill sets or improve performance, the real change happens in the culture. And the culture is built by all those interactions and observations that occur “back on the job.”
Company culture is a powerful thing.

. It teaches employees what is acceptable and what is not.
. It overwrites the handbook and all the training sessions.
. It serves as the check point for employees when making decisions in the trenches of the job.
. It takes blame for failed programs.
. It drives behaviors.

HR and Training Professionals who fail to consider the culture in the organization will also continue to fail to execute the programs they spend hours developing.
If you are thinking, “I can’t control the culture” Get out of HR.
If you are thinking, “I am only one person. How can I control the culture?”
Then start where you are. What culture are you modeling? What behaviors are you supporting? What do you choose to ignore and what do you choose to freak out about?
Employees learn what is acceptable by watching reactions and consequences. Not by handbooks. Use that to build the culture that drives the behaviors that drive the business and you’ll get and keep your seat at the table.

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For more resources, See the Human Resources library.

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In training, using what tools and methods work in any given environment has to be what we are about. While e-Learning design is certainly not my specialty, it is the specialty of Tobias Jedlund, winner of the Best eLearning Designer award, who is my guest blogger today. You can reach Tobias at Tobias.Jedlund@redvector.com.

What follows is an interview between Tobias and the award’s organizers, Maestro eLearning.

Q. What kind of eLearning work do you do?

My day typically consists of course development. The duties that go along with that include writing, organizing, and arranging content. Once the content is organized, I develop supporting interactions, graphics, animation, audio, and video elements.

Other parts of my day may include maintenance, review, and supporting co-workers in course development and other multimedia needs. Currently I am spending the majority of my time incorporating audio into our courses.

Q. What are some of your trustiest resources?

• Photos.com
• FlashKit.com
• Lynda.com
• theElearningCoach.com
• Lectora’s user community
• Websites: just about anything that I come across that inspires me (colors, interaction, layouts, navigation, designs)
• Design books for web, graphic, media, and art
• Personal sketches/drawings

Q. How about tools? What are some of your most useful e-Learning tools?

• Lectora
• Adobe Photoshop, Flash, Captivate, Media Encoder, Premiere, and Acrobat
• Microsoft Office
• Audacity
• Snag-it
• iMovie
• Quicktime

Q. For course development, how do you organize your content? What’s your process?

After receiving the content I go through the following steps:

1. Determine target audience and purpose of the course.
2. Read through the content to gain an understanding of the material.
3. Create learning objectives.
4. Break up content into manageable sections and chapters. I typically create an outline.
5. Using the outline as a guide, I begin laying out the text in our development tool. Essentially I am creating a storyboard.
6. As I am laying content out, I make notes regarding images, interaction, page design, and media elements.
7. Review the content and make adjustments to text as needed.
8. Create and develop all the graphics, images, interactivity, and multimedia content.
9. Create checkpoint questions.
10. Review course and make any final edits/updates.

One thing that I am passionate about is visuals. My background is media production and that is what got me into Instructional Design. I am currently working on a visual arts degree and one of my goals is to successfully integrate visual art theories and design into the eLearning environment.

Online courses have to compete for attention in a world of 3D movies, phone apps, and social media. As online media continues to evolve, learners demand an ever-increasing level of style and engagement in every interaction. They are expecting a “wow” factor, so the challenge for instructional designers becomes how to create courses with high engagement and visual impact that still deliver the highest quality content to meet course objectives. There needs to be a balance so that visuals enhance the transfer of knowledge instead of hindering it.

I truly believe that there needs to be a shift from the way eLearning is presented. I look forward to the future of eLearning and the challenges that this industry will have.

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For more resources about training, see the Training library.

About the Interviewer

Maestro eLearning is a customer service company in the business of creating custom online training courses. They’re collaborating with industry professionals to deliver more value in their series “Trainer Talks.” If you would like to participate in an interview or suggest an interview candidate, perhaps a top-performing employee or a brilliant colleague, contact genatyalor@maestroelearning.com.

For more information on a multitude of different approaches and viewpoints on training and development as well as other practical topics about businesses, nonprofit and government organizations, look to this blog and The Free Management Library. For more information on the Blog Host, (Jack Shaw), and other articles I have written on related subjects, please check out my website. By all means, if you are a guest blogger in your own right and have something to say, please let me know at jshaw2040@yahoo.com.

Feel free to disagree with my point of view and provide your own if you are so inclined. There’s plenty of room for different opinions and gives us balance. Also, if you have a topic you’d like to hear more about, let me know. A discussion you’d like to get several points of view? I like to keep it lively and interesting.

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.