Posts Tagged ‘training class’

An Instructors Life (Behind the Scenes)

November 15th, 2010 - by Angela

behind-the-curtain1The other day I was speaking with someone about what it is like to do corporate training.  She said that it must be a great job since I just need to show up, teach, and leave.  Initially, I was a bit frustrated but then immediately realized that I had a teachable moment right before me. I tried to explain some of the things that go into a training class. 

I was surprised that someone would think that is all a teacher does, but then realized that if someone has never taught before, they might not know. My friend had never been on my side of the training class, so I should try to explain it so that she would be better informed. My friend’s statement was just one of lack of knowledge.  She really did not know all of the preparation and work that goes into a single training session. From the outside I can see how it might look like that is all that the teacher/trainer does. 

Wanting her to be able to see all of the effort that goes into a training class, I started by telling her about the content selection and organization that goes on when the class is initially scheduled.  I next described how we worked with the client to determine the needs for the class location.  Sometimes there are special circumstances that must be dealt with, so I shared a few examples with her. 

Before the training class happens, the trainer talks to the client in to make sure that everything is customized and fits the client’s needs. The lesson files are made available for any workstations that need to be loaded or are sent to the students.  The instructor prepares for the class by going over the book or materials to be utilized. For most of my classes, I make sure that I look up the company and try to think about the examples that I can use to make the content relevant to the client.

On the day of training, the instructor arrives early to make sure everything is set up properly.  The instructor fields questions and helps students during the class.  After the class, the trainer will look over evaluations and also submit those to Versitas to be analyzed, summarized and sent on to the client.  I enjoy reading comments from students who share constructive and useful feedback.

After our conversation, my friend said that she was surprised by all of the things that go on behind the scene.  She said that she would appreciate her training classes more now that she knew all that went into them. After reading this, I hope that you appreciate all that goes into your next training class, too!

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Training and the Bottom Line

November 16th, 2009 - by Angela

bottomline4In my reading, I ran across a great quote that really got me to thinking about training and its costs/benefits.  The article was by a workshop facilitator who said something that I had heard before but was glad to be reminded of again.  Her statement was, “What if you train them and they leave?  What if you don’t and they stay?” 

I’ve heard some corporations say that they don’t train people because they will just leave and use that knowledge to help a competitor.  I think the above quote is a very good argument against that type of thinking.  Training can be a large expense for a corporation.  From my experience, it is definitely worth the cost.  In my own life, I can see the time savings after learning how to do something better or faster after participating in a training class.

Outside of my own experiences as a trainee, I’ve seen it happen many, many times as a trainer, too. Once when I was teaching a Versitas Advanced Excel class at a corporation, I showed the students how to setup and run a macro.  I heard a gasp come from one woman after we had gone through these steps.  I immediately went over and asked her if everything was okay.  She said she was about to cry because she was so happy.  That made my day! 

She went on to tell me that she had to format a report that was downloaded from a database 2-3 times every week.  She would spend at least 2 hours each time formatting the report (deleting columns, adjusting numbers to a custom style, etc.).  If she set up a macro to do those steps for her, it would save her about 4-6 hours each week!! 

I thought about how much those 4-6 hours each week could save the corporation she worked for over the period of a year.  If she made $25 an hour (I’m guessing here since I don’t know her salary) times 4 hours each week times 50 weeks, that would be $5,000 in savings!  The training class for the whole group of 10 people would not have cost that much.  So, for one person alone, that training class paid for itself to the corporation in terms of its bottom line.  Not to mention how much time the other participants in the class were able to save the company with the new skills they learned.

But, there’s more.  The lady came back for the afternoon part of the training class. She had been so excited that she had shown her co-workers how to do the macro during lunch. The other co-workers did the same report she did each week. She had told her supervisor about it, too.  She was happy because she could now spend more time each week following up with vendors, which she had not had time to do in the past.

In the training industry it is sometimes hard to quantify or put an amount on how much training contributes to the bottom line for a corporation.  This example, though, made me realize that corporations cannot afford not to train.  Not only does training save employees time (which saves the corporation money), it makes for a happier, more loyal workforce.

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Challenges in the Classroom

October 19th, 2009 - by Angela

From time to time, I have a challenging student in my training class. I generally don’t encounter that many in my Versitas classes.  However, earlier this year, I had two students in one class that required extra attention and care.  One student was constantly asking very complex, “stump the teacher” kinds of questions.  The other student was making frequent comments about each topic/task we covered.  Since the class was an Intermediate level, I knew to expect a range of knowledge and abilities.  Dealing with a diverse group of students is something that I am pretty familiar with in the classroom.  These two students, though, provided extra “fun” in my classroom that day.    

 

Throughout the course of the training day, I used almost all of the tools/tips that I knew of to keep the effect of these students to a minimum.  Since that class, I have told the story to other trainers in order to get their ideas on other ways to deal with students that create disruptions.  I didn’t ask the trainers to complain about the students, but as a learning opportunity to add new tools to my “challenging student” arsenal. 

 

Here are a few of those tools/tips that I have accumulated over the years.  Usually the tips work best if I spend a few moments at the beginning of the class to set the right expectations.

 

1. Question Parking Lot:  During my introductory remarks at the beginning of a training session, I tell the students about the “question parking lot” on the board.  When a student asks a question that will take more than a simple answer, I write the question on the board and explain that the question will be answered during a break or at the end of the training session.  That way questions are encouraged but are not disruptive if the questions are too specific/complex.

 

2. “Thank you” response: Most student comments are very useful and can add so much to a training class.  However, when a student is commenting too much, it can be disruptive to the class.  When I find that I have a student who comments frequently, I usually say “Thank you” and quickly move on to the next item.  I’ve learned not to add anything to what the student has said to fuel the fire for more comments. After a few of these simple thank you’s after the comments, the student often gets the hint. 

 

3. Direct questions: When I have students who talk or whisper to each other during class, I’ve found that direct questions are a great tool.  When they begin talking to each other, I ask one of them a direct question about the topic we are covering or about how they could use this in their current job position. This technique draws them back into the class and often helps immediately with the talking.

 

4. Cell phone demonstration:  At the beginning of each class, I make a point of going over and turning my cell phone to quiet mode right after the opening remarks in the class.  Most of the times I’ve already turned it to quiet mode, but go through the motions so that students see me doing it.  That starts a chain reaction as I watch many other students checking their phones. 

 

I thought this blog entry would be a great way to solicit other ideas.  Feel free to reply in the comments section with your ideas for how you make your training classes (or meetings) run smoothly.

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