Ivana Miklovič

Training for success

A Guide for Novice Trainers

Sample

Author: Ivana Miklovič

Published in: Bratislava

Publisher: GtoG

Year of publishing: 2015

ISBN: 978–80– 972012-0-3

Translation: Katarína Jones Juríková, Sean Jones

Illustrations: Michal Žák

Graphic editing: Dalibor Žuffa

First edition.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles or critical reviews.

Ordering information:

Tel.: +421 908 173059

Website:

www.gtog.eu

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

To my husband

I thank him for the initial idea and the impulse for writing this book as well as for providing me with the necessary time and space for its creation.

To my parents

I express deep gratitude for everything they have done for me and for everything they armed me with for life.

I am grateful to the trainers who showed nothing but patience with me and who led me through the ins and outs of a trainer’s work. To the companies I had the opportunity to be an asset for. To the participants who helped me grow. To my business mentor who armed me with my entrepreneurial thinking. And lastly, to all those who stood by me during my personal and professional development.

PRAISE FOR Training for Success

• “Ivana has written a treasure trove of practical ideas, hints and tips, and best practice – coming from her substantial hands-on experience as a trainer over many years.  Any novice trainer would benefit a great deal from reading and applying the lessons here.” Kimberley Hare, Founder and Managing Director Kaizen Training

• “A good cooking book alone will not turn you into a good chef. But the kind of book .Ivana presents here can everybody willing to follow the steps by step description enable to produce a decent menu in the field of training”. Thomas Diener, Trainer, Coach, Owner FairWork GmbH

• “I regard working with Ivana positively from various angles – foremost, there was a complete understanding of our needs. Tied to that was the flawlessly prepared content of the training covering exactly the sensitive areas of development required for experienced salespeople. Lastly, is the fact that my colleagues actually use the acquired skills in their work. I thank Ivana for her approach, professionalism, and an unbelievable desire to continuously push our people to progress”. Dominika Miklášová, HR Director Edenred

• „Working with Ivana was great from the very beginning – from defining the objectives of the workshop through to its actual execution. We thoroughly appreciate Ivana’s pro-customer attitude, her dynamics, and the way she introduced new trends, which Ivana follows continuously. Ivana is very professional and she is an expert in the area in which she is conducting the training. The participants’ feedback was wonderful; they considered the workshop to have been one the best they had ever attended. I cannot recommend working with Ivana strongly enough. We, in Dell, will look forward to other future specialty workshops“. Silvia Jelenikova,  Lead & HR Director Dell Bratislava

INTRODUCTION

Do you know the story of Christopher Columbus? The following situation supposedly took place in Spain, shortly after Columbus’s return from his exploratory travels. Some were questioning the importance of Columbus’s role in his discoveries, taunting him with the words: “Anyone could have done that with just a little thought.”

How did Columbus react? As a reply to their remarks, he asked one of the envious doubters to stand an egg on its tip without it falling. No one could do it. Everyone claimed that it simply wasn’t possible. Columbus then took the egg, tapped it gently and stood it on its tip with no problems. He looked at the onlookers proudly and said: “Once a person acquires the know-how, a task becomes truly easy.”

The same applies to leading a training session.

Have you ever been in the situation of observing someone at work thinking to yourself that you could manage their work just as easily? Or, after crossing a bridge, you suddenly feel that it wasn’t as easy as it had initially seemed?

When something appears easy, it is very probable that the person doing the task has gone through a thorough and in-depth preparation. Everything went smoothly thanks to the prior steps that the person had taken.

Why was this book written?

I have participated in many training sessions, led by both Slovaks and foreigners. Initially everything amazed me because almost everything was new for me. However, as time passed, I came across more and more moments when, instead of bringing away a large amount of information from these events, I would only absorb a few nuggets. There is nothing wrong with this but I started to feel that if those who were leading the training sessions had made a few slight changes regarding their methodology they would have achieved far greater results.

I am thus sharing with you what I have learnt on my way to mastering the art of lecturing, what I have learnt from my mistakes, constant improvements regarding training, and my continuous experimentation with new techniques … truly the best from what I know.

What is this book about?

The book offers a glimpse behind the curtains of working as a trainer. It will reveal to you the methodological principles of a trainer’s work. It analyses the different phases of a training session as well as providing a step-by-step guide on what to do in each one. Additionally, it is filled with countless tips that can be used in practice.

First you have to know the rules.

Only later can you break them.

Although this book mostly uses the term training (or rather, the broader term educational event), the information contained here can be used while preparing workshops, seminars, courses or any other educational event.

The organization of the book more or less mirrors the systematic approach to education as such: from the analysis of educational needs, through objective setting and design of the educational event, to the final evaluation.

1

EDUCATIONAL NEEDS ANALYSIS

Let’s start with a short exercise. Try to answer the following question as fast as you can:

What comes to mind when someone asks you to create a training session on the topic of “Communication”?

How do you answer?

Do you immediately start planning the content of the training knowing exactly what you are going to train the participants in?

Or does your mind suddenly become flooded with a stream of questions aimed at figuring out what exactly the person who asked you to create the training needs from you?

If you answered yes to the second question, congratulations.

If you answered yes to the first question then I have several additional questions for you: How do you know what is supposed to change as a result of the training? How do you know what is exactly meant by “communication”? How do you know what the participants are supposed to do differently after the training?

... you might have already guessed what we are going to deal with in the following section.

What is the educational needs analysis useful for?

It is very similar to the work of a doctor. If a doctor is to propose a treatment that will truly help a patient, they need to first find out what the trouble is and come up with a correct diagnosis. The same can be applied to a training session. If you imagine that a given educational event is supposed to act as a treatment for a current condition, then what first needs to be figured out is what precisely should be different after the training.

At the beginning there is always a certain desire to achieve different results, a need to change something. On the other hand, there is dissatisfaction with the current situation. The needs analysis is the process that investigates specifically what should be changed.

An educational needs analysis is a series of activities aimed at identifying the difference between the current and the desired state, and determining the most appropriate educational activity. In layman’s terms we could say that an educational needs analysis is about figuring out

• what the current problem is

• how the situation should look after the problem has been solved

• the most appropriate method for solving the problem

When carrying out the educational needs analysis we are essentially mirroring what happens in the doctors office. If you went to the doctor and all they asked for was some basic preliminary information (e.g. a knee pain), after which you were prescribed a simple ointment, it is quite possible that they would not be treating the real cause of the problem and the prescribed ointment would probably be of no help. If a doctor is really going to help you they need to find out your complete medical history through a series of questions, and then based on all the available information they can design an effective treatment.

Is the educational needs analysis necessary?

While the educational needs analysis is important, when it comes to designing the training session often it is not done thoroughly enough. Why not? In most cases the reason is because its importance and benefits are underestimated.

Real life examples.

First example:

I get a phone call: “Iva we have an interesting client. His people have already had all sorts of training sessions, but he is willing to invest more in their education.”

I ask: “Great, and what kind of problem do they need to solve?”

The answer: “They didn’t tell me that. We are supposed to come up with a proposal that will pique the client’s curiosity.”

Second example:

In my work, I am often met with a refusal when I ask people involved in preparing an educational event to, for example, send out a questionnaire identifying the future participants’ needs. The most common arguments being a lack of time, that their superior wouldn’t agree to it, that they cannot burden the future participants with such stuff…

Nonsense? Unfortunately, this is an everyday reality.

The more accurate the educational needs analysis, the more precise the “gun shot”. If accuracy is lacking then there is a likelihood that the participants are going to receive training they do not necessarily need, while, furthermore, a key side of their personal development will remain “untreated.” They might undergo training when another form of personal development support would have been more appropriate; for the organization this means wasting money on training that is superfluous to their aims and goals. The trainer might discover this only during the actual training session, in which case it depends on their flexibility regarding redesigning the prepared session to please all the interested parties …

A well-done educational needs analysis is a smart investment from the organization’s side, saving both time and money, while working to solve a real problem.

If training is the answer,

then what is the question?

Which areas to look at?

Let’s talk about how the educational needs analysis should look. The process of such an analysis is based on the gradual collection of information from different angles and viewpoints. As the organization’s results depend ultimately on the performance of both the individuals within various departments and the departments themselves, the needs of the training and the organization are closely interrelated.

It does not matter if a client comes to you with a concrete request (e.g. we want training focused on sales skills) or a general one (e.g. we want to train our people); you should always develop the identification of the needs through all three above mentioned sections.

Do not forget that it is always about trying to figure out where the participants are now (as a company, a department…) and where they are supposed to be in the future in terms of knowledge, skills, attitudes…

The conclusion of the whole analysis should be a clear view of the objective of the training and what should be different afterwards.

• Department/Job position

The needs analysis often starts with a certain organizational unit or department (e.g. the sales department), or more precisely, with a specific job position (salespeople, assistants, etc.).

For example: “We want to re-train our salespeople.”

One of the first things is to clarify what the participants of the planned training truly need. It is best, at this point, to assume the role of a detective. Do not accept what the client initially tells you at face value, for example: “we need better sales skills”; dig a little deeper and investigate for yourself where the barriers and obstacles in the organization are and what the participants need to do in order to overcome them.

Here are several questions which can help you figure out the particular needs which require developing. This list is not systematic, it is merely meant to serve as database of possible questions.

• What was the impetus for the training request?

• What makes you conclude that the participants need training in a given area (e.g. communication skills)?

• What kind of training sessions have the participants already completed?

• What have they already achieved?

• What are their biggest shortcomings?

• Was there a situation in which it became apparent that a particular training session was required? If so, can you describe that situation? (Ask for a detailed description of a situation)

• How will you recognize that the participants learnt what they were supposed to/that they changed their attitudes?

• What would the situation look like if the training didn’t take place?

• What areas will the participants improve in after the training?

• What are they supposed to know upon returning to work?

• If the training is successful, what will you see, hear, or feel in a week, a month, six months…? Think about the results, not objectives, of the training.

• How will you judge whether or not the training was a success? How will the behavior of the participants be different?

• What is the added value of the training? (Again, ask for a very detailed description.)

• What will follow the training?

If the client is interested in some training, but does not have a concrete idea:

• What are the goals of the department/people in a given position for the near future (a year, five years)?

• What level is their knowledge and skills in these areas (interconnection to the goals)?

Lastly, it is important to think about the evaluation of the training – it is appropriate to agree with the client at the beginning on what form the final evaluation will take (see chapter 11).

• Exploring the organization’s needs

This is the area that is most often overlooked. However, ask yourself: if you don’t look at the bigger picture, how are you going to approach the vision and goals of the organization? You might successfully train people, but it will not have the desired effect - just as if you missed your target. You taught the participants something, but all that effort only brought you a fraction closer to your goal.

In this area you are looking at the vision and goals of the organization in order to later identify the gap between where the organization is currently and where it wishes to be in the future. You are also taking a look at the strengths and weaknesses of the organization, as well as opportunities and possible external threats.

O čo by ste sa mali hlavne zaujímať?

• What should you look at in particular?

• What is the organization’s vision?

• Where is the organization now in respect to its vision?

• Where is the organization heading? Where does it want to be in approximately five years’ time?

• What are the goals of the organization for the near future? How are they related to both the departmental and individual level?

• What changes are necessary in your area of work, on the market, or in your organization?

• How is this need materialized? What is your assumption for change based on?

• What are the trends in your area of business?

• What are the biggest external threats for you? What are you most afraid of?

• How did you deal with the situation up to now?

• What worked? What was successful? What was less successful?

• What is the highest priority for you? What part do you need to deal with first?

• What do you want to achieve with the training?

• What will be different, if the current situation is solved?

• What business results do you expect after the training?

• Where do you expect the results to be most visible? (sales, customers, profit,…)

• What will the outcomes for the organization be if the training is successful?

• Which of your business problems will be solved/which obstacles will be overcome?

• How will you measure the results? How will you measure the results using the four levels of the Kirkpatrick Evaluation Model? The four levels are: Reactions, Learning, Transfer, and Results (see Chapter 11).

• What measurable results could you build on?

Once the needs of the organization and a particular position have been identified, it often becomes clear which area one should focus on first.

In summary, the process is as follows: identifying needs of the organization as a whole > identifying needs on both the departmental and job position level > setting the objectives of the training > identifying the needs of an individual > training design.

The person who is commissioning the training usually analyzes the first two parts, obtaining the necessary information from human resources, their superiors, the organization’s boss…The remaining sections are dealt with by the person who is going to lead the training.

• Individual level

In this part, the trainer is gathering information directly from the participants who are going to attend the training. What usually happens is that based on either the organization’s or department’s needs, some main areas in which the participants are supposed to develop are identified (it is possible to prepare the content of the training after this). These areas are then presented to the participants, who, together with the trainer, look for ways to interconnect the prepared educational event with their own personal goals, providing the first mapping of the participants’ expectations. Based on the information sourced from the participants, the content of the training can be further modified.

If you don’t create a space for the participants to express their needs and expectations before the training, the likelihood is that they will do this at the actual training. In which case it will depend upon your flexibility to restructure and modify the content in a way that is satisfactory for them. Additionally, you can obtain a lot of valuable information based on the individual’s needs analysis:

• Whether the participants have any clue about the content of the training session they are about to attend (if they send you vague, non-concrete answers, you either did not formulate your questions correctly or someone did not give them sufficient information about the prepared event)

• How they are feeling, what drives them

• What topics many want to deal with and what, in their opinion, is the main point of the training.

How to go about investigating the needs of the future participants? You can observe them directly at their place of work, have a discussion with them, or map their attitudes, knowledge, and abilities through a questionnaire.

What areas to look at concretely?

• Have you previously attended a similar training session?

• If yes, what topics did you cover?

• How would you evaluate your skills in a given area? (e.g. stress management)

• What comes to mind in relation to this subject?

• What are your strengths in the area of…?

• In which specific situation did you tell yourself that you wanted to improve in …?

• How does this need materialize itself?

• In which area do you specifically need to improve yourself?

• What is most important for you at the moment? What is your priority in that area?

• When will you consider the training to have been useful? When will you be able to tell yourself that the training was beneficial for you?

• What are your expectations in regard to the training?

• Who could notice a change after your return from the training? And how? (describe a situation or a reaction)

• How will you know that you have improved?

• What will be different regarding your work after attending the training, what gaps are there currently?

• What barriers or obstacles could prevent you from achieving your goal?

If you stand back and look at the educational needs analysis from a distance, you will notice that what is happening is the convergence of three different types of needs: the organizations’ needs, the needs of a given position or department, and the individual’s needs. The area where these three needs overlap is what you are going to “treat.”

Which area to focus on?

After carrying out a thorough investigation while identifying the needs, you realize that one or possibly a combination of the following areas requires focusing on:

• Knowledge – the group is lacking certain information and knowledge (e.g. how to provide feedback). It is an area related to knowledge or intellectual skills (to know). The goal is insight into a given area.

• Skills – the participants are lacking the skills to apply theory practically (e.g. insert background music into a power point presentation). This area covers physical skills that include coordination of brain and muscular activity. It regards the specific abilities and skills of a participant.

• Attitudes – to change opinions, convictions, ideas in a certain matter (e.g. to sell a product which they themselves do not identify with). It includes feelings, emotions, a level of acceptance or rejection.

Real life example:

At one point I was asked to organize a training session focused on sales skills - a very current topic nowadays. Hm, but these people had already had two training events focused on sales skills. They had been acquainted with the sales process twice, from different viewpoints. They had done role-plays - twice. So why a third sales skills training session? Am I supposed to come up with some new developments in the sales industry?

I could not figure it out. I started to look for the reasons behind it. Why do they want more training on sales skills? I looked into it and looked into it until I finally figured it out – the salespeople know the process, they are just not doing the actual selling. They are afraid to close a sale.

Oh, so the problem is not in the area of knowledge – the steps to take to reach the aim. The problem is in the attitude and ideas that prevent them from completing the sale.

While the first two areas are more or less easy to change, attitudes provide more of a challenge. However, my experience has often shown me that unless there is a change in attitude then it is more difficult for a person to absorb new information or acquire new skills. You can only rarely change attitudes via a training session, but you can, at least, start the process.

What techniques can be used to obtain the necessary information?

There are many techniques you can use to conduct the educational needs analysis. Some of the most widely used are:

• a questionnaire

• observation in real life

• conversation

• work analysis (looking at all responsibilities)

• description of work (a list of duties)

• problems analysis (which of the employees’ duties do they have the most problems with and how could these be eliminated through training)

The acquired information forms a basis for determining the training’s objectives and content.

Recommendations based on experience

• If a client mentions several different goals they want to achieve during one training session, watch out! Try to agree on several separate sessions. I do not believe that it is possible to, for example, teach managers how to persuade their employees; how to be flexible in using different leadership styles; and how to solve conflicts, all in a single training session. Each of these topics requires time if it is to be dealt with in a thorough manner (and if the participants are really supposed to leave the training knowing how to use the given skill). If a client has too many requests for one training session, just ask them to prioritize.

• The description of the current state of affairs is often done in the form of problems. Make sure the description of the desired state is formulated in a positive way. Avoid focusing on what the client does not want; instead, focus on what they do want (often these two are worlds apart).

Example of an incorrectly defined objective for training:

To teach the participants not to be arrogant when dealing with claims.

Example of a correctly defined goal for training:

To teach the participants the techniques of dealing with claims in a businesslike manner.

• No matter what the client is complaining about, it is always a great opportunity for you - an opportunity to think up a solution for a “sore spot”.

We are rarely aware of this fact. An acquaintance was once telling me about her business negotiations in a company. She went there full of prepared training sessions which she wanted to offer them; however, the employee only complained about the people working there: how the staff expected everything to work the same as it always had, how they were anxious about changes happening in the company, how they complained about the workload.

My acquaintance left feeling disappointed because from all she had prepared nothing was suitable for them.

Maybe what she had prepared was not suitable. However, the employee was giving her amazing tips for possible training sessions: working under pressure, managing stressful situations, flexible thinking, ability to work in a changing environment. Simply beautiful! Only to prepare trainings covering these topics!

• The level of anonymity of the participants is often discussed. To whom are the participants supposed to send the questionnaires focused on identification of educational needs? If they are going to be sending them via, for example, Human Resources, the level of their honesty and openness will depend on the level of the parties’ reciprocal relationship and trust. In some cases it is more appropriate that they send them directly to you.

• Lastly – really focus on the following words and always keep them in mind:

You are here

to bring a solution!

2

THE OBJECTIVES OF THE TRAINING

The result of the needs analysis sets the objectives of the educational event. The objectives express the mission of the training, they provide the purpose of the training. Serving as a lighthouse they guide and help the trainer along the way making sure they stay on course regarding the final aim of the training.

If the following section is not your “cup of tea”, and you feel you can skip the methodology of effectively setting objectives then you should remember one key point from this chapter:

Whatever the content or activity of the training, you should always have a clear idea of why you are doing it, what objective you want to fulfill and what practical problem you want to solve.

How will clarification of the educational objectives benefit you?

The effort invested in setting the objectives of the educational event is time well spent. These objectives:

• Clarify what the participants will know after the training.

• Create a „how to“ manual for designing the training. This in turn helps the trainer focus on what the participants must learn and eliminate content that is unnecessary.

• Lead the trainer to choose the methods and tools, which will help attain the set objectives.

• Inform participants about the information and/or skills they will learn. The participants will take more responsibility for their own personal development if they know what is expected of them.

• Help the trainer in defining how to evaluate the results of the training.

• Offer information regarding the extent to which the set objectives were attained.

Before you start preparing a training session you have to ask yourself: Why am I doing this training? What is this training supposed to change? Once the answers to these questions are clear, you will be ready to set sail in the right direction.

Be careful! Do not forget this key fact: the cost of the educational event has to be reflected in the participant‘s development, thus returning back to the organization.

What levels require objective clarification?

Objectives are set on several levels:

• The organization’s objectives (“the business goals”)

Start by imagining yourself at the end of the training, looking backwards. You need to know the connection between what you are doing and the main objective – some kind of practical change. What specific change should there be in the organization’s results?

• The performance objectives

Participants most often attend training because they want to or should improve their work performance.

In some cases they have strictly defined work objectives which they are expected to fulfill and in such cases the training will help them to first achieve those objectives and secondly to achieve them more easily and effectively.

If the training is supposed to push the participants somewhere, the question is then– where? The answer is provided by the performance objective.

The performance objective is concerned with the area in which an individual is being evaluated (the amount of the sales concluded, finishing a concrete project, etc.). The person commissioning the training can provide you with information related to this objective.

Example of setting a performance objective:

• Based on a phone conversation, arrange a meeting with ten new clients every week.

• The objectives of the training

The objectives of the training itself are derived from the performance objectives, as well as the organization’s objectives. If training is a journey, then an objective is what arises at the end of it.

The objectives of the training express what is to be achieved through the training. It is about defining the knowledge, skills or attitudes the participant will acquire.

The following questions will help you with defining the objectives of the training:

• What should the result of the training be?

• What transformation should occur in the participants after the training?

• What new skills or knowledge should the participants acquire on completing the training?

A clear definition of the objectives of the training will help you to narrow down the potential content, helping you decide what to include and what to omit.

Example: By the end of the training the participants will …

• have mastered the four-step process of arranging a meeting on the phone.

• have mapped the different ways of sparking a client’s interest.

• know the different ways of dealing with objections.

• be able to identify their own negative thoughts preventing them from arranging a meeting on the phone .

• have practical experience of arranging a meeting with a client over the phone with additional feedback from the trainer and other participants.

Koniec ukážky

ISBN 978–80– 972012-0-3

Vytvorenie elektronickej verzie Dibuk, s. r. o., 2017

Vytvorené prostredníctvom Publico.sk

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

1. EDUCATIONAL NEEDS ANALYSIS

What is the educational needs analysis useful for?

Is the educational needs analysis necessary?

Which areas to look at?

Which area to focus on?

What techniques can be used to obtain the necessary information?

2. THE OBJECTIVES OF THE TRAINING

How will clarification of the educational objectives benefit you?

What levels require objective clarification?

What are the most common mistakes when articulating different objectives?

What is the difference between the intention and the objective of the training?

How to articulate educational objectives so they can be evaluated?

3. DESIGNING A TRAINING SESSION

4. METHODS AND FORMS OF EDUCATION

5. PREPARATION OF THE ROOM

6. INTRODUCTORY PART OF THE TRAINING

7. THE FOLLOWING MORNING

8. CONCLUDING THE TRAINING

9. HOW TO HANDLE DEMANDING SITUATIONS?

10. SMALL TIPS FROM THE MASTERS

11. EVALUATING THE TRAINING

APPENDICES

REFERENCES