The business market

 We are constantly being told that the economy is in a downtown and things are tight, people are not spending.  So how do small businesses cope with the attitude that the media keeps fuelling, hoping I sometimes thing that it will happen and everyone will go out of business.  Why don’t the media project a positive approach?  That would be good I think.

Training for the sake of training

Training without pre and post support with identified goals can be frustrating for the trainer and pointless for the delegate.  The trainer can end up going through the course material as a duty to deliver the session rather than engaging with the trainees.  The trainees have no idea why they are on the training and therefore no expectations about the outcome.  The two parties leave after the session and carry on as if nothing happened because nothing did.  How sad.

Keyboards

Why do computer manufactures create keyboards using symbols instead of descriptive text?  I am currently training some basic users on Word and Excel.  The biggest issue I have is explaining the keyboard layout.  The young generation have grown up with the keyboard and know it well, however the over 40′s have no idea.  It is just an extra barrier to them and an excuse not to learn.

How good is tailored training??

How good is a tailored training session?  I have just completed a one to one session with a PA, she arrived with all her data and issues.  We worked through them one by one solving each problem and saving the correction.  She left with information that saves time, creates a standard scheme of work and the ability to automate her whole business process. 

She felt great I felt great and there was not a script in sight.

Customised training sessions

I have recently gone and am still going through a bit of a metamorphosis in the way I deliver training sessions. Gone is the structured session following a lesson plan stating goals and objectives, in is a learner reactive approach.

It is much harder to achieve as a trainer but seriously more beneficial as a learner. How does it work?

I have loose structure to start with and a lot of useable examples from a range of levels and experience. The learner is interviewed prior to the session starting, sometimes on the day, with the aim of identifying skill gaps and potential time saving procedures. The sessions are far more interactive and job specific. It is limited to smaller groups and usually from the same company but it really works, even though it breaks a lot of the more established training conventions a better service is delivered.

The Learning Cycle??

Having received over 80 comments on ”Does training work”? I believe the learning cycle should be as follows:

Identify a need through Training Needs Analysis and on the job assessments
Agree a plan and timescale with management
Agree outcomes and timescales for implementation
Attend a tailored training session that provides after course support
Apply new skills to the workplace
Management to carry out on the job assessment and measure improvement if any
Apply a cost benefit to the process and advertise the results

Does training work?

Millions of people attend training sessions all over the world, some of the sessions are received very well and some not.  The problem for everyone is the application of what has been learnt in the work place.  Many delegates complain that they don’t have any time to apply learning or practise skills.  The pressures of the job take over and it becomes more important to produce rather than apply new skills or knowledge.  Training very quickly becomes pointless with any skills or knowledge quickly lost due to lack of use.

What is to be done?  Can training organisations help in the transfer of learning?  An external training provider will find it very difficult to spend any time working alongside delegates cementing the transfer process without being paid.  Company training budgets probably won’t factor in the extra cost required for external trainers to complete the whole training cycle.  Internal trainers are better placed to help but probably face the same pressures that trainees suffer from, work commitments.

I beleive a blended learning approach is the way forward, attend external or internal training, receive CD web based support and more importantly ensure trainer delegate support is encouraged for as long and as often as required.  Video based, web based and or email support can help external trainers maintain contact, e-zine, mailshots also help.  Internal trainers must be allowed access to delegates until they are confident with their new skills.  Otherwise the training process, cost, time and effort is pointless.

Page one on Google and still no work

If you are on page one for your key words and still only get a few hits a day what can you do?  I would love somebody to help me drive traffic to my site without paying an arm and a leg.  Check out Excel Training here

Drive traffic to my site

How do I drive extra traffic to my site??

Reflective learning?

Can somebody tell me why I should write down what I have learnt during a training session and reflect on how well I have learnt a particular skill or not.  I think it is total waste of time and a means to create more jobs for people in education.  The whole process has no point and is very condescending.  Please help.