Tip #349: Avoid Mistakes When Timing Learning Activities, Part Two

"Every great mistake has a halfway moment, a split second when it can be recalled and perhaps remedied." Pearl Buck

There are ten mistakes that trainers frequently make when they plan and schedule time for learning activities. We considered the first five mistakes in last week’s Tip. This Tip discusses the remaining five mistakes.

Mistake #6: Not Building In Extra Time

Learning activities will rarely take the same amount of time with every group. It is important to build in some extra time so that you will be able to handle unanticipated questions or issues and still accomplish the scheduled activity. It is wise to budget for an extra 15-30 minutes for each activity. It is better to have the time available than to come up short. If the extra time is not needed for the activity, you can always fill it with additional discussion or (the ever popular) end early.

Mistake #7: Not Adapting an Activity to the Time Available

What do you do if you need 50 minutes for an activity, but something [an extended group discussion or a classroom management issue] ends up reducing the time available to 15 minutes? Clearly, the lesson design process determined that this activity was necessary and appropriate. It is better to adapt the planned activity to the shorter timeframe than to throw out the activity. For example, instead of having small groups discuss and report out their conclusions, you can conduct a large group discussion. Instead of small groups discussing a questionnaire, you can read the questions and have the participants signal whether they agree or disagree with the statements. You can then ask representative participants to explain the reason behind their signaled answers.

Mistake #8: Not Building in Time for Breaks

Brain studies have shown that people need breaks approximately every 50 minutes. Otherwise, their brains get saturated and the individuals get exhausted. It is very convenient if the content and learning activities fit neatly into 50- minute modules. But if they don’t, figure out how to split the content and activities in a reasonable place so the participants can take their breaks. For example, explain an activity, assign it and have the participants complete it. Then give a break. After the break, the participants can discuss or debrief the activity.

Mistake #9: Thinking That Participatory Activities Take Too Much Time

First of all, participatory activities are necessary to achieve any learning level higher than knowledge. It is true that some activities require more time than others. However, there are many different brief activities that can accomplish the same learning level. For example, if you want to check participant comprehension, you can use one-minute pop ups or shout outs, five-minute competitive brainstorming or signaled answers to a questionnaire, or ten-minute relay races.

Mistake #10: Not Leaving Enough Time for Closing Activities

There are at least three closing activities that should occur before the end of a workshop. First, there should be some activity that checks for participant comprehension of key content [such as a fill-in-the-blanks worksheet or a quiz game].

Second, there should be sufficient time for the participants to complete a [hopefully simple] workshop evaluation. Third, there should be some general summary [such as individual report-outs of their key take-aways or concluding comments from the instructor].

Avoiding these five mistakes should reduce stress for both the trainer and the participants!

Special Announcement: Our four-day Train the Trainer: Designing and Delivering Dynamic Learning is now scheduled for January 11-14, 2011 in Madison, Wisconsin. There are discounted rates for early bird registration and ASTD members. The brochure with registration form is posted on our website: http://www.laurelandassociates.com. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at (608) 255-2010.

May your learning be sweet.

Deborah

Tip #348: Avoid Mistakes When Timing Learning Activities, Part One

"If you have made a mistake, cut your losses as quickly as possible." Bernard Baruch

There are ten mistakes that trainers frequently make when they plan and schedule time for learning activities. We will consider the first five mistakes in this Tip and cover the remaining five mistakes in next week’s Tip.

Mistake #1: Not Telling Participants How Much Time They Have

The best way to keep an activity on schedule is to tell the participants how much time they will have to complete it. Then project a countdown clock on the screen, so they can track their own progress. [Basic countdown clocks are available for free on the Internet]. Since the time you give them is simply an educated guess on your part, you can always increase or decrease the amount of time if necessary and tell the participants the adjusted time frame.

Mistake #2: Allowing Too Much Time for Simple Small Group Discussion

Experience has shown that small groups who have more than eight minutes to complete simple discussion activities, such as a brief questionnaire or a brainstorming activity, will do one of two things. Either they will take an extra break or they will start personal conversations that have nothing to do with the training content. A basic rule of thumb is 8 minutes. If you unobtrusively monitor their activity and listen to their discussions, you will know if they really need more time.

Mistake #3: Allowing Too Little Time for Active Application Activities

The timeframe for active application activities, such as case studies, role-plays or simulation activities, typically needs to incorporate enough time for at least five different elements. First, time to introduce the activity and prepare the participants, such as moving them into different or smaller groups, providing special handouts, or briefing participants who will play certain roles during the activity. Second, time for the participants to read the relevant materials and gather their thoughts. Third, time for the actual activity. Four, time for group report-outs. Five, time to discuss the groups’ general conclusions and summarize their key learning. [Keep in mind that elements four and five may be reversed if the members of the small groups debrief among themselves before they report out to the larger group.]

Mistake #4: Not Giving Time to Reflect Before Brainstorming Activities

Some learners will jump right into a brainstorming activity. Others need time to reflect before they are ready to participate. Make sure to give some time for the participants to collect their thoughts before beginning the brainstorming. If you don’t, some individuals will always participate verbally and others will be silent.

Mistake #5: Omitting Debriefing Time After Activities

After participants work through an activity, they need time to reflect and create their own theories and then articulate them. It is not enough to assign an activity, such as a role-play, and assume the participants learned what they needed to learn through the practice. Debriefing not only gives the participants an opportunity to hear their own thoughts about the practice, but also to learn from others’ experiences.

When planning how much time to allot to a learning activity, it helps to keep David Kolb’s learning cycle in mind: Experiencing, Reflecting, Theorizing, Experimenting. It also helps to remember that different learners are more comfortable at one stage than at another.

Special Announcement: Our four-day Train the Trainer: Designing and Delivering Dynamic Learning is now scheduled for January 11-14, 2011 in Madison, Wisconsin. There are discounted rates for early bird registration and ASTD members. The brochure with registration form is posted on our website: http://www.laurelandassociates.com. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at (608) 255-2010.

May your learning be sweet.

Deborah

Tip #347: Avoid Seven Mistakes When Organizing Participant Materials

“A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.” Douglas Adams

How the participants’ materials are organized will have a direct impact on the ease in which they are able to locate desired documents both during and after the training program.

Mistake #1: Omitting a Table of Contents.

Trainers hope that their training content is relevant and useful to the participants. Facilitating the participants’ ability to locate specific pages or information would be in everyone’s best interests. The easiest way to do this is with a Table of Contents that identifies the page number for each titled page.

Mistake #2: Not Binding the Materials.

There is nothing so frustrating and time consuming (for both trainer and participants) as participants having to shuffle through paper trying to locate a specific page. It really doesn’t matter if it is stapled, paper clipped, or three-hole punched and in a binder. Just make sure the pages are in order (and all of the pages are there).

Mistake #3: Overlooking Space for Note Taking.

Some participants prefer to take notes. That is how they learn. So meet their need by providing space. There are many ways to accomplish this: leave space intended for note taking and answers on worksheets; leave the back of the previous page blank; use extra large margins or double spacing so there is room for notes; or simply provide blank pages that the participants can insert into their materials.

Mistake #4: Not Separating Key Chapters.

The best way to help participants navigate their training materials when the training is more than one day is to separate the key chapters or content. This can be done with tabs in a binder and/or different colored pages.

Mistake #5: Using Binders Without Pockets.

In lieu of the need to keep a three-hole punch available at all times, it is wise to plan ahead and make sure that, when using a binder, it has pockets in the front and/or in the back. These pockets are easy catch-alls for additional handouts and note pages.

Mistake #6: Not Placing the Title on the Spine of the Binder.

A binder is of little use if it is not easily found in a bookcase. The best way to accomplish this is to make sure that the binder has a slipcase on the front (to slip in a copy of the title page for the training) and on the spine (to slip in basic information, such as the training title and date).

Mistake #7: Not Printing Extra Copies.

It doesn’t matter what quality control for printing is in place, make sure to print extra copies of participant materials. Invariably, someone will be missing a page or a section. If you have extras, you can easily remedy that situation.

Avoiding these seven mistakes will help to ensure that the participants have a ready reference to guide them as they apply their new skills both inside and outside of the classroom.

May your learning be sweet.

Deborah

Tip #346: Avoid Eight Mistakes When Creating Participant Materials

“I don't want to make the wrong mistake.” Yogi Berra

When you really think about it, what is most useful for a participant to take from a training program? A good job aid certainly comes to mind. What about a recipe for success? In other words, how about a workbook or handbook that provides examples and worksheets that walk the participant through the process or procedure under discussion?

It has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words. This might be true, but I doubt it pertains to Power Point slides unless those pictures are labeled for future reference.

Let me be clear. My bias is that participants need to be actively engaged in learning and applying new skills. Therefore, it follows that their materials should be organized and formatted to support their current involvement and future review.

There are eight common and easily avoidable mistakes that training designers make when developing participant materials.

Mistake #1: Copying PowerPoint Slides

PowerPoint slides can be very helpful when used to emphasize a key point through a bullet, picture or comic strip. However, training that is predicated on having the participants take notes on copies of the PowerPoint slides is doomed to be ineffective.

First, if the real meat of the training is actually written on the slides, then the slides are too information-heavy to read and to follow. The participants need written reference pages to which they can refer in the future.

Second, relying on participants to take notes is a catch as catch can proposition. Unless they have their own shorthand, they are likely to miss key information. Again, this problem is eliminated if the participants have reference materials to follow or informational worksheets to fill in the blanks.

Third, information that is printed on PowerPoint slides can, at most, provide knowledge and pose questions to check for participant comprehension. If the object of the training program is to develop observable skills, the participants need to be able to apply what they have learned in a practice session during the training. For this, they need written instructions, guidelines and job aids, and then time to reflect on what they have learned, ideally by writing down and discussing their conclusions.

Mistake #2: Not Numbering Pages.

It may seem obvious, but numbering the pages in a participant manual or handout is the only way to ensure that everyone can quickly and easily locate the desired page.

Mistake #3: Not Titling Pages

Placing titles on pages helps direct the participants’ attention to the topic at hand. The title should serve as a label for the content included on the page.

Mistake #4: Placing Too Much Information on a Page.

There are four problems with this. First, if participants are reading, they are not listening to the trainer. Second, if there is too much information, it is difficult for participants to isolate the key information. Third, the eye can get easily tired after reading a lot of text. Fourth, if it is too much work to read all of the information, participants may tune out in frustration.

Mistake #5: Not Enough White Space.

Each page in the participant manual should be easy to scan. A wider margin (at least 1 inch on either side of the page) assists with this. So does space between paragraphs or items in a list.

Mistake #6: Not Emphasizing Key Information.

Participants need something to focus their attention. It is very helpful when key words or phrases are bold or italicized or underlined. Just don’t get carried away and emphasize everything.

Mistake #7: Using Small Type Sizes.

The only reason to use a small type size is to fit more information on a page, which we already know if not wise. Our mantra should be less rather than more when it comes to information. But in deference to tired, aging, and poorly sighted eyes, make sure to use a type size that is easy to read. That means at least 12 point, although 14 point is a personal preference.

Mistake #8: Using a Serif Font.

It may be a personal preference, but it seems that sans serif fonts (such as Ariel or Calibri) are much easier to read than the serif fonts (Courier or New York). This is primarily due to the fact that the letters in sans serif fonts seem more distinct and clear.

Quite simply, the pages in participant materials need to be written and formatted in such as way as to make key information easy to access and easy to read.

May your learning be sweet.

Deborah

Tip #345: Avoid Six Mistakes in Handling Unhappy Participants

“It has been said that man is a rational animal. All my life I have been searching for evidence which could support this.” Bertrand Russell

There are many reasons why participants in a training program may be unhappy and voice or act out their displeasure during the training session. They may not like the topic, the learning activities, the trainer, the timing or location of the training, the other participants, or the very fact that they are in the training. In addition, they may just be having a bad day, drawing issues into the training room that have more to do with their lives or their work rather than with the training itself.

There are six mistakes that a trainer should avoid when faced with participants who are unhappy.

Mistake #1: Ignoring the situation.

It is miraculous thinking to believe that ignoring a bad situation will make it go away. In fact, whether their issues are real or imagined, participants want to be treated with respect. The only way to handle the situation is to listen carefully to their concerns and then give an honest response. If it is an issue that you can do something about, you can offer to consider it and make adjustments where possible. If it is an issue over which you have no control, you can either sympathize or provide a constructive outlet.

For example, a limited time to vent, problem solve, or make recommendations to resolve the issue can help to dissipate the energy fueling the participants’ concerns. In the latter case, it can also give the participants a needed sense that they have some control over the situation.

Mistake #2: Minimizing participant concerns.

Few people appreciate being told that their concerns are trivial or imagined. When participants voice a concern, whether it is rational or not, it is still their reality. Acknowledge the concern. To the extent possible, distance yourself from the cause or the decision makers responsible for the issue. Create a sense of partnership to support the idea that you are sensitive to their concern and will attempt to provide them with skills or resources to address it.

For example, if participants complain that they will not be allowed to apply their new skills back on the job, a trainer can help them strategize how to persuade their management to give them that opportunity.

Mistake #3: Caving in.

Do not make the mistake of becoming so disheartened by the participants’ unhappiness that you minimize the value of the training you are there to deliver- or worse, gloss over large portions of the training to end the session as quickly as possible. A needs assessment presumably identified their need for this training topic and the choice of learning activities. This is the time for the trainer to work at obtaining participant buy-in to the importance of the training, or at the very least, a willingness to participate.

For example, help them identify the benefits of the training or the consequences of not receiving the training. As a last resort, invite unhappy participants to leave the training (with the understanding that you will need to alert their management).

Mistake #4: Taking it to heart.

As mentioned earlier, there can be a plethora of reasons why participants are unhappy that have nothing to do with the trainer. This may not be readily apparent. Apply a proven negotiation technique and reframe a perceived attack on the trainer into an attack on the problem. If the trainer is willing to take conversations off line to explore the root of the participants’ problems, it can help to put a light on the real cause of their unhappiness. It actually might be useful for the trainer to think of this situation as a positive one, in that the participants feel comfortable enough to voice their issues and complaints.

For example, this may be the first time all of the participants have come together and have the opportunity to discuss their complaints. In this case, the trainer can consider providing time during the training or giving a longer break to encourage conversation.

Mistake #5: Assuming responsibility to resolve organizational issues.

Sometimes trainers, in a sincere effort to be supportive and responsive to participants, will promise more than they can deliver. Be frank about your role, your responsibility and the intended scope of the training. Stay very clear about your ability (or inability) to have a positive impact on significant organizational issues. If you are there to conduct a training program, you really have no authority to get involved or interfere.

For example, this is not the time to become a crusader rabbit to ingratiate yourself with the participants. To do so can be the kiss of death for a trainer. You will only irritate or anger the management that hired you and disappoint those for whom you advocate.

Mistake #6: Denying reality.

There may be (hopefully infrequent) times when the scheduled training is simply not going to meet the needs of the participants. If there are outside issues that affect the participants’ focus and attention, it may be necessary to adjust the training content. In some cases, the only practical solution is to end the session and reschedule it for a future time. It would be unrealistic to attempt to continue with the training as planned.

For example, when the participants’ unhappiness is due to an extreme event, such as a death or a disaster in progress that directly affects the participants, converting the session to a mutual support and problem-solving discussion may be the only constructive response.

In summary, the reasons why participants express unhappiness during a training program frequently have little to do with the training. However, it would be unwise for a trainer to ignore the situation, minimize participant concerns, cave in, take it to heart, assume responsibility to resolve organizational issues, or deny reality.

May your learning be sweet.

Deborah

Tip #344: Avoid Three Mistakes In Responding to Participant Evaluations

“Mistakes are a fact of life. It is the response to error that counts.“ Nikki Giovanni

Trainers generally get feedback from their program participants at the end of a session when the participants are asked to complete a written evaluation sheet. No one really enjoys being criticized, especially when great effort has been made to do something as effectively as possible. It is also unpleasant to be blindsided by negative comments when the trainer has believed the training went well. Avoiding these three mistakes should make the evaluation process more manageable and less upsetting.

Mistake #1: Not creating a learning contract with the participants.

A learning contract is a verbal commitment to let the trainer know (privately) as soon as possible if the training content, learning activities, group facilitation or learning environment is not meeting the participants’ needs. There is no guarantee that all of the participants will honor this commitment. However, it can increase the probability that the trainer will learn about problems when there is still time to address them, rather than waiting to the end of the session.

Mistake #2: Taking negative written comments personally.

Training programs occur in the midst of participants’ lives and issues. As a result, there are many variables that can affect their attitudes and degrees of receptivity to a trainer and a training program. For example, if participants are ordered to attend a mandatory training and do not feel free to criticize management, it is highly likely that the trainer will serve as a ready target. So it is important that a trainer give a program more than once to see if there is a continuing pattern of concerns voiced by the participants. If the concerns continue, then they are worth serious consideration.

Mistake #3: Changing what should not be changed.

Participants have different expectations and learning needs. Some are more comfortable with certain learning activities and training formats, while others take issue with them. The key in responding to participant evaluations is to stay true to the goals and learning objectives for the training program. For example, if there is a pattern of some participants voicing displeasure with an application activity. However, the trainer should first consider another way to introduce the activity that may make participants more comfortable with it. Only then, if there is an alternative that will accomplish the same level of learning, should the trainer make a change.

If there is really no other viable option, then Abraham Lincoln’s observation can be adapted as a useful and practical philosophy for evaluation: “You can please some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all the time!”

May your learning be sweet.

Deborah

Tip #343: Avoid Three Mistakes In Timing Participant Evaluations

“Experience is that marvelous thing that enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.” Franklin P. Jones

Trainers make three common mistakes when they choose the best time to have their participants complete written evaluations.

Mistake #1: Waiting until the very end of a multi-day training program to hand out the evaluation sheets.

There are two major problems with this approach. First, the trainer misses getting immediate feedback on the first day of training that could be used to improve the remaining days.

Second, the recency effect means that the participants will be much more likely to give the trainer feedback about their most recent training experience. As a matter of fact, by the afternoon, participants frequently even have difficulty remembering what they did in the morning!

Remedy: Make sure to have participants complete a written evaluation for each day of the training program.

It is also a good idea to check participant satisfaction with the morning session just prior to breaking for lunch. This can be done quickly and easily by simply having the participants vote with the fingers of one hand. Five fingers mean that the participants are completely satisfied and one finger (caution participants to be careful which digit they choose) means there is a real problem that had better be addressed before the afternoon session. The trainer can request that participants who raised less than three fingers meet briefly with the trainer to discuss their concerns.

Mistake #2: Handing out evaluation sheets at the very end of a training session.

There are also two problems with this strategy. First, participants are ready to pack up and get going at the end of a training program. As a result, they often give short shrift to the evaluation, providing minimal feedback.

Second, the energy of the room diminishes significantly when the participants stop to write their evaluations. It doesn’t make sense to have the training end on a low note.

Remedy: Have participants complete their written evaluations before a closing activity that is more upbeat and celebratory.

Mistake #3: Emailing a link to an online evaluation sheet days after the training session.

If participants cannot remember the morning session by the end of the afternoon, imagine how useful their feedback will be after several days have passed.

Remedy: Email links to online evaluation sheets so that participants have them as soon as they return from the training program.

Participant feedback can be very useful to a trainer, as long as the feedback accurately reflects the participants’ training experience. The mantra for participant evaluations should be: the sooner the better. Also, don’t let the energy of the training session fade at the end of the day. Get the evaluations done before a closing activity that helps the program end on a high note.


May your learning be sweet.

Deborah