Everything that I have posted up to now comes down to this section here: Implementation. Actually getting out there to deliver the material in a way that makes the work behind it worth it. While this sounds like a simple deal, and is often taken for granted by a number of people, I want you to think about the last training session that you attended. Did you like the trainer? Did you like the training? Do you remember what the topic was about? Do you remember any specific thing from that training?
If you had a good trainer, you probably can say yes to every one of those questions. If you had someone that was just pulled in to do it because they happened to know something about the topic (SME), then you probably can't say yes to everything. So let's get down to what makes the trainer excel in the actual presentation.
Entertainment
Yes, believe it or not, as a trainer you are an entertainer. If you are going to be presenting anything, you need to keep people's attention. For some presenters (i.e., a CEO), this can be accomplished through the unspoken threat of unemployment. As a trainer, you don't have that ability. Instead, you need to captivate your learners by a mixture of humor, interesting material, and applicable media that can keep their interest. You also need to have an ability to judge the learner reaction, and adjust to keep their attention. Luckily, they are generally there for a reason and will give you more attention than they probably did their High School teachers.
Follow the Course Outline
Some instructors like to wing it when it comes to covering the material that is outlined. They think of themselves as catering to the learner's needs, and basically discount the work that course designers have put into the curriculum. I will tell you right now that if I had an instructor like this working for me, it wouldn't last long. The content is there for a reason, and the outline is there for a reason. You cover the material that is listed, and don't make it up as you go along.
Does that mean that you don't have any flexibility? Absolutely not! You can be flexible in how you address the material, and even in which sections you cover first (some textbooks will not cover what you want to cover). But don't dismiss your course material as a tool. It's there to help you stay on track, let you gauge how much time you have to cover the remainder of the material, and whether or not you are actually teaching the required skills. Without that gauge, you might as well waste everyone's time.
Topic Comfort
Every trainer that teaches a subject needs to be proficient in that subject to the extent that they can cover the skills required. This is not a suggestion, but a requirement. This is where having a Subject Matter Expert (SME) handy is almost required. Inevitably you will get a learner that wants something more than what you are teaching. You need to either address it while teaching (establishes credibility), or if you don't know the answer, offer to find the answer and get back to them. If you offer to get back to them, you need to get back to them with the answer, preferablly within 24 hours. Why? It establishes credibility with your learners, and establishes you as a well connected individual.
This doesn't mean that you have to know it all! That's almost impossible for anyone to know everything about any given subject. But it's a good sign of a scholar if they are able to identify sources to find the answer, rather than just spouting an answer that is shooting from the hip. Remember that your credibility as a trainer can be dramatically affected if you start making up answers without checking with the SME over your subject. If you don't have one, find one. Even if you have to contact the CEO first to go down the chain to the person that knows your topic, do it. Ultimately it's the best move that you could ever make.
Preparation
It seems almost redundant to mention this given all the previous posts that focus on preparing for a course, but your personal preparation is probably the best way to make sure the training session goes well. Leave all your emotional baggage behind, and focus on the present. While you are up there infront of the class, you belong to your learners. Having a bad day? Try to leave it behind. As always, this is much easier said than done, but if you need it take a couple of minutes before the training session to meditate and relax.
Also, spend some time in the classroom to be sure everything is working correctly. If you need speakers, make sure they are working. Have any video or slide show presentations? Make sure your projector/TV is working for you. Check the layout of the classroom to be sure all students can see you. If they are behind a column or barrier that may make it hard to see or hear you, block off those seats. Are all your tools functional? Make sure you go through each one before you start the class. A technical problem during a training session takes away from the flow, and makes it less enjoyable.
Have Fun!
Above all, make sure you are having fun while you are teaching! If you don't, your learners will catch it, and they won't have any fun either. If you make it a fun environment for yourself (and it's not sadistic humor, mind you!), then it should be a fun for the students as well. If you are getting done with a particularly long lecture or session, have everyone stand up and stretch. Perhaps you can have them do jumping jacks, act a little silly, or something like that. It's all about how comfortable everyone feels, and what would be fun for the entire class.
While this post isn't completely comprehensive, I hope it helps someone realize what can make a good trainer. Even SME's can make a good trainer if they are able to implement as many of these suggestions as possible. Of course, you need to make sure the course is effective, which comes to our last section in the ADDIE model: Evaluation. Catch you next time!
Showing posts with label implementation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label implementation. Show all posts
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Monday, December 04, 2006
ADDIE in Corporate World Training
In the corporate world, Training can be viewed with a lot of doubt, particularly when those who are less experienced with training and more with the subject matter are delivering it. As a manager of mine had once said, "Subject Matter Expert's are not Trainers". Why would that be so? SME's are often more knowledgeable than a trainer is, and therefore can provide greater insight into an issue than a trainer can. So what makes a trainer so special, and in some cases higher paid, than the SME? One tool a Trainer has over an SME is the ADDIE system.
The ADDIE System
The ADDIE system of curriculum development is what separates a SME from a trainer. That is, the Analysis, Development, Design, Implementation, and Evaluation of the content (ADDIE) can be applied to any subject, any situation, and build deliverables that are directly targeted to the skills that are required. By using this process the trainer can build a framework for the instructor (not always the trainer) to follow while offering their training course. So let's look at this development concept more closely.
Analysis
This is by far the most time consuming process in training development. Analysis is not just an analysis of what needs to be taught, but whether or not training as a whole is the answer. Just because there is a deficiency in one area doesn't mean that better or more training will fill the void.
Training only helps people that do not know what they don't know (unconsciously incompetent). Training allows people to know what they don't know (consciously incompetent), and help them identify the tools that will add the skills to what they know (consciously competent).
Other potential problems that Training cannot resolve are management issues, unrealistic expectations, undefined requirements, poorly developed tools, etc. These are issues that need to be addressed in other areas, and training can't influence. Poor management (i.e., "The Boss" from Dilbert) can completely undercut real performance and development from the consciously competent level to the unconsciously competent level (where we all strive to be). Unrealistic expectations and undefined requirements leave the employees in a sort of limbo, which impacts performance heavily. Also, if the tools are inferior, there is only so much the employee's abilities can do to overcome it.
Training is specifically geared to understanding and comprehension. If the problem you have is related to this area only, then a training course can be the answer to your needs. But what needs to be trained?
Analyzing the job is definitely necessary. Every Duty, task, sub task, and skill needs to be identified. By identifying the work process in this manner, training can be developed from the ground up. But be warned, this is a time-consuming process best suited to those personalities that can take that much analysis. As such it can tack on hours of preparation to the actual training process. The good news is that any properly run Human Resources department should have done this for you. If not, get ready to break down the task as best you can. And once it's done, be sure to archive it so you never have to do it all again (just update it as it changes).
Development
Once you have waded through the Analysis portion, it's now time to start developing the course. Development means creating an outline, getting the learning objectives stated, and identifying the assessment points that assess the learner's acquired knowledge.
The outline is basically the final analysis document, but organized in the learning pattern everything will be presented. Generally, the course topics will build upon each other, as well as allow the learner to build upon what they already know. This is known as the Constructivist theory of learning, and is the most common method of teaching being used today.
The learning objectives outline what is expected to be learned after the section is complete. This is directly related to the assessment points, as each point needs to be satisfied in order to complete the learning objective.
Design
Training is, ultimately, a form of entertainment. It doesn't matter how well someone knows their stuff, if they can't keep the attention of the learner then it was all for naught. The design portion is a way to outline the course, much like blocking out a scene on the stage. Design includes how the content is deployed, and therefore which learning style is focused on. It can be a hands on trial (for tactile learners), written content (for auditory learners), or visual presentations that catch the eye in an appealing way (for visual learners). A good trainer will utilize at least two if not all of these design segments in order to appeal to all the potential learners out there.
Here I spend time creating participant guides, instructor guides, gathering multimedia presentations that apply to the course, etc. There is a lot that can be done in the Design phase, and luckily it's generally the most fun.
Implementation
Finally, after all that work, the instructor can finally implement the course. If the course was designed correctly, anyone with the appropriate skills and knowledge can take the materials and teach the class, as long as they have some basic delivery skills. As I had said before, training (or teaching for that matter) is all about the performance. Read your learner audience. Are they responding? Do you get blank stares? Do you perhaps need to crack a joke to see if they are breathing? There are a lot of techniques that each trainer likes to use, depending on the subject or audience. Find what works for you, but be willing to be flexible in your delivery.
It's also important to let the learner know when you don't know an answer. Don't blow it off, make up an answer, or through the question back at the learner for asking something you don't know. What you do is tell them you will find out. I can't tell you how many times a learner has been given bad information by a so-called "trainer", and have it adversely impact their job. And once the bad information or skill is learned, it takes a lot more work to correct the learner and get them on the right path.
Evaluation
Evaluation should, honestly, be conducted throughout the course creation process. At every stage the content can be evaluated for quality and effectiveness. But, ultimately, the best evaluations are conducted after the training is over. Here is where you get to find out how well the course was taught, and whether or not the training accomplished what it was set out to do: fix the deficiency.
That, in a nutshell, is the ADDIE program. There can be a lot of detail added into each section, but overall this is how it works. Course development can take months of planning, analysis, development, etc. All so that a skill is learned, which increases the success of the learner, and therefore increases the success of the employer of the learner.
Does this mean SME's can't do it? Of course not! SME's can learn to use the ADDIE process, but once they do they become Trainers. At least to me, they do. And if a "trainer" doesn't use this process, they are just a glorified SME, and perhaps not even a SME at that.
The ADDIE System
The ADDIE system of curriculum development is what separates a SME from a trainer. That is, the Analysis, Development, Design, Implementation, and Evaluation of the content (ADDIE) can be applied to any subject, any situation, and build deliverables that are directly targeted to the skills that are required. By using this process the trainer can build a framework for the instructor (not always the trainer) to follow while offering their training course. So let's look at this development concept more closely.
Analysis
This is by far the most time consuming process in training development. Analysis is not just an analysis of what needs to be taught, but whether or not training as a whole is the answer. Just because there is a deficiency in one area doesn't mean that better or more training will fill the void.
Training only helps people that do not know what they don't know (unconsciously incompetent). Training allows people to know what they don't know (consciously incompetent), and help them identify the tools that will add the skills to what they know (consciously competent).
Other potential problems that Training cannot resolve are management issues, unrealistic expectations, undefined requirements, poorly developed tools, etc. These are issues that need to be addressed in other areas, and training can't influence. Poor management (i.e., "The Boss" from Dilbert) can completely undercut real performance and development from the consciously competent level to the unconsciously competent level (where we all strive to be). Unrealistic expectations and undefined requirements leave the employees in a sort of limbo, which impacts performance heavily. Also, if the tools are inferior, there is only so much the employee's abilities can do to overcome it.
Training is specifically geared to understanding and comprehension. If the problem you have is related to this area only, then a training course can be the answer to your needs. But what needs to be trained?
Analyzing the job is definitely necessary. Every Duty, task, sub task, and skill needs to be identified. By identifying the work process in this manner, training can be developed from the ground up. But be warned, this is a time-consuming process best suited to those personalities that can take that much analysis. As such it can tack on hours of preparation to the actual training process. The good news is that any properly run Human Resources department should have done this for you. If not, get ready to break down the task as best you can. And once it's done, be sure to archive it so you never have to do it all again (just update it as it changes).
Development
Once you have waded through the Analysis portion, it's now time to start developing the course. Development means creating an outline, getting the learning objectives stated, and identifying the assessment points that assess the learner's acquired knowledge.
The outline is basically the final analysis document, but organized in the learning pattern everything will be presented. Generally, the course topics will build upon each other, as well as allow the learner to build upon what they already know. This is known as the Constructivist theory of learning, and is the most common method of teaching being used today.
The learning objectives outline what is expected to be learned after the section is complete. This is directly related to the assessment points, as each point needs to be satisfied in order to complete the learning objective.
Design
Training is, ultimately, a form of entertainment. It doesn't matter how well someone knows their stuff, if they can't keep the attention of the learner then it was all for naught. The design portion is a way to outline the course, much like blocking out a scene on the stage. Design includes how the content is deployed, and therefore which learning style is focused on. It can be a hands on trial (for tactile learners), written content (for auditory learners), or visual presentations that catch the eye in an appealing way (for visual learners). A good trainer will utilize at least two if not all of these design segments in order to appeal to all the potential learners out there.
Here I spend time creating participant guides, instructor guides, gathering multimedia presentations that apply to the course, etc. There is a lot that can be done in the Design phase, and luckily it's generally the most fun.
Implementation
Finally, after all that work, the instructor can finally implement the course. If the course was designed correctly, anyone with the appropriate skills and knowledge can take the materials and teach the class, as long as they have some basic delivery skills. As I had said before, training (or teaching for that matter) is all about the performance. Read your learner audience. Are they responding? Do you get blank stares? Do you perhaps need to crack a joke to see if they are breathing? There are a lot of techniques that each trainer likes to use, depending on the subject or audience. Find what works for you, but be willing to be flexible in your delivery.
It's also important to let the learner know when you don't know an answer. Don't blow it off, make up an answer, or through the question back at the learner for asking something you don't know. What you do is tell them you will find out. I can't tell you how many times a learner has been given bad information by a so-called "trainer", and have it adversely impact their job. And once the bad information or skill is learned, it takes a lot more work to correct the learner and get them on the right path.
Evaluation
Evaluation should, honestly, be conducted throughout the course creation process. At every stage the content can be evaluated for quality and effectiveness. But, ultimately, the best evaluations are conducted after the training is over. Here is where you get to find out how well the course was taught, and whether or not the training accomplished what it was set out to do: fix the deficiency.
That, in a nutshell, is the ADDIE program. There can be a lot of detail added into each section, but overall this is how it works. Course development can take months of planning, analysis, development, etc. All so that a skill is learned, which increases the success of the learner, and therefore increases the success of the employer of the learner.
Does this mean SME's can't do it? Of course not! SME's can learn to use the ADDIE process, but once they do they become Trainers. At least to me, they do. And if a "trainer" doesn't use this process, they are just a glorified SME, and perhaps not even a SME at that.
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