Creating Training That Appeals to Teens

We just read an interesting article in a Silicon Valley newspaper about a food service company that staffs boardwalk concessions stands all over the US (20  in total). The company, Whitings Foods, employs 250 young people (ages 16 - 21) in the summer months.

Training is conducted via: YouTube video (launched from the cash register no less!)Text Message, Web Pages

The VP of Human Resources says the key to developing a productive and hospitable workforce is training new employees using high-tech media that teenagers can relate to - such as cell phones and the internet.

Musings on Informal Learning

Recently, we were updating a course we teach for ASTD called Essentials of Adult Learning. It is a 3-session, online, course and the last session is actually about anything BUT adult learning. The last session is called Outside the Boundaries of Adult Learning.  One of the topics within this last session is Informal Learning. You know - the notion that learning goes on all the time - whenever learning is needed - not necessarily within a prescribed period of time. 

Informal learning used to be a short mention in this course, but we decided to spend more time on it (hence the redesign) because "formal" training is really becoming a dinosaur these days. So, as part of the redesign, we read Jay Cross' EXCELLENT book "Informal Learning" (2007 Pfeiffer). It's a fast, informative and fun read.

Then, something interesting happened - we actually WITNESSED informal learning going on all around us! (You know how you never noticed there were so many [insert your car make and model here] on the road, until you bought one? Same concept.) Overheard in the gym lockerroom:

Two mid- to late-50's women

Woman #1 - Did you fix your washing machine yet?

Woman #2 - Almost. It took forever to figure out how to remove the (garbled) but I went to You Tube and found a video.

Woman #1 - That's what I did last year when I had to fix mine! I found a video on line with step-by-step instructions.

Then... even closer to home...The other day one of our colleagues needed to un-hide some columns in Excel. No clue how to do this. Alone in the office. Nobody on Skype she could ask (Informal learning solution #1). Hmmm how about Ask.com (Informal learning solution #2)?  Sure enough, the query: How do I unhide columns in Excel? produced the correct answer in about 12 seconds.  The solution was sooo simple and right at her fingertips. She went from problem to problem-solved in under one minute!  What if she had had to wait for a training class to learn this? Or... what if she HAD taken a training class where she DID learn this, but had since forgotten?  How is formal training the more appropriate answer?

Granted, even a decade ago we could not have been as self-sufficient in terms of finding our own answers. But with the incredible (recent) power of technology and the internet - we trainers really have to stop and consider how crucial our role - and formally designed training programs - really are. And this thought is coming from a 100% instructional design firm! We make our living designing formal training. Go figure...

And the winner is...

The Training Doctor, LLC, offers a $500 scholarship twice per year  - for the spring and fall semester. To apply you must be a working professional who is pursuing an advanced degree in Training or Organization Development.

Our winner for the December 2010 award is...nobody!

That's right. Not a single person applied. Boggles the mind, doesn't it?

Don't lose out on free $ for your own education - go to our website NOW and complete your application for the July deadline. Don't worry - we won't lose it between now and then. Good luck!

An adult learning rant (short)

The nice thing about blogs is that you can vent to people who care about the same thing(s) you do.

So here is a short rant on adult learning principles:

We are currently reviewing a handout from an adult learning "guru" (who will remain un-named, obviously).  The handout has no visuals, uses a variety of font sizes and colors (although, thankfully, it is all the same font style), has instructions such as "write your answer here" and then allows only one line of empty space, and starts with this exercise:

Assume it is the end of this training class and it has exceeded your expectations. Write a headline for today's paper that expresses how you feel about the class.

Seriously?

GREAT learning (music) video

What a phenomenal learning video.

It's got facts, information, video, music. Check it out. Watch it to the end!

We're losing $$!

Front cover of Training Magazine Nov / Dec declares: Trainers fight for dollars as average salaries plunge $2,334 and budgets are cut.

We haven't read the article yet - have you?

Interview with Training Expert: Tim Richardson

How to Deliver Powerful Presentations with Pizazz:

Tim Richardson: When we first begin to design a training program, I think we need to ask ourselves a some questions:  What is it about this topic that's interesting?  What is about this topic that's new?  What is it about this topic that's fun?  What is it about this topic that's serious?  When we start answering some of these questions we can say, how can I make this come alive?  How can I make it fun?  What can I do to add a little jazz or a little pizazz or a little excitement to that?

We’ve all been PowerPointed to death where somebody just does slide after slide after slide of information.  That makes a presentation boring.  Anything that's a long list of things where a presenter is presenting and reading slides to an audience is a recipe for putting people to sleep. One thing we could do is have a little bit of fun by creating some type of list, like a Top 10 list.

Another thing we could do take some of that dry, dull or boring typed content and turn it into a game.  If I were doing a smaller type training session, I might give the audience an opportunity to come up with the questions.  They would write down three questions based upon some of the content that we have covered on the front of a Post-It Note.  On the back lightly in pencil they would write the answer. I would have them placed  on a flip chart.  Periodically throughout the training program I would simply pull a Post-It Note off the flip chart, read it and ask for the first person who knew the answer to stand and then I would give them an opportunity to answer the question.

Then I would say something like, “Congratulations, you've won a cheap and highly superficial prize,” and I might toss them a candy bar or something like that.  It doesn't really matter if there's a prize or not, just kind of creating a little bit of fun and creating a little bit of energy.  There’s a benefit of having the audience write the question, it allows you as the instructor, to judge if learning has occurred or not.  You know if they get the answer correct because they came up with the question and the answer. It allows you an additional teaching opportunity to make the learning fun and to do a check-back to make sure that they've gotten the message that you want them to get.

Tim Richardson is a motivational and inspirational speaker. He works with sales and service professionals to show them how to live, create and think "IM RICH!”  For more information you can visit www.timrichardson.com.