A picture is worth 1,000 words - and 65% better retention
We’ve been standing on a soapbox for years telling the trainers of the world that people learn better through visual than written or spoken word, and that PowerPoint is a communication medium, not the communication itself. Here are some interesting factoids from a recent Forbes column which bolster our position:
According to a SlideRocket survey, the top frustration that people have with PowerPoint is “too much text.” It’s easy to see why. The average PowerPoint has 40 words on one slide. Yet the most memorable presentations have fewer than 40 words on ten slides Images and photographs work because of a concept psychologists call picture superiority. If I deliver information verbally, you’ll remember about 10% of what I tell you. If that same information is delivered with a picture, you’re likely to remember 65% of the information
T4: Teeter Totter Theory of Training
Picture a teeter totter. A fulcrum, or triangle, in the center and a long board balanced on the tip, which can teeter to either side depending on the weight or force applied at either end.
Now, picture training as the fulcrum. Training is a wonderful workplace development tool. It gives people skills and how-to’s that can be applied back on the job immediately (typically). When the board tips to the left, we label it “education.” Education is knowledge sharing. It gives people information, acclimation and exposure to topics, but it doesn’t give them skills in those topics.
When the board tips to the right, we call it “learning.” When one has learned, one is not only able to do the job but also explain the why and the how of doing the job. Example: If you’ve been a trainer for awhile, you know the importance of a well-written objectives. In the beginning of your career you probably learned that objectives are the basis for good training design because they outline what the learner will know or be able to do upon leaving the training (you are informed of their purpose and value).
As you were trained in becoming a trainer, you learned that objectives start with action words or verbs (you are trained in how to construct an objective). But why is that important?
Once you have learned to write objectives well and correctly, you are able to explain that a well written objective allows an observer to determine if the learner “got it,” by identifying actions that can be seen by the observer.
Example: Participants will learn the alphabet (education) Participants will be able to recite the alphabet (trained). Participants will be able to explain the use of the alphabet in constructing words and phrases (learned)
Each of these points on the teeter totter are important and have their place. Where many training programs go awry, however, is in clearly identifying at the start, exactly what the learners should come away with. Are they to be educated, trained or must they learn the material? Knowing what your learners’ outcomes should be, allows you to employ the correct delivery method.
Play at work
Play is not the opposite of work - when people get lost in their task, time disappears.- Leighton Reed
One Idea for Developing Leaders From Within
Read an interesting article recently about the rise and fall of Circuit City. One of the things that struck us as quite brilliant (during the " rise" portion of the article) was that store managers were awarded bonuses for every store manager they "raised". What a great way to ensure you promote from within as well as ensuring that individuals do not work hard to maintain control of their "empires." The more people a store manager could groom to become a future store manager, the more money they could earn! Brilliant.
On the "fall" side of the equation, the author, who worked for decades in senior management positions at Circuit City, cautions organizations who are thinking of cutting their training offerings, to use Circuit City as an example of why that is such a bad idea. The author, (Tom Wulf), states that one of the reasons Circuit City was so successful for over 20 years was because of their extraordinary training programs. And, like many companies, when their finances began to suffer, they cut the training which - in the author's opinion - contributed even more to the decline of the organization.
Level 2 Evaluation Primer
Thanks to The one and only Kirkpatrick Partners for publishing our article Level 2 Evaluation Primer on their website and to all their newsletter subscribers last week. We garnered from their site the most one-day hits ever - over 800! You can see the article here.
ADDIE is "over the top" for SME designed training
In our 21+ years of designing customized training programs for clients, we often find ourselves working with and coaching SME's (subject matter experts) who are designing training. Good ISD principles can really enhance training which is designed by an SME, but the tradtional ADDIE approach is too "over the top.
Often, a SME doesn't need to know about Needs Analysis - they are simply told "design this training topic." SME's don't often go as far as Evaluation either. Their focus is simply on the design and development of the topic they have been assigned.
With that in mind, The Training Doctor has created a more specific, streamlined model for the SME / training designer. This model is referred to as ANWIE which stands for:
A - Consider your Audience.
SME's have much, much more information to share than their audience's can comprehend or even use. The first rule for SME-designed training is "keep in mind who your audience is, and give them the information that is 1) appropriate for their knowledge and skill level, 2) can be implemented by them.
N - What is the Need for this information?
Why is this training being designed now? Why for this audience? What is the business outcome that is needed as a result of the training? And the most important "need" - be sure to keep your content firmly rooted in the need-to-know and nix the nice-to-know (and SME's have a LOT of nice-to-know).
W - Keep the training work-related.
This is the easiest step to achieve for the SME because they are expert at the "on the job" aspect of what they do. However... particularly enthusiastic SMEs can be prone to giving background and theory that only serve to confuse the learner. Case in point: We once reviewed a SME-designed course on Project Management for a client who complained "this class is not working - please figure out what's wrong with it." In it, we found a project management technique we had never heard of. Upon researching it, we discovered ONE mention of this technique in a Harvard Business Journal article from 1991. The SME was fascinated with his topic and wanted to give a "well rounded" presentation - but it simply was too much information for the newbie project manager.
I - Implementable.
SME's often don't appreciate the fact that a new learner won't be expert the minute they finish the training. It is quite an a-ha to them that they have to mete out content / skills and allow time for the learner to master / implement before adding the next level of complexity or achievement. In other words, SME's must be taught to"chunk."
E - Think about how the training / trainees will be evaluated.
While we don't go in to the 4/5 levels of training evaluation, we do ask SME's to consider "how will you know the training has been successful? What do you want the learners to be able to do after the training? With this focus on training outcomes, the SME is better able to decide what skills to focus the training on, and the best way for the learner to learn and master those skills.
5 Keys to Facilitating Online - part 3 of 3
We all know good facilitation skills: Ask don't tell; encourage discussion among participants-not just between you and the participants; play devil's advocate to challenge people's thinking, etc.,
But when we move from the classroom to the virtual classroom we seem to revert immediately to lecture and presentation mode. If you think straightforward lecture is a snoozer in the classroom, it’s ten times worse in the virtual classroom when the only thing participants have to keep them engaged is the sound of your voice.
In order to deliver online classes that are engaging, here are five keys to better facilitation in the virtual classroom.
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4. All instructions must be written
The least preferred way for Americans to take in information is in an auditory manner and yet the virtual classroom forces 90% of our communication to be solely auditory. This heightens the possibility of participants getting confused - especially when you are asking them to complete some type of activity. In order to assist your participants, all instructions for activities should be written - preferably both on the screen and in a handout or workbook that you have provided for them. If you've not provided a written guide to correspond to your online class then, at the very minimum, activity instructions need to be on the screen and participants need to be allowed enough time to copy them so that they can refer back to them while completing the activity.
5. Keep the energy up
Synchronous Learning Expert, Jennifer Hofmann, says that teaching online is like teaching after lunch all the time. In the classroom there is a natural flow of energy from the co-mingling of your participants. But in an online class most of the participants are isolated and it is up to you, the facilitator, to keep the energy up. You don't want to be super caffeinated - that's the wrong kind of energy - but you do want to put on your “presenter’s” voice and mannerisms. If possible, stand up and move the way you would if you were standing in front of the class. Using your natural body language and mannerisms keeps your energy up and translates quite successfully through the telephone lines.
In general, the skills you have as a classroom trainer translate well to the online classroom. Don’t approach online training like a telephone conversation or radio broadcast; your participants are still out there and are desperately hoping to be engaged in your class – it’s up to you to lead the way to their success.
5 Keys to Facilitating Online - part 2 of 3
We all know good facilitation skills: Ask don't tell; encourage discussion among participants-not just between you and the participants; play devil's advocate to challenge people's thinking, etc.,
But when we move from the classroom to the virtual classroom we seem to revert immediately to lecture and presentation mode. If you think straightforward lecture is a snoozer in the classroom, it’s ten times worse in the virtual classroom when the only thing participants have to keep them engaged is the sound of your voice.
In order to deliver online classes that are engaging, here are five keys to better facilitation in the virtual classroom.
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2. Use people's namesI
I once heard a new television actor comment on his profession by saying that one of the hardest things for him to get used to was how often one referred to the other characters in the first person. For instance, Well Bob I think what Juan says is something that we should consider. Especially in light of what Lucy has now brought to the table. He also stated that in a simple dialogue you might call Bob by his name, three or four times, while speaking to him.
You may find this phenomenon to be similar in the virtual classroom. Since you've lost the ability to use body language or make eye contact, the only way to engage people in conversation is to call on them specifically. Rather than asking Who would like to comment on the case study? You'll need to change your language to ask, I’d like to hear what you think of the case study - Alison? You'll also find that you call on people randomly, usually based on whether you’ve heard from them recently or not, much more so than you would in the classroom. In the classroom we almost always have an eager volunteer, but in the virtual classroom participants need to expect to be called on randomly (“volunteered” if you will).
3. Be directive
Your language in the virtual classroom needs to be much more directive. It's impossible to ask an open-ended question and not confuse your participants. For instance, Who would like to comment on the case study, needs to be rephrased as, Who would like to comment on the case study? Raise your hand. In the classroom an open-ended question invites volunteers, in the virtual classroom an open-ended question invites confusion. Participants will think to themselves, Should I raise my hand? Should I just speak up? How does she want me to respond? While your participants are thinking through all these options you are listening to dead air and wondering if they've understood the question, if no one has an answer, or if they just don't want to participate.
As a general rule of thumb, all open-ended questions need to be rephrased as closed ended questions in order to keep the dialogue flowing and your class moving along.
5 Keys to Facilitating Online - part 1 of 3
We all know good facilitation skills: Ask don't tell; encourage discussion among participants-not just between you and the participants; play devil's advocate to challenge people's thinking, etc.,
But when we move from the classroom to the virtual classroom we seem to revert immediately to lecture and presentation mode. If you think straightforward lecture is a snoozer in the classroom, it’s ten times worse in the virtual classroom when the only thing participants have to keep them engaged is the sound of your voice.
In order to deliver online classes that are engaging, here are five keys to better facilitation in the virtual classroom.
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1. Facilitate, facilitate, facilitate!
A common complaint of new online facilitators is that the participants aren't paying attention and are frequently multitasking. That is only true if you are not facilitating. If you are facilitating your participants would be too involved with the learning process to have the time or the inclination to multitask. According to Wikipedia, a facilitator is someone who helps a group of people understand their common objectives and assists them to plan to achieve them. Another definition, also from Wikipedia, states that a facilitator is a person who makes it easier for other people to accomplish their objectives by offering advice and assistance. A common theme here is that the facilitator is not the focus of the learning event; the facilitator brings the learning about through the training participants.
The best virtual classroom learning experiences put the dialogue and the learning process firmly in the hands of the participants. If you're bringing people together online in order to simply make a presentation - don't. Record the presentation and let your participants view it on-demand. Bring people together online for the interactive and collaborative outcomes that can be achieved when we bring people together.
Social media at work and at play
Over three quarters of millennials surveyed say that the use of social media at work is either somewhat or extremely useful according to the ASTD report: Social Media, The Millennial Perspective report.
In just five years, potentially more than half of the workforce will be composed of members of the Millennial generation (born after 1981) who have grown up immersed in technology and social media. For this generation, computers and collaborative technologies are an extension of who they are.
According to the report, although overall usage for social media for work-related learning is still relatively low, the following methods are used:
Shared workspaces-69%
Wiki's-50%
Shared media-38%
Blogs-38%
The book, We Are Smarter than Me, is all about using social media to enhance a business organization. They cite that Wikipedia has managed to create an encyclopedia via social networking and mass collaboration. They ask: what else could we do? They also wisely state:
With more than 1 billion individuals around the world connected by a new multimedia high bandwidth medium of human communications, collaboration and teamwork has become the business world's biggest drivers of success.
And this just in, from Training Magazine:
Social networking has reached a tipping point. It’s transforming the way managers gather information, inform, negotiate, motivate, inspire, instruct, empower, forecast, and sell. It lets managers be here, there, and everywhere, with individuals or groups, 24/7, and at little or no cost.
If you want people to learn ... use visuals
Eighty percent of learners are visual learners. That means they take in information, and process it better, using their eyes rather than their ears. While this is a long-standing known fact, very few trainers create training materials that are visually appealing. Visuals don't only appeal to our senses they also appeal to our ability to learn.
In a study conducted by two professors from the University of California, Santa Barbara titled: A Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning: Implications for Design Principles, they speak of the principle of Multiple Representation. In short, the principle states that it is better to present an explanation in words and pictures than solely in words. When a learner sees both words and pictures, he's able to build two different mental representations-a verbal model and a visual model-and then build connections between them.
They also noted that a learner is better able to understand an explanation when the words and pictures are presented at the same time rather than when they are separated in time. This is known as Contiguity Effect - corresponding words and pictures must be in working memory at the same time in order to facilitate the construction of referential links between them.
An interesting corollary to their research is that they discovered that words should be presented verbally rather than visually. This is more related to online learning than classroom-based training; they discovered that on-screen text and animation can overload the visual information processing system, whereas narration is processed in the verbal information processing system and animation is processed in the visual information processing system.
If you want people to learn...ask them questions
If you really want your training participants to learn something, you have to do more than simply give them information. Instead of saying "It's important that we file the G. 69 reports on a daily basis," ASK "Why is it important that we file the G. 69 reports on a daily basis?" By asking questions, you cause people to think. When people think, they have to process the information. They have to make linkages to things they already know. They must consider, "What do I know about this piece of information? Where will I store it? When will I use it?"
You can even ask a question without having taught the content first. This makes people start to think critically about the content in advance of acquiring it from the trainer. If you were to ask, "Why is it important that we file the G. 69 reports on a daily basis?" before teaching the content, you might get a lot of wrong answers-but that's okay. First, you're able to gauge what the audience knows about the topic, and second, you've piqued their interest because they're wondering what the correct answer should be.
So, if you want your participants to be more engaged in training, put more critical thought in to their participation, and actually learn your content-start by creating questions that cause them to think. These questions often start with How? Why? Why now? What if? Can you?
How can employers make training fun rather than a chore?
Rule number one is to filter your content and present the most important info first. Number two is to present information in no more than 10- to 20-minute bursts. Then get people involved in something interactive like a quiz, a video, a screencast.
Mix up the content and that allows trainees to process the information that you’ve communicated already and start to create a schema around that information. They can start the process of storing it in their long-term memory so the information gets retained.
Also, build the content with the trainee in mind. Tell stories instead of presenting. Humans react well to storytelling and anecdotes and case studies that make content really relevant and successful.
Excerpted from an interview with MindFlash CEO Donna Wells
For the entire interview: http://preview.tinyurl.com/http-tinyurl-com-64vdfpc
Designing a learning process
Design a training program can be an arduous task. If you are not a subject matter expert in the topic, it is difficult to create a good training program while being forced to rely on someone else for the actual content. If you are a subject matter expert, you don't know enough about training protocol to design a good training program.
These dilemmas can easily be solved by designing a training process rather than designing a training program. Adult learning theory tells us that learners like to be part of the process; they like to have a say in how the training is delivered and what content they are going to learn. It sounds impossible to be able to turn over the methodology of the class to the students who make up the class-but it's actually a great way to design meaningful training for your learners.
Case in point:
A group of salesmen were brought together for an all-day training class. One of the topics to be addressed was overcoming objections. Since this was a highly skilled group of salespeople a generic review of how to overcome objections was not going to fit the bill. And the person designing the training did not know enough about sales or the particular product is being sold to create a meaningful learning opportunity.
The solution: Have the participants design the content themselves. Here is the process that was designed in order to enable this outstanding learning activity -
The group was divided into three teams: A, B, C
Each team was given 10 minutes to brainstorm a list of five of the hardest objections they had encountered during their sales career, with this product.
Team A was instructed to pose one objection to team B.
Team B was given one minute to come up with an excellent response.
Team C was given the opportunity to challenge that response and provide a better response, if possible.
Team A was allowed to determine which response was the best and the winning team received one point.
The process was then repeated with team B posing one objection to team C and team A being given the opportunity to outperform team C.
The activity continued, round robin style, until all objections had been posed and responded to. The team with the highest number of points (determined by their peers, who awarded the points) was declared the winner and given coffee mugs with the company logo.
This activity took nearly an hour to conduct in the classroom and received rave reviews from the participants despite the fact that neither the training designer nor the training facilitator had enough information about the product or the sales process for this organization to deliver a quality training outcome. The participants themselves created the content and had a fabulous learning outcome because of a well-designed training process.
21 Questions to ask before Designing Any Training Program - part 3
This the third and final installment of a series on how to conduct an easy needs assessment.
Performance problems can be caused by a myriad of things. Perhaps your organization has undergone a downsizing, or perhaps a department is understaffed or their equipment is unreliable. Unfortunately many managers and organizations assume that poor performance is directly linked to a lack of skill or knowledge which can be solved by training. In my 20 plus years of consulting experience, I’ve found that what is initially presented as a training problem is often something else entirely.
Before embarking on any training program it is imperative that a needs analysis is conducted in order to pinpoint the exact cause of poor performance and to ascertain if the poor performance can be solved by applying training. Unfortunately, most organizations skip the needs analysis, assuming that they already know the cause.
The following 21 questions will help you to pinpoint the true cause of a performance problem and also help with the design process by ascertaining what training truly needs to be created. Ask these questions of the individual in the organization who is requesting that you design and develop a training program to address an assumed training issue.
15. What's most important to you in solving this problem: quality, speed, cost?
If you have ever taken a project management course you know that there are three factors always in play in project management: quality, speed, and cost. You cannot have all three. The same is true in training. If a training program is to be created and delivered within a short time frame (speed is most important) it will require a good deal of money to make it happen and it's possible the quality will suffer. But the same token a quality job will require time and money. By asking the project requestor which is most important, you will have a good understanding of where to apply your efforts.
16. What resources can you give me to assist with this?
This question is intended to test the commitment of the project requester. Too often you'll find that the requester is trying to make his or her training problem your problem. There's only so much that you can do in your role as a trainer. So, by asking what resources the project requester is willing to commit, you have an understanding of how much that individual is willing to invest in the success of the training. It's possible you may need an office in their facility, or access to an internal database, or access to subject matter experts, etc. Think about what resources you would need to be successful and ask for them early in the process.
17. Who will give their sign off / blessing on the final design of the training?
Every once in a while you will discover that the person who is requesting the training is not ultimately the decision maker. It's important to discover early on who the individual with final authority is. I once worked with the Director of Operations to develop new hire training for a 15-store retail organization. We spent over 40 hours each creating content and materials only to be told, when we presented them to the Vice President of Operations, that we had taken them entirely in the wrong direction. Who would have thought that the Director of Operations didn't know what the organization was trying to achieve? Now I always ask, “Who will ultimately approve this training?”
18. Are there other industries or companies that you know of, experiencing the same problem? Do you know how they are addressing it?
I find it hard to believe that most organizational needs are so unique that no one else has dealt with them in the past. Again, try to avoid reinventing the wheel, and check with your industry association and/or your competitors to see if they are also experiencing the same need. In a best-case scenario you may be able to purchase or license something they have already created. As an example, the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association created a stellar forklift-safety video-training program and sold it from their association website for a mere $99.
19. What is the life expectancy of this course?
Will the course be a one-time offering? Will it be quarterly? Will it be delivered on a weekly basis? The shelf life of the training will require extra effort when considering how the program will need to be maintained. Are there government regulations that will periodically need to be checked and updated? Are there forms that may become obsolete? Will trainers change and therefore the leader materials must be exceptionally detailed? Knowing the shelf life of the training program will influence your design approach.
20. How will this new knowledge / skill be reinforced once the training is over?
Remember, you can only do so much as the trainer, eventually the trainees must go back on the job and start deploying their new knowledge and skills. Since no one will ever leave a training program having mastered what they were taught, there is a period of time on-the-job when the training must be either reinforced or an ease-in period allowed for. One organization attempted to change the way that their salespeople answered the phone. Unfortunately the managers didn't go to the training and didn't really didn't see a need for changing the way the phone was answered. Within a week the salespeople were back to answering the phone the “old way” and the training program and the trainer were implicated in this failure.
21. How will we know when the problem has gone away? What do you want to see change / done differently?
Beware of the requestor who says (or implies) “I don't know what I want, but I know it's not this.” If they don't know what improved performance looks like you certainly will not envision it. Without a clearly defined performance turn-around, how will you know when you've achieved it? Don't accept a training assignment from someone who's essentially telling you, “I’ll know it when I see it.”
One of the issues that we as trainers have faced for decades is our inability to truly identify the value we return to the organization. By finding out the answers to these 21 questions, which can be achieved in a conversational way in about an hour, you will be in a much better position to create and offer training initiatives that will clearly return business results to your organization.