|
TRAINING
- Ya Gotta Believe
The
top executive of a local organization recently inquired about
teambuilding training for his direct reports. When asked what
he wanted to accomplish from the training, his response was,
"Nothing, but since everyone else is doing it, there
must be something to it." Another inquiry as to whether
there were specific issues that needed addressing, his response
was, "No. Everyone does what I tell them to do, so we
do not have teamwork problems with my staff." He went
on to say that training is a waste of time as no one ever
learns anything or changes their work habits because of it.
This organization went on to conduct a teambuilding training
program. The result - nothing. The moral of this story is
top management support is needed for training to be successful.
Executive
training should concentrate on vision, mission and values
of the organization. It is a good thing to re-visit these
areas every now and again to ensure the management team is
managing with the same set of principles. Teambuilding workshops
succeed when executives come away with specific actions and
plans on what they can do to assist other divisions in meeting
the overall goals and objectives of the company.
When
conducting management and supervisory training it must be
meaningful to the participants. Most supervisors and managers
dislike attending training classes because it takes away from
their daily responsibilities. Learning new skills to make
their jobs easier should be the goal of every leadership training
program. If it becomes a chore to go to these programs, the
training is not accomplishing its objective. Practicing new
skills through realistic examples that the participants can
put to use immediately will make the training more effective.
Training on coaching and counseling in a construction company
with practice exercises based on office situations loses credibility
with the construction supervisors.
Most
importantly, training should be fun. It is possible to learn
and have fun at the same time. If the training experience
is fun and succeeds in changing behaviors in a positive way,
much is accomplished. A high energy facilitator who has the
ability to relate to the experiences of the participants and
has the ability to offer alternatives that make sense will
be most effective.
Take
the time needed to allow proper learning. A one hour training
session on conflict resolution becomes a lecture. Participants
become bored and come away with no additional skills. Four
hours is the minimum length for skills training.
Have
participants write down one or two things that they will do
differently as a result of the training experience. Make this
a regular practice in all training programs. The objective
of the training is to change behaviors. Participants will
be more likely to make improvements when it is written down.
This is true even though no one else reads it.
Belief
in the training by all of the people involved will make for
better results. Training for trainings sake is simply a waste
of time and money.
|
