Excellent Training! Are You Coming Back?

“Excellent training! Are you coming back?” is just one of the many positive comments that I received from the mandatory training that I conducted recently. Concerning Learning, LLC has actually trained 650 employees for the City of Baltimore from April to June!!! It’s a huge accomplishment to be able to help an organization achieve their desired learning goals, especially in such a short period of time.

Not One Unfavorable Evaluation

One thing that I find remarkable about the entire experience is that we didn’t have one NOT ONE, unfavorable evaluation! Can you believe it? Please, believe it...I have the proof :-) I’ve read all of the evaluations as I always look for ways to continuously the training quality.

Evaluations are essential to get the learner’s reaction and see if they leave your training with the confidence and competence to hopefully apply it back on the job. I didn’t find one that led me to believe that Concerning Learning, LLC made learning extraordinary!!!

It is extremely common to have at least one “bad” evaluation when people are “volun-told” to attend training. Often when employees are forced to attend training, they are resistant to the learning experience and express their discontent in the evaluation. You should never take it personal and should actually expect it.

So, What?

I’m not bragging, just sharing. I’m sharing this amazing experience with you because I want to explain how I did it. When you’re starting a revolution, you can’t keep it to yourself. And yes! I’m starting a Learning Revolution!

As much as many of us try to give credit to the person delivering the training, extraordinary learning experiences start way before anyone steps foot in the training...or steps a virtual foot in online training. It starts by ensuring that the training has the right content and structure.

The Magic Happens in the Design

For the Baltimore City training, which began in February, I was able to determine that I had the right content based on my design. I am not saying that having the right materials and delivery weren’t important because they are both extremely important to extraordinary learning experiences.

I am saying that the upfront analysis and design activities that happened before the training occurred allowed me to create an engaging and extraordinary learning experiences, for those 650 employees who attended.

It all starts with the client. One of the first things that I did was to conduct a series of meetings with my client to ensure that the learner needs were met. I had to get to know the learners via my client.

This can be a little tricky with mandatory or compliance training because there’s specific content that has to be covered based on company policies and procedures. This is the case for all mandatory training. Mandatory makes having the right content easier than other types of training.

So, the real challenge how do you make often boring content, engaging?

We’ve All Been There

We’ve all been through boring compliance training at some point in our lives. I know I have :-( While we’re sitting in the classroom, we are thinking about all of the work that’s piling up on our desks...the phone calls that we’ll have to return...and the number of people we’ll have to follow up with, when we return from training that is putting us to sleep.

Keeping this experience, that I just described above, from happening to others is what fuels my passion and prompted me to start the Learning Revolution. I want to rid the world of boring, uninspiring, and totally ineffective training!

How Did I Do It?

How do you make unengaging content, extraordinary? I’ll be dropping learning nuggets over the next few weeks to share how I become a magician and a trainer. I’m just joking, I’m not a magician, but I do have many years of experience in making learning extraordinary.

I know some of you may be saying:  why am I giving away all of my secrets? I can’t talk about my purpose in life being to help others learn, if I don’t share with others. What good is having knowledge, skills, and experiences if you don’t share them to help others learn and grow?

I will share one training tip per week on #TrainingTipTuesday to help others, who share their expertise with others and desire to make learning extraordinary!

Stay tuned for the first tip on this Tuesday!