Maximizing Live Training Effectiveness With Some Simple Planning
Taking a live training course can be frustrating for the attendees, and trying for the presenter(s). Here are some tips, based on direct experience, that can make it easy and productive for all concerned.
Even though a wealth of reference and how-to information is available on the WWW, some things can be conveyed much quicker and in a richer context in the dynamics of live instruction. Learning new leading/bleeding edge software is certainly in this category, where the techniques and tips have only recently been discovered and often haven’t yet been documented. Making it a bit more difficult is the fact that most of the presenters are trailblazing techies and wizards whose skills usually don’t include the usual social graces, not to mention patience, of effective teachers.
We’ve attended a number of these, and have always come away with enough to justify the investment. The need for these live sessions seems to be increasing, what with the expanding proliferation of new tools, methodologies and environments, particularly the Rich Internet Application offerings from Adobe and the like, that may well make the WWW a fundamentally different, and arguably better, place than it has been to date.
Regardless of how long the live training is, there are some things that can be done up front to make it worth while, and at the very least get most, if not all, of the setup busy work and overhead out of the way. Here some common ones that we’ve noticed.
Skill prerequisites spelled out in reasonable detail, such as the development tools, environments and programming languages that a potential attendee uses. Particularly helpful when the live training is for bleeding edge products, services or techniques.
Software prerequisites spelled out in detail. Items that the attendee has to have installed should be available as a download package before the training starts, including the installation methods and validation procedures. This can readily be automated. Getting this done before training starts will safe time and, more importantly, a great deal of frustration.
Provide a checklist of prerequisites, required software, review of any course material inventory, etc. before training starts.
Any high-level presentation material, such as block diagrams, slides, power points, etc. should be made available before the training starts.
If a network is required, then try to make it wireless. At the very least, test it, and have a Plan B, such as USB thumb disks with course material, if it doesn’t work for any reason.
If the training is a full day then include a catered light lunch. This has a number of direct benefits, and a few considerable indirect ones. Not least, it encourages networking establishing connections that can be increasingly useful to the attendees.
Instruction material after any meal should be relatively light for an hour or so and ideally involve some interaction, to help keep the attendees. Physiologically, the mind is relatively dulled while blood flow to the stomach increases during digestion.
At the end of the training, send the attendees’ and trainers’ contact information to everyone.
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Tags: software training