Trainer’s Tip: Age Discrimination Awareness
Jennifer Topping reveals the finer points of her organisations awareness training. We have done four things:1. Carried out an audit of our existing equality and diversity policies to identify any transferable or cross over points to the new directive. 2. Organised a series of in house exhibitions about the new statute. 3. Found an amazingly […]
Trainer’s Tip: Bringing Training to Life
Rich Lucas shares his top tips on invigorating employee training. Here are some ideas: Put it into English – presumably you’re not handing out a policy document and reading through it with your delegates. If you are, change this to a powerpoint / flip chart presentation. Create handouts that cover the key aspects of the […]
Trainer’s Tip: Six Thinking Hats
Paul Sloane shares his version of the model, commonly used to challenge ways of thinking. I teach six hats on my creative leadership workshops. It always goes down well. Here are my tips: 1. Get six hats for all participants if possible. Wearing them helps. 2. Although they can be used in various ways I […]
Trainer’s Tip: Beating The Post-Lunch Training Lull
Annie Lawler suggests some ways to perk up delegates for the afternoon session. 1. What you give them for lunch will affect the depth of the dip! Try to keep away from sandwiches, red meat and foods that lie heavy on the digestive system and stick to light foods like fish, salads, fruit and vegetables. […]
Trainer’s Tip: Saying ‘No’ Activities
Jennifer James suggests some ‘just say no’ exercises. I use the following, very short, scenarios. They require very little explanation and only take a short time: 1. A friend asks you to look after his/her dog for the weekend – you’re not keen on dogs. 2. Someone asks you to lend them a fiver which […]
Trainer’s Tip: Housekeeping
Jennifer James shares her list of ‘domestic’ issues to be covered at the start of any training event. I include: Fire exits and procedures (if you know there is going to be an alarm test say so.) Personal safety and security (personal belongings as well as any internal security arrangements such as badges etc. Toilets. […]
Trainer’s Tip: Distance Learning Material
Ian Woodward shares his top tips on how to hone effective and focused paper-based, distance-learning material. To make your materials more effective, I suggest that you first concentrate on the content and on the support that users will receive (even more than the design): Think carefully about your target audience (e.g. where and how they […]
Trainer’s Tip: An Exercise in Leading Effective Teams
Annah Ross shares her top tips on how to roll-out an exercise on leading effective teams for a large group. I use an exercise which demonstrates the importance of the ‘building blocks of effective teams’. This includes: Balanced roles. Clear objectives and agreed goals. Support and trusting relationships. Co-operation. Openness and conflict. Sound procedures. Appropriate […]
Trainer’s Tip: Data Protection Training Exercises
Livia Dyckhoff shares her top tips on how to bring the key principles of the Data Protection Act alive. I start off with getting the trainees to brainstorm as many different sorts of data as they can think of with regards that a customer might provide: Name. Date of birth. Shoe size. Meter reading. Religion. […]
Trainer’s Tip: Time Management Exercise
Anne Fox has submitted this straight-forward exercise which helps delegates separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to their workloads. I run loads of time management courses and the exercise that I get most comments on is this:Ask the delegates to jot down 10 things they did at work yesterday (no order, no […]
Trainer’s Tip: Five Minute Trainer Assessment
Nick Hall submitted this practical exercise to be included in an interview when recruiting a new trainer. I have used this many times and it gives you a good feel for a new trainers potential without putting too much strain on the individual. Write and deliver an introduction to a training course using the INTRO […]
Trainer’s Tip: The Perfect Training Room
Imagine having to design a training facility from scratch. Where would you start? Graham O’Connell offers a few pointers. It is good to be involved from the ground floor, if you will forgive the pun, but there is a lot to consider. In a way it is a bit like deciding what training to do […]
Trainer’s Tip: Networking
Judith Perle shares her two top tips for effective networking. I spend much of my time training people to network more effectively, so I think I’m pretty much of an expert on the subject. My two top tips would be: a) be interested in other people; b) try not to think about what they can […]
Trainer’s Tip: Seasonal Ice-Breaker
An ice-breaker that’s perfect for the festive season from Jim Bradley. Here is a quick and easy intro that gets everyone up and moving and talking to each other. Have a go it works! It’s called the ‘Snowball Fight’ and the instructions are as follows: Have each person write their name, what they do, where […]
Trainer’s Tip: Guidelines for L&D Policy
Graham O’Connell offers this advice for drawing up a learning and development policy. I have seen quite a few different policies, strategies and plans, and there certainly isn’t a single definitive formula. For my part I think a policy is what gives licence and defines the character of Learning and Development (L&D) in an organisation. […]
Trainer’s Tip: Assertiveness Role Play
This week’s tip comes from Mike Kean, who shares his favourite assertiveness exercise. Invite each delegate to think of personal situation in which they need to be more assertive, then write the outcome they would love to have. Invite a partner to be the one you wish them to be assertive with and exchange the […]
Trainer’s Tip: The Induction ‘Funnel’
Rich Lucas passes on some tips about how to organise an induction programme. I use what I call a funnel effect, which lasts one week, but can be as long or short as you like. Day one is very general, company objectives, health and safety, all the hygiene factors etc. As the days progress, the […]
Trainer’s Tip: Management Training Exercise
If you have management training coming up, try this exercise from Phil Morgan. A nice simple exercise is to ask the following questions: Why do people perform? Why do people not perform? 1. Split the group into small sub groups and get them to answer the questions on a flip chart. 2. Debrief the answers […]
Trainer’s Tip: Stress Exercise
This week’s tip, from Rich Lucas, will help delegates identify when they are feeling stressed and their response to it. For demonstration of stress to each individual, you could try this: Get everyone to relax, close their eyes and breathe deeply. Then ask them to remember a time within the last week or month (or […]
Trainer’s Tip: VAK Exercise
This week’s Trainer’s Tip, from Eddie Newall, is an exercise to demonstrate the visual, auditory, kinesthetic (VAK) learning styles model. Give your participants the following scenario to discuss. Four friends are travelling home together after having attended the same training course, which lasted for a week. During the week a diverse range of training methods […]
