BLOG 259 - Can you hear me at the back?

“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpvgfmEU2Ck” 

As performed by the one the ONLY Don McMillian

It’s Friday afternoon. All you wanna do is go home. But oh no! The boss comes in and lets you know that as a special treat, there will be no work this afternoon… because Derek from Accounts is gonna train your department on the latest hoojamaflip process that will transform your departments function immeasurably. One by one you all trail into the training room. (Standard: no windows, no air, just a great view of Derek and his PowerPoint presentation).

Admit it… how long before you have switched off and start thinking about the weekend ahead?

Well the national average for a Friday afternoon training session - is 2.78 minutes.

That’s somewhere in between finding a chair and Derek’s opening gambit of Good Afternoon.

We’ve all been there… death by PowerPoint courtesy of one of our colleagues.

A question often asked regarding peer to peer training is “If your office was on fire would you call Derek from accounts?”  No of course you wouldn’t… you’d call the fire brigade cause they are the professionals and they know what they are doing.  Therefore when it comes to training wouldn’t it be wiser to leave it in the hands of a professional?

Most companies would say NO.

In these recessionary times, the temptation to save a few grand and have peer to peer training instead has been a very popular option. It’s a pity really because the temptation for the likes Derek from accounts is to spend all his preparation time on cramming irrelevant information into  his PowerPoint slides… and none on his delivery. And the reason why professional trainers get paid… is because of their delivery.

But it is what it is.

If Derek from accounts is going to stand up front and instruct is colleagues on the impact of the hoojamaflip process – there just will have to be a way of helping the poor chappy out. After all Derek is a shit hot accountant. No one is better at letting staff know the tax implications of employee incentives (employees share options, assets, personal private pensions, etc.) over a cup of coffee in the rec room. So why is it he just bores the crap out of us when having to so in a more formal setting? Well that would be because wonderful accountant that he is… he didn’t know about the 10 rules of peer to peer training.

So for all the Derek’s out there, who find that suddenly they have to do a bit of peer to peer training and are thinking “OH CRAP!!!” here they are:

  

Preparation is Key

When you’re delivering training to people that you already know on a topic you feel fairly comfortable with, there can be a temptation to ‘wing it’.  This is the surest way to fail. And by the way... preparation does not mean hundreds and hundreds of PowerPoint slides with ever more complex graphics and colours.

Ensuring that you spend time preparing properly is vital.  Firstly think through what you’re going to say and why.  

Take time to prepare a structure to how you intend to deliver the information.

Handouts if it will help with your delivery and think through the types of questions that are likely to arise and how you might answer them.  This way you won’t get caught off guard and you can focus on delivering the message you set out to rather than going around in circles, or getting flustered or frustrated.

Have Clear Aims

You’d never walk into an interview without a set of clear aims and objectives in mind.  Training your colleagues is no different.

Understand why you are here and share those aims with your colleagues.

Make sessions practical, tell a story, offer an interactive activity and always absolutely always have sweets.

If it’s a long session have regular ‘discussion’ breaks (with refreshments!).ABSOLUTELY NEVER to stand at the front with a PowerPoint and lecture (sitting down reading PowerPoint slides to a room is JUST as bad!)

Everyone in the training room should be working together towards a shared goal or vision as a department and by sharing goals at the beginning of the training session your colleagues will be able to work with you to make the session a success. 

Be Honest If You’re Nervous

Training your peers can be nerve-wracking.  This is nothing to be ashamed of.  

Often by sharing your feelings and making a light joke of it you can dispel some of the tension and ensure your colleagues help the session to run smoothly.

Use What You Know About Your Colleagues to Get Them Interested

One advantage of delivering training to a group of people you are familiar with is that you know what makes them tick. Use this to your advantage.  If Fred from marketing is a bit reserved but mad keen on cooking build a cookery analogy into your training session early on to get him on board.

Tailor What You’re Delivering to Make It as Relevant as Possible

You may be sharing learning from an external source and inevitably this training will have been designed to try to address the needs of departments different from yours.  However you’re in the position of knowing the unique challenges faced by you and your colleagues and you will fully understand those priorities.  So instead of sharing the exact information you were given, tailor your training session to highlight the most salient points which will best help your department move forwards.

Keep Sessions Short and Time Them Right

You’ll know from your old school/university experiences that after lunch is the very worst time as everyone has a full tummy and a tired mind!

But it’s likely that you’ll be delivering your session at a time when – if we’re absolutely honest – we know that people’s minds will be wandering to what they’re going to have for tea and what’s on the box tonight.  For this reason you’ll find that if training at this time your training is most effective if you can keep it short and sweet. 

If you have any control at all over when to deliver the session (if you are delivering as part of a training day) then the morning is always the best time.  

Keep To the Principles of Good Teaching

Talking about school you’ll know what used to make a lesson good or bad  - those the basics are exactly the same when teaching adults.  Learning is not a spectator sport it is interactive. No one has even learned much just sitting in classes listening , memorising, and spitting out answers. Don’t let this knowledge go out of the window just because the average age of the pupils has gone up a few decades!  Ensure you differentiate between learning by seeing, doing and listening, create opportunities for interaction and regularly review the application of the learning. 

Ask For Feedback and Act On It

The easiest way to deliver an even better session next time is to find out what your colleagues found good and not so good about this session.  So ask for honest feedback.  Your colleagues should respect your desire to learn and be happy to work with you. 

Offer Practical Advice That Can Be Used Right Away

There’s nothing worse than attending a dull training session which seems to go on forever and which has no impact on the way you do things.  Don’t fall into the trap of delivering a highly theoretical session.  Instead, use what you know about current priorities to help apply the learning in a practical context and ensure that everyone walks away with some really practical ideas that they can put into practice right away.  That way you can be assured that your session will have an impact.

Review the Impact Your Session Had

Keep track after a week, a month or even a quarter on how the session that you delivered has impacted on your colleagues’ practice. 

It’s really satisfying to find that you’ve managed to have a positive impact on the way that people are going about their job. 

However, if you find that your session didn’t have the lasting impact you’d hoped for then it might be time to take a step back and assess how you might improve things for next time.

Of course the only problem for our Derek is that he’ll be so ruddy awesome,  that he’ll gain rock star status with his colleagues…. and forget the due dates for tax and reports. So you’ll all be out of work!

Yep… best Derek never sees this and carries on droning on and on while pointing at every slide on the PowerPoint  - just in case you can’t see it at the back..

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