When to go for Feedback / Inputs, before or after training session?

Feedback is important for any training and development department to know if their presentation efforts are leading to effective and essential learning. It is good to encourage feedback at the end of the training session, but sometimes it is beneficial to know the views of the trainees before a training can be conducted.
 One thing has to be kept in mind that trainers can be really offset if they only receive negative feedback.  It has to be remembered that in every negative feedback, there is an opportunity to learn and grow. Trainer has to focus on process not only results.
 Here is a scenario to think about:
Dow Jones does training for a large group of audiences. At the end of his trainings, the trainee is given training feedback form to be filled out. Dow Jones asked, I always ask feedback at the end of my training sessions, but mostly it is not very successful as the harm for the current training may be done, because current training is already over. The next training can be improved based on the feedback of previous training, but the focus again is on the next training. With the pattern of feedback at the end of the training, next training can be improved but current training suffers.

To break this continued pattern of not getting desired results, it is recommended that:
 -          There should be a pre-luminary assessment on what target one wants to achieve with training.
-          Based on audience come up with critical paths that have to be met.
-          Have a strong overview of how training will be planned.
-          Should training be interactive or educational based, followed up with quizzes to determine the knowledge sync.


 More ideas on how to continue getting desired results

How to handle tough audience?

Tough audience? No worries..a good Trainer can crack the training in a professional manner, no matter what are the problems...

Audiences are from different backgrounds, experiences and situations that are unique to their own niche. Audiences can act and respond differently from time to time and the question arises, how to handle tough audiences?

Trainer work hard to put the content in front of their audiences and make sure proper learning can take place.  Any content will be helpful, only if there is a strategy that can identify the behaviors of audiences. There must be steps to adhere to discipline fro effective learning.

There have to be some practical methods that will work and create a positive environment to learn from.

Few methods are:
-          Know your audience background, needs and learning style.
- Establish a connection with your audience before drilling deep into the training.
- If there are disarming questions, first thank the person who asked the interesting question. If appropriate answer the question briefly or else mark it as something to be answered after training session, just to ensure timely learning transition can take place for rest audiences.
- Ask for anonymous feedback at the end of the training session. This will help to understand next steps.

Have you faced a situation when you are well prepared, but tough audiences made it hard to carry on with success? feel free to share your stories.

How to be confident in front of audiences?

Anxiety, natural phenomena that leads us to nervousness that can lead to failure. A trainer might be great at the concept they will be presenting, but knowing and standing in front of large group to not only present, but also answering questions and solving problems can be a tough task. A question arises then, how to be confident for presentation?

Some of the challenges that can occur is tough audiences, repetitive disruption, lack of flow in instruction and many others. Techniques to reduce disruptions will help to become confident and take audiences into full confidence. 

Sometimes trainers can have a problem to present as they have not set a tone of when questions should be asked. As soon as the trainer starts to talk, some audience starts to ask question which leads the seminar to a totally different direction.  Now if this audience is a manager or director, it could be hard to say anything but deal with the disruption that leads to loose of control over the entire seminar.

Below are some helpful steps to deal with this:

-          Walk in the training seminar with confidence.

-          Have a fine tuned overview that would mention the steps training seminar will follow.

-          Be clear on how training will be structured.

-           Divide the training into sessions that are small and have common topics. After every section, plan a question/answer section.

-          If a question can be answered quickly, do so. However for detailed questions, answer in brief that can be followed up after training.

Why Training Matters?

In today’s workforce, many growing businesses are facing few common problems like low employee morale, inability to cope with changes, high turnover etc.  By these recurring issues, not only the company is losing their ROI but the workforce is getting affected as well.

 Before taking any bold step to think about the problems, the companies have to first know what their bottom line is. No matter what business industry we take an example of, every company wants to stay competitive, maintain quality and find ways to increase productivity. A lot of time it is hard to know if the problem starts with the company’s procedures or on the workers end. 

Staying competitive in the industry can be attained by having a workforce that is skilled and enthusiastic about the work they do. One thing to remember is that no matter how skilled workers we may have, continued education and training is needed to keep up with the challenges.  Following are few examples of what can be gained if proper training is implemented:

-          Defined business objectives

-          Sharpen skill set to create personal and professional growth

-          Better resources management

-          Effectiveness and Efficiency

-          Job Satisfaction

Moreover, Training will help to ensure that the company is covered from legal issues that can arise due to certain work related situations. When proper training is provided, there is a reduction in employer liability to find any misconduct.  Some important set of training to avoid legal complexities are workplace safety, customer service skills, and diversity, sexual harassment and business ethics.

Today’s companies go through a series of interviews to know which candidate will be the best to hire so that there is no loophole that can affect job later on. Companies are forgetting that the basic skills are what can be judged from an individual, however growth is part of proper and continuous learning that can be obtained through streamlined training…