How Not To Train

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How Not To Train

• Common Training Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

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Potential Savings From Training

• Fewer errors
• Less equipment downtime
• Faster equipment startup time
• Reduced employee turnover
• Proper implementation of new strategies
• Higher workplace morale
• Less time lost to grievance hearings and work
  stoppages
• Reduced recruitment costs (because training can
  create more job-ready candidates for promotions)
• Maximized productivity of new employees

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What Well Cover

• Adult learning styles
• Common training mistakes
• Consequences of poor training

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Training Adults

• What is different?
• Expectations
• Learning styles
• Auditory
• Visual
• Tactile/Kinesthetic
• Personal filters
• Cultural
• Language

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Adult Learners

• Are autonomous and self-directed
• Have accumulated a foundation of life experiences
  and knowledge
• Are goal-oriented
• Are relevancy-oriented
• Are practical, focusing on the aspects of a
  lesson most useful to them in their work

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Motivation

• Problem centered goals
• Personal growth or gain
• Stimulate curiosity
• Demonstrate usefulness of learning

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Barriers to Learning

• Lack of time
• Lack of money
• Lack of confidence
• Lack of knowledge about opportunities
• Scheduling problems
• Personal situations

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Auditory Learners

• Learn through listening
• By tone of voice, pitch, speed and Verbal
  lectures, discussions, talking things through and
  listening to others
• Interpret the underlying meanings of speech other
  nuances
• Written information may have little meaning until
  it is heard

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Visual Learners

• Learn through seeing...
•                    
• Need to see body language and facial expression
  to fully understand content
• Prefer sitting at the front of the classroom to
  avoid visual obstructions (e.g. people's heads).
• May think in pictures
• Learn best from visual displays
• Prefer to take detailed notes to absorb the
  information

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Tactile/Kinesthetic Learners

• Learn through moving, doing and touching...
• Learn best through a hands-on approach
• Find it hard to sit still for long periods of
  time
• Become distracted by their need for activity and
  exploration

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A Word of Caution

• It is simplistic to say that someone is strictly
  one type or another

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Personal Filters

• Experiences
• Personal beliefs
• Emotion
• Culture
• Situational context

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Cultural Barriers

• American Style
• Doing
• Egalitarian
• Monochronic
• Low context

• Other Cultures
• Being
• Hierarchical
• Polychronic
• High context

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Language Barriers

• Decoding needed
• Some things lost in translation
• Slang, idioms
• American cultural references
• Foreign language confusion
• Vreemde taalverwarring
• Confusione di lingua straniera

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Why This Matters

• Students learn more effectively when they already
  know something about a content area and when
  concepts in that area mean something to them and
  to their particular background or culture. When
  new information is linked to prior knowledge,
  they activate interest and curiosity, and infuse
  instruction with a sense of purpose.

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What Not to Do
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Use Training as a Quick Fix
Training
Crisis
Use Training to Solve Every Problem
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Set Up a Training Program Without an
Understanding of the Goal
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Dont Tell Attendees Why They Are There
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Teach Skills With No Direct Relationship to the
Work

• Specific training should only be given if the
  person is going to utilize the task they are
  being trained on soon.

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Provide Irrelevant Information
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Provide Learning in a Vacuum or Without Context

• Don't ask for input from the people receiving or
  sponsoring the training

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TMI-Information Overload
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Provide Non-specific Information
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Ignore Physical Limitations
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Make Participants Feel Uncomfortable or Insulted
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Drone On For Hours Without a Break
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Provide an Uncomfortable Learning Environment
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Learning Environment

• Seats
• Lighting
• Work space
• Temperature
• Noise

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Allow Interruptions and Distractions to Occur
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Omit Follow-up and Documentation
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Enhancing Learning

• Put training in context
• Do some homework and find out from your staff
  what they know and what they need to know to do
  their job well
• Present the material in a way that will match the
  groups learning style(s)
• Use visuals to overcome language or learning
  difficulties

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Summary

• Target training to a specific project, skill or
  facility need
• Refer to known skills to link new knowledge
• Be sure the knowledge will be applied quickly
• Engage the attendees to discover or share parts
  of the information

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Appropriate Training Methods for Mixed Audiences

• Vary training to accommodate different learning
  types
• Provide both hard facts and general concepts
• Incorporate both visual and verbal cues
• Allow both experiential learning and time for
  evaluation and analysis
• Provide detail in a structured way, as well as
  the big picture

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In Summary

• Training is important
• Training is required
• Training is not a substitute or fix-all for poor
  programs and facilities or unhappy employees