A Train the trainer workshop or TTT as it is commonly called is a workshop with basic training skills for aspiring trainers. Many organizations send their employees for these workshops for two main reasons. Firstly employees accept an internal trainer more readily as compared to an external one. And secondly, it works out extremely cost effective for an organization to have an internal resource, especially when large scale technical changes are being made.
Most TTT workshops are of 3-5 days duration, but some of them are split into few sessions of 1-2 days spread over a period of a month. This helps in optimum learning as the in-between time allows participants to absorb and implement the learning in real time and understand it's effectiveness.
A good TTT program also gives the participants an opportunity to demonstrate their learning, multiple times during the workshop. In fact it is a great strategy to include a session towards the end of any training/workshop where the participants can demonstrate what they have learned. This benefits in two ways; on the one hand it boosts the confidence level of participants on their improved ability, on the other hand it provides a perfect tool to measure effectiveness of your training (which you as a trainer, you can use to your advantage).
A typical Train the trainer training covers the following topics:
1.Principles of adult learning.
2. Basic Facilitation skills
3. Skills for training with activities
4. Power point training
5. Handling difficult participants
6. Use training aids
7. Training management
Though a TTT workshop can give you the basic understanding and some practice of adult learning methodology, your success as a trainer largely depends on how much you implement. Like any other skill, you get better with practice.
http://business-square.com/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5003113
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Corporate Management Communication - Training the Trainer
I remember doing some selling for a company where I was getting a small base remuneration that covered some salary, sales cost, car and travel expenses. It would run out in seventeen weeks, after which "commission-only" would kick in. Because I brought in with me a lot of management knowledge, the company kept putting me on managerial tasks. In addition, I was expected to learn training materials and get certified in order to deliver seminars as well as sell them.
Soon I could only spend 50% of my time in sales which meant that, if reaching a quota took 3 months, it would now take 6 months. The more I had to do outside of sales, the less time I could spend in sales. My prospecting and follow-ups were falling behind every day. This, of course was costing me money because I had seventeen weeks to build it up beyond the base salary. I took my prospect lists home at night and entered them in my data base on my own computer in order to try and keep up a minimum contacts of calls during the little prime day time I had left.
One day, two of my colleagues and myself, were asked to attend a 3-day course certification training. A "master trainer" was flown in from the US affiliate company. The event was arranged under a tight schedule to meet a client training coming up in the following week. I was the one who was to deliver the seminar to a group of Japanese engineers at a large corporation. The course was three days in length. This was now Wednesday, which meant that we were going through the materials for the first time on the Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of the week before the training.
The normal way to train trainers required several steps. Step #1 would require a trainer to participate in a course while it is being delivered at a client's place of business by a certified company trainer. If the prospective trainer had a personal interest in delivering the particular course, he/she would then proceed to step #2 which is an instructional train-the-trainer course delivered by one of the organization's master trainer. Then step #3 would be for the trainer to do a personal run-through of the course, making his/her own notes and clarifying any questions that might come up. Step #4 would be to present his/her course internally the first time and get critics from the colleagues, making necessary adjustments. Ideally, Step #5 would be to make a perfect final internal presentation for certification prior to delivery to a client. With a 3-day course, the training would take at least 12 business days if one skipped Step #5 (3 days X 4 steps).
However, in this case there were not 12 days. There were not even 9 days, if one skipped step #4. There were not even 6 days. There were only 3 days left because the three-day course was to be delivered at the client's place of business beginning on the following Tuesday, Monday being the preparation day.
Because time did not allow this proper sequence of training, the three of us were taken directly into step #2 without having seen the course before.
To make matters worse, top management (the partner-owner/president of the company), made the mistake of letting us have the student material ONLY. This normally happened at step #1 where a prospective trainer attends the course as a participant at a client's location. The next time the prospective trainer goes through the course as a train-the-trainer session, it is with both the instructor's and the student's material.
During our training, I asked if we could have the instructors manual as well, since we were doing Step 2 (both steps 1 and 2 at the same time) and there would be no time to go through it a second time, before our own review. Besides the logical reason, this would also allow us to mark our notes directly on our instructor's manual, etc., saving us having to re-write the material given to us during the training.
My request for the instructor's manual was denied. On what basis? Pride. The president could not admit he had made a mistake (he was out of context on the material needed at Step #2, even though this was our 1st training on that course; but now he wouldn't admit it). I argued my case, on behalf of myself and my colleagues who agreed with me that the manuals were necessary, offering all the constructive reasons for the situation we had been placed into.
At one point the president resorted to the pathetic excuse that the material cost money (?!) which made no sense whatsoever -- again totally out of context, because he was getting desperate to try and cover his mistake. This I promptly countered with our offer to pay for the material -- because we simply needed it and we were running out of time. But I had to back down when the dialogue became a public dual between my suggestions and the president's refusals. This is a Classic example of an ultimate top-down-only communication.
We had to finish the 3-day training without the instructor's manual. The president refused to come down to our level at the cost of jeopardizing the company's own need and reputation. An example of top management not trained in growing with the position. The ultimate contextual part here of course was the good of the company. Forget about personal pride and ego, what is good for the company?
How did we make out you wonder? Well none of us was ready to deliver the program at the appointed time and the master-trainer had to be brought back from the US to do it. And all because of personal pride and lack of training and growth on the part of corporate management communication./dmh
http://business-square.com/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5606381
Soon I could only spend 50% of my time in sales which meant that, if reaching a quota took 3 months, it would now take 6 months. The more I had to do outside of sales, the less time I could spend in sales. My prospecting and follow-ups were falling behind every day. This, of course was costing me money because I had seventeen weeks to build it up beyond the base salary. I took my prospect lists home at night and entered them in my data base on my own computer in order to try and keep up a minimum contacts of calls during the little prime day time I had left.
One day, two of my colleagues and myself, were asked to attend a 3-day course certification training. A "master trainer" was flown in from the US affiliate company. The event was arranged under a tight schedule to meet a client training coming up in the following week. I was the one who was to deliver the seminar to a group of Japanese engineers at a large corporation. The course was three days in length. This was now Wednesday, which meant that we were going through the materials for the first time on the Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of the week before the training.
The normal way to train trainers required several steps. Step #1 would require a trainer to participate in a course while it is being delivered at a client's place of business by a certified company trainer. If the prospective trainer had a personal interest in delivering the particular course, he/she would then proceed to step #2 which is an instructional train-the-trainer course delivered by one of the organization's master trainer. Then step #3 would be for the trainer to do a personal run-through of the course, making his/her own notes and clarifying any questions that might come up. Step #4 would be to present his/her course internally the first time and get critics from the colleagues, making necessary adjustments. Ideally, Step #5 would be to make a perfect final internal presentation for certification prior to delivery to a client. With a 3-day course, the training would take at least 12 business days if one skipped Step #5 (3 days X 4 steps).
However, in this case there were not 12 days. There were not even 9 days, if one skipped step #4. There were not even 6 days. There were only 3 days left because the three-day course was to be delivered at the client's place of business beginning on the following Tuesday, Monday being the preparation day.
Because time did not allow this proper sequence of training, the three of us were taken directly into step #2 without having seen the course before.
To make matters worse, top management (the partner-owner/president of the company), made the mistake of letting us have the student material ONLY. This normally happened at step #1 where a prospective trainer attends the course as a participant at a client's location. The next time the prospective trainer goes through the course as a train-the-trainer session, it is with both the instructor's and the student's material.
During our training, I asked if we could have the instructors manual as well, since we were doing Step 2 (both steps 1 and 2 at the same time) and there would be no time to go through it a second time, before our own review. Besides the logical reason, this would also allow us to mark our notes directly on our instructor's manual, etc., saving us having to re-write the material given to us during the training.
My request for the instructor's manual was denied. On what basis? Pride. The president could not admit he had made a mistake (he was out of context on the material needed at Step #2, even though this was our 1st training on that course; but now he wouldn't admit it). I argued my case, on behalf of myself and my colleagues who agreed with me that the manuals were necessary, offering all the constructive reasons for the situation we had been placed into.
At one point the president resorted to the pathetic excuse that the material cost money (?!) which made no sense whatsoever -- again totally out of context, because he was getting desperate to try and cover his mistake. This I promptly countered with our offer to pay for the material -- because we simply needed it and we were running out of time. But I had to back down when the dialogue became a public dual between my suggestions and the president's refusals. This is a Classic example of an ultimate top-down-only communication.
We had to finish the 3-day training without the instructor's manual. The president refused to come down to our level at the cost of jeopardizing the company's own need and reputation. An example of top management not trained in growing with the position. The ultimate contextual part here of course was the good of the company. Forget about personal pride and ego, what is good for the company?
How did we make out you wonder? Well none of us was ready to deliver the program at the appointed time and the master-trainer had to be brought back from the US to do it. And all because of personal pride and lack of training and growth on the part of corporate management communication./dmh
http://business-square.com/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5606381
Why Is Train The Trainer Training Important?
It is important to realize that any trainer needs two separate sets of skills and knowledge. First, they need to know the topic they are teaching (subject matter expertise). And second, they need to know how to transfer that information to the student (instructional expertise).
When instructors are hired to train adult students, they need both of these sets of skills. The problem is, corporations need people that know the topic material very well; and in order to know a topic well enough to teach it at a high level, you often have to have expert experience or a graduate degree in it, yourself. So most corporations and colleges hire instructors that have graduate degrees or subject matter expertise in the areas they will be training. But this is a sacrifice, because most of the instructors have little or no training in instructional expertise, or trainer training. The administrators assume that having been exposed to so many learning experiences, the instructors will have learned how to teach simply by watching other instructors teach. Most commonly the skills that are learned are traditional lecture style, which are non-interactive and not well suited for non-auditory learning styles.
High schools, middle schools, and elementary schools, however, know better. They know that the best teachers have usually been taught how to teach. So they require their teachers to have both classes in and practice at teaching -- in addition to other education in the topic or topics that they will be teaching.
It is ironic that the elementary schools and middle schools, which are designed for much less intense instruction than colleges, better understand the importance of hiring teachers who have been taught how to teach.
The same can be said for any instructor -- whether you are teaching preschoolers, teenagers, or adults, you can't just explain a topic to your students, and then expect them to "get it." Training is more than just simple transference of knowledge. You don't just open your mouth and deposit knowledge into the students' brains. You have to know how to organize that knowledge, properly present it in a variety of formats for students who have different learning styles and preferences, and talk about the topic in a way that the students can understand and learn from.
You must also be able to design ways to authentically assess whether or not your students have learned what you're trying to teach them. And you should be able to address different types of difficulties that students with special needs may have so that you can best assist them in learning the topics you are presenting.
Train the trainer training can help you do all of those things, and more. PrepMasters Be A Great Trainer Workshop gives you excellent training skills and career certification based on the latest research.
PrepMasters offers nationally recognized Instructor Enrichment Programs for Post-Secondary, IT, & Corporate Education. Our programs will develop and renew your instructional skill set by integrating the most recent advancements in knowledge-transfer and acquisition with practical presentation and classroom management, and learning leadership skills. Programs are based on sound research by the National Science Foundation, University of California Irvine Center for Learning and Memory, ASTD, Department of Education, and more Research Sources.
http://business-square.com/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/420656
When instructors are hired to train adult students, they need both of these sets of skills. The problem is, corporations need people that know the topic material very well; and in order to know a topic well enough to teach it at a high level, you often have to have expert experience or a graduate degree in it, yourself. So most corporations and colleges hire instructors that have graduate degrees or subject matter expertise in the areas they will be training. But this is a sacrifice, because most of the instructors have little or no training in instructional expertise, or trainer training. The administrators assume that having been exposed to so many learning experiences, the instructors will have learned how to teach simply by watching other instructors teach. Most commonly the skills that are learned are traditional lecture style, which are non-interactive and not well suited for non-auditory learning styles.
High schools, middle schools, and elementary schools, however, know better. They know that the best teachers have usually been taught how to teach. So they require their teachers to have both classes in and practice at teaching -- in addition to other education in the topic or topics that they will be teaching.
It is ironic that the elementary schools and middle schools, which are designed for much less intense instruction than colleges, better understand the importance of hiring teachers who have been taught how to teach.
The same can be said for any instructor -- whether you are teaching preschoolers, teenagers, or adults, you can't just explain a topic to your students, and then expect them to "get it." Training is more than just simple transference of knowledge. You don't just open your mouth and deposit knowledge into the students' brains. You have to know how to organize that knowledge, properly present it in a variety of formats for students who have different learning styles and preferences, and talk about the topic in a way that the students can understand and learn from.
You must also be able to design ways to authentically assess whether or not your students have learned what you're trying to teach them. And you should be able to address different types of difficulties that students with special needs may have so that you can best assist them in learning the topics you are presenting.
Train the trainer training can help you do all of those things, and more. PrepMasters Be A Great Trainer Workshop gives you excellent training skills and career certification based on the latest research.
PrepMasters offers nationally recognized Instructor Enrichment Programs for Post-Secondary, IT, & Corporate Education. Our programs will develop and renew your instructional skill set by integrating the most recent advancements in knowledge-transfer and acquisition with practical presentation and classroom management, and learning leadership skills. Programs are based on sound research by the National Science Foundation, University of California Irvine Center for Learning and Memory, ASTD, Department of Education, and more Research Sources.
http://business-square.com/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/420656
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