Monthly Archives: May 2020

Some of us are very lucky as trainers to have had fantastic training support and continued professional development, but many aren’t so fortunate.  One of the most common statements I come across when delivering PTT Train the Trainer courses is how many people are given a task by their managers to train something because “We need training on that”. 

Then comes the inevitable worry about “How am I going to do that? Where do I start?”  I’ve been there, so I know exactly how you feel because you want to get it right and more than anything, don’t want to let anyone down.  Invariably then, you press on and do your very best with what little information you have been given which might lead to some good stuff but in my experience, most of it is time, and money wasted because the perceived need is not the same as the actual need!  So where and why has it gone wrong?

In any form of training, there is always a training need for individuals and organisational requirements, so it’s so important

We are continually looking at ways to deliver effective training and to improve our provision and as a Train the Trainer provider I believe our practice should be of the highest quality.   Like many providers, we have had to adapt our training delivery since lockdown.

I have done lots of research into courses, looking at what’s available currently online as well as looking at some fantastic Learner Management Systems (LMS) which is the interface to enable e-learning.

What has amazed me?  It's the mass of inferior learning materials available as e-learning.  I have had to endure a significant amount of PowerPoint-driven presentations which to be perfectly honest have bored me to death.  Please don’t go thinking I have been looking at the free ones, I have paid for courses, and I have subscribed to paid sessions.  If I am honest, if I were a real delegate I would want a full refund.

It doesn’t matter if we are talking about face to face training or e-learning, the same training

In the current economic climate and as we come out of lockdown, it is essential that organisations (workforces) have effective leaders, who help the staff to be motivated. Not only will this make for a happier workforce, but it will lead to improved staff retention, recruitment and ultimately improved productivity; a successful business!

The good news is that all organisations are capable of achieving a highly motivated and productive workforce. The bad news is that it costs! It cost in time and effort, but there is no Magic in managing people; it is quite a simple concept. However, to start improving your workforce's motivation you need to know two crucial things:

Firstly, where are you starting from; is what you are currently doing working? If it isn't, or you don't know you need to find out; if you keep doing the same thing, you will get the same return.  You have to think differently.

Secondly, if yours or the 'leaders' skills are coming up short, you need to reflect and be prepared

On our PTT Train the Trainer courses we cover the five pillars of assessment, one of which is ‘Questioning”.  Questioning is a must in any form of training delivery, particularly if you want to engage. However, one of the most common problems I see is when questioning becomes a question for the sake of a question, more commonly it’s a closed question, or the way it is handled makes it a waste of time.

Let me break it down slightly; why do we use the question in the first place?  Well, a good question gets the brain thinking and should prompt answers that are stimulating, promote further discussion with examples and experience which are leading to the key learning point.  Every good trainer doesn’t just ask random questions, they are always crafted deliberately to get to the key learning point and also the way they are handled is crucial because this further strengthens the learning process; I like to look at a well-crafted question being broken into parts like we are taking a journey:

Do you find yourself stuck in life? One of those questions you sometimes have to ask yourself as you face the day to day routine with no change. Some of us like this, the majority don’t, so why is this? Ask yourself the question what would you like to be different?

Look at three areas in your life, career, life, and relationship and break them down to see if you think change is needed. Ask yourself a question, what is important to you? Look at your values and what you would really like.

When it comes to change do you feel you need to resist this? Is it the uncertainty that holds you back or do you have fear with change? Sometimes this happens due to circumstances that you may have had in your life before.

The key is to start, make a decision and start the process then once you do this you will be starting the change. Look at the three areas and give yourself a goal in each of them, remember this will be a long-term goal. Then start the process making little changes to move towards your

We decided to break our online courses into three categories. Online Accredited which are ILM accredited courses, Online Courses which are full-day certificated sessions and Online Bitesize which are unique to us and I will explain why.

Our Bitesize courses are compact (90 minutes duration) packed with useful information and techniques. They are delivered on a range of subject areas from Coaching to Presentation Skills and are packed with essentials and fantastic information. Each session is delivered in the same interactive manner as our regular face to face training (We don't read PowerPoint slides even online), and delegates get an information pack with the session.

Another fantastic ability with Online Bitesize is our ability to adapt and deliver at various times during the allocated day. They are live events, not recordings, but we can start to suit during the allocated day. This is particularly useful for individuals working during the day and would like to have an evening session.

There is so much hype about the slow release of lockdown, I felt myself asking what does this look like for you? I know what it looks like for me but what about you? We all interpret situations in different ways, our world is based on our own fear. Some people live physical fear, some of us live with fear in our heads. That is why there are differences in how we perceive the situation. All humans are so different, we have to respect this.

All of the situations are different and there is no right or wrong. Coming out of lockdown will be so different for everyone, think about that for a moment. Think about yourself and your judgements and where your bias is. The key as a coach is to come alongside what you hear and have no judgements. You have to be really careful to think people can be such fools because their interpretation of the world is different from yours. Listen to understand the coachee because you have no idea what has shaped their thinking.

I like forward-thinking and I am already

It is such a natural thing to do, put something off because we are afraid of the outcome...

Or is it the perceived outcome? Quite often the outcome is nowhere near as bad as we think.  I have spoken to many people about this at training events and without a doubt, everyone agrees. Is it not the case that what we actually fear is the perception of what might happen which is often nothing like the reality at all. I can hear some cynics now saying "But sometimes it is" but my response is always if you put it off any longer the only thing it can do is get worse, things become even more complicated if you put things off, you forget things and it adds to the uncertainty that is affecting your own thinking in the first place.

This is all part of a process called 'procrastination' for those of you unfamiliar with the phrase it is basically putting things off. We speak about this at a lot of our events, particularly on our time management and management courses. What we will do is not do things