75 Ways of Working with Groups to Develop Their Training Skills

You need this manual because part of what you do is to train other people to be trainers. The aim of this collection is to help you to encourage the people you train as trainers to be innovative in their own training design and delivery. So the activities give them the chance to experience novel, interesting and fun ways themselves, in their pursuit of effective trainer skills. The role of the trainer is not confined solely to the design and delivery of training and so you will find a whole range of material here, encompassing the key elements that are part of the trainer’s role. The activities are divided into nine different parts: ¢ Openers - activities about getting to know one another, breaking down barriers to learning, building rapport and setting the scene. Participants find out about their current skill levels, which they can use as a basis to measure their progress; ¢ Analysing training needs - how to find out what training is needed and who should be involved. The activities help trainers to analyse jobs, identify the skills people have, how to investigate triggers and present training plans; ¢ Learning process - understand more about how people learn. Activities covering learning blocks, motivation, learning styles, memory recall and transferring learning; ¢ Effective communication - activities that highlight the potential communication problems in the learning context, including the problems with verbal and written instructions, watching for communication signals, active listening and the consequences of making assumptions about levels of understanding; ¢ Preparing to train - from pre-training information, setting objectives, organizing learning, to getting the environment right and preparing notes; ¢ Training techniques - opportunities to try out a variety of techniques from case studies to card sorts and from brainstorming to role plays; ¢ Training delivery - activities for identifying the qualities of the effective trainer through t

Table of Contents:
Introduction; Activities index. Part One Openers: Making introductions; Taking your temperature; Ten good reasons for learning about training; What do you know about training?; How do you see yourself as a trainer?; Clarifying learning objectives. Part Two Analysing Training Needs: Assessing competence; Personal pen picture; Are you covered?; What's in a job?; Right from day one; Triggers for action; Preparing a training plan. Part Three The Learning Process: Internal clock; Arm folding; Learning blocks; Motivation to learn; How things are learned; Helping your memory; Crack the code; Boat; Cover up; Learning transfer. Part Four Effective Communication: Draw a picture; Android; The shoe shop incident; Cascade; Assumptions; Active listening; Signals. Part Five Preparing to Train: Objective setting; The great training debate; Knotty problem; Twisted band; How many letters?; Jumbled stages; How long will it take?; One or more; Seating arrangements; Learning methods; Flying start; What could go wrong?; Planning and writing training notes. Part Six Training Techniques: Devising a questionnaire; Brainstorm; Discussion-leading; Creating a case study; Designing and using a card sort; Setting up and running a problem-share activity; Creating and running a line continuum activity; Running a debate activity; Designing and running a role-play activity; Setting up and running a paired listening activity; Self-paced worksheets. Part Seven Training Delivery: The ABC of an effective trainer; Keep talking; The power of feedback; Giving and receiving feedback; How good a trainer are you?; How good a facilitator are you?; How good a coach are you?; Supporting self-directed learners; Managing group process; Problems with learners. Part Eight Evaluating Training: What is the purpose of evaluation?; Tests and checks; Developing evaluation sheets; Learner evaluations; Workplace assessment; The training game. Part Nine Endings: Selling training; The last word; The story so far; Where do you go from here?; Celebrating success.

About the Author :
Sharon Bartram has been active in the HRD field for more than 20 years. Her trademark is her pragmatic approach to learning design and training delivery. She is currently studying for her Masters Degree in Management Learning at Lancaster University and is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. Brenda Gibson has worked in training and development since 1988. Her previous experience included teaching in London and management in the charity sector. She holds a Master’s degree in Management Learning from Lancaster University. The authors are joint principals of the development consultancy SBG Associates specializing in Training for Trainers, Management and Organizational Development. They are the co-authors of the best selling Training Needs Analysis, also published by Gower and their title Evaluating Training, again with Gower, is another global seller. A related Gower title by the same authors is 27 Ways to Integrate Training and Development with the Needs of Your Organization. A forthcoming Gower product by the same authors will be a manual of self-development activities for trainers.