Let Me Get Back to the Office!
‘Do I really need to be on this Training Course?’ is about addressing the problem that so many people find themselves in. Sitting at the start of a training course thinking about what we have to do back at the office and wondering, ‘Do I really need to be on this Training Course?’.
As a manager, business owner, team manager, individual, or even as the HR function, you’ll have asked yourself this question. Particularly as you had what felt like a million and one emails to deal with, a report to write, meetings to go to, and a project to get back on track. The real truth behind this question is that the delegate on the course does not value the 8 hours they are investing in being trained Vs the 8 hours they have lost sitting on a course. They are asking this question after ‘the horse has bolted’.
As someone that has sat on such a course many years ago in my corporate life and has thought the same question. My attitude has changed now as a trainer. Please let me share my thoughts with you in an attempt to encourage you to value these opportunities. To ‘Sharpen Your Saw’, as Steven Covey would say.
Feeling Frustrated?
I remember that feeling of frustration, as a delegate. Frustration that normally spills out into being irritated by the first little thing on the course; from the tone of the trainer, to the person I was sitting next to, to the irritating hotel stationery that had seen better days. Or trying to fit a day’s work into a few 15-minute breaks- without success. Also, spending my energy proving that the day was a complete write-off and making sure that everyone at work knew this as soon as possible afterward. All of which was a ‘pointless exercise’. As Liam Neeson said in the film ‘Taken‘, just after he’d driven a 6-inch nail into the knee of an Albanian that had kidnapped his daughter (!).
Add to this frustration the deck of slides, handouts & manuals, that we were given at the end of the course to read and the instinctive knowledge that I’d only remember a little of what we had learned, and we truly had a ‘pointless exercise’. So, are we right to ask, ‘Do I really need to be on this course?’
Return on Investment?
The answer is a resounding ‘Yes’. The only part to change is when it is asked. At the start of the training course is too late. The question should be asked not only during the course, but before, during, and after. Please let me explain why. We, at Making Business Matter, believe that the key to training is to achieve a ‘Return On Investment’ (ROI). A ROI for the company and the individual. This can only be achieved if the final outcome is achieved, which is to achieve long-term behavourial change for the individual.
For example, if a delegate takes part in a time management course, the management of their time needs to be positively different 12 months after the course. Not just the next day after the course. If the individual is prioritising their time better then they are more satisfied at work. This will make them more productive, which means they are achieving more for the company. A win-win. To achieve a return on investment is our ‘reason for being’ at MBM.
This is what we have decided we will deliver for the company and the individual, and here are 3 insights into how:
1. ‘The Forgetting Curve’
Our trainers understand the value of the research into the memory, how much it forgets &d how quickly it forgets, and its application to training. By understanding these proven facts we are able to put into play items that will improve the amount retained from learning. This will achieve the long-term behavioural change that we all want. For example, 30 days after the course the chance of remembering what has been learned is as low as 20%, which is why we have ‘put in play’ several items of refresher learning that will greatly improve the chances of retaining the learning, achieving up to 60%.
2. Learning Styles
Each of us has a particular learning style that will help us learn more, more quickly and retain more. Before a course, each delegate takes advantage of our ‘Learning to Learn’ sessions where they have the opportunity to learn their learning style. This is so that they can help themselves and the trainer to help them learn more, more quickly, and retain more. As someone once wrote, ‘What is the best way to ride a horse? The way it is going?’.
3. What No Handouts?
No handouts, slides, manuals, or any other papers are given out on an MBM course. This is because we know from bitter experience that delegates leave a course with great intentions to read the slides because the course was so good. A year later, during an office clear-out, the slides are found and binned. We use a tool we built called ‘Keepers’ to help delegates capture their own set of personal notes for them. They can capture in a way that suits them, with notes that have meaning for them.
In Summary…
We believe that a delegate should ask ‘Do I really need to be on this course?’ because if they don’t ask they’ll achieve a much, much lower return on investment of themselves and their company. We’ll be helping them to ask themselves this question before, during, and after the course, with our ‘Course Questionnaire’ tool. If you’d like a copy of this tool please just ask and we’d be happy to share. We want to answer the question of ‘Do I really need to be on this Training Course?’ at the right time and avoid the Liam Neeson quote of it all being a ‘pointless exercise’.
