Informational or Transformational Training

Do you want the Learning & Development that you provide for your team to be Informational only? Or do you want it to be TRANSFORMATIONAL training? 

Do you want to increase knowledge or impact behavior change...or both? 

If you answered transformational training and yes to impacting behavior or both, then here's a tip.

The slide deck that you narrate during staff meetings won't accomplish those goals. 

The boring online training they watch on the computer won't do it either. 

If you want to provide Transformational Training for your team, you must make it active. Connect the dots between what they do every day on the job and what you're trying to teach them. 

Here are a few tips:

 Walk through Scenarios: Take the information that's being presented in the video, online course, or PowerPoint slide and walk through specific scenarios they encounter every day on the job. Have them discuss how they would take this information and apply it to these scenarios. Better yet, have them practice those skills. 

Pair Share: Put people into pairs and have them discuss their insights and feelings about the information shared. Then debrief as a group.

Poster Presentations: Have them work as a group to create posters about what they've learned. For instance, we will often give groups two pieces of flip chart paper and markers. If they've been learning about professional dress the group will make one poster that says "Unprofessional" and the other that says "Professional" or something along those lines. Then they stand as a group and share their insights with the entire group.

Gamify: Turn the information into a game and have them use the game to really practice the material. 

The key to transformational training is to use Adult Learning Principles and get the adults in the session to discuss, practice, and even journal about the skills they are learning. Does it take more time to be active? Yes. But why do it at all if you're not going to get results? 

Donna Cutting is the Founder & CEO of Red-Carpet Learning Worldwide and the creator of 52 Weeks of Customer Service.