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What is Training?
Learning can take many forms, and in terms of training, our goal is to bring about a
behavioral change in something that we do. Training is not an event, where we attend
a workshop one day and expect the desired behavior to take place the next day.
Training is really a process. It begins before our participants even sign up for a class and
continues right up until the new knowledge, skills, and attitudes are applied regularly.
Training includes:
The purpose of training is to deliver results. We make training available when we want to improve
performance in some way, because we believe that it will help to move an organization from where we
are right now, to where we want to be.
Presenting is something that can take place in training or a meeting, and your presentation skills come
with you. If you are one of those people that get complimented because you have great speaking skills,
good pacing, and quality materials, then you already have great presentation habits. On the other hand,
if you are someone that tends to mumble if you are tired, or you don’t inject inflection into your voice,
then you can develop those skills.
Sometimes trainers rely on their presentation skills to get a point across, but not all training is
presenting. A lot of training is delivered in other ways, such as demonstration, case studies, exploration
activities, games, and guided practice.
When do we need training?
Lack of performance does not always mean that there is training needed. There are several areas to
consider BEFORE even looking at training as a consideration.
Identifying the
need for new
learning to take
place
Securing
management buy-
in for training to
be developed
Creating
participant-
centered learning
opporutnities
Evaluating the
effectiveness of
the training
offered