Effective Training 3 – Instructor Led Training Delivery Options

Most of the time, instructor led training sessions are delivered in classroom environments, but there are other options. Being aware of them, and selecting the most appropriate training method for your project can improve your chances of a successful outcome.

Classroom

Training people to use computers in a classroom environment is very popular, and in many cases is the right choice. With this option, delegates sit at desks, each with a PC, and face a trainer at the front of the room. Classroom training is ideal if you have a group of people who all need to learn the same thing an introductory Excel training session for a group of new starters, for example.

Workshops

Training workshops are ideal for small groups of staff who want to concentrate on a particular topic. Here, the trainer works with the delegates to achieve an objective. Perhaps to create an important presentation, or to master mail merging before a new marketing campaign. The subject matter may not be long enough to warrant a whole day's training, and it may be possible to arrange more than one workshop with different groups in the same day.

Bringing real life exercises into the training session like this can be really effective. Learning how to do something directly relevant to their job function tends to make delegates pay more attention and be more receptive. They can instantly see how what they're learning will benefit them in their day to day jobs, and the impact on productivity is immediate.

Consultations

An alternative way of using real life situations for training purposes is to use trainers as consultants. A trainer could visit your office for a meeting with an individual, or a series of meetings with different people, to talk to them about particular topics they need to learn or are struggling with. This can be ideal if you have a number of employees who each have different requirements. In some cases, a consultation may run for several days if the topic is demanding enough.

In effect, with consultations you use a trainer to provide expert advice and guidance for a specific piece of work just like hiring a consultant or contractor, but probably at more cost effective prices and without a fixed term contract.

Floor Walking

Floor walking is the ideal follow up to an upgrade project or rollout of new technology. Timed to fit in with your implementation schedule, trainers attend your offices and base themselves amongst the staff (at their usual desks) when they have to use a new system for the first time. The trainers are available to answer queries, remind employees how to do things, and help troubleshoot the new system if necessary, sometimes acting as a go-between between users and the computer help desk. For large projects, several trainers may be used at the same time maybe to cover different departments, or each at a different office. There is no set agenda for floor walking the trainer will deal with issues as they arise.

Floor walking requires careful planning and timing, and the trainers must have been involved at an earlier stage of the project to know exactly what is being implemented, but this can really help your transition to new systems go smoothly.

iAutoblog the premier autoblogger software