This month we continue assessing your various training options to help you put together the right mix of blended learning to ensure your workers are the best trained they can be. There are numerous methods and materials available to help you prepare and equip employees to better do their jobs.
Indeed, with so many choices out there, it can be daunting to determine which methods to use and when to use them. And using several methods for each training session may actually be the most effective way to help employees learn and retain information.
This month, we’ll look at the many ways that you can break up training sessions and keep trainees attentive and involved with interactive training methods.
Quizzes. For long, complicated training, stop periodically to administer brief quizzes on information presented to that point. You can also begin sessions with a prequiz and let participants know there will also be a follow-up quiz. Trainees will stay engaged in order to improve their prequiz scores on the final quiz. Further motivate participants by offering awards to the highest scorers or for those with the most improved scores.
Small group discussions. Break the participants down into small groups and give them case studies or work situations to discuss or solve. This is a good way for knowledgeable veteran employees to pass on their experience to newer employees.
Case studies. Adults tend to bring a problem-oriented way of thinking to workplace training. Case studies are an excellent way to capitalize on this type of adult learning. By analyzing real job-related situations, employees can learn how to handle similar situations. They can also see how various elements of a job work together to create problems as well as solutions.
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Active summaries. Create small groups and have them choose a leader. Ask them to summarize the lecture’s major points and have each team leader present the summaries to the class. Read aloud a prewritten summary and compare this with participants’ impressions.
Q & A sessions. Informal question-and-answer sessions are most effective with small groups and for updating skills rather than teaching new skills. For example, some changes in departmental procedure might easily be handled by a short explanation by the supervisor, followed by a question-and-answer period and a discussion period.
Question cards. During the lecture, ask participants to write questions on the subject matter. Collect them and conduct a quiz/review session.
Role-playing. By assuming roles and acting out situations that might occur in the workplace, employees learn how to handle various situations before they face them on the job. Role-playing is an excellent training technique for many interpersonal skills, such as customer service, interviewing, and supervising.
Participant control. Create a subject menu of what will be covered. Ask participants to review it and pick items they want to know more about. Call on a participant to identify his or her choice. Cover that topic and move on to the next participant.
Demonstrations. Whenever possible, bring tools or equipment that are part of the training topic, and demonstrate the steps being taught or the processes being adopted.
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Other activities include asking trainees to:
- Create a personal action plan.
- Raise arguments to issues in the lecture.
- Paraphrase important or complex points in the lecture.
The advantages to interactive training sessions are that they:
- Keep trainees engaged in the training, which makes them more receptive to the new information.
- Make training more fun and enjoyable.
- Provide ways for veteran employees to pass on knowledge and experience to newer employees.
- Can provide in-session feedback to trainers on how well trainees are learning.
The disadvantages to interactive training sessions are that:
- Interactive sessions can take longer because activities, such as taking quizzes or breaking into small groups, are time-consuming.
- Some methods, such as participant control, can be less structured, and trainers will need to make sure that all necessary information is covered.
Next month, we’ll look at hands-on training methods.
Why It Matters
- Safety training is a critical task at any organization.
- It is an ongoing need that must be kept fresh and effective.
Interactive training can help you accomplish these goals