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The National Learning Institute™ |
Managers – Do You Have To Run A Motivational Training Session or Workshop?- 10 steps to take to ensure your training session is a success!
Copyright © 2006 The National Learning Institute This article may be freely published electronically. It may be reprinted for individual use in hard copy but may not be reprinted in hard copy for commercial purposes.
So, you’re a manager. So, you know you have to run a training session or a team meeting for your team (for the first time) that needs to be motivational and you’re not a professional trainer. So what! With a good plan and a well structured session, training can be enjoyable and most of all rewarding for both you and your team. Here’s how …
· Get people involved in the topic before the session – issue what the professional trainers call “pre-work”. This can be as simple as asking people to jot down some answers to one question about the topic. For example, let’s say that you need to improve the service to customers provided by your team, then your pre-work question might look like: “Assume that we have just had a very successful year, and that we have received heaps of feedback which suggested our service given to customers has been first rate over the last twelve months: What things did we do to get such great success? What problems or challenges did we have? How did we solve these problems and / or meet these challenges?” Note: for more information on these pre-work questions, see my article “Meetings – Management Meetings – Why are they such a waste of time? How to follow the 80/20 rule and five steps to success!”
· Agree groundrules for the session – if it is to be a discussion session, discuss and agree the role of the facilitator (you). Ask “Think about some of the more enjoyable and rewarding training sessions you have been in. What did the facilitator / trainer do? What did the participants do?” Ask people to quickly jot these down, then draw out the two or three things that you believe will be most important during the session for both the facilitator’s role and the participants. Write these two lists up in view of everyone and stick to yours – when people get off the track, remind them of the groundrules. · Involve people in the discussion very early in the session. Avoid a long introduction, just a brief intro, then straight into the groundrules. · For maximum participation, start the discussion or activity in pairs or small groups, then move the discussion/feedback to the main group. For example you could ask people to discuss their answers to the pre-work question in small groups and come back to the main group in 6 minutes with the three most relevant points. · Use questions to stimulate discussion. You should prepare these in advance. I always suggest that you prepare 15 questions that you could ask. Why? There’s no science or research to the number 15, just that I know through experience that not only will you have some great questions to ask, but in the process you’ll probably also develop the answers to any question you might be asked! · Involve all participants – pose questions to the quieter members to provide answers from their pre-work or from their discussions they had in the small groups at the start of the session (this will enable them to answer from their prepared notes without putting them on the spot). · Paraphrase and summarise the group’s progress often. This is important to keep the session on track. List the agreed points on flipchart paper progressively throughout the meeting. · Have teams record results of their activities/discussion on flip-chart paper and post around the room – this provides a focus; a way of summarising; a sign that “action is happening”. It is also very helpful for you as the facilitator to refer back to from time to time to remind people what has been covered or to emphasise important points that they have already agreed on. · As much as possible, give the group the responsibility for running the session. Set an agenda, then give people roles to carry out, activities / exercises to complete. For example, appoint different people as leaders of their small group discussions with the responsibility of feeding back to the main group. Rotate these leadership roles regularly so that everyone is involved. · Ensure there is an “Action” at the end of the session. This could be applying a new skill or simply an Action Plan with key actions to be taken, responsibilities and completion dates. Ensure this is written up and distributed to team members as soon as possible after the meeting. Diary to follow up the agreed actions.
Finally (Did I say there were 10 points?), work as a “facilitator” not “the Boss”! Encourage open, positive, critical discussion. If you want to make this a motivational session, it is particularly important to accept all views (you don’t have to agree with them, but you do have to accept them for discussion). Avoid putting the counter argument by using words such as “But …” and “Yes, but …” Instead ask “How might that work in practise?”.
Putting on the boss’ hat and making decisions about what can and cannot be done, soon stifles discussion and enthusiasm. On the other hand, being open and receptive (although difficult at times) will make the session stimulating and rewarding. Above all, you will find that you have a committed team rather than a compliant one and that’s truly motivational!
Meetings – Management Meetings – How to follow the 80/20 rule and five steps to success!
Copyright © 2006 The National Learning Institute This article may be freely published electronically. It may be reprinted for individual use in hard copy but may not be reprinted in hard copy for commercial purposes.
How often have you sat in a meeting thinking “This is such a waste of time. I have so many others things to do. I wish I could be somewhere else” Sound familiar? I’m sure we all have had these thoughts at one time or another and maybe for some of us, it has been very recent!
My experience as a line manager, senior manager and organisational psychologist over the last thirty years, means that I have attended and run many meetings. In my work, one of the most common complaints I get from all levels of the organisation, is that “We waste so much time here sitting around talking. Nothing gets done as a result”. Why are so many meetings a waste of time?
My conclusion is that the vast majority of meetings: · Cover information that could be distributed by other means · Focus too much on the past – what has gone rather than what is to come · Do not have a clearly defined purpose with intended outcomes
So, if you have to run meetings, the first decision to make is to decide what type of meeting it is – Is this an information sharing meeting or a problem solving meeting?
If it is an information sharing meeting, then there are two guides to follow: 1. Can the information be distributed in another way (eg email etc)? In this case there is no need for the meeting, thus saving a lot of time. 2. If the need to share the information must be by way of a meeting, then the focus of the meeting (and time spent) should be · 20% past oriented - i.e. reporting on the information (e.g. results) and · 80% future oriented – i.e. deciding what we are going to do with the information.
Using the “80/20 rule” for your meetings will ensure that everyone participates and can see some real advantage to having the meeting. By the way, if you are a participant in one of those boring meetings we mentioned earlier, it is possible to have some influence on the meeting process. Keep asking “What are we going to do with this information?” or, “How should we proceed now?”. In other words, every time the meeting starts to focus on the past, redirect it to the future.
If it is a problem solving meeting, then there are five steps to follow to ensure the meeting is a positive one with some productive outcomes.
As with Information sharing meetings, quite often problem solving meetings don’t reach their full potential because the meeting dwells too much on the present or past situation, rather than “how things ought to be”. Using the following five steps will ensure that your meeting stays focused on the future and is productive.
1. Ask each participant to prepare for the meeting a few days in advance (one week is ideal, but not always possible) by jotting down some notes in answer to a short “meeting question”. They need to bring these notes to the meeting.
2. The meeting pre-work question must be framed on the assumption that the problem has already been solved – ie. it must be expressed at some future time. For example, if a telephone service department were looking for ideas on how they might improve their service, the question might be put: “Assume that we have just had a very successful year, and that we have received heaps of feedback which suggested our service given to customers has been first rate over the last twelve months: What things did we do to get such great success? What problems or challenges did we have? How did we solve these problems or meet these challenges?”
3. At the meeting ask all participants for their ideas and list these on a whiteboard or flipchart paper etc. Note. It is very important to list these ideas so that everyone can see them – this helps maintain people’s interest, keeps people focused and is useful for keeping the meeting on track.
4. When the meeting has reached consensus on which items are worthwhile and achievable, two further columns are added to each flip chart page. One column is headed “By when” and the other is headed “By whom”
5. It is important that the workload is shared by all participants. In the first column “By when”, the group is asked to allocate a time for when this aspect could be achieved. When this is agreed, people are asked to volunteer to undertake responsibility for ensuring particular items are undertaken (not necessarily to do them, but to take responsibility for them), by placing their name in the “By whom” column. Once this is done, the meeting now has an action plan for solving the problem. This can be written up and distributed to people following the meeting.
I have used this process at all levels of organisations and with mixed stakeholder groups with amazing success over the last 20 years. Whether your meeting is an information sharing one or a problem solving one, I’m sure that using the guidelines set out in this article will make them more rewarding for everyone. If you would like some free advice on how to construct your “problem solving” meetings, or to discuss any aspects of meetings, please contact me at www.nationallearning.com.au |
