Recently, a friend of mine, a newly promoted manager, was telling me about the management training that his company has enrolled him in.
Once per month for a year, he will attend a half-day workshop, held at a hotel in the region. In what must be a ballroom, there are 25 half-round tables of 6 participants; that is a total of 150 participants.
There is ONE facilitator.
As this is a public offering, participants come from many different companies, industries, and sectors. They also likely represent different levels of management from organizations of varying size.
He told me that there are 12 participants from his organization attending, but that peers are not allowed to sit together. He went on to criticize the fact that several management concepts are being covered in the half day, and that activities take so long (as a large group) that there is no time allotted for the take-up of the activity.
Let’s review this scenario using the seven Principles of Adult Learning.
- Adults must want to learn.
Adult learners make choices relevant to their personal learning objectives. Since this is a public offering, it is not likely that the training company took the time to understand the needs of all participants and their organizations.
I believe that management training is most effective when it is adapted to meet individual participant needs as well as the overall goals of the organization. After reviewing the objectives, I ask participants what they personally want to get out of the session. I can then ensure that I flex my facilitation to address those items.
- Adults will learn only what they feel they need to learn.
Adults want to know “What’s In It For Me?”. With a ratio of 1:150, it is not possible for the facilitator to gain any insight into the challenges each participant faces as a manager. And so, it is left up to participants to determine what pieces of information are useful to them.
Like #1, taking the time to speak with each learner, is more likely to surface their individual needs. It is easier to engage all learners when the group is smaller. With 150 people in a ballroom, many learners may have been disengaged, and the instructor would not have known.
- Adults learn by doing.
I am a strong proponent of experiential and activity-based learning, BUT it must be well aligned with the learning objectives. I use relevant activities and take the time to set them up. While participants are working, I circulate to ensure they understand the instructions. Once the activity is complete, I take a good amount of time discussing it with participants and drawing all necessary linkages to the objectives and to the workplace. To circulate and help participants get the most out of activities, I recommend no more than a ratio of 1:20.
As my friend indicated, the activities were confusing since the groups were so large. Also, the instructor did not take the time to draw the linkage between the activity and the learning objectives.
- Adult learning focuses on problem-solving.
By conducting in-house management training, I can adapt examples and case studies to the organizational challenges that participants deal with daily. They apply the learned concepts to real problems in the classroom then return to their desks with real solutions. In-house adaptation provides for a positive ROI on training, that a public session, of any size, can’t normally generate.
- Experience affects adult learning.
As I mentioned, my friend is a recently promoted manager. It is unknown what the relative experience of participants in the audience is. With 150 participants, it would be challenging for the facilitator to draw on participant experience as input into the workshop. This then becomes nothing more than a “presentation”.
In my sessions, I take the time to get to know each participant and their prior knowledge of the topic. I draw on those who are more experienced to engage them. And I ensure that those who are less experienced are given the opportunity to ask questions. In-house sessions allow participants to learn who potential peer mentors may be.
- Adults learn best in informal situations.
In-house management training offers a secondary benefit of serving as a teambuilding and networking opportunity. I am currently conducting management training workshops for a client in the construction industry. The group has collectively commented that the sessions have been rewarding since they had never taken the opportunity to sit together to talk about people management challenges.
Public workshops offer the opportunity for networking when the content is geared to a technical audience. For example, I attended Langevin Learning’s public workshops for training professionals. Technical or professional content tends to be repeatable across industries, while I believe that management content needs to be adapted to the workplace.
- Adults want guidance and consideration as equal partners in the process.
It is simply impossible that the facilitator can establish any kind of relationship with the participants. Perhaps in a half day, participants can make some connections at their table. But there is no guarantee that they will sit with the same people next month.
Without the ability to directly interact with the facilitator, it is difficult to establish a learning partnership. For learners to get the most out of a workshop, they need guidance on completing their personal action plan. With so much lost to interpretation, learners can only guess at what they should do next.
Summary:
Public training workshops can be a low-cost “just-in-time” option to address individual training needs. However, effective leadership training is best conducted in-house for the following reasons:
- Adapted to the specific organizational and participant needs.
- Involvement of upper management will increase the likelihood of knowledge transfer into the workplace.
- Promotes teamwork and relationship building across management teams.
- Real life problems can be developed into activities, exercises, and case studies. Participants leave with real solutions that can be implanted resulting in a positive Return on Investment.
- During training, underlying structural issues (organizational development) or capability issues (through assessment) may arise. Feedback to senior management can lead to resolutions.