Like most trainers, I wish that my participants will continue working on the training objectives as a life-long pursuit. To share this aspiration become a reality, I begin my training sessions with a set of future-oriented chronological objectives. And I conclude my training sessions with a set of future-oriented assignments.
Begin with Future Objectives
Here is a sample of future oriented training objectives from my recent workshop on designing and delivering training activities:
Thirty years after this training session, you will be recognized as an excellent trainer because you frequently and appropriately using training activities in all your sessions.
I provide additional instructional objectives that build toward this long-term objective. Here is a collection of these chronological series:
Thirty months after this training session, your own sessions will be rated as engaging and effective training because of your use of a large number of activities.
Thirty weeks after this training session, you will frequently and effectively use a variety of training activities.
Thirty minutes after the training session, you will impress others with your ability to clearly talk about the design and delivery of training activities.
End with Future Assignments
To emphasize the life-long learning of the new procedures and principles, I conclude my training sessions with a series of application assignments. I explain (somewhat tongue in cheek) that these assignments are to be undertaken for the rest of the participant’s life.
Here is the set of application assignments from my workshop on Designing and Delivering Training Activities.
I. Expand Your Expertise
1. Frequently conduct online searches for documents about training activities.
2. Regularly read latest journal articles about training activities.
3. Identify theoretical frameworks from books and research reports about training activities. Convert the theory into practical applications.
4. Actively participate in professional organizations interested in training activities.
5. Design and deliver training activities for different types of participants.
6. Design training activities for people who are different from your usual participants
7. Design and deliver different types of training activities (such as roleplays, simulations, board games, and group discussions).
8. Design and deliver training activities both for in-person classrooms and online training.
9. Design training activities on content and objectives that are beyond your areas of expertise.
10. Design training activities to achieve all types of objectives, from the lower to the higher ones.
11. Design and deliver training activities to explore controversial topics.
12. Design and deliver activities for different purposes beyond training (such as evaluation, assessment, and teamwork).
II. Apply Your Expertise
13. Design all your training sessions around suitable training activities.
14. Design training activities in a faster, cheaper, and better manner.
15. Design different activities for the same training objective or content.
16. When someone contends that a training activity cannot be used in a specific context, meet the challenge by designing and conducting a suitable activity.
17. Design pro bono activities for nonprofit organizations.
III. Share Your Expertise
18. Mentor new trainers on the use of training activities.
19. Create a bibliography of training activities by interviewing experts and practitioners.
20. Clearly explain the advantages of using training activities.
21. Explain the critical features of training activities in non-technical language.
22. Explain how activities increase the motivational and instructional effectiveness of training sessions.
23. Emphasize the ability to design raining activities as an important competency for instructional designers.
24. Emphasize the ability to facilitate training activities as an important competency for trainers.
25. Write and publish articles on the design and facilitation of training activities.
26. Frequently point out the limitations of traditional approaches to training.
27. Explain how the use of training activities can remove and reduce the weaknesses of traditional training techniques.
IV. Evaluate and Improve
28. Continuously collect inputs, ideas, and feedback from participants, trainers, and subject-matter experts.
29. Always collect objective data on learning outcomes resulting from the use of your training activities.
30. After every use of a training activity, conduct an after-action research. Use the finding from this research to improve the design of the activity.
31. Collect data on both the process and the outcomes of using your training activities.
32. Conduct evaluation during every stage in the design of your training activities, from the initial ideas to long-term results. Use the results to improve current and future design.
V. Organize Networks
33. Organize a group of trainers who help each other by conducting recently-developed training activities.
34. Frequently interact with designers of training activities both in the local region and in other countries.
35. Organize a network of designers and users of training activities.
36. Organize a network of typical participants who are willing to take part in play-testing your training activities.
37. Work with an informal partner to exchange consulting help in the design of training activities.
38. Frequently work with the same group of clients who believe in the effectiveness of training activities.
39. Become familiar with typical objections from clients, subject-matter experts, traditional trainers, and passive participants. Develop suitable counter arguments to handle these objections.
40. Recommend member of your network to your clients, trainers, and participants.
41. Create an online community of practice and a community of interest of people working on training activities.
Your Assignment
Here’s a future-oriented life-long assignment for you:
Using the samples in this article as models, add future objectives and future assignments for all your current training packages and how-to manuals.