Push and Pull of Performance Consulting

Posted on February 17, 2012 by TTCMANDM

I’ve been chatting with lots of folks lately about making the transition within their organization from the role of trainer to that of performance consultant.

In doing this, one question keeps arising, “What do we do when they (the clients) push back on us?”

There’s a really simple reason behind this… we’ve TRAINED them to push back!

In most cases when our clients come calling and tell US what type of training they want, how long it will be and when they would like it – we usually comply.  We want to make sure we’re supporting them, right?  Wrong!  We’re actually stifling their development.  They don’t know what performance consulting is.  And by following their direction (who’s the expert on performance here?) we are shortchanging them on the knowledge and skills needed to manage performance.

So, when we PUSH back and start to inquire about the desired behavior they are seeking and what may be getting in the way of the desired performance (yes, it’s most likely NOT a training issue), they’re initial reaction is to resist this behavior because in most cases that’s all they know.  This “pushing back” is not a signal for us to acquiesce but rather one to alert us to gently PULL them along with us down the path of the performance consulting process.

So next time you’re feeling the “push,”  remember, don’t go along.  Instead, do an about face and  pull them in the direction of performance consulting. Everyone will benefit from it – especially the learners.  And isn’t that what it’s all about?

 

~Maria Chilcote, Managing Partner, The Training Clinic

www.thetrainingclinic.com

 

Posted in Facilitation Skills, Marketing Training, Organizational Development, Performance Consulting, Self-Development, Subject Matter Experts | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Marketeer or Trainer?

Posted on February 8, 2012 by TTCMANDM

If you’re in training and no one told you you’re also a marketeer – then let me be the first to inform you!

No, this isn’t some kind of hype.  It’s not a trend.  Marketing is essential to the survival of your department.

The success of any training department lies in the support and respect that it’s given by employees at all levels of the organization.  This support and respect has to be earned and in some cases it’s not easy.

It all starts with relationship building.  Back in the 80′s,  futurist John Naisbitt  wrote that someday we would be able order groceries and other such things through our personal computer.  At this point in our technology (VHS was a biggie), many reacted to this with, “What’s THIS guy smokin’?”

But here we are!  We can shop, chat, find a date, do research and countless other things on the amazing world wide web.

Naisbitt also said that when we reached this time we would be living in  a “high-tech, high-touch” world.    That the more technologically savvy we became, the more we would be influenced by those who have the ability to reach out and connect with us, on a personal level.

And that, my friends, is where we are!  Is social media important in marketing? Absolutely – we live in a high tech world so we need to have others LinkIn to us, Like Us on Facebook, tweet us, text us and be in the cloud with us!

But let’s not get mired down too much in all of this technology because it changes by the minute.  Let’s not underestimate the power of connecting with another individual, face to face, listening, providing feedback and sharing ideas. These skills have not changed with time and are the cornerstone of relationship and trust building.

So as you go forward in your marketing plans, please explore all that social and print media have to offer.  But along with that, hone your interpersonal skills,  for these are the very things that make the difference in the final connection!

When was the last time you sat across a table and shared a cup of coffee or lunch with someone from another department and asked what YOU could do for them?  If it’s been more than a month, it’s time to “put away all of your electronic devices” and plug in on a different level!

Cheers!

Maria Chilcote, Managing Partner, The Training Clinic

www.thetrainingclinic.com

 

Posted in Marketing Training, Train the Trainer, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

The Trainer as Peak Performer

Posted on January 19, 2012 by TTCMANDM

Jean Barbazette and I recently conducted a webinar entitled, “The Trainer as Peak Performer: Scale the Heights.”

During this highly interactive 60 minutes, we discussed and received feedback from our participants on the following characteristics of peak performers:

  1. Transcend their previous performance.
  2. Avoid staying in their “comfort” zone.
  3. Are guided by a compelling internal mission or goals.
  4. Solve problems rather than place blame.
  5. Take risks.
  6. Use positive self-talk.
  7. Actively seek and respond to feedback.

Although there were diverse examples on what each of these characteristics “looked like,”  there was almost a unanimity among the voices as to the top three “biggies” that were hard  for us as trainers to achieve.  Can you guess which ones they were (before you scroll down to peek)?

……………………….

…………………….

………………

…………

…..

Here they are:

  1. Avoid staying in their “comfort” zone.
  2. Take risks.
  3. Actively seek and respond to feedback.

As I reflected on these top three “challenges”  I realized that these are the EXACT same things we expect our learners to do when we train them!

So, how is it that WE, the keepers of the keys to performance, find these same things challenging?

I have my own opinions, but would love to hear yours!

Humbly,

~ Maria Chilcote, Managing Partner, The Training Clinic  www.thetrainingclinic.com

 

 

 

 

Posted in Facilitation Skills, Performance Consulting, Self-Development, Train the Trainer | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Training in Europe by Dianne Faieta

Posted on January 12, 2012 by TTCMANDM

“Embrace the unfamiliar.  You can’t get somewhere new without exploring uncharted territory.”

Shortly after embracing the above quote from Healthy Living I responded, “Sure, I’ll present training in Luxembourg.”

I enjoyed both the journey—planning for my European training—and the destination—presenting in an arched wine cave.

The journey began with tips from Hans, a fellow Training Clinic trainer from the Netherlands.  My list began:  arrive at least one day before the training, wear a skirt or dress at least on the first day, be sure you have appropriate adapters, try not to check baggage, take a YouTube tour of Luxembourg, keep your material with you and know it well in case you have no time to go over it.

Ahhhhh…the destination.  Although I tried to avoid 24-TDD (24-hour temporary distress & disorientation—Seth Kugel, Frugal Traveler) I missed my connecting flight from Paris and so had little time to become acclimated.  No matter, daily Lucy brought me an espresso to savor as I was setting up.  And, when I had a wardrobe malfunction, the assistant general manager became my personal shopper.  My always-reliable artist tape did not stick on the dusty cavern walls.  But, no worries, the group was too busy sniffing and giggling because of the scented markers to care about posted chart paper.

Will I do it again?  You bet! Although the travel was grueling, the cultural exchange was well worth it.  I’m still trying to get my mouth around “rapport” pronounced so beautifully in French and I still have auditory hallucinations of “Bonjour, Madame” in a Julia Child octave.

For more tips about training abroad, please visit us at www.thetrainingclinic.com

 

Posted in Facilitation Skills, Train the Trainer, Training Abroad | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Power Learning: Facilitate Discussions with Impact!

Posted on December 13, 2011 by TTCMANDM

A discussion is primarily an exchange of opinions and feelings, and of facts secondarily. Successful discussions include listening to others. Since opinions are neither right nor wrong, a facilitator encourages everyone to contribute to the discussion. A facilitator comes prepared, knowing what kinds of questions to ask to elicit the desired outcomes.

 

Learning through discussion takes place when participants are made to think. Your discussions will be more successful when you use the following steps:

 

Step 1: Set up the discussion by telling the learners the objective of the discussion, what they are going to talk about, and how the discussion will be conducted.

Step 2: Facilitate the discussion by asking questions and evaluating responses to build to a learning point. Help participants to summarize the main points of the discussion.

Step 3: Have learners share and interpret their reactions to what was discussed by answering facilitator questions about what happened to themselves and to others during the discussion.

Step 4: Ask learners to identify concepts from the discussion by answering facilitator questions crafted to elicit what was learned and the extent to which the instructional objectives were met.

Step 5: Ask learners to apply what was learned during the discussion by answering facilitator questions designed to help learners use and apply the new information learned from the discussion to their own situations.

 

During a discussion, it is not appropriate for you as a facilitator to act as the technical expert if the content of the discussion is meant to come from the participants; so refrain from making a presentation. Also, do not offer your unsolicited opinions. Outcomes from a discussion are the product of the group’s thinking.  The facilitator’s fingerprints should not be on the results.

 

What experience and success have you had using the above steps or something similar?

~Melissa Smith, Managing Partner, The Training Clinic

www.thetrainingclinic.com

 

Posted in Facilitation Skills, Subject Matter Experts, Train the Trainer, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Trainer vs. Facilitator… What’s the Difference?

Posted on December 13, 2011 by TTCMANDM

Training and facilitating are two different activities.  They require some of the same skills, and some different skills.  A trainer is often a content expert, while a facilitator is a process expert.  A trainer uses lecture, conducts demonstrations, supervises skill practice, and corrects the learners’ mistakes.  A facilitator leads discussions and helps participants learn from their own experiences and shared information.  The trainer might lead a discussion about course content; a facilitator will focus more on the process of a discussion.  This table shows some of the common differences between a trainer and a facilitator:

 

Trainer/Instructor Facilitator
Focus is on What is discussed – to get the work of the group done How the discussion progresses – to hold the group together and foster ownership
Attention is on Content and task 

Objective/purpose

Result/outcome

 Methods and process 

Participation of all

Group dynamics
Knowledge needed includes Subject matter expertise Group dynamics expertise
 

Competencies include[1]

 1. Prepares for instruction 

2. Sets a learning environment

3. Uses adult learning principles

4. Uses lecture

5. Conducts discussions

6. Conducts learning activities, demonstrations, skill practice, etc.

7. Gives feedback to learners

8.Handles problem learners

9. Evaluates skill performance

10. Uses audiovisuals

 1. Plan meetings using an agenda 

2. Seta a productive climate and begins a discussion

3. Gets the group to focus on defining and reaching outcomes

4. Helps group communicate effectively

6. Supports and encourages participation

7. Fosters self-discovery of alternatives and solutions

8. Helps the group make decisions

9. Helps select a team leader

10. Handles disruptive participants effectively excluded from the group

 

What role do YOU play in your organization?

~Melissa Smith, Managing Partner, The Training Clinic
www.thetrainingclinic.com

[1] © 2005 by Jean Barbazette, Founder of The Training Clinic. Used here with permission.

 

Posted in Facilitation Skills, Subject Matter Experts, Train the Trainer | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Why facilitation? What’s the role and why have it?

Posted on December 13, 2011 by TTCMANDM

We are all feeling it: the pressure to build smart, innovative organizations. How do leaders and their organizations craft a learning organization? By creating safe and involving environments where people can identify and solve problems, plan together, make collaborative decisions, resolve their own conflicts and self-manage as responsible adults. Facilitative mind and skill sets are essential ingredients to making real a learning organization.

 

What is a facilitator?

The facilitator’s job is to support everyone to do their best thinking. They create an environment where everyone is encouraged to participate, understand one another’s point of view and share responsibility. In doing so, a facilitator helps group members look for elegant solutions and build sustainable agreements.

Some groups have little need for this kind of help. For example, those whose meetings are largely information sharing, announcements and reports. Or groups who meet regularly for routine decisions about standard problems like scheduling. Those kinds of issues can be handled without much need for facilitation.

What about more difficult challenges groups face? For example, a product-launching group consisting of design, marketing, manufacturing and customer service. Despite a common goal of increased sales, their frames of reference are very different. What seems reasonable to one may place too many demands on another. And interpersonal communication styles are likely to be quite different as well. What’s the likelihood that the group will survive the push-pull of their group work?

Groups face other issues as well including clarifying roles for projects that have not been done before, resolving high-stakes conflicts, etc. In situations like these, groups will make better decisions if they embrace a facilitative mind and skill set to support them to do their best thinking.

To what extent does a facilitative mind set exist in YOUR organization?

 

~Melissa Smith, Managing Partner, The Training Clinic   www.thetrainingclinic.com

 

Posted in Facilitation Skills, Subject Matter Experts, Train the Trainer | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Transitioning to Performance Consulting: Bringing Value to the Table

Posted on December 13, 2011 by TTCMANDM

There’s been a lot of buzz lately about performance consulting.

It’s not a fad.It’s not a trend. In fact, its time has come.

To better understand why we, as training professionals, need to make the transition to performance consulting, let’s start with some definitions and how-to’s and then examine the business need that makes this approach non-negotiable in today’s marketplace.

Some Key Terms

The transition to performance consulting first requires an understanding of the difference between a traditional training and a performance consulting approach. The traditional training approach is a reactive response to a performance issue, and almost always involves training as the answer. In fact, most of us have experienced receiving a call from a manager (who often has no background in training) telling us what training class to deliver.

In contrast, a performance consulting approach involves a proactive response to a performance discrepancy. It involves identifying undesired performance and its root cause and then partnering with management to resolve the discrepancy in a manner that best supports the organization’s business objectives.

Within the realm of performance consulting there are some distinct differences between the roles of the players. A consultant is a person who has influence with an individual or group of individuals. The consultant has no direct power or authority. The minute you start to make a decision, give a directive, implement a process, etc, you have crossed the line over to that of a manager-type role.

A client or stakeholder is the receiver of the advice – the person who makes the decisions and provides support and resources, including funding and availability of participants, for the implementation of the proposed solution to the performance problem.

What are YOU bringing to the table?

Read MORE….

~Maria Chilcote, Managing Partner, The Training Clinic   www.thetrainingclinic.com

 

Posted in Performance Consulting | Tagged , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Facilitate Training With Impact

Posted on December 12, 2011 by TTCMANDM

Your job as a trainer is to deliver content that has been specifically designed to meet the needs of your learner. Your responsibility is to do so in a manner that increases retention, reduces boredom and enables the learner to quickly incorporate the new knowledge and skills back on the job!

How can you accomplish such a feat? In her book, “The Art of Great Training Delivery” Jean Barbazette, founder of The Training Clinic, provides some sound, strategies, tools and tactics through her experiential model, the Five Steps of Adult Learning.

An experiential learning model helps to engage the learner at all levels and can be applied using a variety of activities including simulations, demonstrations with skill practice, role-plays, case studies and participative lectures. An added benefit of using this model is thateveryone gets something out of an activity – no matter how diverse the audience because the learns are actively involved. This process allows the trainer to meet the learners where they are and take them where they need to be.

In order to effectively facilitate each step of the experiential learning model, Barbazette states that you’ll need a wide range of skills in addition to an instructional design that supports the process.

There are five steps in this experiential learning model.  Click HERE to read more..

~Maria Chilcote, Managing Partner, The Training Clinic

 

Posted in Facilitation Skills, Subject Matter Experts, Train the Trainer | Tagged , , , , | 22 Comments

Mobilize SME’s in Your Training Efforts!

Posted on December 12, 2011 by TTCMANDM

Running out of resources to implement your training programs?  It’s time to start thinking outside the box and utilize your subject matter experts(SME’s)!

For those of you who have not used this resource, it’s ok that you’re cringing now- at first thought it’s a bit disconcerting.  But with the right tools and process it’s actually to your benefit to use these folks.

First, develop criteria for selection.  Who is well respected within that topic?  And has a good set of communication skills?  And has done some training on their own?

Next TRAIN them.  Provide skills training in facilitation and adult learning with a broad brush stroke of instructional design.  Why the latter you wonder?  You want them to honor the instructional design process when they are training.  Nothing worse than have a SME make an on the fly decision to skip an exercise and keep on lecturing!

Once they’ve been trained, provide opportunities for them to train with an expert trainer and provide feedback on what they did well and areas for improvement.  When they are ready to go out on their own – make sure you are sitting in for support and to provide.

And, finally – provide recognition for them.  They will appreciate it and continue to use the skills and you will continue to attract more SME’s to join you.

Your responsibility in the organization as a  training and development professional is to provide continuous performance improvement.  What better way to add to an employees’ skill set than equip them with a set of skills that will transfer to any job and enhance their promotability?  Not to mention vastly increase their awareness and appreciation of the training function.

So, whether you’re an army of one and/or  need to build more partnerships in the organization, try investing your time and effort into utilizing those SME’s.  The benefits are in everyone’s favor!

~Maria Chilcote, Managing Partner, The Training Clinic   www.thetrainingclinic.com

Posted in Facilitation Skills, Subject Matter Experts, Train the Trainer | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments