SPARKS! Blog

Picture this: a dimly lit conference room, a monotonous speaker droning on about outdated policies, and employees desperately trying to stay awake. 

We've all been there — trapped in a mind-numbing training session that feels more like punishment than professional development. These experiences waste time and resources and leave employees feeling disengaged and undervalued.

If you've sat through one of these sessions, I'm sorry. If reading this has you worried that you might have once subjected your teams to something similar, we have a solution to ensure this doesn't happen again.

We can't underestimate the importance of an effective training program. Good training programs inspire action — not just in the days following the workshop but over the long term, marked by meaningful and differentiated change. 

Our training workshops promote hands-on learning, fostering active participation and skill development for immediate use in real-world scenarios.

We've spent years fine-tuning and refining our training blueprint. They encourage participants to engage in new behaviors that ultimately improve performance and the bottom line. It's time we shared it with you.

In a three-part series, we'll break down our go-to employee training blueprint into stages: pre-planning, program implementation, and post-training. Addressing each stage individually ensures you effectively introduce your people to new ideas, processes, skills, and more.

The Ultimate Training Blueprint: Pre-planning

• The overall results of any program are directly influenced by its initial design and plan.

• You need a clear mission, time frame, specific goal, and details of the solution.

• Create an active, action-focused learning environment with several teaching methods.

• Preparation builds your confidence and helps participants respond to your message.

I know how frustrating it feels to pour thousands of dollars into planning a program hoping to ignite passion and foster change, only to see a lackluster ROI and poor retention.

What if, instead of forced employee attendance, subpar engagement, and minimal results, you planned training that sparks action and is — dare I say it — fun to attend?

Properly designed programs are built with purpose, ultimately differentiating your program from average ones that simply piece together resources.

What's more, having a clear plan for teaching helps you, the presenter, feel confident and avoid common missteps that can cost a lot of time and money. It also ensures your program aligns with your organization's goals and increases overall results.

 

Pre-planning Event Framework:

1. Understand your most immediate needs

• Stress the "why" and drill down on the problem.

Take a step back and assess your company's current situation. Where are the pain points in your processes? Are you addressing a particular challenge or preparing for upcoming changes? Your answers here will help you tailor the training to address real, pressing needs. Enlist the help of senior leaders and employees to understand the specifics and determine how an upcoming training can solve the problem.

Whatever your goals, tie them back to the "why."

Maybe you want to leverage your culture to get better. This goal is a good starting point, but a better, more specific starting point would help foster participant buy-in:

"We want to leverage our culture to improve service delivery across all departments. By truly understanding our values and our processes, we can empower employees to make the right decisions every time, ultimately improving employee engagement and our bottom line."

2. Establish your parameters for success

• How will you coach and hold folks accountable?

Ask questions like:

1. What do I want participants to learn in this workshop? For example, apply a new process for handling customer complaints or understand the three most effective service behaviors that inspire loyalty.
2. What should participants do after this workshop? For example, make eye contact, smile, and say "hello" to every visitor.
3. Will we focus on skill development, professional development, project planning, or something else?

3. Design a multimethod approach to learning

• Leveraging several different teaching methods will keep learners engaged.

We find that our trainings are most impactful when they're done in person instead of virtually because it allows for better discussions and engagement.

Research says most human brains will wander after about 20 minutes during a lecture. To keep people engaged, design your training using a multimethod approach — lectures, visuals, videos, and skill- and project-based activities do more to encourage teamwork and learner retention. (More on how to design high-quality learning materials in part two of this series.)

4. Design a comfortable learning environment

• Just like in service, the little details have the biggest impact.

Envision your on-site setup before the big day. Just as a hotel lobby is designed to give a memorable first impression, your training room should warmly welcome guests.

The details matter here. Consider engaging all the senses to generate excitement from participants and support learning:

1. Welcome banners and signs, lots of natural light (visual)
2. Handouts, notebooks, agendas (touch)
3. Happy music (hearing)
4. Water and snacks (taste)
5. A pleasant smell in the room(smell)

For example, we like to create name tags for each participant and present them as part of their learning materials at each place setting. Comfy chairs and small round tables also help encourage group discussion.

5. Practice and prepare

• Learners respond better to teachers who are prepared, confident, and authentic in their communications.

One often overlooked element of training events is the presenter. Think back to some of the worst speeches and lectures you've attended. More than likely, they were boring, repetitive, and lacked originality.

Participants can tell when you are unsure of yourself, and a lack of confidence directly influences the power of your teachings. Trainings are not something you should "wing."

Practice communicating the main points of the topics you'll discuss ahead of time. You'll remain more focused and effective if you outline your training timeline and understand the topics and objectives you plan to teach.

Setting the Stage For Learning

Investing time in pre-planning your employee training workshop helps ensure your message leaves a lasting impact. Remember, the goal is not just to conduct training, but to drive real change and improvement in your organization.

After careful preparation, it's time for your grand performance. Part two of our go-to-training blueprint series will outline our tried-and-true methods for delivering an effective training event. Sign up for our Sparks! blog to get notified of the drop!

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Mike Donnelly is a recognized expert, keynote speaker, facilitator and consultant in customer service and leadership development. Leveraging 20+ years of experience from The Walt Disney Company, he and his team help destination location clients and clients in various customer-facing industries create customer loyalty to achieve positive business results. Learn more at www.DonnellyEffect.com.