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What is Distance Learning?
Home » Training » Distance Learning » What is Distance Learning?What potential land mines should trainers avoid?
To some degree of course, employee training is easier said than done. It is not an easy task to combine the roles of entertainer and instructor. How do you get an audience to pay attention but also equip them in their job responsibilities as well as weighty issues such as harassment and ethics? One step towards success lies in knowing what to avoid:
Don’t expect perfection: People make mistakes—it’s that simple. There will be some sort of learning curve with every job. No matter how dynamic you are as a trainer or how articulate your keynote speaker is, employees will make mistakes and will have questions (probably questions you discussed in training). Don’t worry about it. Employees learn as they go, so no matter how much they understand at training, day in and day out is still training for them.
Don’t “wing it”: Design a schedule and format for your training ahead of time. It can be an especially good idea to give trainees an idea of what is coming and how long it will last. If you say you are going to have a lunch break, have a lunch break. Completely prepare for your training, so that you know the subject inside and out. Your expertise will come through as you confidently discuss your topics and answer questions, and trainees will be more likely to listen to someone they perceive as an expert.
Don’t give handouts: Former Vice-President Dan Quayle said, “If you give a man a fish, they’ll fish for a day. But if you train a person to fish, he’ll fish for a lifetime.” Answer some of the “why’s” during training. Don’t just tell employees what to do; instead, use discussion, role play, or on the job training to let them experience understand what to do.
One final tip is to remember to practice what you preach. If you are training employees in ethics, be ethical yourself. If you are telling employees not to harass, stay far away from even the gray areas of harassment. Make yourself open to any and all questions regarding topics discussed during training. If you make yourself approachable, employees will be more likely to come to you with questions rather than guess and make mistakes on the job. And, after all, improved job performance in all areas is the goal of employee training in the first place.
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