How to Get More out of Your Training Budget
Many organisations want to maximise the value of the talent within their business by skill sharing and internal training and this can be an effective way of optimising training budgets and leveraging best practice.
But sharing valuable expertise is not as simple as putting the person with the knowledge in front of those who need to learn: training others effectively requires a specific skill set.
Explains Melanie Windle, a trainer with specialist sales and business training company, MLP: "Training people is not simply about explaining to them how you do something, it’s about helping them understand how they can do it.
"People have different learning styles and, unless you understand how these differ and the way in which those variations need to be addressed, it’s unlikely you will achieve the training outcomes you were hoping for."
Indeed, MLP cites trainers who design courses based on how they themselves learn rather than incorporating the influences on learning styles as one of the greatest hurdles to delivering effective training in house.
The challenges that companies face in delivering effective training led MLP to develop its two-day Training the Trainer course, which is suitable for anyone with a training remit, from those developing and delivering training materials for the first time to experienced training professionals.
Melanie continues: "The delegates that have taken this course in the past have varied considerably and face a range of challenges depending on their level of experience, their remit and their audiences.
"Our aim is to provide delegates with a practical toolkit that will enable them to design, construct and deliver effective training sessions, building on their knowledge, skills and confidence so that they understand the learning styles they will encounter and have the strategies they need to deal with challenging behaviour."
MLP’s Training the Trainer course outlines 10 influences on learning styles and explains how addressing all ten of these during every training session will ensure that all delegates are engaged during the session, enabling the trainer to achieve the required outcomes from the session.
Melanie explains: "We outline the ten influences on learning styles as 'Activist', 'Reflector', 'Theorist', 'Pragmatist', 'Visual', 'Auditory', 'Reading and Writing', 'Kinesthetic', 'Left brain' and 'Right brain'.
"Delegates that have completed MLP’s Training the Trainer course can use this understanding throughout the design, development and delivery of their course to ensure that it inspires learners. In that way, the training and the trainer become memorable and the outcomes are measurably improved."
The course takes delegates on a journey through the various elements of becoming an effective trainer, including designing training programmes, activities and materials, using 'off-the-shelf' materials, presentation styles and techniques for taking and utilising feedback. It also looks at various training approaches, including solo vs co-training and the use of groups in a training setting.
Delegates also learn how to deal with difficult situations during training sessions, such as aggressive and confrontational characters and people who don’t want to learn or resent the time investment required to attend training sessions.
"Giving trainers practical strategies that they can adopt in challenging situations really helps them feel prepared," Melanie continues.
"We build role playing into the course so that delegates don’t just understand the theory but have experienced how the techniques we give them work in practice.
"As a result, they leave the course confident that they will be able to apply what they have learned in a practical context.”
The next two-day Training the Trainer Course from MLP will be held at the Bolholt Country Park Hotel in Bury, Greater Manchester on 26th 27th February 2015 and accommodation is available for delegates at the venue.
Further Training the Trainer courses will be held at the same venue in July, September and December.
For further information on courses available with MLP Training, visit www.mlptraining.co.uk or follow on Twitter.
For any press enquiries please contact Julie Cheston or Helen Wardley.