SIP 047: Three cures for terrible training sessions

You're likely getting ready for your summer lifeguard trainings this month. You have returning staff and new hires eager or reluctantly attending your mandatory trainings.   These are critical hours you have a captive audience. Here are 3 things you can do as an instructor or facilitator to make sure your participants aren't leaving after your two day session saying, "well that could have been done in 2 hours."   With these three cures you'll have effective and efficient trainings where your participants will learn, be active, and be engaged.   What democracy doesn't have 2 presidents? What company doesn't have 2 CEOs? Ditch the Co-instructor format and have one lead instructor and multiple aides. You must have a clear lead instructor. If you have aides teaching, do not interrupt them or "add" to their discussion in front of the group. Lead instructor is responsible for being prompt and clear with what is next, avoiding unnecessary downtime, and keeping everything moving.     Utilize small groups whenever possible. At some point working with a lot of people turns into just herding sheep. Randomize the groups, switch up the groups regularly Don't use silly names for groups. Simple 1, 2, 3 is most effective than trying to remember random animals or colors. Rotate aides and instructors for each group and topic so participants get different styles and interaction with each manager/instructor Small groups are more effective at discussion, getting things moving, and speed up the process. Use a large group debrief to share what small groups talked about and to swap stories.   Have a specific agenda before you start teaching. Know what you are teaching, how much time you'll spend teaching it, and what you are going to do next in as much exact detail as possible. Avoid forcing people to sit and wait for you to figure out who is going to decide what to do next, when, and where. Write it out and distribute it to all participants. At this time we're doing this, at that time we're doing that. Be clear, be specific, and pad things with a little extra time. Participants will appreciate early release over excessive time.