Coaching and Training your Work Team

Institute of Leadership & Management

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2007
• eBook ISBN: 9781136416835
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

Super series are a set of workbooks to accompany the flexible learning programme specifically designed and developed by the Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM) to support their Level 3 Certificate in First Line Management. The learning content is also closely aligned to the Level 3 S/NVQ in Management. The series consists of 35 workbooks. Each book will map on to a course unit (35 books/units).

Session B

Training

1 Introduction

Now that you have read through Session A you should be aware that there are many ways of learning something new. This session concentrates on one of the more structured of them – training.

2 Training – a definition

First of all, let’s start with a definition. What exactly is ‘training’?

Activity 9

Write down your own brief definition of training. Think in general terms about what people learn during a typical work training session.

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You may have said that people learn ‘how to do a job’, or ‘how to carry out a task better’, or ‘the skills required for a trade’. Any similar phrase would be accurate.

One way to summarize what people learn during training is to say that they acquire knowledge and/or skills that they can then use at work. A more formal definition of training is as follows:

Training is a planned procedure designed to improve the effectiveness of people at work.

Good training can be expensive, difficult to organize and time-consuming. Yet its benefits easily outweigh its disadvantages.

Good training requires that real training needs have been correctly identified. This ensures that you don’t waste money training people in skills they already have or simply don’t need.

Good training also requires thorough and detailed planning and preparation. This ensures that training is delivered in the right way, at the right time, to the right people.

EXTENSION 1

You will find Everything You Ever Needed to Know About Training, Kay Thorne and David Mackey’s step-by-step guide to training helpful in planning your training delivery.

Both training needs analysis and planning training are covered in detail in Developing Yourself and Others in this series. This session considers later stages in the training process:

■ delivering the training;

■ giving feedback and evaluating the results.

3 Your role in the training process

Some organizations employ full-time trainers to carry out training internally. Others employ external training providers as and when they need them. Many more organizations recognize that, in addition to other resources, first line managers form a very valuable source of expertise, which can be used to replace or supplement the more traditional trainer. Whatever your organization does, there will be times when you, as a first line manager, are required to deliver training. It is important, therefore, that you be aware of the different methods of delivering training and be able to choose the most appropriate one. It is also important that you develop and practise your delivery skills.

One occasion when most first line managers are required to train their work team members is when these members first arrive. Typically, during an induction training programme, you would need to draw on a number of training methods in order to ensure that the new starters have absorbed all the new knowledge and are able to take on their new roles quickly and efficiently.

4 Structure of a training session

Let us now review the essential elements of a successful training session. As you read through the following description, you may like to make a note of the relevance of the points being made at each stage to the kind of training sessions you have to manage or deliver.

Different components make up a successful training session.

A number of components go towards making a successful training session. They are:

■ setting the scene;

■ introducing the subject;

■ explaining things in detail;

■ summarizing;

■ practising;

■ checking skills and knowledge;

■ setting the trainees to work;

■ following up.

The following diagram shows how these components relate to each other.

EXTENSION 2

Another useful publication to help you design your training strategy is Designing and Delivering Training for Groups.

4.1 Setting the scene

Before any training begins, trainees need to understand what the training is intended to achieve and where it will lead them. They will also need to establish a relationship with you as the trainer. At the beginning of a training session, people tend to be self-conscious and apprehensive. Some of the things you can do are to:

■ state the objectives clearly;

■ establish a personal, friendly relationship with the trainees;

■ ask them about their previous experience;

■ explain what they can expect to be able to do after completing the training;

■ explain how it will affect their work;

■ arouse their interest;

■ show how the newly learned skills and knowledge will be of value and benefit to them and to the organization.

Activity 10

Answer the following questions about setting the scene. You only need to write a sentence or two for each reply.

How is a personal friendly relationship between you and the trainees likely to help?

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Why is it so important to make the objectives of the training clear at the outset?

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Why should you go into explanations of how the new skills and knowledge will be of benefit?

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■ A personal friendly relationship between you and the trainees will help them to relax and feel less nervous. It will help you to draw out the best from them as people usually give of their best in a relaxed atmosphere.

■ Making training objectives clear at the outset helps because people like to know what they are supposed to be aiming at. As with any project, in order to achieve something you have to know what you are trying to achieve.

■ By explaining the skills and knowledge to be learned, you are answering implied questions such as: ‘Why am I here?’ or ‘Is this going to be a waste of time?’ That person is then reassured and encouraged, and will feel positive about the training.

4.2 Introducing the subject

Once the overall purpose of the training has been established and the participants have got to know each other, the members of your work team need to...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Series preface
• Unit specification
• Workbook introduction
• A. How people learn
• B. Training
• C. Coaching
• Performance checks
• Reflect and review