May 2005

For the month of May, we asked Ask a Consulting Expert’s own Elaine Biech to select an excerpt from her new book Training for Dummies. Ms. Biech chose this chapter because it outlines ways training and workplace learning and performance professionals, including consultants, can enhance their skills, acquire new skills, and broaden their horizons. Enjoy!

Training for Dummies
Elaine Biech
Chapter 15

The Consummate Professional

What does it take to be a model of success and professionalism as a trainer? Probably the same thing it takes to be a model of success in any vocation, whether it’s ballet, soccer, chemistry, plumbing, teaching, or writing. I once read that most people achieve only a third of their potential. Successful professionals in any field achieve more than a third of their potential because they work at it.

How can trainers maintain a professional edge? Professional trainers can become lifelong learners; they go the extra mile to be better than average; and they give back to the profession. Each of these topics is addressed in this chapter.

Become a Lifelong Learner

You have an obligation to your participants and employer to continually improve your knowledge and skills. The rapid changes in the world today can turn today’s expert into tomorrow’s dolt if the person fails to keep up.

Trainers create their own development plan to ensure that they are lifelong learners. Several strategies can be included in a development plan.

Attend formal learning events

Probably the first thing you think about when becoming a lifelong learner is “What class or conference can I attend?”

Go back to school

You may not need an MBA, but courses at the graduate level are critical. Take courses in finance or marketing or organizational development so that you can continue to be a strong contributor to your organization. Take a class to bring yourself up to speed in the technology area. Take an adult-learning class as a refresher or to get another perspective.

Check your local community colleges and universities. Many have continuing educational programs that may offer topics to help you grow. I’ve benefited from programs such as “Dealing with Difficult People,” “Project Management,” and “Learning to Be More Creative.”

Consider certification

Certification confers valuable credibility to anyone in the profession. The American Society for Training and Development has responded to the growing demand for credentialing. It initiated a certification program in 2005 based on the 2004 Competency Study. Certification benefits trainers by offering a means to prove their value and identify a path of continued professional development.

Seminars and workshops are available to help individuals prepare for certification. The next chapter discusses certification for trainers and others in the broader field of Workplace Learning and Performance.

Attend conferences

At the very least consider attending your professional organization’s annual conference. It may be expensive, but you owe it to yourself to invest in your development. Sometimes local chapters also present conferences or daylong seminars. All of these add to your knowledge and skill base.

To get the most out of these events, network with others. Trade business cards. Offer to exchange information or resources. At least as much learning occurs during the breaks and informal networking opportunities, as occurs during the formal sessions.

If you network with many folks, jot a note on the back of each business card to remind yourself about the topic, what you were to send, or why you want to stay in touch with the person.

Enroll in a train-the-trainer, preferably one in which you are videotaped and obtain feedback on your training style.

Ask others

Many other learning experiences exist, if you just ask.

Join an association or a group

Toastmasters, National Speaker Association (NSA), The American Society for Training and Development (ASTD), International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI) and others are great groups for you to join. They provide opportunities for you to learn new skills, stay on top of the latest happenings in the profession, and to network with others in the training profession.

Tip

Go to the Training for Dummies resource list at www.ebbweb.com to learn more about these and other groups. Find a chapter in your area. All will invite you to attend a trial meeting to determine if the group is right for you.

Create mentoring opportunities

Identify another trainer whom you respect and would like as a mentor. Ask the person if that would be possible. My mentor and I meet for breakfast four to six times each year. I pay for our meals. This has become the best $10 investment I make. I’m investing in myself.

Determine where the experts hang out. Then go there. Sometimes this is a related association or an informal group. More-seasoned people and those with different experiences can offer you priceless advice and knowledge.

Train with a partner

Training with a partner is a unique way to learn from someone else. It allows you to observe another trainer, elicit feedback about your efforts, and learn new techniques and skills. Even if you do not co-facilitate, invite another colleague to observe you during a training session. Ask them to notice specific aspects of your training and solicit their input after the session.

Do it yourself

You don’t have to wait for a class or a conference or a meeting to learn. You can establish your own pace by reading books and journals,

Read

I recently designed a training certificate program for ASTD. As a part of my data gathering I asked top training professionals what they did to maintain their expertise. Everyone stated that they read. And they didn’t just read a book or two. They read lots! They devoured the printed word. Some subscribed to (and read) dozens of journals and magazines. Others read upwards of 20 books every month. This behavior represents the experts in our profession; they must be onto something!

Subscribe to and read professional journals such as Training Magazine and T&D Journal. Read general business magazines such as Fortune, Business Week, and the Harvard Business Review. Read the journals published by your company’s or your client’s industry. And read cutting-edge journals such as Fast Company.

Identify resources

Many other resources exist. Sign up for an online service. The World Wide Web is a dynamic source for professional development resources. Sites provide information as well as link you to other related sites.

You can listen to books on tape while driving longer distances. Organizations sell tapes of conference presentations.

You can be a resource to yourself. In fact, you will be your own best critic. Videotape an actual training session and play it back to identify what you like and what you do not like about your training style. If you think taping the session will be disruptive, you may wish to tape yourself during a practice session or just audiotape your session. Of course you will not have the visual portion, but you can hear how you sound and will be able to critique the audio portion of your training session.

Learning and growing are ongoing processes, even if you are at the top of your profession. Often it is what you learn after you “know it all” that counts. Aspire to the best of your profession.

Go the Extra Mile: Stay on Top of Your Game!

Go the extra mile? Gosh! Isn’t becoming a lifelong learner enough? Well, learning new skills is just the beginning. Going the extra mile means that you are looking for ways to constantly improve. How can you be more than a good trainer, a great trainer? In addition, how can you keep your energy up ALL the time? Even if this is the 49th time you have conducted the same session? Is it really possible to be enthusiastic and energetic? Yes it is!

Where’s your energy? Stay pumped!

Imagine this. You are about to go into a training program that you have taught countless times. You are starting to lose interest in the topic, and you are wondering how you will get through this without being monotonous and boring. Here are some thoughts about how you can make every training session seem as exciting as your first.

• Recharge your batteries every day. You owe it to your participants to give every session everything you have. Self-talk works well for me: “This will be the best darn training these participants have ever experienced!”
• Even though the topic is not new to you, it is to the participants. Remembering that they may be hearing the information for the first time is exciting. Determine how to have more participant involvement to experience the topic from another perspective.]
• Do something that is just a little crazy; for example, if you are showing a video, serve popcorn; ask participants to use crayons for a particular activity; on a nice day hold a discussion outside.
• Use previous evaluations for the program to determine an area for improvement. Then integrate improvements into the next program. By striving for continuous improvement, you will never have to train the same program twice.
• A day before the session, examine the part of the program you dislike the most. Chances are it never was right for you. In my case it is usually more presenting and less interaction. Rework that part of the program so that it eliminates why you don’t like it. In my case it would be identifying a way to increase participation.
• Observe someone else conducting the session (or other sessions) to identify new presentation or facilitation techniques.
• Page through a Pfeiffer Annual, one of the Games Trainers Play books, or another activity book (see the Training for Dummies resource list on my website) to add a new or revise a timeworn activity.
• Experiment with activities you have not used before: funneling, an in-basket, or a relay.
• Try a new presentation technique or media; for example, use overhead transparencies or conduct a debate.
• Conduct research about the topic (the Web, journals, books) so that you have new information to share or so that you feel better prepared.
• Invite a guest speaker to conduct the part of the workshop that is most energy draining for you.
• Co-facilitate a portion of the session, perhaps role-playing with the other trainer or introducing a “point-counterpoint” type discussion.
• Get to know the participants personally. This helps you appreciate how much they need the information you have to give.
• Identify new energizers to use with the group each day. Energy is contagious. You will catch it from the participants.
• Find cartoons or quotes that relate to the session and introduce them after breaks or as energizers.
• The night before the session pull out your smile file that’s filled with thank-you cards, fabulous evaluations, special notes, cartoons that make you laugh, clippings, or articles about you. Spend 20 minutes looking through it. What? You don’t have a smile file? Better start one today.
• Approach every training program as though you want it to be your best ever. Remember how good you feel after you have completed a training program and the participants loved it.
• Try reverse psychology: Think about the worst job you ever had (mine was making plastic wastepaper baskets on the midnight shift) and compare conducting the training to it.
• Determine a reward for yourself following the training session.
• Now identify two more things that keep you going and list them here.

                       * I could . . .

                       * I could . . .

Design

If you design often, take care that you do not fall into a rut of doing the same things over and over. Try something new. It keeps your designs fresh and keeps you inspired and interested.

Plan to include a new type of activity into each program that you design. If you have never used a game show to review material, build one in. If you rarely use guest speakers or role plays, consider them. There is such a wide variety of activities, you may never run out of ideas.

What does professional mean to you?

Every trainer needs to define what it means to be “professional.” Take time to determine what it means to you to be a true professional. Write your thoughts out on paper. Share them with others. Consider it for a panel discussion topic at your local ASTD chapter meeting.

Pearls of Wisdom

Develop your personal training code of ethics; that is, what you intend to live by and honor as a trainer? It could include delivering only the highest quality training, always giving credit to others to whose work you refer, holding confidential information close, and respecting all learners. A code of ethics gives you a guide, something to live by, and on which to base decisions.

To get you started thinking about what it means to be a professional, interview another trainer whose work you respect and who has been around the profession for a while.

Names to Know

Bob Pike has been a part of the training profession since 1969. He is the president of Creative Training Techniques International and has inspired hundreds of thousands of trainers through his Creative Training Techniques workshops and his “Creative Training Techniques Newsletter.” Bob is also the author or editor of over 20 books including the best-selling The Creative Training Techniques Handbook. The focus of his work is using involvement and participation at all levels to drive greater results. Bob is my model of a consummate professional trainer. He presents ten core skills all professional trainers should live by.

Give Back to the Profession

All trainers receive advice and ideas from others throughout their careers. Therefore, all trainers owe something to the profession. How can you do that?

• Publish what you have learned or your ideas for others to consider. Training Magazine and T&D Journal are two publications that print articles by practitioners. The Pfeiffer Annual publishes activities, articles, and instruments.
• Write a book. ASTD Press, Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer, and HRD Press are all trainer-friendly.

Tip

If you are interested in publishing, check the Resource Section for contact information. Write for a publication calendar from the periodicals or speak to an editor about the topics they want to publish.

• Accept invitations to be a part of a panel discussion, or present at your local professional chapter meeting.
• Submit a proposal to speak at a national conference.
• Be a contributor to your local chapter of NSA or ASTD: Present at meetings, volunteer to chair committees, or support the fund-raisers.
• Mentor someone entering the training field.
• Present at your local grade school or high school for career day.
• Provide pro bono work for a local nonprofit organization.
• Start a scholarship fund.

Training is a profession that gives a great deal to its members. Think about how you can give back to the profession, your community, and individuals. Yes, it takes a great deal to be a professional trainer. You can do it. Be all the things that you are capable of being. Astound yourself. Thomas Edison believed that “If we did all the things we are capable of, we would literally astound ourselves.”

Excerpted with permission from Elaine Biech.
Training for Dummies
Elaine Biech
ASTD Press & Wiley 2005
(ISBN 0-7645-5985-0)

Elaine Biech will be presenting at the upcoming ASTD 2005 International Conference & Exhibition in Orlando, FL June 5-9, 2005