3 Principles For Greater Training Impact

"To me, business isn't about wearing suits or pleasing stockholders. It's about being true to yourself, your ideas and focusing on the essentials."  Richard Branson

Focus on Essential Priorities, Consistently, for Greater Impact

Recently, a colleague asked me why I go to so much trouble in preparing my presentations, seminars, simulations, and workshops.  He seemed puzzled.  Truly puzzled.  I told him that as a professional, and as a CPT, I am obligated to create value in everything that I do.  So, to me, it's not an option to put effort into my preparations.  It's how its done.

He then asked me, "What principles do you use to guide your preparation?"  I told him that there are essentially three that sum it all up for me.  They are: 

1. Engage your stakeholders beforehand.  This includes your sponsors, learners, and instructors.
2. Get your learners engaged in meaningful, problem-based learning experiences that work
3. Guide your learners' direct application of their learning toward real-world application.  Use planning, incentives, and accountability.

It's these three principles that are at the heart of what I do and the value I bring.  Often, a client may only consider #2 above.  So, I will ask about #1 and #3.  Other times, a sponsor will advocate for #3, without working on #1 or #2.    Still others will assess and survey, completing #1, without really thinking further about #2 or #3. You get the idea.

I suppose this makes me different from many professionals you may partner with in delivering learning and performance improvement programs.  That's probably a good thing.  Even though I use standard tools (Celemi, Ten Thousand Feet) or custom tools (Tycoon Systems), I work to cover all three principles in every delivery.  All three principles are essential in delivering quality, value, and results.

It's how its done.

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