Are You A Support or a Blockage To Workplace Learning

Are You A Support or a Blockage To Workplace Learning

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He was clearly frustrated. He sat at a table with four other managers discussing their obstacles to providing employee feedback. I overheard him from the back of class. "I told him to do it and then when I went to check on him he hadn't done it. So, I told him to write a project plan for how he was going to do it and he gave me gibberish. It made no sense. I had already told him how to do it." Do you see the problems already? For those of us in the learning and development world, this might seem like an easy situation, but for this manager it was obviously not. The problem is clearly not a feedback issue, but a training issue. Let's break it down step…
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How Much Prep Time Do Managers Need To Give Trainers?

How Much Prep Time Do Managers Need To Give Trainers?

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Photo by William Iven on Unsplash Time. We've all got the same amount. We all have to manage it to accomplish all the goals on our ever growing lists. We tell new trainers and presenters to manage their nerves by preparing. We tell seasoned presenters to practice their opening statements. How much time you need to prepare and how much time you have to prepare don't always magically meet. We've got to either give up things to make time or give up time to prepare. Tough choice, isn't it? Managing our time is where things get tricky. Now let's imagine you are responsible for managing a team of trainers and their time! This question arrived in my inbox recently. How much time should I give my employees to prepare for delivering a training?…
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Should I Just Ignore Some Irritating Classroom Behaviors?

Should I Just Ignore Some Irritating Classroom Behaviors?

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Photo by Jason Rosewell on Unsplash Twenty minutes into class he was already complaining. "This is too touchy feely," he said directly to me. At this point I had shared restroom and break logistics and asked everyone to introduce themselves at their tables. Thankfully I know his type. When I had people stand and meet someone new, accompanied by questions they'd already answered to make the exchange easier, he grumbled. Fifty minutes into class, he spoke directly to me about the class being different than he thought it was going to be. I confirmed that the class he wanted was probably not the one he was in. The title and objectives clearly showed what he wanted was not what he'd been signed up for. He grumbled...again. If you take some advice on dealing…
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