The biggest challenge in any Team Building Session is the transfer of the skills and information learned back to the work place – the transfer of learning.
Wouldn’t it be great if you could turn your Team in to “learning sponges” who are eagerly awaiting their next Team Building session? Wouldn’t it be great if in return you received improved work performance as a result of the time, energy and money invested in Team Building? And wouldn’t it be great if you were told all of this is possible?
Well, it is!!
All that you need to do is select a suitable Team Building company by asking them for plenty of information on what they will provide and how they will provide it. They in turn of course will be asking you who they are providing to and what learning outcomes are expected. The other crucial element to all of this, which is usually overlooked, is the role that you expect the participants to take during their Team Training Session.
We have all heard the usual complaints when it comes to Team Building: “this is a waste of time”, “I don’t have time for this”, “my line manager never lets me do anything I learn anyway”, “I am already up to my eyes in work”; but these can all be overcome. How participants interact during their Team Building Session makes all the difference to the transfer of learning which in turn will spark improved performance in the workplace.
Here are some tips to aid the transfer of learning:
Make Team Building part of a consistent message
No matter what the type of training being undertaken, research shows that if it is to have a real impact on the transfer of learning, it must build on and reinforce the content learned in earlier sessions
Interconnected Team Building Sessions provide organisations with a great opportunity to reinforce basic shared skills, approaches and values.
Ask each participant’s manager to attend the Team Building Session and ask and the manager’s manager too!
Participants may be more willing to try out the ideas learned in training, especially if they see their manager trying out new skills as well.
Provide Team Building in “chunks”
Quite often, people learn more in Team Building Sessions that are provided in short manageable “chunks” with small amounts of content, based on a couple of well-defined objectives.
This allows the participants to practice the concepts in between the training sessions. Both the content of the training and the application of the concepts are reinforced at each subsequent session. Participants attend these sessions, perhaps a couple of hours per week or month.
Train people in skills and information that are immediately applicable “on the job”
“Use it or lose it” is a phrase that is widely used and is actually true. If participants are to retain their learning it is vital that practice is immediate and frequent after any type of training and this includes Team Building skills such as effective communication, collaboration, etc.
The Facilitator makes a difference
A good Facilitator will be able to “see” the individuals within the Team and work with them all at their own individual level. Participants appreciate Facilitators who have experienced and addressed the issues and situations highlighted in the training.
The Facilitator can set a positive, productive tone for a Team Building Session
How the facilitator opens the Team Building Session begins the process of managing participants’ expectations. Participants need to know what expectations they can have of the session.
The Facilitator makes a difference (again)
A good Facilitator will use a range of activities and information applications in order to appeal to participants’ varied learning styles. By keeping the training exciting, varied and stimulating the Facilitator will help the participant’s retain the content.
Increase participant investment in the session by engaging them in tasks requiring action
A good facilitator will ask them to share these ideas in a small group quite often in a structured and fun manner. Action planning in the form of reviewing is an ongoing activity during the Team Building Session.
During the Team Building Session, discuss how to address real life scenarios and the barriers participants believe they will encounter when they apply the training
A good facilitator will use the activities as “anchors” that will provide retained learning when coupled with a review. By thinking about the application of new skills in advance the participants are already preparing themselves for the transfer of learning.
Provide reference materials and job aids for review after the session
Include participant input into the materials, making participants more likely to use the documents. A good example is the development of a Customer Services Standard as an outcome of a Team Building Event focused on communication – how well do we communicate with our customers?
Assign or self-select a training partner
The role of the training partner needs to be well-defined and agreed upon by participants.
Just sat down to read this. I actually hit this link yesterday but thought it had nothing to offer me as it was targeting a different type of client (Its all about the personal adventures with me!!) but now when I have read it I can actually relate it to a session all our stores were put through.. it was a ‘Train the trainer’ session on Customer service. Everything you have talked about is very true. The people who attended had to relay the training back to stores. Some were successful some weren’t. The unsuccessful stores had sent someone who wasn’t responsible for the training nor were they interested in the training of other people so the info stopped short with them. You definitely have to have the right people from the start.
The other failure was actually getting them the info and job aids to relay! Mad I know, but the company we hired to do the training had missed deadlines and the stores never got thier packs until up to 6 weeks after the initial course!
Needless to say we are not using them again! But You definitely have hit the major issues with training/team building. I shall pass this article onto our ‘Operations & training consultant’ as I think he may get some good use of this..
If you are repsonsible for team training/team building in your company definitely give this guy a go… He talks sense!!
Thanks for the comments