Planning a Training Part 3

I confess I have never done this part of the Training Plan in one hit fitting the content to the timings in order to meet the objectives. I find it a very reflective process over several days sometimes even a few weeks. I find it very iterative; because I do a lot of reflecting- I try to envisage how I can maximise the impact for the participants. Increasingly I'm finding leaders are prepared to challenge GG policies and content:

• "that's too corporate"
• "my girls keep on coming back without all this"
• "I'm just a volunteer"
• "I haven't got access to the internet"   

So I want to feel confident in the messages I am delivering. I'm very conscious that the delivery has to work on 2 levels - firstly that participants get what they came for which inevitably is ideas they can take back and use in their units. Secondly I want to land messages more in their subconscious about the 5 Essentials, Girl led guiding, Good guiding is...., Be our Best and the importance of doing risk assessments. (Most topics will provide the opportunity for a "risk assessment corner").

I aim to keep the pace moving whilst providing plenty of time for discussion - it's better to have too much material rather than too little, as you become more experienced the additional material will give you the opportunity to flex your training plan to meet the needs of the learners. Don't try this until you feel confident to do so - it will knock your confidence if it goes wrong.

Remember you should be developing a contingency plan alongside your training plan - the ultimate contingency being that you can't deliver the training - have you given sufficient detail that another trainer is able to pick up your training from the training plan? What happens if there is an IT failure can you still deliver a quality training?

Don't forget to evaluate the training and self evaluate - that's the best way to improve and provide yourself with input for your personal development plan. Evaluation doesn't have to be a questionnaire - try collecting comments on a disposable tablecloth or make a set of traffic light cards and take a vote. Do your self evaluation as soon as possible while its all still fresh. Remember to spot issues you can take to your Trainers Support Group.

Planning a Training Part 2

Still reading Chapter 3 of Training and with your full understanding of what is required after your exchanges with the Training Organiser the next important step is to put the Aim & Objectives together for your training. In doing so remember training is about delivering the facts & providing opportunities for the participants to share experiences and develop the enthusiasm for leaders to believe they can do that.

Check out some sample aims and objectives (many GG resources include a sample training plan to get you thinking) remember the language of the words in the objectives - are they measurable ones? If you are struggling check out the Guiding Conversations series - these will start you off with questions to ask and you can really see the benefit in the planning process.

Are you using the correct medium to deliver the training? Some topics work well in a virtual classroom others need to be hands on and body language is valuable in determining how the messages you are delivering are being received. Giving consideration to the best format for delivery is important as this will impact on how easily you can vary the pace. {20 years ago the concentration span used to be 60 minutes now the recommendation is to change the pace every 12 minutes = the average length of an X-box session!}So you need to incorporate into your planning.

At this stage you will have an idea of what resources and content is available to include in your training; the planning process will help you refine this list. Next comes Part 3. 

Planning a Training Part 1

I've been developing a training plan to be used as our County Inset one to run in a few Divisions by being tweaked to match the venue and the stated training requirements from each Division.

The bible is of course chapter 3 of Training "Planning and designing a training session" which provides 18 pages of really good solid advice and lots of links. I thought it might be useful over the next 3 posts to cover the practicalities in relation to planning this specific training.

Firstly is at the requirements stage - I really can't impress how important it is to have a dialogue with the Training Organiser (who may be not a trainer herself) as to what the expectations for the training are! A classic methodology is for the training organiser to pick a catchy title and expect you to design the entire training around one statement. Have a number of conversations if possible and don't forget to ask questions about the potential audience. How experienced will the Leaders be? Will there be Leaders with Special needs? What facilities will I have access too? Don't expect that just because the training is in a school that you will have tables - you may be put in the gym! I once went to train in a fire station and I didn't ask, so wasn't told that the training was to be held in the garage where the engine would normally be kept. The impact being that the floor of the garage was really shiny and slippery so I had to change the programme on the hoof to accommodate the fact that we couldn't play active games on the floor. On one occasion I had a lady temporarily using  a wheel chair which again meant a quick adaption so we spilled out into the corridor to allow the room required for all the activities.

The training you deliver to perspectives Leaders is very different to delivering the same topic to experienced leaders; if you were to have s significant number of new leaders could you adapt your training to meet their requirements? Could you cover Be our Best, Good Guiding is......., Adventure and Girl Led Guiding all in the same training to new and experienced Leaders?

Secondly the budget allocation - make sure you have agreed what expenditure is allowed. More frequently these days an allowance is made per head participating - but how will you reflect this in your plan if Leaders don't commit until the last minute before the training? Make sure you get guidance from the Training Organiser if this arises, don't ever be out of pocket. (If I see and buy something for a potential training I now keep a file with annotated receipts to use at a later date if I decide I can use the resources bought at an earlier date). Start your expenses early on in the process - if you leave it too late you might forget to include something.

In this particular example the primary drivers were to provide section trainings that are accessible around the County; and that Adventure is promoted indoors through out the Winter months. We also wanted to ensure we supported Leaders in applying the 5 Essentials when adapting activities to match the interests and abilities of their girls. A tall order!

If in doubt go back and discuss with the Training Organiser!