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.