in this issue
	Icebreaker: The Luck of the Draw Prework: Get Ready to Learn Technical Training: FAQ Building New Manager Transition

Icebreaker: The Luck of the Draw

Here's a fun way to start a training session. Create a deck of Icebreaker cards with one question on each card. Have each participant choose a card and answer the question they picked. They can answer the question to the entire class or within a small group. The questions you use can be generic or tailored to the subject you are teaching. Here are some questions you might use: What is the most unusual request you ever had from a boss? What is your strangest interviewing experience? What is the most helpful thing a coworker did for you at work? What's the last thing you did at work that was a waste of time? What was the most unusual training session you ever attended? What is the most creative excuse you have used or heard for missing a commitment? When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? If you won the lottery and didn't have to work, what would you do with your time? What was your best experience at work? Name one way you have changed since you were a teenager (other than age)? Who is your personal role model for [name a topic] and why? What is the most unusual food you have ever eaten? What movie is most like your life? What song best describes your work group? What makes you different from everyone else in this room? You can use the cards over and over again, even in the same class. They can answer a question as an icebreaker, before a break, after lunch, and before going home for the day. Use them for fun and to encourage sharing. Try them in presentations training - have people speak about the card they choose for 2 minutes. You'll find lots of opportunities to use the cards, and people will look forward to seeing what's next. Tip: If you laminate the cards, they will last a long time.

Prework: Get Ready to Learn

We all know how important it is to get people ready to learn. This activity helps accomplish that goal. Contact participants two weeks before training and instruct them to identify someone who is talented at the subject you are training. The talented person doesn't have to be an expert (although that would be great), but they do have to be better than the person who's attending training. Have them interview their expert about the training topic (give them specific questions to ask) and bring the information they gain to the workshop. Here's how this might work for a class on Leadership. The trainee will select a leader they admire and schedule a meeting (lunch or breakfast is fine). They can ask questions like: Who do you consider a leadership role model? What do you think makes a good leader? How did you develop your leadership skills? What is your favorite book on leadership? What situations are most challenging as a leader and how do you deal with them? If you were to give me one suggestion for expanding my leadership skills, what would it be? During training, you can have participants share their prework in a single exercise, or break it into several discussions. For instance, during the introductions participants can introduce themselves and share who they interviewed and why. Later, when you begin to discuss the traits of leaders, have them work in teams to combine the list of traits each person learned from their prework interviews. When you talk about leadership challenges, solicit their ideas based on both the prework and their personal experiences. At the end of training, have them gain feedback from other participants about one focus for their individual improvement, and compare that to what they heard from their expert interview. This kind of prework has several benefits. First, people get ready to learn before they even come to training. Second, they begin to define what the training topic means to them and to others. Third, they establish (or expand) a relationship with a potential mentor. All of these benefits lead to better results from training. And that's what it's all about!

Technical Training: FAQ Building

Technical training can be a challenge for both participants and the trainer. People often come in with different levels of expertise and with different needs. Since time is limited, you can't cover everything. What's a conscientious trainer to do? Build an FAQ database (Frequently Asked Questions) and give trainees access to it after the class. But just how do you do that? Two strategies come to mind. First, when people come to training, have cards available on the table. Instruct them to write their questions on the cards, one question per card. As new questions arise during the training, they can write another card. You will try to answer all questions during the class, but want to keep the cards as a reference after class to add to the database. The second strategy is to give people a place to ask questions after they return to work. After all, that's when a lot of questions arise. You can set up an email account or an intranet site and encourage people to submit questions. Make a commitment to respond within 24 hours whenever possible, and then track the questions they ask. Each question you get is answered directly to the questioner, and is also posted on your FAQ page. A final tip about organization. You may end up with a lot of questions (that would be a good thing). It's important to organize those questions in such a way that people can easily find the question they have (if it's already been asked). For example, if you have an FAQ on a financial software program, you might divide questions into categories like: formulas, charts and graphs, shortcuts, etc. This project can take some time, and will pay off because people will have fast access to information without having to speak directly to you. Again, better results from training.

New Manager Transition

The new manager transition can be difficult, for both the manager and staff. Two of my colleagues (Anita Hope and Heather Taylor) suggested a process to ease the transition of a new manager to a department or team by facilitating rapid development of the relationship between the manager and team. The idea is to establish a service to support a new manager (new to a team, not just new to the job of managing) as she gets started with a new team. The process involves these steps: 1. Initiate the process by meeting with the manager to explain the service and gain their commitment. 2. Meet with the team to explain the process and ask specific questions about their needs and the department. 3. Meet with the manager to review the information from the team. 4. Meet with the manager and team to further explore their working relationship and establish team ground rules. 5. Meet with the manager several weeks later to check status and identify any new needs. The manager and the team will have questions to answer. For the manager, you want to explore things like what she already knows about the staff, what she needs to know but doesn't, what the team needs to know about her as a manager, the challenges the department might face in the next year, and suggestions for overcoming those challenges. For the team, you can explore questions like: what they already know about the manager, what they would like to know about him but don't, what they most need or want from the manager, what the manager needs to know about them as a group, the challenges they think they will face as a team in the next year, and some suggestions for overcoming those challenges. When you give people a structured way to discuss who they are, what they think, and how they work, you accelerate their ability to adapt to a new team (or a new manager). Establish a process for your organization, and you will make a difference. For more detailed instructions, visit our web site and choose Free Resources. New Manager Transition Process »