in this issue
	Icebreaker - Act It Out! Coached Role Plays Closer - Action Plan Templates Consulting Feature - Expanding Impact Through Coaching

Icebreaker - Act It Out!

WHAT: The goal of this icebreaker is to get people involved in demonstrating the right and wrong way to perform a skill. It's a great way to start a training session with energy and to set the stage for an interactive workshop. HOW - Part 1: Divide the class into 2 groups. Assign one group the "right" way and the other the "wrong" way to perform the skill. For example, in our Presentation Skills training, we assign one team "good" presentation skills and the other "poor" presentation skills. Instruct the group to make a list of 7-10 things that fit their assigned topic and post those items on a flip chart. Tell them to keep their list hidden from the other team. Allow about 5 minutes for this part of the exercise. HOW - Part 2: Instruct teams that they will have to act out their list so that the other group guesses what they have. They can speak (it isn't charades) and each person on their team should be involved in at least one of the "acting" scenes. Allow only 5 minutes for them to prepare their skits. Then have the teams act out their lists while the other team guesses. DEBRIEF: Congratulate the group on their acting and guessing skills. Make the point that they have lots of knowledge about what you will be covering in training and encourage them to continue sharing their experiences and knowledge during the rest of the training.

Coached Role Plays

Do you remember those old cartoons where the title character had to choose between right and wrong? He had a little angel on one shoulder telling him what was right, and a little devil on the other shoulder tempting him to do what was wrong. Well, that's the concept behind our "Coached Role Play" approach. The individual practicing a new skill has a little "angel" to help them through the steps of the practice, suggesting tips, redirecting them when they need it, and answering questions. Rather than wait until the end of the role play to get feedback, their coach is giving input throughout the entire activity. We realized that people can actually learn more from this instantaneous feedback than they can from feedback delayed even by a few minutes. Here's how it works. Establish trios for the role practice. Assign three roles: one to practice the new skill; one to play the "other" person; and one to coach the person practicing. Have participants prepare for the role play by individually identifying a real situation they can address using the skills you are teaching. It's helpful to provide them with a worksheet to complete for this activity. Then have them explain the situation briefly to their partners (about 1 minute). Next, have them begin the role play, with the coach "helping" the individual practice the plan he or she developed. Encourage coaches to stop the role play if the individual isn't following their plan or using the skills in the training. Finally, debrief by asking for feedback from all three people. Then switch roles and repeat the process until all have played each role. Here are a few tips for success: Give a quick lesson on how to give feedback and coach someone. Encourage them to use a positive approach ("try this") rather than a negative one ("stop that"). Demonstrate the coach role with volunteers from the group. Give the coach a worksheet or checklist to guide them through the skill they should be coaching so that they know what to look for. Coached Role Plays are a great way to help people get more valuable feedback about their skills (when they are practicing), and test their understanding of the skills you are teaching (when they are the coach). You will have more lively role plays and even better results! To get more information and an example of one of our Coached Role Plays, click here. »

Closer - Action Plan Templates

Any good training workshop includes some way for participants to make a commitment to use the training on the job. We use an Action Plan or Application Plan to document that commitment. We have people complete the Plan during training, and encourage them to review that Plan with their manager when they return to work. Here are some elements we include in our Action Plans. Self Assessment: Before I know how I will apply training, I need to understand what my strengths and weaknesses are in the topic. So we begin by having people rate themselves on the different aspects of the training. For instance, in Project Management, they identify strengths and weaknesses in Defining Scope, Developing a Plan, Forming and Managing a Team, Controlling the Project, Communicating Outside the Project Team, and Auditing Project Results. You can either have people identify strengths and weaknesses in each area, or rate their skills on a numeric scale. Goals: Based on the self-assessment, we guide participants through the goal setting process, asking them to identify specific and measurable goals, action plans, and target dates for achieving their goals. We sometimes also have them describe their vision of success in the training topic (If you are a successful project manager, what will people say about you?). Practical Application: We have people identify plans to use the training in real situations. In Project Management, for instance, we have them identify the next tasks to complete on each of their current projects. This forces them to go beyond general goals (complete projects on time) to specific actions they will take in the next few weeks on real projects they have. For an example of one of our Action Plans, click here. »

Consulting Feature - Expanding Impact Through Coaching

One of the challenges we face as trainers and designers is getting people to use what they learn in training when they go back to their jobs. Ideally, their managers would coach them after training to ensure a good investment of their time and money. In reality, managers these days are too busy to do much coaching, and training application is reduced. But it doesn't have to be. You can expand the impact of training by offering coaching services. What is coaching? Coaching is a way to support and guide an individual in development of a specific area. In the coaching relationship, development remains the responsibility of the person being coached. The coach guides them in the process of that development and makes them accountable to the activities needed to achieve their goals. When we begin coaching, we contract with the person to identify specific, measurable objectives for the coaching experience. We also invite their manager to participate in the contracting phase so that we focus on the right outcomes. And we agree to a time line for meeting those objectives. We have found many opportunities to add a coaching element to our services. In some of our traditional classroom workshops, we offer participants coaching after training so that they can address specific issues and challenges they face. When we conduct training through our teleclass series (4-6 modules of training on a given topic over a period of weeks), we hold mid- point coaching sessions with each participant to discuss how they have been using the training and what they need to address in their continued development. We offer 360 degree feedback surveys and coach people through the survey process and the development of an action plan. If you offer self-study learning (through CDs, tapes, or books), you can combine that learning with a few coaching sessions as well. Coaching is a great way to expand the impact of your traditional training offerings and help the people in your organization continue their professional growth. For a copy of our Coaching Planner, click here. »