Chapter 10

How to Conduct a Productive Training Meeting

 

Most of the principles and approaches that are described in this book are pertinent to all types of meetings, including training and departmental. The following chapters are critical in regard to making them productive:

  Chapter 4 provides details on how to prepare for a meeting.

  Chapter 5 describes the role of the leader.

  Chapter 6 describes using questions to stimulate discussion.

  Chapter 7 describes principles and techniques for presenting information effectively.

 

These four chapters should be studied before reading this one. On the average, a training meeting should have about a 50/50 participation ratio between leader and participants. This will vary a great deal depending on the content and the knowledge and experience of the participants. But it does illustrate the fact that the leader must be a trainer to present information effectively and a facilitator to conduct guided participation.

The Participants

The size and composition of the trainees should be considered because they are critical factors that relate to participation. For example, a large group usually limits the kind of participative approaches that can be used. Likewise, a group of inexperienced trainees tends to reduce the opportunities for participation. Therefore, care should be taken to determine the composition and size of the group that will be instructed. When this has been done, the approaches and methods can be selected.

It is generally agreed that the size of a class in supervisory training should not exceed 30. In many companies, group size is limited to less than 20. The optimum size of the group depends on objectives, room size, and the skill of the instructors.

As to the composition of the group, it is generally felt that the participants should be at the same level in the organization. For example, supervisory training meetings should be limited to first-level supervisors, and higher-level managers should not be in attendance. However, some companies have taken a different approach and have purposely included several levels of management. One particular organization, for example, frequently conducts sessions in which it has family groups, groups in which several levels of management from the same department are in attendance at the same time. If the attendance of higher-level management people in supervisory training meetings inhibits the participation and learning that is taking place, restrict the attendance to firstlevel supervisors. However, if the presence of higher-level management people enhances the involvement and learning of supervisors, then several levels of management should be included.

Another consideration regarding composition of the group is whether a meeting should be attended by all supervisors and foremen or only by those who need the subject matter to be discussed. As a general rule, most companies do not single out those who need it most. They include all supervisors and foremen in the meeting so that no stigma is attached to those in attendance. They also do it because those who are better supervisors and do not need the subject content can help the others learn. Basic supervisory programs should be compulsory for all supervisors to attend. Select programs can be limited to those who need it most or those who want to attend.

Introduction

This is a very critical phase for a productive meeting. The example on the next page will provide some suggestions.

Presentation vs. Participation

The mix is on a continuum, running from total presentation to total participation (see figure 5-1). One controlling factor is how much the participants know about the subject. This implies that the meeting leader ordinarily should know how much the group knows about the subject. Some of this information may be learned during the meeting.

 

 

 

Once the group is assembled and you are the leader, you need to control the mix. This requires two skills: presentation (your role as a trainer) and participation (your role as a facilitator).

Classroom Techniques

In selecting the best methods and techniques for teaching, keep in mind that the meeting should be enjoyable as well as beneficial because you want to send the participants back to their departments feeling satisfied with the meeting. My son, Jim, and I have adopted the PIE approach to teaching—Practical, Interactive, and Enjoyable—for all of our teaching. You may want to adopt the same philosophy!

The first consideration for using any technique is to be sure it helps accomplish the objectives that have been set. There are many techniques and methods that can be used to meet objectives. Participants will enjoy some more than others. Therefore, techniques should be used that accomplish the objectives as well as make the sessions interesting and enjoyable to the participants. Participants who enjoy the sessions will probably pay more attention and, thereby, learn more. This section will discuss some of the techniques that can contribute to the enjoyment as well as the productivity of meetings.

Guided Participation

Guided participation is a common technique for use in conducting instructional meetings. It consists of participation on the part of the learners under the guidance and control of the leaders. This is where the trainer becomes a facilitator. It can be most effectively used when experienced participants have ideas to contribute.

There are two basic approaches to guided participation. The most common form is to have open discussion in which the leader gives a question or problem to the entire group. Volunteers answer it, and discussion proceeds.

The other approach is to divide the group into buzz groups of four to six people so that each person can participate more actively. Each buzz group is given a topic to discuss or a problem to solve. A case study is frequently used. Each buzz group may be given the same topic or a different one.

 

 

There are many assignments that can be given to buzz groups, including the following that relate to the presentation by the instructor:

  Team 1: What was the most important point that the presentation made?

  Team 2: What point was made that you want to challenge?

  Team 3: What point would you like clarified or expanded?

  Team 4: What point was left out that you'd like to add?

In this example, each buzz group would be given a specific assignment that requires each person to listen to the entire presentation. It also provides a good basis for practical discussion within each team. When each group reports, the buzz group provides a good analysis and summary of the various aspects of the presentation for the entire group. Therefore, this approach provides high motivation to listen as well as worthwhile classroom involvement.?

Aids

The two purposes of aids are to help make the presentation effective and to get and maintain interest and attention. Every time a leader shows a new visual aid, there is immediate attention from the participants. The length of that interest depends on what happens next.

The most common aids used by effective trainers are flipcharts, overhead projector transparencies, Microsoft PowerPoint slides, and handouts. In departmental meetings, the flipchart or the whiteboard is the most frequently used aid. In training meetings, Microsoft PowerPoint slides are used most frequently. Sometimes handouts of each slide are given to the participants so they can add notes or just have a copy to take back to their organization. Some national conferences give no handouts, but the participants receive a CD of the slides, usually in advance of the conference so participants can print them out if they wish. This is frustrating to most participants and presenters, but it is a cost saver for the organization that runs the conference.

Even at national conferences I still use overhead projector transparencies along with handouts and a flipchart. I have better contact with the group that way and have great opportunities to reveal one line at a time to build interest and get audience involvement. There is a new projector that will project both overhead transparencies and typed material. It projects from the bottom (overhead transparencies) and from the top (printed material). It sounds like a great invention, but it distorts the colored transparencies. If you use transparencies, request not to have the new overhead projector.

Case Studies

The words case study are used by people to mean different things. Some people think of a case study as a detailed description of an industrial or business situation. To use this type of case study would require a great deal of advance reading and study by participants and a great deal of time to discuss it and benefit from its use. An alternative approach would be to find or write a short case study (not more than one page) describing a particular situation that is important for the group to discuss. Some case studies are presented on film instead of on paper. Usually, dramatized case studies on film are more effective than written case studies because the participants can see and feel the situation better.

 

 

One case would be assigned to each subgroup in the meeting. This can be done either by asking each person to volunteer to participate in the case in which the person is most interested or by assigning one case to each table or buzz group. Each group would then be given the following assignment:

  Select a chairperson who is responsible for leading and controlling the discussion and reaching the objectives.

  Appoint a secretary who is responsible for taking notes and summarizing the discussion that takes place.

  Complete the following objectives:

—  Discuss and agree on how employees in your department would react to the specific change described in your case.

—  Discuss and decide how you would communicate the change to the people in your department.

—  Discuss and decide how you would see that the change is effectively implemented in your department.

 

 

This approach to case studies is one that can be readily adapted to a particular situation in your organization. Cases can be written to describe a typical situation. Each group should be given 30-45 minutes to analyze a case. The chairperson or secretary of the group will report to the entire group on its case. The case study would then be open to discussion by the entire group. The leader has the key role of supplementing and commenting on the principles, approaches, and techniques that have come from the discussion to tie the case study into the objectives of that particular session.

Following is a more complicated case study that could be used or modified for a training meeting. For this meeting, assume you have just been appointed division manager in Bell Tone Corporation's largest region. Bell Tone is a leading manufacturer and distributor of bells. They manufacture and sell every conceivable type of bell, both electrical and manual.

Reporting to you are district engineering managers, district sales managers, district service managers, plus an administrative and clerical staff—15 people total.

You and your regional manager have discussed some broad goals that you have mutually agreed should become part of your division's common goals.

These were in the area of service improvement, revenue improvement, and development of people. Although you didn't like to agree to these broad objectives prior to talking with your division team, this is the condition under which the job was offered and you accepted it.

 

Role Playing

Role playing is a training technique in which one or more members of the training group takes a role that is assigned. For example, in “The Case of the New Policy,” one of the group members will be asked to play the part of a foreman. The conference leader can take the part of an employee who feels that 10 minutes is not enough time to wash up before the shift ends. In front of the group, the foreman will then conduct a discussion with the employee. The rest of the group will observe the role playing and will comment on it after it is finished.

Another possible approach to role playing is called “multiple role playing.” This means that all members of the training class will participate at the same time. Half of them will take the role of supervisor and the other half will take the role of employee. They will all be buzzing at the same time. After a period of this multiple role playing, open discussions will analyze the situation from the standpoint of both the supervisor and the employee. If the multiple role playing is repeated, each individual will take the opposite role. A modification of this is to have three roles: supervisor, employee, and observer. Instead of having the supervisor and the employee describe their experience, the observer can describe it along with any comments and suggestions from the supervisor and employee.

Role playing can be very effective in supervisory training. It involves the group and maintains high interest and enjoyment on the part of participants. Furthermore, it can be very helpful in the learning process. By participating in a role-playing situation, people will learn better than by just listening to somebody discuss it. By observing a role-playing situation, supervisors can see things happen and discuss it as a case study.

Tests

Tests can be used for several purposes in an instructional meeting. They must be related to the subject content and objectives of the meeting or series of meetings. Before a training program starts, a pretest can be administered to measure the level of knowledge and attitudes of participants before any instruction has been given. This will help to determine the specific needs to be met in the meeting. For example, if everyone answers certain questions correctly, the topic can be eliminated from the course material. If, on the other hand, the test responses show a complete lack of knowledge on a particular topic, considerable time and effort should be spent during the instructional meeting to be sure the students learn it.

At the end of a training program, a posttest can be administered to measure levels of knowledge and attitudes. The responses to the posttest can be compared to the pretest responses to evaluate the program in terms of the learning that has taken place. (See chapter 12 on evaluation.)

In addition to determining needs and evaluating the program, tests can be effectively used as discussion tools. When participants spend their time and energy to take a test, they are most anxious to see how they did. They are also eager to explain the reasons for their answers and sometimes dogmatically defend them. This can lead to enthusiastic and sometimes heated discussions. Under the guidance and control of an effective leader, the discussion can help to accomplish the objectives of the meeting in a manner that is both enjoyable and beneficial to the participants.

The tests can be written by the coordinator or the instructor of the training meeting. Or, a standardized test can be purchased for use in the course. The first approach offers the advantage of being tailored to the organization and the subject content being planned. It requires considerable time and test construction knowhow to be effective.

The standardized test can be reasonably purchased as an off-the-shelf item. A manual usually accompanies the test to provide information on the uses and administration of the test. It also includes norms that have been gathered from other organizations.

An example of a standardized test is the Supervisory Inventory on Communication (SIC) that can be given to participants in the beginning of a training program on communications. The SIC can be scored by the participants. The test can then be used effectively as a device for stimulating lively and beneficial discussion. The conference leader would encourage individuals to state answers and reasons for them. Other participants can disagree and give their reasons. The leader can then give the scoring key answer and rationale provided by the author. The leader can add personal comments and draw conclusions pertinent to the group. The manual of the SIC includes suggestions for using the test as well as the rationale for each answer.

Any test can be used in the same way to make training meetings interesting as well as beneficial. Some suggestions for using standardized tests follow:

  Be sure the test content is related to the subject content and objectives of the session.

  Administer the test at the start of the program.

  Score the test and return it to participants (or allow participants to score their own).

  Select items for discussion that will be of greatest interest and benefit to the group.

  Encourage participants to argue both sides of the question during the discussion.

  Provide the participants with the rationale for the correct answer that was developed by the author.

  Summarize the discussion and the principle or technique that was illustrated by the test item.

Games and Exercises

Another approach in training meetings is to use games and exercises. Typically, in this technique, the trainees are divided into small groups and given a realistic situation to address. They compete with each other and are judged on some basics of effectiveness, usually in terms of productivity, profits, sales, or similar criteria. Management games can be purchased from a number of sources or can be created for the particular session. Some games are very simple and require less than an hour of meeting time. Others are complicated and use the computer.

The four steps in table 10-1 provide a short summary for any meeting. Details are found in other chapters.

Table 10-1. The Four-Step Approach for Conducting a Meeting.

1. Opening the meeting	Get the attention of the participants and clarify the objectives of the meeting.
2. Imparting information	Present other pertinent information.
3. Facilitating discussion	Serve as a catalyst in stimulating and controlling discussion.
4. Concluding the meeting	Get the group to agree with the objectives and their roles in accomplishing them. End on a positive note, and thank them for their participation. If you are planning to get together with each person, clarify what you want to accomplish and how you will make contact. Also, tell them if and when the next meeting will be held.