The Loner Trainee

The first type of trainee who may appear in your seminar is a student whom I call the loner. As the name indicates, this is a trainee who prefers to be pretty much left alone and considers himself or herself self-reliant. While in class, the trainee typically is attentive and participative, often showing what may appear to be the perfect trainee personality. The only catch is that these trainees often prefer to have as little involvement as possible with the other trainees, can tend to isolate themselves, and may appear somewhat aloof. These trainees are often quite capable as students, which may account for some of their resistance in working with others. My guess would be that if you were able to check back to a report card written as this individual was growing up, you would probably see good grades with a comment that says, “Joey is a fine student; however, he doesn't play well with others.”

This type of trainee is not as easy to spot as a lot of the other personality types. Loners usually are very good at coming up with excuses as to why they will be unable to work with other students. They will try to wriggle their way out of any type of group work by saying things like, “If it isn't too much trouble, I would like to work on this exercise alone. I find I am able to concentrate better.” Many presenters will not even notice this type of trainee in their seminars because of the trainee's participation. As presenters, our primary focus is on seminar activities and the involvement of the trainees. Within the seminar and in front of the presenter, these trainees appear to be model students. This makes it difficult to look at these trainees with a watchful eye. It is my recommendation that you do. An experienced presenter will tell you that part of the job is to manage the material taught and another major part is to manage the personalities receiving this information. What possible harm can come from a near-model student who does not necessarily interact with the other trainees? Plenty.

One of the biggest problems that can occur within your seminars as a result of a loner is what I refer to as “distancing.” Trainees will go only so far out of their way to accept another trainee. After the initial gestures of friendship are rebuffed, the other trainees will back away and distance themselves. Then a strange phenomenon occurs. The class can actually turn against the loner and become hostile. One reason for this is that trainees often are attending a seminar with others in their firm. All of us want to enjoy our training experiences, and a part of that joy involves the closeness that is shared among classes. Many trainees expect that family type of feeling. A complicating factor is that other classes going through the same program may be experiencing that desired feeling. “Our seminar? We're like brothers and sisters!” Now, here is your seminar that, with the exception of one trainee, gets together at night for drinks, lab work, or practice of some sort. A strange type of resentment occurs. It almost seems as if the trainees become jealous that their experiences are not measuring up to the stories they've heard of those other classes, and feel it is the loner's fault. Class members stop trying to include the loner and deliberately distance themselves from this trainee. What's more, slowly, little side comments start being made by the other trainees in the seminar like, “All of us got together last night, well, almost all of us got together, to work on this piece.” Once these types of comments start, they usually only get worse. Be on the lookout for such behavior and take action.

When dealing with a loner trainee, you can try a couple of tricks. To begin with, make it a basic rule not to go into too much detail when overviewing a course and going over a course calendar. In other words, until you have a handle on the personality types within your training, be intentionally vague regarding the methods you intend to use within your sessions. This allows you some freedom in coping with a loner. The solution I recommend to deal with such trainees does not interfere with what you will be teaching, only with how you intend to teach it. Any curriculum has some poetic license to it. To work with a loner, it will be necessary to exercise some of that license. In other words, lying! Create activities where there are none to force loners into the mainstream of the class.

For example, let's look at an evening activity. My curriculum might say for the trainees to look over a reading for tomorrow. Lo and behold, it comes out of my mouth as a group project requiring two assigned groups to get together in the evening and come up with a couple of questions to use as a review in the morning. I will even go so far as to suggest they take this project to the bar or a suitable relaxing environment. Depending on the setup of your training, you may want these activities to occur in the seminar. Create small-group activities or teams to accomplish tasks that may be written to be done individually. In no way is this solution intended to represent a punishment for the rest of the class. Your job is to make sure that all students get the most they can possibly get out of the seminar you are conducting. As long as you have not already told the trainees about all the evening or seminar activities you have planned, the assignments will not be perceived as anything out of the ordinary.

When working with a loner, you do not want to react too slowly to the situation. Some of the off-the-cuff comments that are made in the seminar can have a terrible effect on the morale of the loner and the rest of the class. Sadly, by the time a presenter actually hears these comments, it may be too late. Most curriculum developers will state exactly what material should be covered. How to accomplish this task is often the presenter's business. Hold back on any early commitments regarding activities and evening work until you have had some time to carefully analyze your participants.

The Quiet Trainee

There are a few constants in this world that we all know and probably feel comfortable with. What goes up must come down. When considering real estate, the three most important factors are location, location, and location. When conducting a training seminar, you are going to have quiet trainees. The fact of the matter is that some people in this world are simply quieter than others. Is that a problem in training? Usually not. As a matter of fact, most of the time if these trainees actually do become a problem, it is a result of the presenter's inappropriate handling of them.

The mistake so many presenters make is demanding equal participation from the quiet trainees. Where is it written that all trainees must answer the same number of questions in class? In a few outdated books, that's where! Try to understand that some people are quiet people. They are not slow. They are not troubled. They are certainly not trying to undermine the presenter in any way. They are just quiet people. For some reason, these trainees can unnerve a presenter. Quiet trainees should pose no real threat; however, a few potential problems should be considered.

To begin with, let's look at how the rest of the class may feel about a quiet trainee. Usually the other trainees feel a sense of empathy for this trainee. Students will often band together to help quiet trainees. When a presenter begins to work the quiet trainee hard with questions, there can be animosity toward the presenter from the entire class. At no time do you want to appear to be picking on a quiet trainee.

Another side to the argument regarding the frequency of questions to a quiet trainee is this: If you do not ask questions of the quiet trainee, it becomes awkward for the rest of the class. Some trainees begin to feel as if one student is receiving preferential treatment. “How come he doesn't have to answer questions?” the other trainees begin to think. What's worse, the longer the presenter goes without asking a question of a quiet trainee, the more difficult it actually becomes for this student to participate at all. The trainee's shyness becomes compounded the longer the trainee goes without talking.

I have a couple of recommendations for working with quiet trainees. The first involves looking at the size of your seminar. Some trainees are quiet when there are 10 or 15 students in the seminar. Their confidence is not very high, and they may feel vulnerable. Try introducing a few small-group exercises to the seminar. You would be shocked and amazed at how many quiet trainees come alive when the size of their group shrinks to four or five. It may be a ratio quiet trainees will be more comfortable with. One last point about small groups. Ask that the trainees in the groups take turns with different roles, such as leader and presenter. This will also force your quiet trainee to assume a leadership role within his or her small group and begin to interact with the rest of the class as well. Make sure you have enough small projects so that your quiet trainee gets a turn at the key roles.

My second recommendation, when working with quiet trainees, involves the kinds of questions you ask. Especially early in your training, stay away from questions that can put the quiet trainee on the spot. Questions involving remembering particular facts could wind up being disastrous. Try some easier questions involving his or her opinion. Be extremely supportive (without being artificial) of responses. Even saying things like, “Good answer!” or “Now that's what we are looking for!” can do wonders. The basic point I want to make here is to start slowly and gradually work to build confidence in the quiet trainee.

Instilling confidence within a quiet trainee can be one of the more rewarding aspects of training. Seeing a trainee blossom and come out of his or her shell often is one of the many success stories a presenter clings to. The real world says this is not the norm, however. What you should look for is to create an environment that allows quiet trainees to break out if they so desire and, if not, to at least actively participate at a percentage slightly below the rest of the class.

The Amiable Trainee

Next up in your personality parade of trainees comes the amiable trainee. Typically found as new hires, these trainees are about as close to model trainees as you will find. Obedient and ready to carry out the wishes of the presenter, they sit and await your next command. You say jump, and they really will say how high. Whatever you say or do as a presenter must be right. Pinch me, these students sound too good to be true. Okay, here is the pinch.

If I have a concern with amiable trainees, it involves their blind trust. If the presenter were to say, “The sky is green,” this trainee would shoot back with “You bet!” I realize this may sound like a dream come true to some of you, but if you take your role as a presenter seriously, this has to disturb you.

The reality of training is that the presenter plays an important role in the professional survival of many trainees. Mastering the skills provided by the presenter may be their lifelines to individual success. Yes, I want the training to be a tremendous experience for my trainees, and I want to be loved by all. I also want these trainees to have long and prosperous careers with the company. It is therefore my responsibility to do all within my power to make sure that the skills I teach can be reproduced by the trainee in the field…when I am not there. The fear I have when working with amiable trainees is that I am not always sure they will be able to think on their own. It would be impossible, in most forms of training, to present every possible scenario to trainees. Hopefully, teaching some type of process should help. Nonetheless, a skilled presenter must also teach the trainees to think outside of the box. I do not think a student's agreeing with my every statement accomplishes that goal.

The solution is rather simple; it is not, however, an intuitive one. Most presenters will question amiable trainees to make sure they can think on their own. The problem is, they ask the wrong kinds of questions. If you ask an amiable trainee a question that requires a fact-based response, you will most likely get the answer you are looking for. At no time did I say amiable trainees are slow. As a matter of fact, because they are typically new hires, there is a good chance they will be among your quickest trainees. This can be attributed to either just finishing school and being used to a classroom environment or simply working harder to impress, because they are new. Many presenters think this approach is a way to get an amiable trainee thinking on his or her own. I do not.

A second type of question often asked of amiable trainees is opinion based. The idea here is to solicit the trainee's opinion to a question that has no right or wrong answer. On paper, this appears to be a pretty good solution to getting amiable trainees to think on their own. Unfortunately, the reality is that most amiable trainees will attempt to anticipate the opinion of the presenter and provide that response as their answers. Once again, you are left with trainees who are not fully prepared to think on their own feet.

The correct type of question for an amiable trainee is a case history question. Remember, the concept of a case history question is to present a scenario using information you have just taught. What the case history question does, however, is ask questions that have not been addressed but can be solved using the information taught. It is not unusual to hear an amiable trainee respond by saying, “You haven't taught us that yet.” If an amiable trainee says that to you, congratulations. You are doing beautifully. Your job as a presenter is to teach the information necessary to allow the trainee to attempt a logical response. Be supportive of the amiable trainee's answer to encourage future thinking outside of the box.

The good news about amiable trainees is that of all the personality types identified in this chapter, I would probably most prefer to be stuck with these trainees. Other than the potential for the difficulties discussed previously and perhaps a little bit of boredom because they are so obedient, there really is not much to complain about. Keep a watchful eye that they are not too obedient, mix in a couple of case history questions to test the waters, and count your lucky stars. You are going to have an enjoyable couple of days.

The Discouraged Trainee

Let's now turn from the excitement and enthusiasm of an amiable trainee to the negative gloominess of the discouraged trainee. You are dealing with a personality type that is often depressed and discouraged and brings these feelings to your seminar. The causes of this behavior can be numerous, but one thing is definitely clear: The discouraged trainee will waste little time making you and the rest of the class aware of his or her feelings.

The causes for this behavior are endless. It could be that these trainees were forced to attend a training seminar they did not want to attend. Some managers who still live in the dark ages use basic training as a punishment. It could be a fear of failure. Some trainees will mask this fear with a rude, insensitive attitude. The trainee could be one who is on the way out of the company due to any number of reasons and for some reason has ended up in your room. Fact number one is this: It is not unusual to have a discouraged trainee in your training room. Fact number two: You had better do something about fact number one in a hurry.

The reason I recommend that you act in a hurry is to combat the basic nature of the discouraged trainee. These trainees love company. Think back to when you started a new job. You were eager and willing to tackle any challenge that lay ahead of you. You were excited about the new challenges and fearful of the change that you had initiated within your life. For you, and for the rest of us, this moment probably was one of the most emotional times in your life. Then they approached you. They are the representatives of the “I hate it here and so should you” club. The membership drive started the moment you started your first day. In the blink of an eye, you were informed how miserable it was to work with whomever, for whomever, and the fragile emotional calm you were experiencing was shattered. Perhaps you fought back, but many do not.

Now let's take this experience and relate it to the seminar or workshop you are conducting. Here is a room full of various personalities. Certainly the most vulnerable are your amiable trainees. They want to fit in so badly. Before you know it, what was once an ideal personality is now racked with cynicism and doubt. This gloom can spread across your training room like a cancer.

Fortunately, spotting discouraged trainees is usually easy. No matter what question you ask them, their responses always seem to have a depressed sound to them. This is no accident. What these trainees are really asking, or should I say pleading, is for someone to listen to them. The mistake so many presenters make is not the failure to recognize this personality type or even to deal with it immediately. The mistake made is in how they deal with it.

The first error involves listening to the discouraged trainee. The good news is that most presenters will, in fact, hear out this trainee early in their training during the icebreakers. The bad news is they have this conversation in front of the entire class. The discouraged trainee would like nothing better than to air dirty laundry in front of the class at the urgings of a presenter. What a perfect scenario…for the trainee. This is where I would like to introduce you to a technique that will be used for a couple of the more aggressive personality types; it is called the “Let's have coffee” technique. Nothing deep, mind you, but you would be surprised at what the conversation will sound like when the discouraged trainee has no audience to perform in front of. A simple “How's it going?” during a break will usually do the trick. What I particularly like about working with this personality type is that if you ask “How's it going?” the discouraged trainee will tell you.

Be prepared to defuse some anger, so a couple of points need to be made here. First, do not apologize or say you are sorry. The reality is, no one is really satisfied with an apology. Usually it does not change the situation anyway. The discouraged trainee has probably heard apologies along the way. In addition to that, the words “I'm sorry” usually cause people to affix blame. The majority of the difficulties that the discouraged trainee tells you about have absolutely nothing to do with anything you have done. Studies have shown that when customer service representatives say “I'm sorry” over the phone, they usually get it from the customer with both barrels. What people really want to hear is an acknowledgment of their problem. A simple “I can understand your frustration” and a restatement of the discouraged trainee's concern typically is more than enough to satisfy this individual. Being a good listener helps, and a nonthreatening reminder of your role as an instructor will more often than not defuse this trainee's anger.

The second common error when working with a discouraged trainee involves the presenter's attempt to make it to the break without calling attention to the problem at hand. One of two things can happen. The presenter can stay away from questioning the discouraged trainee. In that event, the presenter may be sending some unwanted signals to the class that there is a problem the presenter wants no part of. Staying away from the discouraged trainees, in a sense, can alleviate their plight and give them a sort of martyr status. The other possibility is that the presenter can try to soften the questions too much by feeding the discouraged trainee opinion-based questions. By asking a discouraged trainee his or her opinion, you run the risk of allowing the trainee to climb up on a soapbox and vent his or her frustrations in front of the class. Sorry, not for me. I want the best of both worlds: involvement within the seminar but no venting. The solution involves a more careful use of the questions you choose. Make it a rule to stick solely to fact-based questions. Right or wrong, black or white. Frankly, I am not interested in opinions at this time. We will save that for our coffee break.

Discouraged trainees appear to present a major obstacle toward successful training. When they are handled carefully, this simply is not true. Averting any displays in front of the class and taking a genuine interest in their difficulties goes a long way to achieving a workable solution. If you are careful of the questions you use and do not delay in the tactics you choose, the discouraged trainee will not pose any real threat to your training.

The Enlightener Trainee

Most training sessions are not complete without someone in the seminar who seems to know it all. We will call this person the enlightener. How many times have you sat through a seminar and watched someone continue to enlighten the class with his or her enormous experience in whatever topic is being discussed? These people can relate to what you are explaining to the class. They have a story that needs to be told. They have an experience that may help you get your point across better. The enlightener brings to the seminar a whole array of potential problems for the presenter.

To begin with, the enlightener poses a major threat to your timing of the curriculum. Timing is an issue that will be gone over in more detail later in this book; however, it is critical to a presenter's success. Enlighteners can throw a wrench into the careful timing of a presentation. This, in turn, can cause seminars to run long and force presenters to sacrifice critical material to make up for the lost time. The seminar can appear rushed and hurried.

A second problem that can occur from the well-informed enlightener is damage to your control of the seminar and to your credibility as a presenter. What often happens when the enlightener gets on a roll is the trainees' attention begins shifting from you to the enlightener. They begin to ask questions of the enlightener and not of you. What's even more frustrating is when the questions are answered by you and the class looks to the enlightener for his or her approval.

The final distraction that enlighteners can cause is their uncanny ability to throw off your rhythm. A presenter who is working effectively begins to establish a sort of rhythm. The enlightener's interjections seem to appear in a Murphy's Law manner. Count on the distraction to occur as you are trying to make your most critical point.

Not only can the enlightener's actions create difficulties for the presenter, they can irritate other class members as well. It does not take very long to notice other trainees' eyes beginning to roll as the enlightener brings forth another all-important point. Other trainees can get so frustrated by the enlightener that their participation and morale begin to drop along with their interest in your presentation. Something needs to be done about this right now.

Fortunately, working with enlighteners is fairly easy. To make sense of the solution, first let's look at the typical cause for their behavior. It can be summed up in one, three-letter word: ego. Enlighteners consciously or unconsciously want all those in the room to be aware of how bright they are regarding whatever topic you are discussing. Their behavior is not malicious, nor is it generally intended to create any problems. They often just want to be acknowledged. No harm; that is exactly what you should do with enlighteners. In your acknowledging, though, you had better choose your words carefully.

For example, you would not want to silence your enlightener by saying, “Okay, Frankie, you know a lot about skydiving. I want to hear from someone else now. Do you mind?” As ridiculous as that may sound, it is easy to get to a frustrated point and have your words come out a little hostile. Try it this way, instead. “Well, it looks like Frankie has a lot of experience in this area. I am going to be looking forward to having you share that with us, but I want to hear from the rest of you as well. Come on, don't make Frankie do all your work for you.” This type of statement accomplishes two things. It provides your enlightener with an ego stroke, and it brings the rest of your class back into the conversation.

One of the more traditional approaches to working with enlighteners is to simply move up and slightly into their personal space while they are talking. I am not suggesting you pick a fight or anything; just appear very interested, and move in. This approach is especially useful for enlighteners who do not necessarily speak often but have a tendency to ramble. Your movements forward will send an unconscious signal for them to get out whatever they are talking about. If that does not work, be prepared to jump right into their monologues with a statement of your own relating to their points. Then tie it back to your topic and hang on for dear life.

An example of such an exchange would sound like this:

If I appear to be a little harsh with enlightener trainees, it is because I have seen them innocently drive many a presenter up a wall. I would be terribly remiss if I did not mention that a great deal of the time enlightener trainees are fantastic to have in a seminar. They certainly can assist in helping you break down the Monday morning barriers that you so desperately need to remove. It is amazing how one trainee who is participating in and enjoying your seminar can make others jump in as well. When the class begins to drift away late in the day, it is the enlightener who is ready to speak at any time. Managed properly, the enlightener can be a presenter's best friend.

The Joker Trainee

Similar to the enlightener is a trainee whose personality is rarely kept a secret for long. I am referring to the old class clown who grew up into a corporate environment and who we will now refer to as the joker.

The joker is quick-witted and potentially aggressive, so it pays to spend a moment or two getting to know this character.

There are many reasons why an individual behaves as a joker trainee. The first and most basic reason might be that something struck him or her as funny. Just because a trainee makes a couple of humorous remarks does not necessarily mean there is a personality problem in your seminar. It might be just the comic relief your seminar has been looking for.

When the joker trainee's behavior becomes more constant, the reasons may be a little more complicated. Perhaps it is an ego problem or the way this individual deals with stress. Let's again look at possible problems and then at some solutions that will allow us to work with the joker trainee in a peaceful manner.

The first problem that you should beware of is the joker's effect on the timing of your seminar. As with the enlightener trainee, the joker is not shy about chiming in on a discussion. Murphy's Law of training says that these comical additions can come at the most inopportune times. It seems that every time there is a serious point to be made or an emotional statement to be addressed, here comes the joker. Sometimes a presenter builds a presentation to a powerful climax only to see it shattered by an assault from the joker. Potential powerful, magical moments are ruined by an ill-timed joke.

Another concern with the joker involves feelings. Feelings of the trainees or the presenters are often on the line every time a joker opens his or her mouth. When you stop and consider the odds of having just one trainee who may be offended by a joke, you begin to understand the danger of a joker. It could be a harmless joke about New Yorkers, Californians, or any other topic. You never know who may have a connection to the topic. Especially early on, there is no way to tell the sensitivity levels of your trainees. The joker has a dangerous approach to assisting you in finding out in a hurry. What makes matters worse, many curriculum writers actually still write into the curricula suggestions to have a different student start the seminar each day with a joke. These suggestions typically do not stay in the curriculum long once they have been used under fire.

Understanding how to work with a joker requires just a little basic psychology. Why is it that some people require and almost thrive on attention? The answer often is simply to make up for some feelings of uncertainty. Therefore, as with the enlightener trainee, the best approach to working with a joker trainee is to do a little boosting of his or her ego. Actually give the joker an opportunity to perform, but only on your terms. This may come by way of selecting a volunteer or strategically using the joker in a case study. There are only so many of those situations, so I recommend that you let your joker know that he or she is going to be involved well before the actual event. This helps to placate the joker's need to be noticed.

Another approach to working with joker trainees again involves movement from the presenter. As with the enlightener, some movement toward the individual often can help to send out unconscious signals for the trainee to get out his or her story and finish up.

If that does not work, there is still always the coffee break method of asking politely for the individuals to hold back their humorous comments. Be warned: Jokers do not respond well to being singled out and attacked in class. It is not recommended to try to publicly outwit a trainee whose strengths lie in these types of clashes.

Finally, screening a joker's jokes before allowing them to be aired in front of the room may help to avoid any other serious problems. Remember, these trainees are usually high-spirited, emotional people who have a lot to offer a seminar. Working to channel that enthusiasm in constructive ways can help to harness that energy and put it to work for you. No student personality has a greater potential to warm up a seminar faster and more effectively than the joker.

The Reliant Trainee

One of my favorite and most challenging personality types is the reliant trainee. I say this because watching a genuine reliant trainee work his or her magic is like appreciating a unique art form. This trainee is so good at what he or she does, most presenters do not realize they have been had until it is far too late.

When was the last time you felt confident doing a certain task and then the procedures changed? How did you handle not knowing all there was to know about your topic anymore? Many people will find creative approaches to keep from looking foolish and learning new procedures. Reliant trainees are masters of this form of manipulation. Their appearance is one of confidence and coolness regarding everything except what you are teaching. That is where reliants begin to work their real magic. They are usually outwardly confident in many areas but when it comes to other tasks, they will not participate and will rely heavily on others. Thus the name. Often reliant trainees almost have a sense of pride regarding their resistance to learn certain information. They sneak their way out of learning with well-polished phrases, such as, “If you could just do this for me one time, I know I will be able to do it on my own in the future.” The only procedures reliant trainees ever really learn are the steps it takes to find someone else to do their work.

You probably have unwittingly assisted many reliant trainees in your time. Maybe it is the friend who “just doesn't do well with that type of customer” or someone who “just wanted you to type that memo this one time.” The problem is, there is an office full of people who will offer certain types of assistance on an occasional basis. Take my father, for instance. He could probably build a house from scratch. From top to bottom, there is almost nothing he could not do…except work with electricity. For some strange reason, he not only refused to work with electricity, but he took a strange sense of pride in telling you he neither understood nor wanted to learn about electricity. This, of course, then became my specialty out of necessity. After a number of shocks through my lifetime, I later wondered how convenient my father's stubbornness really was.

A common problem that creeps up with many of the personalities discussed, including the reliant trainee, involves time. Unlike many of the other personalities that cause a seminar to slow down, reliant trainees usually have little to say during a seminar. The time problem they cause involves the presenter's time when the seminar is not in session. Before the seminar, during breaks, at lunchtime, and after the seminar, the reliant trainee attacks. It starts with “Could you just take a second to read over this?” and soon becomes “I still can't get it. Could you do one for me?” Before you know it, all your free time is being spent with one trainee. I want to emphasize here that I am in no way opposed to working out of class with a student. I maintain it is a luxury and not a right to have uninterrupted time without students while at a training facility. My argument is that it just is not fair to have one trainee monopolize all your individual time.

This brings me to the second and most important problem a reliant trainee can cause a training department. Falling for a reliant trainee's manipulation fails to correct his or her behavior and can affect the credibility of your training. Remember, often reliant trainees can get away with their behavior for only so long before those around them begin to catch on to their tricks. Training is then suggested by management to try to correct this deficiency. Unfortunately, it is rare to receive any type of biographical information regarding the shortcomings of your trainees. I have never had reliant trainees come to town telling me they have had a history of manipulation and are ready to mend their evil ways! If the trainees return to their office without the skills to correct their performance, it is your training that is considered a failure.

Working successfully with a reliant trainee requires the use of a couple of training skills. Start by taking a hard look at your curriculum to get a sense for certain areas that attract reliant trainees. Perhaps it is an area that you have noticed gives trainees trouble or even a more technical process that you sense may cause anxiety. After teaching a curriculum a couple of times, these pieces become fairly obvious. Once you get a sense of where these areas are located, lay out a process for how you will work with people regarding these areas. You may start that particular module with something like this:

Making a statement like this accomplishes a couple of things. First, it lays down the ground rules regarding how and when help will be given. This allows you to back off and encourage reliant trainees to work on their own. Second, it reassures reliant trainees that they will not be abandoned and in fact will receive help after they have made some attempts on their own. Be prepared to be positive and encouraging to whatever attempts are made by reliant trainees. The better job you can do convincing them they are improving, the better the chances are that they will develop the confidence to use these skills on their own.

Laying out the ground rules in advance is a successful proactive approach. There are also some effective reactive approaches that can be implemented while under fire. A favorite trick used by reliant trainees in front of other trainees is to ask the presenter how he or she would do a certain task. That certain task is, of course, the task they themselves need to do. Using the reverse technique by bouncing the question back to such trainees and stroking whatever answer you receive will assist you in getting them to do their own work. The conversation may sound something like this:

When working with reliant trainees, it is critical that the presenter first and most important identifies what is going on. Teaching trainees by allowing them to crawl before they walk and walk before they run builds confidence along the way. Perhaps the ultimate irony is that it is not unusual for an enlightener trainee to become a reliant trainee once he or she leaves his or her area of expertise. Call it a bonus if you want to, but you probably will have to work to turn off this trainee initially and then work to turn him or her back on again later. Whenever you get frustrated, however, remember back when you tried to get someone to do your work for you that one time. This may help with the empathy that is required when working with the reliant trainee.

The Sniper

Perhaps the most dangerous trainee of all is the sniper. The sniper got this name because many of the comments this trainee makes are not blatantly aggressive. Often the malicious intent is clear, but the sniper trainee can put on an innocent front if challenged. Like a real sniper, this trainee fires shots, his or her cover being the rest of the students in the seminar.

I have many concerns about snipers. The first deals with the effect this trainee can have on the morale of a seminar. It can be disturbing, to say the least, when a trainee comes to a seminar and begins picking a fight with the presenter. For many trainees, this unsettling experience can ruin their training experience. Amiable trainees are particularly susceptible to the negativity a sniper can spread.

Timing is another concern when you are faced with a sniper. By dragging presenters into petty and trivial conversations, snipers can throw a carefully timed curriculum into a tailspin. By the time the presenter has attempted to settle such discussions, he or she may have to sacrifice other more important pieces of material.

Another concern I have about snipers has to do with the presenter's working too hard to placate these trainees. You can spend an entire week attempting to win over a sniper and lose the rest of the trainees in the process.

My final concern with a sniper, as you might have guessed, deals with the presenter's well-being. Whether presenters want to admit it or not, the situation they generally fear the most is dealing with a sniper while they are in front of a class. Without proper preparation, the fight certainly appears to be an unfair one. The sniper, while using the cover of the rest of the class, gets to take shots at the presenter. Maintaining professionalism, the presenter gets to fight back with only one disadvantage. It often appears the presenter is fighting back with his or her professional hands tied behind his or her back. It is the presenter's responsibility to maintain control of the seminar and display professional behavior. A confrontation in front of the class exhibits neither of these responsibilities. That does not sound like a very fair fight to me. As a result, I have seen presenters retreat from the pit and never return. I have seen still other presenters witness a sniper attack in cross-training situations and quit their jobs to avoid the possibility of facing this potentially humiliating situation. I will leave to your imagination the ramifications of bottom-line loss of revenue when a corporation loses a presenter for this reason.

In working out solutions, let's first take a closer look at what makes a sniper tick. To begin with, most snipers, ironically, are created by presenters. No, you did not misread that last statement. It is my strong belief that roughly 80 percent of the contact a presenter receives from a sniper is initiated by the presenter. In truth, because so many presenters want to discuss the more aggressive personalities of trainees, I discuss sniping as a personality trait. The problem is, I have almost never met a trainee who actually woke up in the morning with the intent to maliciously harm a seminar and its presenter. I have, however, seen many of the other personality traits that have been discussed handled poorly, creating a catalyst effect on the trainee. Embarrass an enlightener or a joker or just about any other trainee in front of the class, even inadvertently, and you may create a sniper. Ask the wrong type of question to the wrong trainee, and you may create a sniper. Simply not addressing certain issues up front in your training can create a sniper. How do you know what critical issues you may need to discuss up front? That question will be addressed when we look at how to structure a presentation, shown in the next case study. Suffice it to say, there are a number of reasons why a trainee can assume the role of a sniper. The real question becomes: How are you going to deal with this trainee under fire?

I would like to examine two basic scenarios to prepare you to handle a sniper. The first scenario involves contact with a sniper you already know will be in your room. This is not an uncommon situation. Snipers usually establish reputations for their actions. The second, and more difficult, scenario looks at the same case study, but without the luxury of advance knowledge of a sniper's presence.

Some Closing Thoughts

When you're looking at trainees' personality types, it is important to remember a couple of basic rules. To begin with, you are not a licensed psychologist. Therefore, in no way does any strategy that may be implemented involve curing this trainee of the particular problem. Your basic strategy throughout is survival, yours and the seminar's. Do not be so naive as to think that your solution will undo years of deviant weird behavior. It will not. These trainees have had years of practice. Your goal is not to fix any of them, only to manage them while they are in your seminar. What your work with these trainees will do is allow you to take a diverse group of individuals who have been thrown together for a period of time and enable them to move from point A to point B as painlessly as possible.

The rule to remember deals with identifying the various personality traits. It is rare for me to lecture on this topic without trainees cornering me after class and asking me what type of personality they or the rest of the class represent. With all due respect, they have somewhat missed the point of this entire topic. In no way am I suggesting that you psychoanalyze every student in your seminar. The key to keep in mind is that you are on the lookout for extremes. I like having someone with a sense of humor in my class. I do not necessarily label that individual a joker. Some people really do know certain pieces of information regarding your topic and want to share it with the class. Fantastic! Your job is to keep an eye out for extremes and attempt to pull these trainees back from their extreme postures.

As far as your reaction to the extremes in personalities being displayed by your trainees, I need to make one final point. I have saved it for last in fear that if I wrote this in the beginning of the chapter, you might not feel a need to read on. If you discipline yourself not to overreact to any of the personality traits that have been discussed and to show just a little patience, often the other trainees will take care of the deviant behavior for you. On many occasions, I have either been told about the message or have overheard trainees telling others to lighten up, quit talking so much, or lay off the instructor. It is when the trainees cannot or will not react that you will have to react for them.

Summary

There's no doubt about it; if you conduct seminars and workshops on a regular basis, you will become a subject matter expert on different personalities. The key is not just to identify the various personalities that may be a part of your sessions, but to determine if the behavior is extreme enough to address. Usually the rest of the participants will give you the clues you're looking for, and if you make the call, and an intervention is necessary, don't second-guess yourself. It's not a perfect science, but your audience and your instinct will usually show you the way.