Trainerblog: Excellence in Facilitation

I was a customer service and sales trainer for my current company for more than six glorious years. (No need to look up who I work for; see the note on my bio - all of my thoughts and opinions do not reflect those of my employer.) During my time, I realized the power of the facilitation experience. Many adult learners automatically think that classroom training at work is similar to the academic experience.

There's a reason I never got into teaching kids.

Outside of the difference, I quickly realized that there's an awesome opportunity to trainers to do more that what's in the written material. Those who do more than read the material and give more than the minimum find ways to inspire learners to do the best job possible. Compliance material shows learners the rules they can't break at work; facilitating compliance allows learners to truly understand the consequences of their actions. Great diversity material shows new employees the company boundaries and protections for minorities; facilitating diversity training connects employees to what the company would do for them in difficult situations and build their sensitivities to those around them. As a professional now designing training content, I can create tool material that shows learners how to use the tool well; I trust great facilitators to make the tool come to life before the learners ever have to use it on the job.

One of the first things I had the opportunity to do in my current job designing training programs was change the train-the-trainer experience for my professional audience. I challenged the trainers I trained to make a training experience "world-class." Not to say I knew of problems in what trainers were doing before - I used the train-the-trainer session as an opportunity to ask more of the facilitators.

What did I mean by "world-class"? I used the example of my flight on Korean Air.

I referred to Korean Air's reputation as a top-notch carrier with award-winning customer service. However, I could see that just the stats didn't mean much. So I talked about how I saw the excellence in the staff from the safety briefing to the meal service to the transfer gate announcements.

There's a reason their motto is Excellence in Flight.

My example was designed to tell trainers that there were things that they could do in any training room for any length of class that could revolutionize the learning experience. Are you greeting learners as they walk in the classroom? Are you using music effectively in the classroom to encourage enthusiasm? Are you controlling what learners see on the walls and smell in the classroom daily? Typical adult classrooms have candies and craveable snacks - can you shift the narrative by providing healthy options? None of these items demand a lofty budget or lavish facilities - they only mean preparation and motivation to be the best.

Even though there are significant differences between academic environments and the adult training room, I used an example in K-12 academics as the finish line for world-class learning. Imagine a secondary school that championed diversity, employed top-level talent, and went to extensive lengths to connect to students.

Have you heard of the Ron Clark Academy?

Named for its headmaster, an author endorsed by Oprah and accomplished principal, the Academy is a dream in suburban Atlanta: creating enthusiasm for middle and high schoolers in underserved areas and driving great results. When I read his book Move Your Bus, the Academy had a 99% college admission rate. The lesson is learned: enthusiastic, high-quality facilitation can create great business results and great employee development.

I love my job mostly because I equip and support great facilitation. My days as a facilitator were some of the best of my professional life. I have the greatest respect for those who stand in front of employees every day and give more than 100%. It's why I used to call it the trainer fraternity (watch only if you want to see me on jetlag and why I never dedicated time to a YouTube channel.) . To the trainers out there: keep driving excellence. Your efforts are worth more than can be said.