Variety – the spice of life
Inspirational learning via Directive Communication training methodology
(by Raymond Foong)
( DC practitioner )

Many people view workplace training as ineffective, boring, uninteresting and therefore it’s a waste of their time. Unfortunately, es, and they are sometimes right!

Why? Because the trainers are sometimes boring.

The manner in which they conduct the training can be boring. There is no variety. They are dry. They do not know how to vary their voice pitch. Sometimes it is more like suffering through a lecture during school days. Some lecturers/trainers stick to this type of boring lecturing style throughout their career.

But nowadays, people are more knowledgeable. They know what to expect and look for in a training session. Apart from the quality and quantity of the content, they also look at how the trainer conducts the training sessions. Are the sessions lively and able to capture the attention and interest of participants. Or are the training sessions based on the old school method of lecture sessions with nor room for audience participation and interaction?

Already training participants’ superiors and HR managers are occasionally expressing doubts on the effectiveness of the training. Will the training have the impact needed to improve or change participants work habits? Will the participants follow up on their training, post session, and therefore meet their training objectives of ongoing development? Will the participants utilize and expand what they have learned within their work place? Will the amount invested in training spent justified by the outcomes?

In my 25 year working career, I have attended many training sessions. There were local trainers as well as foreign trainers. In the 1980’s and1990’s most local trainers did not use much lively methodology in their training. If we take Pareto Principle as a benchmark, I would rate only 20% of those local trainers as being professionals whereas 80% are just mediocre. But for the foreign trainers, 80% has got that professional standards and only 20% are in the mediocre class. I am not saying that Malaysia’s local trainers are no good. What I mean is that there is inadequate variety in their training.

So let me share with you how Directive Communication trainers conduct their training sessions. DC trainers not only made a difference when compared to others, they also inspire a longer period of retention in participant’s learning. Common training facilitation methods used by trainers are ice breakers, case study, Q & A, discussions, workshop activities, presentations, jokes, quizzes, story and evaluations. Apart from those common facilitation methods that DC trainers also used, in addition to them are some of the unique methods which are briefly described below.

Postures

Trainer with the capability to adopt different postures at different situation and at different time can make a vast difference in sending the desired message across to the participants. Some of the common postures used by DC trainers are the Emperor posture, the Warrior posture, the Lover posture and the Child posture. An example of the Emperor posture is mostly used by the Managing Director, CEO, or senior managers although at times they do used other postures as well. Most of the time, they would adopt the Emperor posture to indicate the command and respect for them. An example of the Warrior posture is mostly used by front line managerial and supervisory staff whereby the need for control is essential in their course of getting work done on time. An example of the Lover posture is mostly used by the Human Resource personnel where by the nature of their work, involved a lot of interaction with people. An example of the Child posture is mostly used by the Customer Service personnel whereby they have to be creative, cool and even playful when faced with numerous complaints from the internal as well as external customers.

Metaphors

Metaphor is another unique technique in a learning process whereby participants are able to associate an event or activity with another. It is important to have the right set-up so that learner can come up with a useable metaphor of their own. An example in an Organization which is likened to a Football team whereby the CEO referred to himself as the goalkeeper of the Company. Participants may describe themselves as a pencil, an eagle, bridge, chewing gum and etc. You may also use a metaphor to describe yourself if you wish.

Music

Music has a major impact on the participant ability to learn. It can relax us, invigorate us, focus or defocus our minds. Some claimed that it can improve IQ and even healed diseases. However the key to using music as an enhancement to learning is to know what effect you wish to generate and then which music will assist to give that effect. An example is moving automatically your hands, legs or body when you hear inspiration music such as the rock n roll music or a funky music. Therefore music holds amazing power over most people. If use correctly, the learner receives an enhancement in memory, remember information longer, better retention and recall.

CBC cards – Color Brain Communication cards

CBC cards have been specially designed to affect learning and create self and environmental awareness as well as being creative and versatile. The CBC cards have flexible objectives depending on the points you are making. It’s a reflection of many events depending on how creative the participants can be.

Action mazes

Action mazes are interactive reading exercises. In each action maze, a participant is presented a situation and a number of choices. The choice the participant select will determine the outcome of the situation, and present him to another set of choices. Each action maze has several situations leading to a final solution. The maze sets up an opportunity to explore options for handling certain situations and make us more aware of our typical decision- making patterns. They encourage the learner to introduce past experiences into the process in order to re-examine those experiences in the light of new data or new problems.

So in conclusion through careful planning, designing and organizing effective training methods together with variations in facilitating can make the difference between slow, boring or ineffective training to an efficient and effective training which participants can actively contribute, feel ownership and ultimately able to apply their understanding and learning in their work.

Contributed by Raymond Foong.
( DC practitioner )