Designing a training plan

Business - corporate

Designing a training plan

Audience

Okay, who are these guys?

Purpose

What am I doing with or for them?

Context

What is the goal of the engagement?

Vision

What do you want to create for them?

Impact

How would I know if they align with my goals?

Platform

How do you deliver this? Will you adapt or adopt

Process

Who are going to be involved and how would they interact

Delivery

How will this engagement deliver the most value?

Evaluation

How would you monitor and receive feedback for improvement?

Training is an intentional activity. It requires one with expertise, experience or guidelines to share, convey or monitor the dissemination, acquisition and deployment of a learning experience or an intended action.

When a training deal is struck, it is mostly likely that a proposal has been looked at, approved and commissioned. From experience, following the minute, details of the content of the scope of work are easier said than done.

When the implementation and execution take place, one of the issues you will become faced with is the diversity of expectation by the organisers, learners and the engagement and commitment of stakeholders to follow through on the deliverables the training

The human side of the business can change the dynamics, the framework and the delivery of the programme. Training plans like other plans must be dynamic. Irrespective of the expectations and agreed milestones, the delivery and execution require individual touches and the reality on the ground will determine how a training plan can run.

Can you picture this?

Imagine facilitating a session of disenchanted and disconnected staff recently demoted or transferred to a new department. You can most likely conclude that a great number of them would not stay engaged during that training program,

While it can be difficult to predict the human side of training regarding the learner and the team of partners, it is important to note that you can give some form of predictability on the non-human side of the training programme. Training venue, checked, instructors and resources, checked, learners, well, checked. How you structure your training plan will determine if you will get the learner’s box checked.

How do you structure your training plan?

Consider the audience: Is there an identified gap? Probably there is an unmet aspiration or just the need to upskill the workforce for future opportunities in the market. Conducting a needs assessment should be a major consideration. Conducting a needs assessment might be simple like having a simple interview or elaborate such as an extensive engagement with the client. Using surveys, focus groups, and analysis of existing company data can help you get up to speed on needs assessment. It is important to know who this audience is and what is expected to be achieved.

Identify the purpose of the training: Once you have a needs assessment concluded, this will help you understand the purpose of the training. Is it to improve the bottom line, the brand image, enhance organizational culture or achieve all of the above? Identifying the purpose would set the context and content of the training in motion. The purpose of the training is to guide you into creating a value proposition that is irresistible, reliable and consistent with the needs of the organisation and sustenance for growth and development.  This means that even if you change the approach, you can still follow a consistent purpose.  This will let you determine the types of interaction that will most appropriately address the needs assessed or the gaps identified.

Context matters: There is always a context towards a situation or an occurrence, so it is important to understand the context in which the gaps need to be filled. Is it a leadership issue, process issue or people issue? Is it just a response to a perceived or actual threat to the business? Most people respond to learning that they can relate to or interventions that directly meet their needs. Understanding the context will help in putting things in proper perspective. This will help you know if you are putting round pegs in round holes.

Set the vision and communicate the same: There is always an expected outcome for any venture. What do you seek to achieve after the whole exercise and going forward? This can help you in terms of training design and delivery. Having repeat engagement with your clients should be a major consideration when you are designing a training plan. Training is first a perception thing and secondly, an outcome-based thing. If the person who wants to learn from you is receptive to you, you can rest assured that they will be willing to create what you have codesigned together.

Focus on impact: One of my guiding philosophies is to offer training and learning experiences that are just-in-time rather than just-in-case. While knowledge for its sake is good, knowledge that can’t be immediately applied is of less value in the short term. How do you want to create impact and what would be termed impactful for and to them? This can grade your training objectives and training outcomes as well as other rationale behind them.  When training and learning are impactful the result will automatically be achieved. Impactful training can help improve productivity in both the short and long term.

Choosing a platform: In a dynamic work environment, people consume information in diverse ways. Knowing the mode of communication in the organization will help you determine the platform that you will use to deploy your training programmes. Connecting with your audience on their platforms will most likely increase engagement and possibly learning. Are these guys digitally connected? Do they operate like a community? Are they at home with proximity or do they like to figure things out on their own? Answering these questions will enable you to assemble tools and resources for the training.

Process Management: Managing the process of engagement is just like ensuring that everything goes well as planned or anticipated. While it is important to choose a comfortable platform to drive engagement, efforts must be made to create inclusion before, during and after the training. The process and procedure deal with both the human and nonhuman interventions that go on before onboarding, delivery and evaluation. Note that these are interrelated and not parallel with other interventions that have been earlier stated. Bureaucracy can limit innovation and lack of structure can lead to unimagined disruptions. You do not want to conduct training that is haphazardly done, and which focuses on challenges rather than solutions.

Manage the delivery: One of the things that you should note as a trainer, business leader or owner is that every training programme is a production of some sort. There must be a production manager who will guide your training programme. A well-planned delivery will most likely create more impact than a spontaneous delivery. Training is an art and a science. You must master the craft of effective presentation. Ensuring prompt feedback can help build a continuous improvement framework that is intuitive and dynamic.

Managing the evaluation process: Evaluate your outcome by engaging your learners as a functional point of learning impact. Evaluation helps in reshaping delivery and addressing skills gaps or identified needs. Evaluation can also lead to innovative and creative solutions that you can deploy for future opportunities.

A training plan is a dynamic document. You must not close the training plan before, during and after the training. Remember that apart from meeting the expected objectives you also want to have a retainership

 

 

 

Drawing the training proposal

  • Cover page
  • Table of contents
  • Introductory letter
  • Executive summary
  • Introduction/background
  • Industry analysis
  • Organisational analysis
  • Situation analysis
  • Needs assessment
  • Skill gap analysis
  • Solution for the future
  • Proposed intervention
  1. State your expertise
  2. Highlight areas for growth
  3. Create a training framework
  • Training objectives and outcome
  1. Design training objectives
  2. Design training outcomes
  3. Propose milestones for actual outcome
  • Highlight training team
  • Design a training calendar
  • Propose delivery approach
  • Training budget
  1. Curate mixed training options with investment implications
  2. Highlight budget execution /funding sources
  3. Highlight expectations from both parties
  • Request for quote
  1. State contractual details
  2. Set timelines for deal negotiation and sign-up contract papers
  • Input contact details.