How To Make A Mandatory Training Fun And Less Boring
Nobody like mandatory training sessions but there are ways that you can make the sessions less painful and even enjoyable for your employees but following these simple steps from Delan Cooper.
Teaching is a calling; a great teacher holds the attention of his students and helps them understand complex topics. Best of all, they inspire their students to be the best they can be. Gaining this deep level of engagement from students takes a lot of practice. However, even for those who are new to teaching, there are ways to make a training session fun.
1. Gamification of Training
Gamification has become quite popular for companies that aim at making meetings more effective. A little competition during training helps to make participants more willing to be engaged in the training.
One way to do it is by creating a leaderboard once staff completes a training period. This can be done with something as simple as a whiteboard in the office. This works by giving participants points once they complete a given number of training sessions in a given period. After that, a little prize, which might not even be monetary, is given. This can help to motivate employees to stay engaged with the training. It works because everyone loves to be rewarded for working hard. This leaderboard also helps to reveal who is not engaged in the training, thus coming up with solutions to help them complete the training.
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2. Make Videos
If you are wondering how to conduct effective training, making a video can be quite effective. Thanks to technology, compiling a video for a training session should be quite easy. You can find the content online free or at a small fee and then edit it to suit your training session. Videos are quite effective at getting the attention of trainees compared to text. Ensure that you make the videos fun and exciting to make even the most boring topics as fun as possible.
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3. Consider an Off-Site Venue
If you want to keep the attention of your audience, you should rent an event space where you can conduct the training. Off-site training captivates your audience by elimination common office distractions. This will ensure that the message is delivered effectively. A training program held at a conference center will stick out in their memory compared to one held in the boardroom. You should hold the off-site trainings if you have something crucial such as a new technology.
It can also be an effective method of team building. Meeting individuals from the office at a different venue will help them see each other in a different light. It can help employees to understand each other at a deeper and personal level. Team building can help to increase the effectiveness of employees at the office. Thus, you will have hit two birds with one stone.
4. Make Use of Metaphors
When you are trying to pass along a message, one of the most effective ways to do it is by using real-life examples and creative metaphors. People will often go to the movie theater and watch a movie that is two hours long or more; why not try some dramatization? Metaphors and stories play an important role in the way our memory works. A good story with a lesson sticks to the mind much longer compared to interpreting some boring chart.
5. Keep the Sessions Short
If you want to keep the training fun, do not exceed two hours. If you give the employees too much information, their minds will just shut down and they will remember very little. During training, ensure there are numerous breaks. Giving the trainees a chance to walk around and enjoy a cup of coffee during the session. It will give their brains a chance to process what you have taught them. If the training is going to be long, break it into modules and teach it over the course of a few weeks or months. Do not try to squeeze everything into one weekend or week.
6. Incorporate Group Work
Sometimes, listening to one person for an entire training can be boring. Give the learners a chance to work in groups to keep things fun and interesting. By giving people, the chance to discuss their ideas, it can help them to understand different perspectives of the message. It is also a chance for people to ask questions and gain a new perspective on the topic being discussed. Group work is seen as a social activity. It can help to make the attendees feel more relaxed. It will ensure that they understand much more of the training.
Summary
Teaching is about entertaining the audience while informing them. The most effective learning sessions are varied, fun, and lively. This will ensure that your audience retains more and they will be more likely to want more training. Bland training sessions will be a waste of valuable time and resources. The few tips above should help to ensure your training sessions are as effective as possible.
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