Training Content and Designing

While you’re designing your materials, keep the following points in mind:

• Remember that it’s important to design before you rush into the next step (development)
• Always focus primarily on the learning needs of your employees, and not on what’s easy for your trainers
• Only create training content and assessments that relate directly to your learning objectives
• Remember the adult learning principles
• Include as much hands-on practice or simulation as possible: people learn by doing
• Whenever possible, put the employees in control of the learning process (instead of the trainer)
• Do everything possible to let the employees talk and interact with the trainer and with each other during the training
• Make sure there’s plenty of opportunity for feedback during training
• Break your training materials up into small “chunks” that are easier to take in and understand
• Order your “chunked” training materials in a logical manner—one step that builds on top of another, or chronologically, etc.
• Try to use a “blended learning” approach that includes training in several different formats (computer-based, instructor-led, etc.).
• Try to integrate storytelling and scenarios into your training
• Try to appeal to a variety of your workers’ senses during training—sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste (when appropriate and not dangerous). Sight is by far the most important sense for learning, but adding the others when possible does help.