Focus Magazine - Spring 2012 - 15

FRONT OF THE ROOM Brian Lange

Wrapping Up the Day
Training activities are so overengineered,
that true creativity and discovery doesn’t have the chance to emerge
s a training day stretches toward 5 p.m., an unspoken weight can sometimes linger in the air. Somewhere — in the back or the front of the mind — is the recognition that the day is drawing to a close. e hard work of learning is beginning to wind-down. So, how to end? On a whimper (no added energy), or a whirlwind (add energy)? Here are a few strategies to consider if shooting to end on a whirlwind:

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around the room re-reading all of the chart pages that have been developed. Once nished — and still without talking — participants can return to their seats and do some note-taking. Questions to ponder include: • What would you like to remind yourself about later? • What surprises/intrigues or engages you about today’s content? • What — if anything — might you be able to implement/practice back on-the-job?

The Reception
Have folks do some journal writing/summarizing notes individually. en, invite everyone to stand and bring their notes to the front of the room (or other reasonably open space). en, inform them to mingle with others. ey should nd one person to speak with and share a few ideas/insights they may be pondering from the day’s training. is particular approach can accomplish several helpful things late in the training day: • Helps people crystallize any of their own learnings from the day. • Gets people up and moving (higher energy!). • Supports adult learning principle that people learn best by learning from/with others. • is activity provides the space for self-re ection, and can then cement learnings by discussing with others.

The Teams Project
Another way to generate energy and potential insight on the day is to identify three to ve key topics from the day, and assign one to each table team in the room. Instruct them to put together a brief team presentation (no more than ve minutes, or so) using any/all resources in the room. Make sure they understand they can color outside the lines and have no limitations on what/how they deliver. O en, training activities are so over-engineered, that true creativity and discovery doesn’t have the chance to emerge in activities. So, this activity purposely keeps rules low, and the potential for surprise high. Remember that conducting a summary at the end of the day has huge potential for us to gauge where our class is in their learning. If a trainer conducts the review, they tend to be sharing information they already know. e real challenge is to structure the close so the class gets to demonstrate what it knows. A erwards, the trainer can re ect on what they’ve seen and make decisions regarding the next day’s needs. e more involved an audience is in your delivery, the more they care. I

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The Chart Walk
If you have been diligent in posting your key chart pad sheets throughout your training, you can set up a closing activity based on this: Invite people to take their notebooks and without any discussion with others, slowly walk

Brian Lange, blange@perim.com, is with Perim Consulting and serves as lead facilitator for SPBT’s PrimeTime! For Trainers Core and Masters workshops. He blogs at www.WorkplaceIn uence.blogspot.com.

FOCUS | SPRING 2012 | www.spbt.org

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Focus Magazine - Spring 2012

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