Focus Magazine - Summer 2016 - (Page 15)

FRONT OF THE ROOM Brian Lange Calling Audibles Trainers should be trusted to make process modifications. T here are many cras that involve certain levels of interpretation: Acting brings the written word to life, football requires scrambling to adapt to the changing conditions on the field, surgery can mean flexing to unanticipated conditions. So, even when a clear game plan is outlined at the beginning of an event, professionals must oen find ways to adapt, re-think and re-work given the actual circumstances in which they find themselves. Trainers face a similar situation of needing to bring materials or outcomes to life, and yet there is oen an expectation that they are to execute the game plan - the leader's guide - in exactly the way it is laid out in order to achieve a goal of scale and consistency across the organization. I wonder whether we may need to think a bit more deeply about what the actual goal is when delivering a workshop that is to be repeated across an organization. Perhaps the key is to be absolutely clear about what the outcomes - or points - of the workshop are to be, and maybe to be a bit less obsessive about the exact process that is ultimately used to get there. Oen, the expectation for trainers is to deliver content exactly as designed. But, what if the collective experience in the room, or micro/macro environmental conditions occurring on that delivery day are such that the best guess, or best intentions of the instructional designer simply don't fit the needs or conditions of that day's class? In these instances, I would lobby that trainers are absolutely clear and committed to achieving the points (what do participants need to know/do diﬀerently/better than when they came in to the workshop?). ey should be trusted to make any process modifications needed to more directly meet the needs of the particular audience they have that day. Adjustments such as: * Flexing to needs of the group by making any needed adjustments to suggested time allotments for activities/discussions. * Moving around material that need not be linear in nature. * Having "alternative" processing ideas (inviting participant to be guest moderator; having table discussions before class discussions, etc.). * Playing with environment to impact learning ("field trips" outside of classroom; creating new teams; adjusting room layout, etc.). * Using chart pads to build content (in-themoment) vs. showing pre-made slides. In our work with clients, we have been in situations where multiple facilitators were running the same workshop simultaneously in separate rooms. None of those workshops ever went exactly as laid out in the leader's guide. Each facilitator adjusted to the knowledge levels, questions, participation levels and needs of their particular classes, and that oen resulted in slight modifications of leader guide instructions. However, the outcomes always remained consistent, so participants from each of the deliveries learned the same things. In football, when quarterbacks get to the oﬀensive line to run a play, and see how defenses have set up for a given play, they oen call an "audible:" An in-the-moment deviation from the play that had been planned. is is oen the diﬀerence between success and failure in that moment. Maybe it's time we support facilitators becoming more comfortable calling their own audibles. ■ Brian Lange, blange@perim.com, is with Perim Consulting and serves as lead facilitator for LTEN PrimeTime! For Trainers Core and Masters Workshops. Find blogs, tweets and more at Perim.com. FOCUS | SUMMER 2016 | www.L-TEN.org 15 http://www.Perim.com http://www.L-TEN.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Focus Magazine - Summer 2016

Focus Magazine
From the President: Training, Leaders & Collaboration
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Guest Editor: LTEN: What's in a Legacy?
Directions: Celebrating 45 Years of Enthusiasm
Front of the Room: Calling Audibles
Neuroscience: The Science of User Experience
LTEN at 45: Community, Clarity and Careers
How to Train the 'Creepy' Out of Closing
Creating the Value Proposition for Mentoring
Creating the Next Generation of Life Sciences Learning
The Power of Quiet: Debunking the Myths
Mobile-Friendly vs. Mobile-First
What Kid's Soccer Teaches You About Selling
Virtual How: Instructor-Led Virtual Classrooms
Ad Index
Focus Contacts
5 Questions with DJ Mitsch

Focus Magazine - Summer 2016