Training preparation – the start of a training workflow
The key to a good training is preparation. General rule of thumb says, when preparing a standard training you should spend around 3 hours of preparation for 1 hour of training. And this just covers the average case, while if you are new to a given training topic or the topic is rather complex, the time spent can increase drastically.But what is considered preparation? The preparation can include communicating to your clients and/or participants, drafting the training outline, arranging the logistics, creating/updating the training materials, etc. If we take the mentioned formula, for a one day training workshop a good preparation would take 2-3 days. Can all these elements of preparation fit in such a short time?
Recently we conducted an interview with one of the partners of a top management consulting firms in Sweden. A key element in their preparation process is to call all the training participants individually before the training. It provides a valuable input for shaping the training content, building trust with their participants, and in the end the time spent on calls is more than justified.
What are you training practices? What elements of the training you enjoy the most and which ones you wish you could skip? Do you use any special tools, or are post-its, markers and flipcharts your only tool?
Feel free to share your experiences and different approaches to training preparation in the comments below.
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