Take aim

So how many times have you heard a trainee or delegate say 'so why did that course take all day when it should have been an hour?' A fustrated person then proceeds to describe the whole experience about how it wasted their time and all they required was a few pieces of information to get the job done.

So what has happened here? Well I've quite often found out that a clear aim, objectives and outcome haven't really been defined. Even if they have been taken account of, have the specific elements of the course really been reviewed to see how they may be delivered.

I was taught a great acronym to make sure my course was on the right track - INTRO

I - Interest
N - Need
T - Time
R - Range
O - Objectives

The interest is all about what's in it for the trainee. That way you've instantly got buy-in and made it worth while for the delegate.

The need is generally about the Business requirement to put the learning intervention in to context. You could easily make the need specific to a delegates expectations as well.

Time - so how long is the learning going to take. Clearly defining the time of each step of your blend is a good activity.

Range - what is included in your blend so the delegate knows what is covered.

Objectives - having SMART objectives again gives clear guidance to the delegate of what is expected of them.


So what comes next?

When looking at your course do you really need to have the Interest & Need as part of the classroom activity? Using webinars, reading material, blogs, intranet postings, podcasts, can easily do the job. Having an opportunity for delegates to create postings on their thoughts and expectations can help engage before the classroom element happens.

Even the Time, Range & Objectives could be delivered in advance and leave the delegate with no arguments with what they about to receive within the learning intervention. That way the delegate is left to learn at their own pace some of the main components of a course. The classroom is then left for that part of the course that requires socialisation.

So lets all take aim, review our INTRO and our audience will thank us.