How to prepare for training

There are several major steps in training session preparation. These areas include the importance of promoting the program to top management, preparing training materials, the training space, trainers, and trainees. The most successful training sessions are well-planned and well-prepared.

Promote training to management

Lack of upper-management support and commitment is one of the top five reasons why training is not as effective as it’s expected to be. Without top-level support, employees have less incentive to retain information and apply it to their work. When top management shows interest in the learning process, participants are more likely to apply new skills and knowledge to their work. Upper management’s influence on how employees react to training cannot be overestimated.

Talk dollars and cents

According to ATD’s State of the Industry report, there is a direct correlation between the amount of money spent on training and the profitability of the company. Here are more statistics on the risks and costs of not training your employees to do their jobs safely and effectively:

• According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor, there were 5,190 fatal work injuries recorded in the United States in 2021, an 8.9-percent increase from 4,764 in 2020.
• According to the National Safety Council, the total cost of work injuries in 2021 was $167.0 billion. This figure includes wage and productivity losses of $47.4 billion, medical expenses of $36.6 billion, administrative expenses of $57.5 billion, and employers’ uninsured costs of $13.8 billion.
• Between 2018 and 2021, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) received a total of 98,411 charges alleging harassment under any basis and 27,291 charges alleging sexual harassment. During that time, the EEOC recovered nearly $300 million for individuals with sexual harassment claims through resolved charge receipts and in litigation.

All these numbers add up to a big expense for companies with poorly trained workforces. And they do not include the costs of lowered employee morale after co-workers are injured or killed on the job, or when harassment or discrimination lawsuits are filed or fines assessed against the company. Well-structured, customized, and up-to-date training will save your company money.

Prepare training materials

Preparing training materials in-house is more laborious than using prepackaged materials. According to ATD, preparation time varies for different training methods:

• Traditional classroom training requires about 67 hours of research and development for an average module length of 23 minutes.
• Online/ virtual training requires about 55 hours of research and development for a 25-minute average of instruction.
• eLearning requires anywhere from 40 to 155 hours of research and development for an average of 21 minutes of content.
• Micro eLearning requires an average of 18 hours of research and development for 6 minutes of content.

You may not have these kinds of hours to put together technologically advanced materials, but you can put together a solid training session.

The process for writing training materials:

1. Specify training goals and objectives. List your objectives and refer to them often as you prepare subject matter so that you keep on message and achieve your training goals. Present subject matter in a logical order. Explain the basics of the topic—and make sure trainees understand them—before going on to more detailed and technical information.
2. Emphasize the points that are most important. What facts or practices do trainees absolutely need to have or need to know how to do? Plan to spend most of your training time on these. Allocate less time to less important but still pertinent training points.
3. Customize training materials to your company’s situation. Relate information to your company’s policies, procedures, tools, equipment, machines, personal protective equipment, etc. Update this section as tools or equipment is replaced or procedures are changed.
4. Incorporate interactive methods into your training. Find ways to keep trainees involved.
5. Write a training session plan. Some plans may be less detailed than others depending on the subject matter, but a plan should be written for every training session.
6. Plan for a question-and-answer session. Compose a list of potential questions and prepare answers. Sometimes planned material turns out to be only half the session. Good information is often passed both ways through Q&A sessions—trainees can clarify points or make trainers aware of current practices that may need updating; trainers can use this interactive method as a good indicator of how well trainees understand the material.

Prepare the training space

Classroom preparation is extremely important. Even if your training space is a cordoned off part of the plant, cafeteria, or other work area, you need to get it ready for training. Trainees will gather first impressions in the first few minutes of the session, and they will judge the material and the trainer on how prepared the training environment is. Everything should run smoothly at the start of the session. As the person in charge of training, it’s up to you to develop standard preparation procedures to ensure a high standard of training. Every detail counts.

Prepare classroom and hands-on training areas by checking for:

• Adequate seating arrangements
• Comfortable environmental conditions
• Sufficient lighting
• Required equipment, such as video player/monitor, slide projectors, flip charts and other media, are available

Prepare yourself

Each trainer has different qualifications, experience, expertise, and methodology of training. Even trainers who are intimately familiar with a subject must properly prepare for the training session. The following guidelines are designed to review the basics of preparing trainers for learning sessions.

Practice makes perfect

Practice your presentation. The best instructors always do at least one dry run before the training session. Practicing improves presentation skills and confidence levels. It allows trainers to foresee any technical or logistical difficulties and prepare back-up plans for any contingencies.

Overcome presentation phobia

Many times, especially with lectures, trainers conduct sessions in front of large groups. Many people are uncomfortable with public speaking even when they have a well-prepared presentation. Here’s a two-step process for overcoming stage fright:

• Prepare the mind by putting everything in perspective. Trainees are here to learn from you, they want you to be a good trainer, because they’ll learn more that way. Focus on them and make sure they understand the material.
• Prepare the body. Trainers need to familiarize themselves with the training environment, including the lighting, temperature, and layout of the classroom. You can do this during your practice session and also by arriving early on the day of training to check that everything is in order.

Prepare trainees

You’ve taken the time to prepare the training materials, the training space, and yourself. To ensure the most productive training session, you also need to prepare trainees. You want trainees to be highly motivated before they walk through the training doors. Consider using some of these pre-training techniques to put trainees in a receptive frame of mind, get them geared up for the topic, and prepare them to learn.

1. Distribute a session outline or agenda before the meeting. Trainees who might be anxious about training will be put at ease when they know ahead of time what will be covered. And since knowledge is power, all trainees benefit from knowing what’s on the agenda. You benefit when trainees enter the room already thinking about the topic.
2. Distribute pre-session activities. Along with the outline, include fun and simple open-ended questions or situations, such as these:
   • General questions:
     • What do you already know on the training topic?
     • Why do you think this training is needed?
     • How will this training benefit you and the company?
   • Case studies involving the upcoming training followed by debriefing questions:
     • In this case, what would you do?
     • What would you have done differently than the characters?
     • Ask trainees to be prepared for a brief class discussion on the case study. Take a few minutes at the beginning of the session to ask trainees for their answers.
3. Distribute an expectation questionnaire. Via survey, e-mail, group meeting, etc., ask what trainees expect from the session. Use the results to customize the session as much as possible to the audience while still meeting all training objectives.