There's a lot of buzz in the training world about the importance of using activities to get and keep learners engaged. We're all for activity -- as learners, we'd much rather learn actively than sit and be lectured for hours on end. Wouldn't you?
However, a caution. Activity for the sake of activity is just a fun way of wasting valuable learning time. Yikes! Did we really say that? Allow us to explain . . .
Before choosing an activity -- any activity -- there are some critical questions you should be asking yourself during the design phase:
- What am I trying to accomplish? That is, what is the point of the activity? What is it that people need to learn during this segment of the course?
- When is the right time for the activity? Would it be better as a way to pique interest and allow participants to "discover" something? Or is it better suited as a way to practice or apply new learning?
- How much time do I have, and how much time will this activity really take? There's nothing more frustrating than being asked to complete an activity, and then not having time to do it. Or having a training session run late because the facilitator tried to pack too much into the time available.
- How many people will be in the class, and is that a good number for this activity?
- How much space do we have? Is the available space appropriate for this activity? If we need a breakout room, is there one readily available and close by?
Having carefully selected the right activity -- the one that fits the learning goal, space, time, and audience -- you're still not quite done. The most important part of any activity is the debrief.
The debrief is your opportunity to help learners draw meaningful insights and lessons from the experience. Your chance to offer your own observations about what happened. The opportunity to connect the learning back to their "real world" -- how does the activity reflect or inform what happens on the job? By leading an effective debrief, and allowing plenty of time for it, you are ensuring the chosen activity will have the maximum impact.
While every activity and debrief is different, we bet you have a few favorite standby's. Talk to us . . . what's YOUR go-to debrief question, the one that always elicits knock-your-socks-off insights? Click here to Join the Conversation!
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CaseCard News
 Last time, we shared with you our news that we would be speaking at the ASTD International Conference and Expo in Dallas, TX this coming May.
We also want to let you know we will be exhibiting at the vendor expo. We have reserved Booth #463 -- so if you're planning to attend the conference, we certainly hope you'll come by and say "hey" (that's southern for "hi"). We'd love to re-connect with old friends and meet new ones face-to-face!
Hope to see you in Dallas! |
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In the Trenches
Customizing Performance Management
At a mid-size manufacturing company, the HR team was working with an outside facilitator to design and deliver training in the company's performance management system. Many of the supervisors were new to their roles and had never been thoroughly instructed in how the system worked, or taught how to deliver performance feedback skillfully.
The facilitator customized an activity to give participants practice with the evaluation form. Then, to provide practice with delivering a range of feedback, she used the Performance Management deck of CaseCards. Participants were able to confront realistic scenarios without talking about actual cases that needed to be kept confidential.
She reports, "the cases saved me tons of design time, and were perfectly on-target for this audience. In fact, a few people even laughed as they read their cases because they thought they recognized the characters! Using the cards was a lot simpler that writing custom scenarios, and they were just as good."
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