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Dear
!*FIRST_NAME*!
Here
is the latest edition of HRD Alert! to which you subscribed.
If you have trouble reading this, an online copy is available
here. You can
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EDITORIAL
G'day
and I hope this finds you well.
The
most exciting thing for me this past month was the completion
and international release of my newest title,
Writing Responses to Selection Criteria
which promises to be more popular than its companion title Winning
That Government Job. There's
a lot of work getting a publication ready for distribution eg,
I had to acquire a new domain name http://www.winagovtjob.com,
optimize my search engine positioning with keywords, prepare brochures,
posters, and send copies to the Australian National Library (legal
deposit requirement). I also sent out a pre-launch offer to my
loyal clients and subscribers ... you should have received an
email offer from me which I sent on 22 Feb 04.
In
this issue I cover some Simple Questioning Techniques for
trainers that will give many of you something to practice. Questioning
is a learned art that anyone can master. There is also an article
about More than Just Chalk and Talk which suggests that
a planned debate can be a relief from the discussion groups that
seem to occur ad nauseum in training venues. See if you
can include a debate in your next session just for fun and to
improve team cohesion.
I
hope these two topics will provide you with some valuable tools
to add to your professional toolkit. For the next few issues I'll
discuss some other 'training ways' and how they might be used
to promote learning.
There
are three interesting sites to visit in Worth a Look. Make sure
you take the time to have a quick visit ... we all need to do
a bit of professional reading and research at least once per week.
If
you are involved with recruitment, look under Other Stuff for
a link to the Australian Government Jobs forum I have established
for purchasers of my government jobs ebooks.
Until next edition,
yours
in HRD
Robin
Henry
Principal Adviser/Publisher
CONTENTS IN BRIEF
Simple
Questioning Techniques for Trainers
If you use a few simple
questioning techniques, it can aid learning and make your training
performance better. Here are some tips you can try when next you
address a group or do some in-house training.
More
Than Just Chalk and Talk
Last
edition I spoke about standing and talking not being training.
Over the next few editions I thought I'd discuss some different
'training ways' that will provide a break from the more common
methods eg, 'chalk and talk', or 'pen and whiteboard' as it might
now be called. Let's consider the debate.
Worth a Look
With the academic
year bearing down on us, there are two links with excellent research
material for those of you who are studying. There's a coaching
link with some equally useful resources for those involved in
coaching or training coaches. One of the sites will help you with
your time management and has an interesting self-assessment questionnaire
that will help you identify time wasters in your life.
[TOP]
SIMPLE QUESTIONING TECHNIQUES FOR TRAINERS
Most
trainers I have seen in action have never demonstrated good questioning
technique. Perhaps it's because they were trainers and not teachers
... there's quite a difference as any of you who have done both
jobs will agree.
So,
this issue, I thought I'd pass on a few tips that you can try.
Here goes?
Open/Closed
Questions: Ask an open question when you want a detailed answer
and a closed question when you want a short answer. For example,
if I ask the open question, 'Tell me what you would do if your
car ran out of petrol at an intersection?', you would hopefully,
describe several steps that might include, turn on hazard lights,
check for traffic approaching and departing, get out of vehicle,
go to nearby petrol station etc'. A closed question allows a short,
concise answer such as, 'What day of week is it tomorrow?' There's
only one correct answer, so there's little chance for lengthy
discussion. Choose when you use open and closed questions to suit
what you want to find out.
Asking
for a specific respondent: If you have a group of 10, but
you want only one specific person to answer, use this method,
'How many email messages can this server send in one hour <pause
for several seconds>, Margaret?' By pausing for several seconds,
nobody in the group knows who you are going to ask, so they think
about what response they would give if they are asked.
If you commence your question with 'Margaret, how many ...', what
do you think the remainder of the group will do? Yes, they'll
switch off.
Redirecting
a question: After Margaret gives her answer, whether correct,
or incorrect, you can use it to elicit responses from others eg,
'Is Margaret's answer correct, <pause for several seconds>
Bill?' Bill might answer, 'Yes'. You can then begin the process
again, especially if you get an incorrect answer from Bill.
When
Bill answers 'Yes', you can ask him why he thinks it's correct.
If he says 'No', you can ask him to provide the correct answer.
Redirection
is useful when a trainee appears to be having difficulty responding.
When there is a longer than expected pause and you can see the
confusion, hear the cogs grinding over. Rather than risk embarrassing
the person whom you asked to respond, move on by saying something
like, 'Can you help Margaret, <pause> Bill?' This saves
Margaret having to admit that she doesn't have a clue.
One
needs to be careful though when dealing with pedagogues (children)
and not andragogues as children often take a while to think up
an answer as part of their normal developmental pattern.
Question
classifications: Not all classifications can be used on all
occasions. It depends on the topic, what learning outcomes you
expect, and perhaps the audience. However, you need to be aware
of the classifications which are:
- Description
- 'What happened when ...?'
- Hypothesis
- 'What would happen if we ...?'
- Origin
- 'When did this procedure come into effect?'
- Illustration
- 'What other process is similar to ...?'
- Comparison
- 'Which process is preferable?'
- Definition
- 'How would you define "hazardous"?'
- Classification
- 'Which of these invoices would you charge against these accounts?'
In
training, as in education, questioning can be used to help learners
learn, test the amount of knowledge learners have gained from
your instruction, clarify misunderstandings, demonstrate different
approaches and viewpoints, and more.
Your
skill as a trainer/educator will make a huge difference to the
outcomes you achieve. If you practise questioning often enough,
it becomes subconscious behaviour and over time you'll become
a skilled questioner. Your performance will improve and your sessions
will become more dynamic and interesting. People like to be challenged
... so challenge on!
[TOP]
MORE
THAN JUST CHALK AND TALK
When
I've attended so-called training sessions where I've had to suffer
being 'broken into groups' for the nth time, I've started getting
a bit aggro. Why don't these 'trainers' try something different,
like a debate. 'Break into two teams!' Wow, that's novel.
Debates
are useful for teamwork and engineering participation by everyone
involved. As you know, two teams debate the good or bad of an
issue, policy, procedure, topic etc. One side takes the opposing
view and vice versa.
Use
a debate when you want to examine a subject in depth and decide
the pros and cons of it; show how essential it is to thoroughly
research a subject; get participants to think logically, and think
and speak concisely.
Advantages
are that everyone can participate; it's often a pleasant change
from chalk and talk; it can help change attitudes; it helps people
learn to think quickly and to cope with interjections and opposition.
And it can be lots of fun.
Unfortunately,
debates require a lot of preparation, but participants can be
asked to research their position for or against well before they
attend training. It's not practicable to have more than say five
people on each team, but those not in a team can play the role
of judges, audience, or time-keeper.
Occasionally
you'll find someone who just cannot talk in front of a group because
they are too timid or self-conscious. They can always be given
the job of audience or timekeeper and still play a part.
Next
time you plan a training or information session, instead of breaking
into discussion groups, think about creating a debate. If it's
well planned and organised it need not take forever and it can
be a good way to have fun while learning AND building group rapport
and cohesion.
[TOP]
Presenter's University
We can all impove our presentational skills. The Presenter's University,
as the name suggests, is a place where you can improve yours.
The site has a download area where you can download some free
PowerPoint templates, and software. Ask the Professor is a bulletin
board where you can ask questions about presenting, The site belongs
to InFocus, the projection equipment firm. If you're into presenting
and want to hone your skills, here is the place to go. More
...
Loretta's
Training Resource Center
The site
looks a little amateurish, but the tips and tricks found on the
site for computer trainers look fairly good. (don't judge a book
by it's ....) If it's free, I guess one can't knock it. Have a
look and make your own assessment. More
...
Learn
About Emotional Intelligence
The proper
title of this site is The Consortium for Research On Emotional
Intelligence in Organizations. Phew, I'm glad I'm not writing
them a cheque! On the other hand, I'm familiar with many organisations
for which intelligence is a scarce commodity. If you are interested
in finding out what emotional intelligence is, or improving your
knowledge about same, here's the place to do it. There is a couple
of excellent PDF downloads one of which discusses the 'issues
and common misunderstandings' about EI. More
...
[TOP]
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