"Learning from Experience"

Have participants introduce themselves and explain one thing they have learned the hard way about the topic you are covering. Post their “lessons learned” on a flip chart. Refer to them throughout the class.

"Challenges and Objectives"

Divide the class into small teams. Instruct teams to identify their challenges in the topic and their objectives for the training. Post work on flip charts. Have them introduce their team and share their work with the rest of the class.

"Questions"

Have each person write a question they want answered in the training on a Post-it(sticky) note or piece of paper. Have them introduce themselves and their question. Then post all questions on a wall chart. During or at the end of training, ask the group to answer the questions.

"Role Models"

Have each person identify someone who is a role model for the topic being discussed. Have them share the person’s name and the qualities or characteristics that make them a good role model. Post characteristics on a flip chart.

"Dos and Don’ts"

Have participants introduce themselves, sharing their name, hospital or clinic, and either a "Do" or a "Don’t" tip that they have learned related to HIV and AIDS Management. Post tips on a flip chart.

"Collective Knowledge"

Have participants work in teams to identify five rules for dealing with challenging patients.  Write the rules on flip chart paper.

"A Helpful Colleague?"

Have participants identify someone who has contributed to their professional development and who they admire. As they introduce themselves have them explain their relationship to the person that contributed to their development.

"Developing Yourself"

Have each person introduce himself or herself and share one action they have recently taken to improve or further educate themselves related to patient care and treatment. This can be done as a group or in small teams.

"Acceptance Speech"

Have participants introduce themselves and thank someone who has contributed to their professional development. They should thank the person as if they are receiving an Academy Award. You may need to limit speeches to 30 seconds.

"First Job"

Have participants introduce themselves, sharing their name and something they learned on their first paying job.

"Brain Teaser"

Use a quiz as an ice breaker. Ask questions of common knowledge about any topic, or a number of topics. There should be both easy and difficult questions.  Ask members to answer individually, and then give them a few minutes to work in small groups to finish answering the questions. The groups should be able to answer more questions than any one individual. This is a good demonstration of synergy and can lead into a discussion of the importance of teamwork in healthcare. Sample questions:

• What are the names of the planets, starting from the one closest to the sun?
• What are the five most populous countries in the world?
• What are the five least populated countries in Africa?
• What are the five most commonly spoken languages in the world? 

"Dinner Plans"

Have each person complete the following sentence:

"If I could have dinner with any person, living or dead, it would be

______________________ because _______________________."

"Experience Tally"

Ask each participant how long he or she has been with their clinic or hospital, or had their current job. Total the number of years. Point out that the class will have X number of years of experience on which to draw.

"Good or New"

Ask each person to share something good or new they have experienced in the last 24 hours.

"I Noticed"

As an ice breaker for the second or third day of a training, have each individual share one thing he or she has learned since the last session that they know they will use in their clinical practice.

"I’m Unique"

Ask each person to share one thing that makes him or her unique.

"My Slogan"

Explain that many organizations have slogans or sayings that reflect their values and are easy for customers to remember. For example, the Coca-Cola Company uses the slogan, “Have a Coke and a Smile.” Ask each person to write (or borrow) a slogan to describe him or herself and share it with the class.  A variation could be to develop a slogan for their hospital or clinic.

"The Worst Team"

Have each person share a description of the worst team they have ever been on and why. Post characteristics on a flip chart. Debrief this exercise by having the team identify ways to avoid the "worst team" characteristics.

"Three Truths and a Lie"

Give each individual a 3x5 card and instruct them to write four statements about themselves: one of the statements should be false while three should be true. Explain that the goal is to fool people about which one is the lie. Allow five minutes to write statements; then have each person read the four statements and have the group guess the lie. Award a prize to the individual who makes the most correct guesses.

"I’m like a…?"

Have each person develop a simile—something you compare with something else because they share similar characteristics—for themselves when they are in a particular mood or experiencing difficulty. For example: "When I get busy and have too much to do, I’m like a car with a little bit of gas—I usually have just enough energy for one more task, but eventually I run out and just completely stop." Emphasize that people have different ways of dealing with stress and challenges because people experience them differently.

"Worries"

Ask each person to share his or her greatest concern or reservation about participating in the training (e.g., everyone else will know more than me). Post participants’ concerns on a flip chart. At the end of the session, revisit the list and ask the group to share whether their concerns were realized.

"What Do You Know?"

Divide the class into teams of three-four people. Assign each team a different flip chart or piece of flip chart paper. Explain that each team will be asked to record information they know about the members of another team. For example:

Team A: Mary, Chris, Pat, and Terry

Team B: Jane, Frank, Phil, and Sharon

Team C: John, Mike, Andrea, and Larry

Team A is assigned Team B; Team B is assigned Team C; and

Team C is assigned Team A.

Have the team divide their flip charts into sections, one for each person in their assigned team. Allow them five minutes to record what they know about the people on their flip chart (both work and non-work related) without violating any confidences. After five minutes, have teams rotate flip charts and add information on their new flip chart. Continue rotating until they come to the flip chart with their own names on it. Have each person comment on what was written about him/herself.

"Guess Who"

Prior to the session, have each participant complete and return to you a survey with answers to five-to-seven questions about him or herself. For example:

o    Favorite type of food

o    Last movie you saw

o    Last book you read

o    Where you would love to visit

o    Favorite activity

During the session, read the clues and have the rest of the class guess which person is being described.

"Something New"

On the second day of training, ask each person to share one thing they learned about another participant on the previous day. Have the rest of the group try to guess who is being described.

“You did what!?”

Give each person a 3 x 5 card and ask the group to write down something true that nobody else in the room knows about them, e.g., “I once wrestled a bear in Yellowstone National Forest.” Mix up the cards and put them in a box or hat. Have each person pick a card and read it out loud. Ask the group to try and guess who wrote the card.

Training is a medium which ensures continuous self development and enhancement of one’s knowledge. Visual training forms a part of training and it ensures that training does not get a boring job. Watching visual ads is always more insightful and helps you to remember what was being communicated. Similarly, watching a video on training is an enjoyable pastime for the trainees and learners. 

The management has been using numerous corporate videos in order to communicate their corporate vision and mission to the employees on a large scale. These videos are also being used for other purposes. 

Employee development has now become a function of use of these video based training programs. 

Organizations have devoted resources for building such employee-friendly videos and motivate and train employees by then using these videos.  

Videos can be made about the origin of the company, the vision mission, the business areas, the moves that the company is planning to take, the career development path for the employees, the organizational hierarchy, the staffing plans, other seminars and colloquiums. 

Many companies also outsource making of such corporate videos. Corporate videos are also based upon the day to day problems faced in the office. These videos help in problem solving and help employees develop team spirit and work motto. Training videos are also made upon the advertising and marketing strategies used in the organization.  

Many corporate allow the employees to design the videos for the company as a whole. This helps the employee in better understanding the corporate culture and the objectives for which the company is running. 

Employee spirit also gets boosted and he is motivated to perform better and align his personal goals with that of the company. 

Generally these videos are aimed at improving the employee skill set and their understanding of a particular task. They form a part of the extensive 2-3 days training that employees go during joining the organization and on a regular basis.  

Watching a video is more effective and leaves a greater impact upon the individual. It helps him remember the purpose for training and the objective with which he should look at his work. Such videos motivate, inspire and direct the employee towards becoming an asset for the organization. They help them become a star performer.  

Different websites and training organizations offer different motivational videos to motivate the employee. 

They help the employee highlight their achievements by showing the achievements made by the organization. 

They tell the employees that nothing is impossible and with a little extra effort they can dot everything. They demonstrate the qualities of work that should be delivered to the customers. Videos stress on the message and ensure that it is sent across to the entire group of people coming form diverse backgrounds.

More and more companies these days are investing in the training program for their employees. They are investing to maker their employees the best in skill set and competitive then ever. However, the dilemma here is regarding which training program to choose for and how much to invest.  

Deciding training needs: One has to analyze and identify the king of training that one’s employees or staff will require. Training can as such range from simply subscriptions and magazines to other trade related magazines to other tuition fee programs. Assessing ones training need can give you a complete idea about the training program that would best suit you.  

Need assessment can be done through employee surveys, in person or online, and one to one interviews and interactions during evaluations. Not only assessing of employees but asking the customers of the areas that they would  want the company to improve can also be helpful. Training can be given in areas like customer care, product innovation, use of various communications technology or faster and efficient billing. 

Training should be such so as to align the individual goals with the organizational goals and demonstrating productivity and results. It should help the company serve their customers better and in an efficient manner without giving them any chance to register for complaints.  

Deciding the type of training: The most common formats of training that can be applied to suit your training requirements are stated below: 

Online Training

Online training can be imparted through online subscribed news letter, email messages, or virtual tutor available online.
 
Advantages:
•    Global access to resources and tutors
•    Minimal expenditure as compared to other forms of training
•    Flexible in terms of timing and participation
 
Drawbacks:
•    No controlled training
•    Limited interaction amongst colleagues
•    Technical capability required
 
Onsite Training by Consultant

Hiring a consultant when the company is planning for training employees through out the organization would make much more sense. Training people onsite or on computers can be easily handled by an onsite trainer or consultant. 

These onsite consultancy agencies  charge some minimal sum of money to impart and conduct such training programs. These training methods are frequently used imparting supervisory skills, and practicing fair hiring practices. 
 
Advantages: 
•    No travel time involved for employees
•    Customized training possible
•    On job training and gives employees a chance to get accustomed to their settings and systems
•    Training done by a third party expert
 
Drawbacks:
•    Difficult to find an on site expert consultant
•    Costlier than other forms of training
•    Unfamiliarity on the part of trainer might  create problems
•    Difficulty in attending sessions on part of employees 
 
Onsite Training by Company Management

Companies do send their employees to training on very frequent occasions. They in turn expect these trained employees to impart training to others in their organization.

Training is imparted to the employees to ensure that they stay competent and resourceful for an organization. The very purpose of providing corporate training is to ensure development of employees and to see that they are skilled and competent to take up any challenge.  

Online training provides better results in skill enhancement as compared to traditional methods of training. It is convenient, easy to take; self paced, and can be easily assessed and measured. It helps to improve productivity and ensures development.  

Most of the employees of an organization come from diverse backgrounds and hence possess different skill sets. They need to be trained in order to bring all of them at par with one another. They need to be trained on the skills that would be required in order to perform the job and to deliver solutions to clients. Some might possess such skills right from the beginning while some might not have even slightest of idea about it. Such challenges of imparting training to such people with diverse backgrounds can be addressed by e-learning tools and techniques.  

E-learning helps one to take up the required learning. Hence for those who already have advanced learning on a given topic, there are less chances of getting bored as they might not be required to undergo the online training modules for the same. By doing so, the learners who require the training most will be able to make most out of it and will be able to achieve greater learning outcomes. 

Online training solves this problem. It avoids the trainers from taking a middle approach wherein they start giving training neither from beginning nor at the advanced level. This hurts the entry level beginners. Online training programs are designed in a step by step manner. 

Beginner can start right through the first step whereas the advanced level learners can directly skip the initial few steps and take up the advanced level courses. 

Trainees can spend as much time as they want learning a particular module. Thus this helps them to have a very strong fundamental background before they proceed with their job.  

E-learning helps in skill development by controlling the kind of training that learners would require. It monitors the applications for corporate training and allows training managers to supervise the overall learning pace and development in their organization. Hence the result is goal development and achievement for all. 

Employees appreciate the management’s efforts whereas the management is also seen as supportive of employees.  

Online learning can hence be seen as the most efficient tool for employee skill development. It should be thoroughly explored and put to use in a growing and developing organization.

Given the option of training its individuals, any organization would want to make most out of its training program. This is because it involves a lot of time and money. Hence choosing correct training program is of utmost importance. One needs to research the exact training needs of employees and then accordingly plan the budget.  

Training can be imparted on any subject. You need to identify that which is the most important area. For example, you can train your employees on delivering timely and faster services to customers. However, if you notice that in doing so you employees are delivering sub-standard service to your customers. Hence, in such circumstances imparting training on providing customer service is more important. 

Hiring a training specialist can also help. Training involves huge amount of investment for any organization. Hence once the company invests in training on an employee, the company should ensure that attrition is minimal and the staff stays motivated and happy.  

Employees should have the skills for balancing their personal as well as professional lives and tackle their work pressure. Hence they should be provided sufficient training on these aspects. Motivational rewards and fun and team work exercises can help maintaining the employees spirit.  

Training for Customer Service: Customer relationship management is increasingly forming a part of a company’s marketing program. 

Nothing leaves a bad impression upon a customer than a bad service. A bad service experience can be very annoying and irritating. It can make the customer off. It can spread bad word of mouth in front of others also.  

Training on presentation skills: Effective delivery of the required material is essential. If a properly designed campaign is not effectively communicated to the audiences then there would be no meaning of effectively designing the campaign. Proper presentation is a must in a corporate scenario. This is the only thing that can hold back the audiences. Hence training can be considered for this aspect as well. 

Assessment of business areas requiring attention and improvement should be done on a regular basis. 

Training programs should be designed for the weaker areas and a specialist trainer should be chosen for imparting training.  

Measurement of results is also a must. Companies register increase in revenue and production after undergoing the training sessions. The overall return on investment can be way ahead of the amount invested for the training program.  

The return on investment can be astonishing. It is essential to follow up after the training and evaluate the results. This will not only show you how effective the training was, but can help identify other areas that might need assessment. 

Finally, I would just like to say that training is important. But the way it is imparted is even more important. It should be given and conducted in a fun loving manner, this would make the training remember able not only for the trainer but also for the employees. Jokes and key notes can always be a part of it.

Corporate training is an important way of generating value in the new talent recruited or brushing up the skills of your existing talent. Different learning programs are used for offering corporate training. 

Classroom Instruction: All business training begin by offering classroom instructions. Classroom trainings are effective and impressive in their own manner. They allow conversations and interaction within a formal set up. 

Students can interact with their trainers and instructors and can gain insights into different areas. This form of training is used to train new joiners, staff, employees, management and investors. 

Advantages:
•    Easy exchange of ideas
•    Immediate problem solving 
•    Group and team building activities can easily be organized
•    Peer to peer interaction and counseling
•    Opportunity to leverage each other’s experience
•    Clear flow of instructions and ideas from one party to avoid any discrepancy or differentiation on part of trainer
 
Drawbacks:
•    Only one side flow of thoughts 
•    Expensive as staff and employees involved in training at company’s expense
•    Measuring progress is difficult
•    Possibility that all the thoughts on part of trainees might not be shared
•    Other costs are involved in the form of recruiting staff and trainers, travel and lodging costs and training material and location cost
•    Cost associated with maintaining a training room or a similar facility
•    Difficulty in measuring productivity generated out of training
 
Internet or On-line Training: Online training is now picking up. It is efficient and can be done without spending too much in company’s books of accounts. It is similar to offering class room instruction exercise. It is another most effective form of offering training to individuals in corporate. It has been made possible because of the constant technological and communication development. Online and internet training are moving a pace faster then ever. 

Advantages: 
•    Most popular means of training in corporate and is widely acceptable
•    No additional costs involved except for setting up an online medium
•    No training costs involved as compared to the one in the traditional form of classroom training
•    Convenient as one can take up training as per their availability and convenience
•    Effective form of distributive training 
•    Global training possible at minimal expenditure
•    Self learning possible without the need for having any trainers
 
Drawbacks:
•    One to one interaction not possible
•    Immediate doubts can not be solved
•    Setting up network infrastructure can be time consuming
•    Verification as to who has taken up the training can not be made
 
Reference Guides & Manuals: These are nothing but self reading materials and notes distributes to employees and trainees. This can serve as a good reference guide even after the training is over. It is the most tried and easiest. New hired employee manuals, documents, security issues to be addressed etc are always well documented in any organization.

The market place is now recognized with having cut throat competition and tremendous pressure to perform well. Management is expected to deliver their best results to the investors while the employees are expected to give their best to the customers. 

All these place a huge requirement and responsibility with the management of training themselves as well as their employees and staff to keep them up to date with any advancements happening in the corporate or industry space. It is not only the pressure from outside, but corporate experts have themselves started recognizing the need for training and giving their best to their organization.  

Learning has been moving from traditional class room learning sessions to high paced internet learning sessions wherein the speed involved is tremendous and cost to company is minimal. E-learning, as it is called, is picking up and many big companies re looking for huge changes in their organization by relying upon e-learning. 

Companies looking ofr restructuring can even outsource their learning function. 

The change: During the early times, class room training was the buzz of the market. It involved a formal set up with a trainer and students. Now, this has given place to more interactive and one to one form of training in the form of online and internet training. Individuals can take up online training as per their own timing and can help improve the productivity of the organization. 

The companies can also afford online and one to one virtual training as this does not require physical presence of people, no physical training centre and no other extra expenditures. This form of training is quite affordable and can be customized to meet your requirements.  

Multimedia training tools: Audio and video graphics and animations are increasingly being used to make training interesting and to ensure that people don’t end up sleeping during the training sessions. Learning experience can be enriched and varied by using these animation tools and open and written words. 

Benefits:
•    Robust networks allow people to take training in their comfort zone, be it their home, office or cyber cafes.
•    One can take training at their own speed and convenience
•    Ensures greater productivity and absorption of learning modules with the individuals
•    Helps in improving retention
•    Easy distribution possible
•    Increased chances of running global training program
 
Problems Faced: Technological development never comes without challenges. E-learning has its own sets of problems associated with it too. One has to struggle with the technical aspects and resolve them to move upwards and higher. Up gradation is a must 

Finally, to conclude, e-learning can help your workers deliver better and efficient results and improve your organizational productivity at lower costs. It will help you to align the learning objective of an individual to the strategy of an organization.

Simulation exercises are increasingly forming part of business training. Business simulations are nothing but they are a type of computer games. These are becoming the training medium for the coming generation.  

Business Simulations are replication of real industry or corporate situations. These are built on computers and are then used for training the employees and observing that how do they behave in the given circumstances. 

Simulation exercises are used to train the employee skills, their understanding and their learning from the programs.  

Different types of simulators: You can find different types of simulators for different business situations. Some of the most commonly used business simulators are mentioned below: 

Role Playing Exercises: These simulators allow the employees to be put into a specific managerial role and then perform as if they are actually in the role. The employees interact may be on end of phone to some other at the other end. These types of simulation exercises are ideal for sales job, training for call center or customer service centers, for front office executives. They are often used in training the front level and new hired employees. 

Leadership Training Simulators: Simulation exercises are often specifically designed in order to enhance one’s leadership skills. These programs help to build enhance and test the leadership principles of your employees. You can make a series of situations and then test your employees by testing their performance with real world like decisions. 

Employment Simulators: Employment simulators are used to give success to you in hiring the people that are right and that suit the requirement of your office. It helps you to avoid getting any incompetent or dishonest or inefficient employees. 

Employment simulators help you to assess the job requirements and then accordingly search for right candidates.  

Others: Many other types of business simulators are available for training employees. Simulators are available for legal issues as well as for advertising campaigns and product development. All these simulators help to develop and improve your business. 

Simulators are just a replication of real world situation. However they can not replace a real word or corporate situation. Hence on the job training is must after the simulation exercises. Simulations only assist the management and HR in training employees and making them set for getting into the real shoes. They help employees to overcome their errors and perform to the best of their abilities. 

Business and other forms of simulations can be adopted in your company and can form an integral part of your training programs. They can be used before the hiring is done, after hiring is completed, during the training period and even after the training.

In this age of breakneck business transformation, the corporate world has little time to adapt itself, along with its most valuable asset, the work-force, to the changing scenario of the market-place. It has been my experience that businesses that continue to provide year-round training, regardless of outside circumstance or economic issues, continue to thrive.

There are many reasons to consider a Corporate Trainer, whether hired internally or as an outside resource to the company.

We live in a Globalized World: Business has gone global, breaking the geographic barriers of one’s own backyard where one used to be so comfortable doing the usual day-to-day businesses. This globalization forces organizations to reinvent themselves and stay ahead of the competition.

Training and Re-Training: There is no such thing as completing a training session. It is a continuous process that involves constant refreshment. Occasionally, there are new hires, the market shifts, or employees inherit new problems. This, combined with the need to gain new skills, requires outsourcing for new information.

To make sure your decision to hire a trainer leads to real value in your organization, here are some characteristics you should be looking for in an effective corporate trainer:

• Have subject matter expertise or be willing to learn the industry.
  
• An excellent track record as a presenter with the keen ability to adjust to any audience.
  
• Adept enough to extract the best out of you and help you achieve your goals.
  
• Flexible enough to tackle questions off the beaten path and not part of the original topic.
  
• A confidant to team members who may be challenged by corporate culture and company policy.
  
• Savvy enough to teach you social networking, business etiquette, and leadership skills.
  
• Confident in their approach and direction with participants.
  
• Great spirit and enthusiasm for the success of the team.
  
• A continuous learner, willing to place themselves in the position of the student.
  
• A success portfolio for which you may contact former class participants and management.
  

Remember, the above checklist is just a guideline and each organization has unique needs, but I would like to suggest that a good trainer makes the information easy to understand, quick to learn and relatively straight-forward to put into action.

Ultimately, the right trainer not only creates competent staff, but also connects with the corporate objectives and transforms the organization. 

Many education professionals are being asked to tighten their department belts but are having to cope with more turnover, faster timeline demands for new hires to get trained etc...

There are creative techniques you can use to work with a lower budget and still deliver quality training, these techniques include:

• Consolidating vendors to gain purchasing power
  
• Switching from external presenters to internal ones, in addition to cost savings, this often results in higher-quality instruction with greater impact owning to the familiarity of internal presenters with organizational objectives and culture
  
• Continuing the shift from external open enrollment programs to internal on-the-job learning
  
• Outsourcing administrative activities, facilities management and content development to minimize overhead and gain flexibility.
  

Even if you’re not working with a tighter budget, I would still encourage you to look at some of these techniques to create efficiency in your organization.

Good luck!