Chapter 18
Summary of Key Points in Training International Managers

The purpose of this final chapter is to review the key activities for the trainer in the weeks leading up to the delivery of a training course for international managers, the particular aspects that require the trainer's focus during the course and the actions that need to be taken immediately after the course. It assumes that training needs were identified effectively through the survey and understand stages of the SUCCESS model and that training materials have been created to meet these needs.

Keeping the client and the participants in mind

At this point, in our final chapter, it is worth reminding ourselves that successful implementation of the training of international managers involves satisfying both the client and the participants. Although, during the design and development of the training, we should have been mindful of all we learned about the client's requirements, we should now do a final thorough check that we have remembered to cover every aspect and looked after every detail that the client considered to be important. This should involve looking back at the original proposal to the client that will have specified the objectives and an outline of the content of the training to be delivered. It will also be worthwhile to refer back to the notes that were made during the survey and understand stages of the development of the training.

Delivering pre-course work

When we have reviewed the materials that have been produced against our commitment to the client, we can focus on what needs to be done in detail to produce an enjoyable and satisfying event for the participants. Where we have made an undertaking to the client to produce some pre-course work for the participants to do as part of their orientation towards the learning, we should ensure that this is sent to them in good time for its completion (and return if necessary) before the training event. Pre-course materials can include questionnaires, case-study materials or in some cases a preview of some of the materials to be used on the course. The purpose of pre-course work can be merely to orientate participants to the programme. Alternatively it can be to collect information about the participants' views or experience on particular relevant subjects or produce some specific output such as completed personality questionnaires. Whatever the nature of the pre-course work, it is important that this contact with the participants is carried out professionally as it will give the first impression of how the training event is likely to feel for them. With international managers this step is even more important because it is likely that they will be travelling to a venue far from home to take part in a learning event with unfamiliar people and working in a language that is less familiar than their native tongue. (See Chapter 10 for further details.)

Preparing to deliver the course materials

The next step is usually to ensure that all the materials are made ready for the event. Often this means that course materials need to be prepared and sent to an administrator for reproduction before the course. How much easier this is today than it was even ten years ago before the common use of e-mail! However, great care needs to be taken to ensure that administrators understand fully the trainer's requirements. This usually means time taken to develop an understanding with administrative staff, and even then it needs to be backed up by comprehensive instructions in writing. It is, for example, frustrating to arrive at the venue to find that handouts and exercises have all been bound together when you thought it was agreed that they would be available separately. This is, just another of the challenges of working with a variety of nationalities - thinking everything is understood, when it turns out not to have been understood as well as you had hoped. However, additional care and the use of a combination of telephone and the written word can prevent most of these frustrations if allowance is made for the fact that it is not always easy to understand fine details when working in your second or third language.

Piloting materials for use with International audiences

Should training materials be rehearsed? Certainly, as discussed in Chapter 10, anything that is new or unfamiliar benefits greatly from being piloted, especially if it is to be delivered to an international audience. Ideally the first programme should be with a dummy audience of mixed nationalities but, if that is not possible, it should be with people who are used to working in an international environment. This is probably even more desirable with participative exercises, if only because it is the best way to test how long it will really take for participants working in their second language to absorb case-study materials or understand what the real objectives of an exercise are. Our experience of writing case studies and associated exercises is that two or three hours spent with a small number of people confronted by the materials for the first time in rehearsal will raise and resolve questions which will enable the trainers to fine-tune the way in which the materials are presented.

Having piloted the key sessions and made all the administrative arrangements it is good practice for the trainer to take a long hard look at the programme and mentally run through all of the sessions, recalling all the materials and equipment that will be needed and listing all the items that need to be double checked or indeed need to be ordered for the first time if overlooked. This is also an excellent opportunity to think through and note the key questions that the trainer will want to ask the audience at each stage of each session. It is worth writing down the best way each question can be phrased to maximize the audience's opportunity to understand exactly what the trainer means by each of the questions using the unit/session template discussed in Chapter 10. Precision in the wording of questions, deliberately excluding any use of idiom or slang, will enable the trainer to draw information from the audience much more successfully than the use of questions hurriedly composed on the day. This does not mean that the trainer cannot ask other questions which appear to be appropriate at the time; indeed, being flexible and reading the audience is an essential attribute of a good trainer. However, having prepared a set of well-thought-through and well-phrased questions is a worthwhile insurance policy.

Particular attention needs to be paid to rehearsing the introduction at this stage. It may even be worth writing down and memorizing the opening sentences and questions to ensure that they are capable of being easily understood by people working in their second language. In addition to being easily understood, the opening words need to be delivered with an impact that will begin to raise the energy levels of the group. This will need to be revisited just before the start of the event, but now is a good time to think it through in detail. Some trainers will say that they find this very difficult to do away from the live situation. Unfortunately, the result of lack of preparation often is that the opening sentences carry words and phrases that are almost meaningless to an international audience. It is demanding, but rehearsing will improve the impact of the opening significantly.

Special points for attention during the course

The value of having rehearsed and become really familiar with all of the materials is that the trainer can then spend a large amount of mental energy focusing on the participants and assessing their state of mind at each stage of the programme. This is not just a matter of identifying quiet participants and using the breaks to talk to them to discover what they feel they are learning from the materials, but involves assessing the overall mood of the group. Do they feel the materials are sufficiently relevant and aimed at the right level? Is the trainer meeting their needs in terms of the balance of participation, presentation and discussion? These are questions the trainer needs to be considering through the whole process of delivery. Moreover, if there is any uncertainty about what the audience is really feeling, the trainer should use the opportunity at the end of a morning or the end of a day to ask the audience, 'What is going well that we should spend more time doing?' 'What could be done differently to enhance your attention and learning?' Having gained the information the trainer then needs to be flexible enough to respond. It is quite possible to construct some impromptu exercises if the audience feels that group work is the most productive use of time, or indeed go over some fundamentals again if part of the group failed to understand something the first time around.

At this point it is worth saying that sometime, somewhere, the unexpected will raise its head and the trainer needs to manage the situation. Examples of disruptions within our own experience can be as varied as: total loss of power on a dark afternoon, a quarter of the participants suddenly being affected by food poisoning, a message from base informing three participants that their jobs have been declared redundant, news that the company has been acquired by a competitor, participants announcing that they understood they would be finishing two hours earlier than planned on the final day. It is not possible to foresee these eventualities nor is it possible to have a plan ready for every one, but it is possible to adopt a frame of mind where the unexpected is anticipated. The trainer can usually salvage something from the situation and, by being prepared for the unexpected and handling the consequences by consulting with the group about the best way to move forward, given the new situation, the trainer will earn a great deal of respect from the group and as a result hold their attention even more effectively for the remainder of the programme. The key is to be mentally prepared. You do not know what will cause the disruption, nor when it will happen, but you will meet very few trainers that have never experienced it. So think about the possibilities in advance and decide what is the best way to address the group in order to turn potential confusion into an opportunity to raise the level of attention of the participants.

After completion of delivery of the training

In Chapter 12 we detailed the process of strengthening the learning of international managers. Here we look at the trainer behaviours that are appropriate.

Trainers need to be aware of their own cultural norms and how they can differ from those of the client organization for whom they are working. In Eastern cultures, for instance, it is not an acceptable behaviour for the trainer to disappear after running a course without giving some feedback to the client. Accepting this, there are advantages for the trainer to develop a general approach of reporting. It is advantageous to report back to the client immediately after the training has been completed and if the trainer has completed a participant record form this will be much easier. This is an opportunity to discuss issues that arose during the training that might lead to a requirement for further inputs and also to ask the client about any verbal feedback from participants. Sometimes it is possible to give the client some immediate feedback from the assessment sheets that have probably been completed on the final day of the training. It is also an opportunity to discuss any other planned evaluation processes that need to be activated. Likewise, it may also be possible to talk with the client about any commitments made by participants to post-course actions when they return to their jobs. It is important also to send any materials promised to participants as soon as possible after completion of the course.

Now that the training event is over, the focus needs to be on the transfer of learning from the training environment to the job. This is a major challenge. It may have been possible to make some prior arrangements for follow-up, such as one-to-one coaching of participants or, failing that, a follow-up meeting a few weeks hence for participants to exchange experiences of applying the learning in practice. If this has not been attended to previously it should be raised with the client immediately after the completion of the course.

One-to-one coaching follow-up is probably the most effective way of ensuring that learning is transferred from the training event to the job.

Summary

Before delivery of the training it is important to do a final check to ensure that all the client's requirements are going to be covered. Attention to detail in the relationship with administrators who are responsible for producing course materials is essential to the smooth running of the event, especially where the staff are likely to be working in their second language. One particularly important part of this is to see that pre-course work is sent out in a timely and efficient fashion to give participants confidence that the event itself will be an enjoyable and worthwhile experience for them.

When the training materials have been finalized it is important to make arrangements to pilot them. Rehearsal of training materials, particularly participative exercises, is essential in order to estimate timings correctly and give clear instructions on what is expected of the participants.

Special efforts need to be made to ensure that the opening session is very clear to participants, and is free of idiom and slang phrases.

By the time the course is due to start, familiarity with the materials should be at a level where it is possible for the trainer to give total attention to the needs of the participants. He or she should be flexible enough to be able to change activities when necessary to maintain their attention, without losing focus of the main learning objectives.

Trainers need to be prepared for the unexpected and be confident in discussing with the group the best way to resolve any unexpected situations.

Immediately after the course, feedback to the client is essential. This can be really valuable in developing the next piece of similar training. During this conversation with the client it is important to focus on post-training follow-up, as this will increase the success of the transfer of learning considerably and should be arranged wherever the client is willing.

Action plan

The Action plan below provides a checklist that can be used to cover a training course from the time that the preparation of training materials has been completed, to the point where the training has been delivered and participants are returning to their places of work. It can be used as a reminder of the key activities to which attention should be paid before, during and after the delivery of any piece of training for international managers.