CHAPTER 9
Creating the Training Intervention and Preparing the Groundwork

The example in the boxed text above of how a particular piece of learning was created took into account the following.

The inputs used in this example were:

• The training strategy to address the identified need to enhance the participant competences in understanding the innovation and brand development processes through a series of centrally held training courses involving both internal and external speakers/trainers.
• The level of learning to be achieved by the participants.
• How the participants are likely to want to learn.
• The national culture and functional background of each participant.
• The materials available.
• The people available to take part in the conduct stage of the training.

The tools to be used in conducting the training course in this example were:

• PowerPoint for presenting facts and processes
• Exercises to challenge participants to use the facts and processes
• Feedback to practise persuasive presentation of ideas
• Breakout groups to encourage participants to learn from one another
• Discussion to consolidate the learning.

The outputs achieved in this example were:

• A set of clear learning objectives
• A schedule to fit the sessions into the overall programme
• Agreement on the roles to be played by each of the facilitators
• A list of equipment and facilities required.

This chapter will now examine a very useful tool that is the output of the create stage of the SUCCESS training framework involved in training international managers. The process is shown in Figure 9.1.

Figure 9.1 Creating the training process

This figure shows the input from the previous stage, plus the participant details leading to the development of the overall learning objectives and the SOCMAT, which is the key tool used in describing the detailed learning objectives and content of the programme (SOCMAT is described in more detail below).

The inputs

Normally the inputs to the create stage of the process will result from one or more of the training needs analysis methods listed in the summary of Chapter 8.

If the training needs analysis has been carried out with care we should have at this stage the training strategy, including:

• course title
• statements about the competences that need to be addressed (the learning gap that needs to be filled)
• information on the levels of learning to be achieved by the participants - appreciation, understanding, ability to do or mastery
• the training mode(s) to be employed
• the time-scales for implementation.

To this, details of the participants in terms of their previous relevant experience, nationality and ability in the course language need to be added.

If great care has been taken we may also have information on the preferred learning styles of each participant. For a small group this can be very useful; for a group as large as 24 given in the example at the beginning of the chapter it will probably be safe to assume that all four preferences - 'Activist', 'Reflector', 'Theorist' and 'Pragmatist' - will be held by the participants as a group.

Overall training/learning objectives

From these inputs, the task is to frame the overall learning objectives of the training and then design each element/module/session.

If the training strategy has been well formulated then the learning objectives will follow quite naturally from the statement of the competences that need to be addressed. In the case of the example described at the beginning of this chapter, the competence gap concerned the understanding and use of an innovation process. The overall objectives could therefore be phrased as follows:

Unfortunately, all too often the programme objectives are phrased in terms of the materials that the course covers rather than in terms of what the participants are expected to have achieved by the end of it in terms of appreciation, understanding, ability to do, or mastery of one or more competences. That is why we believe that the objectives should be termed 'learning' rather than 'training' objectives.

The output from the create stage

Having explicitly formulated the overall learning objectives, the next step is to design each element of the training. A fundamental and most useful tool for approaching this process in an orderly and logical way is the SOCMAT. It is so-called as it is an acronym of the first letters of the six aspects of the create process: session title; objectives; content; methods; aids; and timing. It is helpful to consider the training event as made up of a series of learning objects or units that we will call 'sessions'. Figure 9.2 below introduces an example of a SOCMAT for the case study example described at the beginning of this chapter which was part of a five-day training event. The tool is equally applicable to any training intervention including e-learning, coaching and self-study.

Using the SOCMAT format in Figure 9.2, each session should be given a title that describes the content succinctly. Under 'Objectives' should be described what the participants should learn as a result of the session. Initially the content should be outlined as a series of bullet points, so that the training materials for that session can be developed easily using the bullet points as a concise summary of all that is intended to be contained in the session.

At the time that the content is outlined, it is good practice to consider and decide on the learning method¹ to be used to help participants achieve the necessary level of learning as described under 'Methods' in the example in Figure 9.2. It is helpful to regularly review the methods that are available:

• presentation with visuals, videos and DVDs
• question/answer/discussion
• buzz groups
• brainstorming
• quiz
• simulation and role play
• CCTV and feedback
• case study and feedback
• individual and group exercises using participants' previous experience to solve a relevant problem
• practical work related to the content.

Constant reviewing of these methods of learning, along with any tried and tested new ones which are developed, is important if only to limit the proportion of the event which involves a presentation. This is critical in training international managers as it becomes extremely tiring for participants to listen to presentations in their non-native language for lengthy periods of time. In addition, even those participants from cultures that are more in tune with a pedagogical approach to learning often expect, and even hope, that formal international training events will be more enjoyable and insightful than local ones.

Figure 9.2 Example of part of a completed SOCMAT

At the same time that decisions are made on the best training method to be used, it is important to list under 'Aids' any equipment or facilities that are going to be necessary for the delivery of the training and an estimate of the time to be allowed for each session, or part of the session, under 'Timing'. This is useful as an aide-mémoire, even if the training designer is also going to be the one to deliver the training. However, it is critical if the designer and deliverer are to be different people.

One of the aids required for each session and/or the course as a whole may be an 'action planning' format for participants to record their key learning and a note of how they are going to implement it after the course. This will be dealt with in more detail in Chapter 10, where a simple action-planning format is shown in Table 10.3.

As well as keeping the formal inputs relatively short, three additional considerations should be borne in mind when training an audience of international managers:

1. More time needs to be allocated to any formal presentational parts of the course to accommodate the need to slow down the pace of delivery and give sufficient time for participants to read any visual materials.
2. Exercises and breakout sessions will take longer as trainees take more time to read and comprehend the written materials.
3. Participants from high uncertainty avoidance, high power distance or low individuality cultures may be uncomfortable with methods such as role playing or brainstorming.

Use of the SOCMAT tool

The division of a training event into sessions is of fundamental importance. It should follow the principles first laid down by Douglas Seymour in his 1968 book Skills Analysis Training and called 'the part method' of learning. Seymour and his followers recognized that, where tasks are complex, it is much easier to learn a series of parts of the total task and then learn how to relate them to one another, than it is to attempt to learn the total task all at one time.

Now we will relate this process to creating a training event for international managers.

We should, first of all, create a session that gives an overview of the total task to be learned, along with an indication of how the sessions will approach this as a series of parts. This is following the old teaching adage, 'Tell them what you are going to tell them; tell them; and tell them what you have told them.' The overview session at the beginning is equivalent to the first of these three steps.

The division of the learning into sessions should follow the principle that each session has an identifiable theme and no more than three pieces of significant learning. Ideally it should incorporate at least two methods of learning and should probably not have a duration longer than 90 minutes. If some of the participants are likely to find the use of English challenging, then one and a half hours without a break is probably too long and 45 minutes is more appropriate. So legislating for some sort of different participant-centred activity every 20 to 40 minutes, or calling a five-minute break is appropriate. A participant-centred activity might, for example, include a breakout group working session on an individual situation analysis. Ideally breaks should take place before participants show signs of tiredness or restlessness.

Pre- and post-course activity

The SOCMAT tool provides the basis from which all the training materials can be created in detail. When the SOCMAT is developed, consideration should be given to before and after the training; this is discussed in more detail in the next and subsequent chapters. Especially where there are significant elements of new knowledge involved, thought should be given to providing these knowledge elements prior to the training event, either in hard-copy text or electronically via CD-ROM or the Internet, introducing some interactivity if at all possible. For the training of international managers this can serve an extremely useful purpose in introducing any specific technical terminology with which they may not be familiar.

The possibility of managers learning significant elements of knowledge before a training event depends very much on the culture of the organization where they work. The training designer needs to be totally realistic about what is likely to be done prior to a course and sometimes this will mean discounting the client's view about the international managers' application to this task! In many organizations the norm would be for managers to begin to turn their attention to the pre-course work when travelling to the venue, although they will usually begin earlier if the trainer has asked for questionnaires or other documentation to be returned to course administrators before the event. Where it is expected that participants will familiarize themselves with some knowledge aspects prior to the course, it is good practice to run a light-hearted quiz near to the beginning of the event, where small groups attempt to answer questions related to the pre-course reading material. This will serve to enable those who have absorbed less before the course to catch up a little!

Thought should also be given to how the participants are supported on returning to their place of work, so that arrangements can be made for any necessary coaching or mentoring. We shall return to this in Chapters 12 and 13, which discuss the strengthen and sustain stages of the SUCCESS model.

Summary

Creating the training intervention and preparing the groundwork benefits from a creative and yet disciplined approach. There needs to be a strict adherence to the learning objectives that are constructed from the output of the understand stage, and yet there is considerable room for creativity in the development of training methods that will maintain the interest of the participants.

The SOCMAT tool is invaluable in creating the outline of any training intervention. It requires discipline to use it, but if it is used to its full extent, detailing concisely all the content and associated methods of delivery, it will make the actual creation of materials easier and they should integrate well to ensure a cohesive training intervention.

It is critical to balance presentation and participative elements, especially with international managers. Account also needs to be taken of the fact that most of them will be working in their second language during the training and so do not want to be listening for long periods.

Finally the acceptability of the different methods to varying cultures must be considered.

Action plan

Consider a short piece of training that you are due to design for an international audience. Using the SOCMAT tool in the Action plan, practise breaking the training into parts, with each part having specific learning objectives. Review what you have done to ensure that you have got a good balance of presentation and participation. Try to make realistic estimates of the time it will take to complete each part.

1 For more details on each of the methods of learning see Leslie Rae, Effective Planning in Training and Development, Kogan Page (2000) and Alison Hardingham, Designing Training, CIPD (1996).