Dear Reader,
It's been a couple of weeks or so that I started writing my blog. What have I shared with you, well some random rambling, to be precise. Since that is the only achievement so far, I thought of sharing some views on setting objectives in training. "Why training?", if that's what you are wondering, then let me tell you - because that is what I have done through out my professional career and am under the misconception that training is my forte.
Anyway, if you are aspiring to be a trainer and take up any course related to training, you'll hear this "It is imperative to set objectives before every training program". No one bothers to tell you why and how. Well, here's the reason why. Have you ever attended a training program for a couple of days and were handed over the feedback form or "happy form" as they are called that had a question "How have you benefited from this program"? And you sat there, for what seemed to be eternity, thinking what should you put in there? That tells you that the trainer did you set the objectives well during the course.
Every student will embark upon any course with various aspirations and hopes. It is the trainer who translates those aspirations to objectives. It is one of the important parts of training, especially if it is a behavioural / skill training. So what's the way to set objectives? I'm going to suggest the usage of the SMART model here, something that is used for goal-setting. Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic & Time-bound. So all the statements that the trainer puts down as objective should have all these characteristics.
Let's take an example... Hmmmm... Stress management class!!
"At the end of this 2 hour session, participants will be able to identify the two types of stress and their effects on human behaviour through the activities"
Specific - two types of stress and effects
Measurable - there are two things that are getting covered
Achievable - You need to be able to answer the question "is 2 hours good enough to cover the topic?" (you need to use your judgement with this, since you don't want a session that is either information overload or one without a value-add for the participants)
Realistic - you need to consider if you'll be able to cover those two aspects in detail, considering that there may be questions / discussions around them, in 2 hours
Time-bound - 2 hours or end of the session
Each objective that you write down as a trainer needs to be put through those filters. You could choose to have multiple objectives for a session or a program. If you do this exercise, it'll help you to focus your activities during the session to achieve those objectives and the participants will know what they are about to learn during the program as well.
Share your thoughts on this. Is there any other model / method that you use for setting objectives in your training program?
It's been a couple of weeks or so that I started writing my blog. What have I shared with you, well some random rambling, to be precise. Since that is the only achievement so far, I thought of sharing some views on setting objectives in training. "Why training?", if that's what you are wondering, then let me tell you - because that is what I have done through out my professional career and am under the misconception that training is my forte.
Anyway, if you are aspiring to be a trainer and take up any course related to training, you'll hear this "It is imperative to set objectives before every training program". No one bothers to tell you why and how. Well, here's the reason why. Have you ever attended a training program for a couple of days and were handed over the feedback form or "happy form" as they are called that had a question "How have you benefited from this program"? And you sat there, for what seemed to be eternity, thinking what should you put in there? That tells you that the trainer did you set the objectives well during the course.
Every student will embark upon any course with various aspirations and hopes. It is the trainer who translates those aspirations to objectives. It is one of the important parts of training, especially if it is a behavioural / skill training. So what's the way to set objectives? I'm going to suggest the usage of the SMART model here, something that is used for goal-setting. Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic & Time-bound. So all the statements that the trainer puts down as objective should have all these characteristics.
Let's take an example... Hmmmm... Stress management class!!
"At the end of this 2 hour session, participants will be able to identify the two types of stress and their effects on human behaviour through the activities"
Specific - two types of stress and effects
Measurable - there are two things that are getting covered
Achievable - You need to be able to answer the question "is 2 hours good enough to cover the topic?" (you need to use your judgement with this, since you don't want a session that is either information overload or one without a value-add for the participants)
Realistic - you need to consider if you'll be able to cover those two aspects in detail, considering that there may be questions / discussions around them, in 2 hours
Time-bound - 2 hours or end of the session
Each objective that you write down as a trainer needs to be put through those filters. You could choose to have multiple objectives for a session or a program. If you do this exercise, it'll help you to focus your activities during the session to achieve those objectives and the participants will know what they are about to learn during the program as well.
Share your thoughts on this. Is there any other model / method that you use for setting objectives in your training program?
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