Train the Trainer: How to Design a Hands-On Workshop

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1. 1
   Train the trainer: what makes a workshop hands-onStart hereIn this train the trainer workshop you learn how to design a hands-on workshop: one where people practise after every idea and you see who is stuck while there is still time to help. You will plan a workshop of your own as you go, one decision per step.InteractiveHands-on

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   In this train the trainer workshop you learn how to design a hands-on workshop: one where people practise after every idea and you see who is stuck while there is still time to help. You will plan a workshop of your own as you go, one decision per step.

   Here is the difference in one picture: the same hour, planned two ways. Press Play the hour and watch what the learners spend their time on.

   Interactive · Two plans for the same hour — try it in the lesson

   In this lesson you'll:

   • write learning objectives you can see in the room, and plan backwards from them
   • pitch one workshop to a room of mixed experience
   • break an hour into short talks, exercises and checks, and test the plan in a planner
   • find who is stuck without waiting for them to ask, and decide how to tell whether the training worked

   It takes about 60 minutes. Keep one workshop you will run soon in mind: every step ends with a decision about it.

   Takeaway: a hands-on workshop is an hour where learners do most of the work and you see that work often.

2. 2
   Start from what they will be able to doMost workshops are planned from the content: "I'll cover pivot tables, then filters, then charts." A stronger way starts from the end. Ask first what people should be able to do when they leave, then how you would see them do it, and only then what to teach.InteractiveHands-on

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   Most workshops are planned from the content: "I'll cover pivot tables, then filters, then charts." A stronger way starts from the end. Ask first what people should be able to do when they leave, then how you would see them do it, and only then what to teach. This is called backward design (Wiggins and McTighe, Understanding by Design, 1998).

   A useful objective has three parts (Robert Mager, Preparing Instructional Objectives, 1962):

   • the performance: a verb you can watch, like write, build, fix, find
   • the conditions: what they have to work with
   • the standard: how well, or how fast, counts as done

   Verbs like understand, know about or be aware of sound right but can't be watched. If you can't see it in the room, you can't check it, and neither can they.

   Try it: pick each verb below, then add the conditions and the standard.

   Interactive · Is this objective something you can see? — try it in the lesson

   Write the objective of your own workshop the same way, and under it, one sentence: how will I see them do it? That sentence is your final exercise. Plan the rest backwards from there.

   Takeaway: an objective names an action you can watch, what they work with, and how well is good enough.

3. 3
   Know the room before you plan the paceThe people in a workshop never start at the same place. In a team Excel session, one person has never written a formula and another builds dashboards. Whatever pace you pick, some people fall behind and some sit waiting.InteractiveHands-on

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   The people in a workshop never start at the same place. In a team Excel session, one person has never written a formula and another builds dashboards. Whatever pace you pick, some people fall behind and some sit waiting.

   You can't pick a pace that fits everyone, but you can widen the range that fits: a core task at your chosen level, hints for those who need a hand, and a stretch task for those who finish early. Ask a few questions before the workshop (a two-minute form: "Have you used X? What do you want to leave with?") so you know where the room is.

   Try it: move the pace, then add hints and a stretch task. The class of 24 below is made up.

   Interactive · One pace, a room of mixed experience — try it in the lesson

   For your workshop: write one hint for the hardest exercise, and one stretch task for whoever finishes first.

   Takeaway: you widen the room's fit with hints and stretch tasks, not by finding a perfect pace.

4. 4
   One idea per stepNew information first passes through working memory, which holds only a few new things at once: about four chunks, by most estimates (Nelson Cowan, 2001). Teach six new ideas before anyone practises, and some of them are gone before the first exercise starts.InteractiveHands-on

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   New information first passes through working memory, which holds only a few new things at once: about four chunks, by most estimates (Nelson Cowan, 2001). Teach six new ideas before anyone practises, and some of them are gone before the first exercise starts. This is the core of cognitive load theory (John Sweller, 1988): the limit is real, so the design has to respect it.

   The fix is simple: fewer new ideas at a time, each one practised before the next arrives. Something practised doesn't have to wait in those few slots.

   Try it: add ideas to one step, then split them. The picture is a simplification of how memory works, not a measurement.

   Interactive · How many new ideas fit in one go — try it in the lesson

   Look at your own outline: if any part teaches more than two or three new things before an exercise, split it.

   Takeaway: teach a little, let them use it, then teach the next little.

5. 5
   Show it, do it together, then let them do it aloneA new skill moves from you to the learners in three moves, often called I do, we do, you do (the gradual release of responsibility, Pearson and Gallagher, 1983): I do: you work an example on the screen and think out loud, including the choices a beginner…InteractiveHands-on

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   A new skill moves from you to the learners in three moves, often called I do, we do, you do (the gradual release of responsibility, Pearson and Gallagher, 1983):

   1. I do: you work an example on the screen and think out loud, including the choices a beginner wouldn't see.
   2. We do: a second example, worked out by the room with you guiding and asking why.
   3. You do: a third, done by everyone alone while you walk around.

   Studying a worked example before solving helps beginners more than being thrown straight into a problem (the worked-example effect, Sweller and Cooper, 1985). The middle step is the one most often skipped, and it is where you catch misunderstandings while the whole room is still with you.

   Try it: step through the three moves for a customer-support workshop.

   Interactive · Who does the work: I do, we do, you do — try it in the lesson

   For your workshop: pick the hardest skill and write the three examples you will use for I do, we do and you do.

   Takeaway: move the work from you to them in three steps, and don't skip the one in the middle.

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   Plan the hour: short talks, an exercise after eachNow put it together. A workable rhythm for a hands-on hour is a cycle: a short talk or demo, an exercise, a quick check of what they made, then the next idea.InteractiveHands-on

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   Now put it together. A workable rhythm for a hands-on hour is a cycle: a short talk or demo, an exercise, a quick check of what they made, then the next idea. A common rule of thumb among trainers is to keep each stretch of talking to about 10 to 15 minutes before learners do something: people can't practise while they listen, and long talks hide who is lost.

   The planner below starts with a typical first draft. Press a block to remove it, add blocks below, and read what the planner says. Aim for a full 60 minutes, no talk longer than 15, and a check after every exercise.

   Interactive · Workshop planner: one hour — try it in the lesson

   One plan that passes: Talk 5, Exercise 10, Check 3, Talk 5, Exercise 10, Check 3, Talk 5, Exercise 10, Check 3, Talk 5. Then sketch your own workshop the same way, on paper or in the planner.

   Takeaway: an hour is a cycle of talk, exercise and check, with no talk longer than about 15 minutes.

7. Check: objectives, pace and the planQuiz · 4 questions

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   Question 1. Which objective could you check in the room?

   • Understand how to handle angry customers
   • Be aware of our complaint process
   • Write a reply to an angry customer email using the three-step format, in under 10 minutes
   • Know about good customer service

   Question 2. A learner finishes the exercise in two minutes. What did the plan need?

   • A faster pace for the whole room
   • A stretch task for whoever finishes early
   • A longer talk before the exercise
   • Nothing: they can wait

   Question 3. About how many new things can working memory hold at once?

   • One
   • About four
   • About twelve
   • As many as the slides show

   Question 4. In "I do, we do, you do", what happens in "we do"?

   • The trainer works an example alone and thinks aloud
   • The room works out an example together while the trainer guides
   • Everyone works alone while the trainer walks around
   • Learners teach each other with no trainer
8. 7
   Find who's stuck before they tell you"Any questions?" is the most common check in training, and it finds very little. People who are lost often don't know what to ask, don't want to say so in front of colleagues, or think everyone else has got it. Silence after "Any questions?" tells you nothing.InteractiveHands-on

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   "Any questions?" is the most common check in training, and it finds very little. People who are lost often don't know what to ask, don't want to say so in front of colleagues, or think everyone else has got it. Silence after "Any questions?" tells you nothing.

   What works is seeing their work, not their hands: everyone shows their answer at once (on paper held up, in a shared document, a quick poll, or on screen), you walk the room and read, or each person marks when they are done and when they are stuck. Then you know who to help while there is still time.

   Try it: this class of 20 is made up, and 6 of them are stuck. Try each way of finding them.

   Interactive · Three ways to find who is stuck — try it in the lesson

   For your workshop: decide how each exercise will show you their work. Write it next to each exercise in your plan.

   Takeaway: look at their work, not at the hands that go up.

9. 8
   Check that it worked: four levels"Did they like it?" is the easiest thing to measure and the least useful on its own. Donald Kirkpatrick's four levels (first published in 1959) are the most widely used way to think about what else to check: Reaction: did they find it useful and engaging?InteractiveHands-on

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   "Did they like it?" is the easiest thing to measure and the least useful on its own. Donald Kirkpatrick's four levels (first published in 1959) are the most widely used way to think about what else to check:

   1. Reaction: did they find it useful and engaging?
   2. Learning: can they now do what the objective says?
   3. Behaviour: do they use it back at work?
   4. Results: did it change what the team or the company measures?

   Each level is harder to measure and takes longer to show. A workshop you design yourself should at least check level 2 in the room, through the exercises and a final quiz, and plan how to look at level 3 a few weeks later.

   Try it: press each level to see what it asks and how to measure it.

   Interactive · Kirkpatrick's four levels of evaluation — try it in the lesson

   For your workshop: write how you will check level 2 in the room, and one question you will ask the learners or their manager a month later for level 3.

   Takeaway: check that they can do it (level 2) in the room, and plan a look at their work weeks later (level 3).

10. 9
    Myths to drop, findings to keepTraining is full of confident claims. Some have strong evidence behind them; some have none. Before you build a workshop on a claim, it's worth knowing which is which. Try it: decide for each card whether it holds up or is a myth, then read why.InteractiveHands-on

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    Training is full of confident claims. Some have strong evidence behind them; some have none. Before you build a workshop on a claim, it's worth knowing which is which.

    Try it: decide for each card whether it holds up or is a myth, then read why.

    Interactive · Holds up, or myth? — try it in the lesson

    For your workshop: look at your plan for a final quiz (retrieval) and a short follow-up a week later (spacing). Add them if they're missing.

    Takeaway: build on retrieval, spacing and worked examples; drop learning styles and the learning pyramid.