Ten ideas to...

Hélène Russell presents ten ways in which to maximise the effectiveness of technical training sessions

Improving your technical training
One: Divide and conquer
Don’t always train your team or department as a whole. Think about dividing them into different groups for different topics. Try mixed ability sessions (large and small) and single ability sessions, depending on the subject matter. Sometimes you will want to cascade down wisdom or experience from the partners to the junior staff and sometimes you simply need to bring everyone up to date on black-letter law. People can be reluctant to speak up in larger groups and sessions can be hijacked by certain fee earners: dividing groups up can minimise these problems.

Two: Alternative formats
When we have to prepare a training session, too many of us reach for MS PowerPoint or Word and produce either a presentation or handout, without thinking about the alternatives. There are many potential formats for a training session – for example, case studies, question and answer sessions, workshops, webinars with facilitated discussions afterwards, Gurteen knowledge cafés. Even audience participation in a mini-play or demonstration (this worked well for me once in an introductory training session on fatal accidents, with various fee earners pretending to be widows and children). Consider which format will suit your subject matter best. Initially this may appear to create extra work, but it can make the session more memorable and more interesting to prepare and present.

Three: Start the session with a bang
Everyone knows how difficult it is for fee earners to switch off from their work and concentrate in a lunchtime session. Why not start the session with a case study or a question and answer session. You can always repeat the questions or a similar case study at the end to see what people have learnt.

Four: Avoid silences and use stooges
Why not pre-warn some attendees about the questions you will be asking the group to get the discussion started, or ask a few colleagues to think of one interesting question or discussion point each.

Five: Offer rewards
Incentivise your attendees for participation. Gold chocolate coins for contributors in a session on quantum? Jelly beans for the first correct answer in a quiz?

Six: Change the presenter
You may be responsible for the training programme, but there is no need to always be the presenter. A fee earner with a deficit in CPD points may be keen to get the points for preparing the session, as will someone who is looking for greater visibility. And the trainees can always gain valuable experience.

Seven: Mix it up
You needn’t always focus on a single topic in a single session. Try a magazine format of a number of ten minute snippets. This format is useful for getting junior fee earners involved in training.

Eight: Make the topics relevant
An e-mail asking for suggestions for training will probably be met with silence, so why not start a focus group? Draft in help from a small group of fee earners, who assume responsibility for suggesting topics and asking colleagues for their ideas. This should ensure that your sessions are particularly relevant to day-to-day practice.

Nine: Keep the audience engaged throughout
Use a variety of techniques (questions, quizzes, multimedia) throughout the session, not just at the end, to keep people engaged. This can be as simple as asking what they think the outcome of a case will be and taking votes by a show of hands before you reveal the judgment.

Ten: Make the most of the knowledge created
At the end of each session make the most of the knowledge that has emerged. Can your discussions be turned into an article or client seminar? Has one fee earner shown a particular interest or flair and could be persuaded to develop their knowledge further – preparing or reviewing knowledge packs on your intranet or precedents?

If some of these tips have worked well for you or triggered your own solutions, why not share your experiences at the Knowledge Network West discussion board, or join the discussion at the LinkedIn group, PSL UK.

Hélène Russell of The Knowledge Business provides training and consultancy in Knowledge Management to the professional services sector. She is also Founder of Knowledge Network West, the knowledge-sharing and networking group for KM professionals in the West. Contact her on 07548 912 779 or visit www.theknowledgebusiness.co.uk