101 Training Activities

I've had a look through and agree there is some fab and detailed stuff here and I like the way in which it provides a comprehensive breakdown on how each exercise can be used. It's like anything though - it's about balance.

I'm going to play devils advocate here a little on the topic of balance and whilst I appreciate that in the right place and delivered the right way these activities can support introductions, team building and the transfer of knowledge and learning that if used incorrectly these activities can actually detract from learning and instead become the focus of the session.

I'll tell you where this has come from as this might just be me and my experience....as a trainer in a large contact centre environment I was part of the team of 6 trainers all of which had a 'trainers kitbag' and a couple of these trainers played a lot of games (some of them described in the document) to the point that they didn't have a reputation specifically as trainers but rather the trainer who's sessions were a lot of fun and played games. In fact I was questioned a few times in my sessions 'when are we playing the games' and because I wasn't playing games as such people became disengaged - begs the question why they were there in the first place but that's another discussion

Whilst I appreciate this may be isolated I can't help feel that sometimes if these exercises/games are used in the wrong way they actually harm the approach or even the culture of learning in an organisation as training can be seen as the 'fun time' and people attend training to get away from the day job rather than really there to learn. Within organisations Learning & Development must be the architects of learning and create conditions where learning can take place that ultimately impacts and improves performance - sometimes we need to be and it's right to be creative in the way in which we do this but it is about balance.

Can you see where I'm coming from? Is it more about the trainers skills in using the exercises correctly and at the right time?

What exercises do you use the most Krystyna and in what situations?

Replies

Mike Collins August 6, 2014 at 4:02pm

Link now fixed
Mike Collins October 20, 2012 at 9:17am

Thanks for letting us know Adam will look in to why the links broken cheers
- Howard Rose > Mike Collins October 22, 2012 at 12:56am
  
  Not working for me either Sunday 21 Oct
Adam Harwood October 19, 2012 at 11:50pm

The link seems to be broken to this now.
Mike Collins July 26, 2012 at 10:49am

I've had a look through and agree there is some fab and detailed stuff here and I like the way in which it provides a comprehensive breakdown on how each exercise can be used. It's like anything though - it's about balance.

I'm going to play devils advocate here a little on the topic of balance and whilst I appreciate that in the right place and delivered the right way these activities can support introductions, team building and the transfer of knowledge and learning that if used incorrectly these activities can actually detract from learning and instead become the focus of the session.

I'll tell you where this has come from as this might just be me and my experience....as a trainer in a large contact centre environment I was part of the team of 6 trainers all of which had a 'trainers kitbag' and a couple of these trainers played a lot of games (some of them described in the document) to the point that they didn't have a reputation specifically as trainers but rather the trainer who's sessions were a lot of fun and played games. In fact I was questioned a few times in my sessions 'when are we playing the games' and because I wasn't playing games as such people became disengaged - begs the question why they were there in the first place but that's another discussion

Whilst I appreciate this may be isolated I can't help feel that sometimes if these exercises/games are used in the wrong way they actually harm the approach or even the culture of learning in an organisation as training can be seen as the 'fun time' and people attend training to get away from the day job rather than really there to learn. Within organisations Learning & Development must be the architects of learning and create conditions where learning can take place that ultimately impacts and improves performance - sometimes we need to be and it's right to be creative in the way in which we do this but it is about balance.

Can you see where I'm coming from? Is it more about the trainers skills in using the exercises correctly and at the right time?

What exercises do you use the most Krystyna and in what situations?
Duncan Drummond July 25, 2012 at 11:30am

Thanks for that Krys Looks very useful

This reply was deleted.

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