In today’s Advisor, we hear from one expert on how she keeps her training lively and engaging so her trainees are always awake and aware.
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Safety professional and author, Barbara Hilyer, a former training program director of the University of Alabama (UAB) Center for Labor Education and Research in Birmingham, is a firm believer in the power of humor. She keeps the tone light, dares to act silly, and insists that her audience have fun during the session. She is convinced that a more lighthearted approach to safety training keeps participants awake, attentive, and more likely to benefit.
The way she opened a recent conference session demonstrates her approach. She had collected best training practices from colleagues across the country, printed them out, cut them up, and inserted them into colorful plastic eggs. Then she added some candy, called them Eggs of Wisdom, and tossed them into the audience.
The technique was a great crowd-pleaser and, because she included the e-mail addresses of those who submitted the ideas, encourages trainers to network for maximum effectiveness.
Hilyer explains that the approach she’s developed over the years emphasizes “participatory training.” Simply put, that means trainees should be doing something whenever possible.
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The biggest problem with training, she says, is that videotapes and lectures are typically boring. Hilyer does acknowledge a place for lectures, such as when the information is particularly technical.
“In a hazmat course we might develop a module where we’d take people out in the yard and blow up a couple of things first to get their attention. Then, we’d follow up with a lecture about the chemicals we mixed together, why they blew up, and what might have happened if there had been large quantities involved.”
When employees are energized and eager to learn, amazing things can happen, says Hilyer. Over the years, she’s gleaned many good ideas from those she’s trained.
She came away from a 3-day training session at a paper mill with a successful technique she’s put to use many times since. Its purpose is to demonstrate the need for trainers to develop precise, written, operating procedures, whatever the process involved.
Hilyer says the first step in the “peanut butter and jelly sandwich” activity is to divide the room into groups and tell each group to write specific procedures for making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
When the groups are done, Hilyer unveils bread, peanut butter, jelly, and utensils. The groups exchange their instructions, and as one group member reads, the others do exactly—and only—what the instructions suggest.
It’s inevitable, says Hilyer, that some of the groups forget basic steps, such as “open the jar of peanut butter.”
The result is quite funny … and quite instructive, she says. Participants enjoy the activity and remember the lesson.
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In tomorrow’s Advisor, we’ll hear from Hilyer on the importance of peer training.