Table of Contents

Humbled by these SMEs

Facilitators

What would you do if you were in a technical training being led by SMEs and suddenly, out the window, you spy a monkey being led around on a leash? Would you…

  1. Ignore the monkey and stay 100% focused on the technical content being shared
  2. Stare out the window wishing you could trade places with the monkey

I’ve attended many technical training sessions, and personally, I would often choose “2”, wishing I could be doing anything else, anyplace else in the world… even if that meant I was a monkey being led around on a leash.

A funny thing happened last week when I was in Delhi for a 2-day training workshop. A guy walked by the window with a monkey on a leash. Nobody paid any attention to what was going on outside. The class remained 100% engrossed in the technical training at hand. I was impressed with the way these SMEs facilitated the session, and humbled by the effort they put into this workshop, from the design to the wrap up.

Building a New Kind of Learning Experience

Going into the planning phase, these SMEs gave me all the time that I asked for as I requested meetings to plan this session out.

We knew that we’d need to overcome a significant language barrier in order to deliver the content. We only speak English. Many of our participants preferred Hindi or other local languages. I suggested we avoid lecture as much as possible (even though lecture can constitute significant chunks of this training program when delivered in the US) and instead use small group discussions and activities. This design would allow the audience to see and experience the content, processing it in the language with which they were most comfortable.

There were no protests from the SMEs when I showed them a first draft of this program that had reduced the number of slides we’d use from 86 (based on the US version) to 0. To my great surprise, these SMEs could have cared less about PowerPoint.

Forgoing All Others

Prep

I’ve struggle in the past with getting SMEs to take preparation and presentation rehearsal seriously. I’m often told by SMEs that they’re too busy to rehearse a presentation and that they know the material well enough to deliver it with fluency.

As we began to make travel arrangements, this set of SMEs readily agreed to leave the comfort of their homes and the loving embrace of their family members (not to mention the loads of work that began to pile up on their desks) in order to arrive in Delhi a day early and walk through the entire set of lesson plans for the 2-day training session. They wanted to ensure the learners would be given the best experience necessary.

Flexibility

We began the session a little late on the first day, which meant we were behind on the agenda immediately. Instead of insisting that every last word in the lesson plan was essential and continuing to run more and more behind on the schedule, the SMEs identified areas that could be condensed or cut or assigned as homework in order to get back on schedule by the end of the day.

The Ideal SMEs?

In the end, it was clear that the SMEs I worked with on this training program were most passionate about the learners’ experience and the outcomes of this training.

While many SMEs that I work with put their content first (or sometimes their egos come first, then their content), these SMEs put the learners first. As I reflect on this experience, I’m hoping to figure out a way to bottle their attitude and bring it to future projects with other SMEs.

Their attitude and effort did not go unrewarded. Apparently I have a reputation for being intense and very serious, especially when it comes to training. In appreciation of their effort and attitude, I was willing to briefly put my intense, serious nature on hold one evening and give them a glimpse of a different side of my personality. It was only an instant, and don’t expect me to do it again. I allowed them to capture that one instant on film.

Tongue

Ok, enough of that. This is called the Train Like A Champion blog for a reason. It’s time to get back to work on our next project and kick some more training ass!

Instructor-Led Training Resources

These are some of our favorite resources to support everyone involved with instructor-led training.

Training Delivery and Facilitation Competency Rubric

A rubric is a way to assess performance with a standard set of evaluation criteria. The next time you need to assess the performance of someone delivering training (even if that someone is you), you may find this rubric helpful.

The Role of Co-facilitators

Co-facilitators play an important role in a training workshop. The most obvious benefit is that when you co-facilitate, you get a break from leading the

18 Instructor-led Training Activities

Engaging, intentional, face-to-face and virtual instructor-led training activities can make the difference between a session that helps learners to apply new skills or knowledge and one that falls flat.

Articles Similar to Humbled by these SMEs

facilitator competency rubric
ILT & VILT
Brian Washburn

Training Delivery and Facilitation Competency Rubric

A rubric is a way to assess performance with a standard set of evaluation criteria. The next time you need to assess the performance of someone delivering training (even if that someone is you), you may find this rubric helpful.

instructor becomes the pupil with kassy laborie and zovig garboushian
ILT & VILT
Brian Washburn

Turning the Tables: From Trainer to Student

As people who have designed and delivered effective training, Kassy Laborie and Zovig Garboushian know a thing or two about good learning experiences. So what nuggets have they gleaned from a 9-month course that they’re both attending, and that all of us should consider when designing our own programs? Today’s podcast answers that question.

John Crook on role play
ILT & VILT
Brian Washburn

Is this the world’s most effective role play?

When it comes to your training participants, two of the dirtiest, or perhaps scariest, words you can say during a session may be: role play. In today’s podcast, John Crook, Head of Learning at Intersol Global, offers some thoughts on how to make role plays more authentic and robust.

Subscribe to Get Updates from Endurance Learning

Brian Washburn, Author

Brian Washburn
CEO & Chief Ideas Guy

Enter your information below and we’ll send you the latest updates from our blog. Thanks for following!

activities cookbook

Download the Training Activity Cookbook

Enter your email below and we’ll send you the PDF of the Endurance Learning Activity Cookbook.

Find Your L&D Career Path

Explore the range of careers to understand what role might be a good fit for your L&D career.

Enter your email below and we’ll send you the PDF of the What’s Possible in L&D Worksheet.

What's possible in L&D

Let's Talk Training!

Brian Washburn

Brian Washburn
CEO & Chief Ideas Guy

Enter your information below and we’ll get back to you soon.

Download the Feedback Lesson Plan

Enter your email below and we’ll send you the lesson plan as a PDF.

feedback lesson plan
MS Word Job Aid Template

Download the Microsoft Word Job Aid Template

Enter your email below and we’ll send you the Word version of this template.

Download the Free Lesson Plan Template!

Enter your email below and we’ll send you a Word document that you can start using today!

free lesson plan template
training materials checklist

Download the Training Materials Checklist

Enter your email below and we’ll send you the PDF of the Training Materials Checklist.

Subscribe to Endurance Learning for updates

Get regular updates from the Endurance Learning team.