How can we help “part-time trainers” — people who may not have training in their job title nor do they have a background in instructional design or adult learning theory but who are asked to train others — how can we help them be more effective when they deliver training?
Some organizations offer a train-the-trainer program, but I’ve found that a lot of organizations leave their “part-time trainers” to fend for themselves. To their credit, many of these part-time trainers have deep subject matter expertise and stories and experiences to help them train others. Other part-time trainers blast their learners with lots of content.
If you’d like to help your part-time trainers (or perhaps if you’re a part-time trainer yourself), perhaps this Training Facilitator Evaluation Rubric, focused on basic training delivery and facilitation competencies, will help.
There are four essential competencies for anyone (whether you’re a part-time trainer or if this is the bulk of your work) who delivers and facilitates training, with descriptions of what it looks like to demonstrate each competency at a “developing facilitator” level, “proficient facilitator” level, and “master facilitator” level.
Subject-Matter Expertise
This competency revolves around how well you know the content. While complete mastery of the content isn’t necessary, Training Industry reported on a study by L&D Partners that concluded that there is actually a correlation between content mastery and overall training delivery, and that if trainers don’t master the content they are delivering, that weakness could overshadow their delivery skills.
Content mastery is important, but as you can see, it’s only one of the four pillars to this competency rubric. Solely knowing the content well is not nearly enough to be considered a competent training facilitator.
Presentation Skills
Perhaps you think “presentation skills” and “training delivery” are synonymous, but for the purpose of this rubric, the concept of presentation skills specifically refers to the manner in which you deliver your words, respond to your learners, and present your body language.
Flexibility
Keep in mind that training isn’t just about what information you share or how closely you stick to the training materials (your facilitator guide or lesson plan, your slides, etc. – which are indeed important), but also how you read the room and meet the needs of your learners. The degree to which you can balance the goals of your training session with the needs of your learners will have a big impact on the outcome.
Results-Focused
At the end of the day, you deliver training so that people can do something new or differently or better. This particular competency is what differentiates a trainer who says: “I plan to cover _____” from a trainer who says: “By the end of this session, my learners will be able to ____”. The former ensures that you say what you want to say. The latter creates an environment where relevant knowledge can be learned, new skills can be developed, and on-the-job behaviors can change.
You can download a pdf of the Facilitator Evaluation Rubric. Fill out the form below with your email.
If you’d like to know more about this Training Facilitator Evaluation Rubric, if you’d like to bring a train-the-trainer program to your team, and/or if you just want to talk about effective training design and delivery, feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn or send me an email: brian@endurancelearning.com
