What kind of training worth its salt doesn’t have some type of action plan activity toward the end?
How many training professionals know whether or not their learners even think about those action plans once they’ve returned to their office?
Several years ago when I began facilitating a diversity training designed by Casey Family Programs called Knowing Who You Are, I was introduced to 2-ply, carbonless paper (if you go to a print shop, the official name for this paper is “2 part NCR paper”) as a way to help the facilitator follow-up with learners about their action plans. The learner would write her action plan on this paper, tear off the top copy and take it with her, then put the second copy in a self-addressed envelope. The facilitator would send that envelope to each learner 45 days after the training session as a reminder on what the learner had committed to doing.
You can get the same result if you collect everyone’s action plans and make photocopies, but I find the 2-ply carbonless paper to be much easier, much quicker and it involves many fewer logistics. You can have something printed on this paper by sending an electronic file to your favorite print shop or by going to a place like Office Max.
I’ve used this tool in a variety of ways to help follow-up on training with my learners. I’ve also found 3 part NCR paper helpful by offering the third copy to immediate supervisors so they can help follow up on the training and review action plans when their employees return to their offices.
The Train Like A Champion blog is published on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. These brief “Training Tip” posts are a series of quick reference tips that are published while your beloved Train Like A Champion blogger is currently enjoying a little vacation. The more in-depth posts will resume again in August.
