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Guidelines for an Effective Online Training Module

Peter van der Reijden — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:51:26 +0000

Everyday an online training is created on TrainTool. Besides the fact that this is something worth celebrating, this post is long overdue: what does an effective online training module look like? Here are our guidelines.

We will probably revise this post regularly, but this is what we hear ourselves repeating almost daily. And although these guidelines stem from our experiences with TrainTool, most of them are generically applicable.

#1 – Think about the learning flow for the participant

Almost all online modules are used in addition to other training interventions (usually classroom). This means that the participant is confronted with different types of learning experiences. Think about the learner’s flow and keep the following 3 tips in mind for your online training modules:

1. Schedule a completion date. If an online training module is meant as an ‘intersession’ activity (something they need to do in between classroom sessions), make sure participants finish them before the next session.
2. Reinforce what has been learnt before.
3. Prepare learners for the next session.

#2 – A module (or ‘lesson’) should be one coherent chunk

A participant should be able to finish a module in one sitting (as such, some trainers simply call it a lesson). Divide your content in a way that makes each individual module an isolated chunk that teaches the participant a coherent theme.

We distinguish two types of module that work well:
1. Modules that focus on a single skill: for example 8 exercises, each challenging participants on their Empathy or Interviewing skills.
2. Modules that ‘model’ a typical conversation: for example, a single module that walks the participant through an exemplary sales conversation in which the first two exercises focus on introducing yourself, the second two on asking the right questions, etc.

#3 – Start a module with ‘theory’ and examples

Context is everything. Start your modules with some ‘theory’ (for example, the 7 Step Sales Model that is used within the organization). Adding good/bad examples and an instructional video helps the participant prepare for the exercises ahead.

#4 – Craft clear learning objectives

Good: ‘You are able to give positive feedback’ << focuses on your behavior, which you can influence
Bad: ‘Your feedback is perceived as being positive and constructive’ << focuses on how others perceive you

#5 – Each exercise should focus on a single subskill

This helps the learner to really zoom in on that particular subskill and practice it (and only that) until they get the specifics right. Also, it helps the trainer give clear and focused feedback.

The soccer analogy here is that it’s much more efficient to practice your free kick 20 times in a row, instead of playing 20 matches to do the same.

#6 – Short is good. Think 20 – 60 minutes

People ‘do’ online training before breakfast, in between meetings or anytime they can squeeze in some time. Keep this in mind and limit the time it takes.

10 minutes = +/- 1 x Theory and 2 webcam interaction exercises

#7 – When it comes to video, Good is Good Enough

We find that as long as the quality of the video is not extremely troublesome (which happens for example when the video and audio are out of sync), learners will hardly notice the difference. First, people are used to YouTube quality. But more importantly, learners are too busy with themselves (How am I doing? What should I keep in mind?).

Bonus tip: Easily Record Tailormade Videos

Want to exceed their expectations? Ask the group about real-case situations they encountered and record these into the module. This greatly enhances the ‘face validity’ of the module and it’s real easy to do.

TrainTool is zelf geen trainingsbureau maar helpt trainers bij het slim ‘onliniseren’ van hun aanbod. Geen lastige it-speeltjes maar gebruiksvriendelijke en onderwijskundig doordachte manieren om leren leuk en effectief te laten zijn. Onze focus ligt op het online trainen van soft skills en onbeperkt oefenen is daarbij het credo. In dit blog vind je artikelen over online training, didactiek en vaardigheidsontwikkeling.

The Importance of the Online Trainer

Peter van der Reijden — Thu, 10 May 2012 14:56:20 +0000

The trainer is the most important ingredient of a successful online training. More specifically: the motivation, structure and feedback a good trainer provides. So says Torstein Rekkedal from the Norwegian NKI (with over 12K students). And we agree.

Rekkedal presented at the congress of European Association for Distance Learning today. Although we weren’t there, Wilfred Rubens was and wrote a good summary of his talk (find it here, in Dutch).

The findings of the NKI are very consistent with what we experience each day and we feel they deserve more attention. We strongly believe that online training will never ‘replace’ the trainer (although his/her role will change). Let’s get into two of the aspects Rekkedal mentions and how we experience this:

Structure and motivation

The flexibility of online training is both its biggest strength and weakness. One can learn whenever and wherever. But, regardless of someone’s motivation, sticking to it is a challenge when they are trying to change behavior.

We find that having a personal trainer invested in their success is incredibly important for our participants.

First of all, it’s more fun.
Second, most participants are eager not to let their trainer down. It’s always easier to disappoint yourself than someone else. Pride is at stake.
Third, having someone ‘safe’ remind them why they are doing this, is an important motivator.
Finally, being able to pace your own development, is hard. A trainer will force you to move beyond your comfort zone, going faster than you think you can handle or focussing on that single subskill when you’ve already lost your interest.

Response time

The research also points out the importance of the trainer’s feedback and specifically its timeliness and expertise.

From a didactic perspective, the difference between a response after 60 minutes or after 24 hours is not too exciting. It’s either immediate feedback, or it isn’t. But for motivation, the average response time is very important to participants (and that’s why we measure it).

Personalized expert feedback

But most importantly, and this is the reason that we don’t belive e-learning is there to replace trainers, is the fact that personalized, expert feedback from the trainer is probably the most important part to actually change.

This is most visible when we compare feedback from peers with feedback from the coach. The quality between the two and the extent to which someone is really confronted with their learning challenges is striking. Seeing someones challenges and knowing how to make them better is a real skill in itself.

Would you like to know more about this research? Check out Rekkedal’s paper, his presentation or Wilfred Rubens writeup (Dutch).

Webcam Interaction: 9 tips for the best clips

Peter van der Reijden — Wed, 02 May 2012 15:14:39 +0000

A webcam exercise has three parts: an assignment (context+instruction) a clip with an actor and the response of the participant. My last blog was about writing the assignment, this one about making a good clip.

Tips for the script

Suppose your assignment is as follows:
You are a salesmanager and in a meeting with client Bob his willingness to buy seems to decrease. Find out why.
What is the text for actor Bob? For example:
Lets take some time, perhaps its better to discuss this again after the summer, there is a lot going on in our firm and I prefer a good landing of your proposition.

The precise text is not that important but it is relevant to consider a few ‘rules’:

Keep it short, between 5-50 seconds
Stay close to the learning objectives and goals, 1 exercise=1 goal and often this difficult enough. It helps the coach to give his feedback directly on the learning objective
Trigger the participant by provocation, formulation, too vague or too clear etc.

Tips for acting

Good acting for a webcam exercise is about

Really empathize with that skeptic customer, angry colleague etc.
Support the message with appropriate emotion (better a bit too much than too little)
A credible actor in terms of pronunciation, clothing, setting

Tips for recording the clip

Because most people are accustomed to YouTube quality and the goal is working material rather than a short movie, we recommend to keep recording simple and practical:

A well lit area without environment issues that distract
Use a fast and pc compatible device such as a small camera or Iphone or use the option ‘record from webcam’ in the TrainTool author environment
Work towards a clip that is 1:1 useful so you do not need to edit. That means focusing on start/stop moment and better 5x times over rather than cutting.

Good luck!

Three Myths About Online Training

Peter van der Reijden — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 12:15:20 +0000

Online training has been ‘the next big thing’ for more than a decade now. A lot has happened in that time, but not all in favor of its reputation. When we talk to trainers, we often hear they have to fight the myths that still exist about online training. Here are the 3 most encountered.

#1. It’s boring

I’m not sure “e-learning” will ever trigger a positive emotion with participants and I blame traditional, linear click-through presentations. Those compliance trainings or ‘management development’ trainings that consist of a couple of slides one goes through.
Preferably, they should also have a lecture with voice-overs in multiple languages. Oh can I have some multiple choice questions with that, for which the correct answer is always C?

Ok, I might be overreacting a bit. But I will not rest until those courses are extinct. Because those ‘elearnings’ make people skeptical to the exciting possibilities online training offers to make training fun. Think of how many people are addicted to Facebook or gaming and see that as an indicator of where online training could be headed. Because the right tools can make online training personal, challenging and social.

#2. It will (or should…) ‘automate’ training

Training consists of many activities and a lot of them can be brought online. More specifically, Competence comes with Knowledge, Attitude and Skill. And when it comes to Knowledge transfer, a good case can be made that this can and should be automated. A right answer is always right and a computer can check how someone’s scoring.

But when training means changing your Attitude or practicing your Skills, there will always be a trainer. There will always be that critical moment in which a participant realises that there might actually be a better way to do things. Or the feedback that an inexperienced peer simply cannot give and self-reflection does not provide.

In other words: online training does not mean that the job title Trainer will disappear. Quite the opposite. Online training might mean that the amount of time spent in the classroom training decreases (but honestly, who really thinks that’s a bad thing..?). But most of all, online training enables trainers to leverage their expertise in more and often more effective ways.

#3. It is less effective

Thinking of the ‘elearnings’ in #1 and yes, I agree. But a good online training module, used for the right reasons and the right context can be extremely effective. Usually even more so, when combined with other (face to face) learning activities as well.

Research in this area is still nascent, but the effectiveness of online training for knowledge has often been ‘proven’. Also, some experts we interviewed clearly agree that soft skills can effectively be trained online: Hans de Zwart, Wilfred Rubens, Marcel de Leeuwe.

I’m curious for your opinion on the myths surrounding online training. Let me know in the comments or contact us! Want to get updates about this blog or online training of soft skills in general, sign-up for our newsletter!

Writing good Webcam Interaction Assignments

Marijn de Geus — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 09:37:40 +0000

Webcam interaction assignments enable participants to train their soft skills. After a short introduction how this works, you’ll find a couple of tips for the content developers.

How does it work?

A participants reads a short instruction (you’re in a conversation with…). Then he or she is confronted with a real-life situation. For example: a bored customer, an important sales opportunity or an angry manager. When the actor stops talking, the webcam records the participant’s response. He or she will view his or her own response, try again or ask feedback from peers or trainer.

Some examples

A. You are a salesmanager in conversation with client Bob. Bob withdraws his prior buying signals. Try to find out why.
B. Your prospect Emma gives you a buying signal. Respond using the OPS method you learned earlier in this course.
C. The company you work for is going through a rough time, including the inevitable layoffs and anxious atmosphere. Due to your commercial responsibility, this puts a heavy emphasis on your contribution to the bottom line! In this case you are talking with one of your relations about a possible new assignment. Good luck!

Tip 1: Pull people into the situation right away.

A case instruction should leave no doubt about the context and the role the participant has to play. Usually it is short and factual. A lot of text and context, like in example C, usually distract and invite the participant to imagine all sorts of extra details. Try to keep it short and simple: ‘You are a salesmanager.’.

Tip 2. Give a clear and assessable assignment.

When used for training (and not assessment), the webcam interaction tool is about experimenting and grinding in new behavior. You can literally ‘script’ it with our autocue/teleprompter. A step further is suggesting new behavior (in example A: try to find out, in B: use OPS method). You want the participant to transfer new behavior to the workplace. That means that for the self-reflection of the participant and feedback from peers and trainer, it is functional to have clear assignments that allow them to assess if the desired behavior is actually shown. With targeted assignments such as A and B, that’s possible. Example C however, will probably trigger the participant to behave ‘natural’. This is interesting for tests or an intake but allows too many options (for the participant and the feedback giver) to really focus on grinding in new behavior.

Tip 3. Customize to your client

It is really easy to create a webcam interaction assignment: you type in the assignment and record the video in a couple of minutes. This means that customizing assignments to clients is a real opportunity! One of our clients was training account managers for a pension fund. They had to combine telling bad news (‘you are going to have to contribute even more’) with renegotiating the contract. Together the trainer and account managers collected the hardest responses they expected, recorded these and plugged them into an online training module. With this tailor made approach, the account managers could prepare themselves optimally for the conversations ahead.

5 Questions to Hans de Zwart, Innovation Manager Learning Technologies

Peter van der Reijden — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 09:05:40 +0000

This blog is about online training, instructional design and skill development. In our series 5 Questions to: Hans de Zwart, Innovation Manager for Global Learning Technologies at Shell, keynote speaker at the last E-Learning Event and blogger.

1. To what extent to you believe soft skills can be trained online?

“Believe” is probably the right verb for this question. Learning technology is still too often driven by opinions. Having said so, I definitely believe in it. First: a lot of soft skills have become online skills: how you behave in an online community, how you share knowledge through microblogging, or how you can be a good team member in an international virtual team. Additionally, it’s perfectly possible to practice all sorts of soft skills online. I see a natural increase of the “fidelity” of the practice process: from practicing in simple webchats, to practice in teleconferences, to practice with webcams or maybe even telepresence spaces. Finally, I think good design enables training of all sorts of skills.

2. What developments in the field of online training of soft skills do you find most promising? Can you name an example?

The biggest “opportunity space” is gaming. Recently I have been investigating two examples of games that try to train soft skills online:

X-Team is a 3D game in which you have to visit as many pagodes as possible, before getting to the finish line in time. These pagodes are at islands that can only be reached through bridges. Each bridge can only be crossed a limited number of times (you are with 12, but only 6 people can cross the bridge, wat do you do?). Everything is measured, making it easy to guide a teambuilding process through facilitation and adjusting the game’s parameters.
Code 4 from Hubbub and Demovides is a game that is played in runs of three weeks. This video explains the game (Dutch):

Code 4 (NL) from Hubbub on Vimeo.

3. What do you think is the biggest challenge in training soft skills online?

Practice is key in developing skills, so that’s the biggest challenge: How do you get people to do what they find really difficult? How do you get them beyond their fear of trying new behavior? Well developed games might just be the solution to this.

4. In the evolution of learning, are there things you hope/desire and/or you’re afraid of?

Alan Kay has a famous definition of technology: “Technology is everything that didn’t exist when you were born”. His pal Danny Hillis has an even better definition: “Technology is everything that doesn’t work yet”. We no longer call an elevator, technology. So I’m looking forward to seeing things we still call technology, actually work. For a nice example of how that could look like for smartphones with apps, read this (beneath “Why Mobile Apps Must Die”).

Being afraid is not something that fits in with how I look at life. I think we, as people, will always figure out our relationship with technology. But if I have to name something, I worry about the integrity of the Internet with the web as a platform for innovation on top of it. The five ”stacks” (as Bruce Sterling calls them): Amazon, Apple, Google, Microsoft and Facebook are all working hard to build closed ecosystems. We are going to suffer from this in the coming years and it will probably really have to hurt before these silos will be opened up.

5. What weblogs, people or organisations inspire you?

The person I learn a lot from is Stephen Downes. He writes a daily newsletter about this things he, as a philosopher, technologist and education theorist, finds interesting. His newsletter is published under a Creative Commons license and you can freely subscribe. Additionally, I keep a close eye on George Siemens and the Internet Time Alliance and I try to make time to read Audrey Watters: a learning technology journalist with a punk attitude. I keep on top of internet technology in general by listening to Guardian Tech Weekly and the shows of Leo Laporte (especially This Week in Tech). Thinkers such as Clay Shirky, Yochai Benkler, Lawrence Lessig and Douglas Rushkoff guide me.

One of my personal heroes is Martin Dougiamas, inventor of Moodle. It’s his natural leadership and personal character that have made Moodle as succesful as it is today, making even a giant such as Blackboard take notice.

Other organisations that inspire me are those that democratize education and technology in a non-commercial way. Think of Mozilla architects of the open internet (they also have a learning outfit and work hard at an Open Badges infrastructure), or the Peer2Peer University, Tactical Technology Collective and Ushahidi. It is no coincidence that all these projects are open-source. I believe in the value of open-source a lot, from a practical and a moral standpoint.

About Hans de Zwart

Hans de Zwart is the Innovation Manager for Global Learning Technologies at Shell International. In the past he was Shell’s Blended Learning Adviser, before that a Moodle consultant for Stoas Learning and he started his career as a Physical Education teacher at a highschool in Amsterdam.

He operates on the intersection between technology (which he prefers to be “open”) and education. He beliefs that technology is never neutral and that design matters.

He blogs at blog.hansdezwart.info, reads in public and tweets
occasionally.

This post was published under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Netherlands License

Making Sales Training a Saleschanging Event in 6 steps

Marijn de Geus — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 13:51:51 +0000

The difference between interesting and effective

Sales skills (or any other soft skill such as managing, collaborating or presenting) are not taught by telling people all sorts of interesting information. A couple of practices or roleplays aren’t enough either. Although interesting, my experience tells me they rarely make the difference. A sales training will only be effective when it is focused on the 1 to 3 most urgent subskills. So it’s about focussing on behavioral change and learning new behavior.

Saleschanging in 6 steps

1. Dare to be ambitious
2. Affirm good behavior
3. Adress most urgent subskills
4. Acknowledge that behavioral change is not about ‘knowing’
5. Prescribe desirable behavior
6. Facilitate deliberate practice

1. Dare to be ambitious

Every serious trainer should openly aim to quickly and structurally increase the participants sales effectiveness. You will make the participant competent. All other is a side issue.

2. Affirm good behavior

People rare start at zero and especially salespeople are often quite good at what they do through experience and talent. Don’t forget to affirm the things a participant excels at (‘keep doing!’).

3. Address most urgent subskills

If you see top salesman John end a conversation, you’ll notice him missing a chance to close. And account manager Mona knows she is not a good listener and has a hard time clearing up a client’s wishes. If you are able to observe which subskills form each person’s bottleneck, you’ll know what to focus on in the training.

4. Acknowledge that behavioral change is not about ‘knowing’

If you train John and Mona, you could spend time to find the reasons for their ineffective behavior. These reasons are usually very complex (‘addicted’ to a sideeffect of the behavior, a preconceived notion that it’s the way it should be done, etc.). But if you realise that change is not a rationally manageable process, why spend so much time investigating the underlying reasons?

5. Prescribe desirable behavior

As a doctor prescribes medicine and rest, a trainer should prescribe desirable behavior. It might sound odd, but in my experience most people crave clear instructions. Sometimes even litteral texts for how to close a deal (John) or ask the right follow-up question (Mona).

6. Facilitate deliberate practice

When the most urgent subskills are known, the actual work starts. And that’s: practice. Simply making hours focussing on one subskills. Have someone practice on something a 100 times, until – in the actual sales conversation – the subskills is ingrained in his or her behavior.

Ericsson call these most urgent subskills a ‘skills gap’ and the practice part ‘deliberate practice’. We are used to these things in sports: think of practice a backhand or freekick. (Our) online tools enable you to bring people a saleschanging event, while financially and logistically interesting.

How To Compare Online Training Tools for Skills

Peter van der Reijden — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 14:54:46 +0000

Sometimes you use a hammer, sometimes a drill. If you start looking for online training tools for soft skills, it is easy to get overwhelmed. There are many approaches and at least as many providers. So what should you keep in mind when comparing the different online training tools? Here we outline four contrasting approaches to online training. Determine the approach you want to take with your online training and finding the best tool for the job will be infinitely easier.

1. Knowedge & Attitude vs. Skills
2. Passive vs. Active
3. One-to-many vs. One-to-one
4. Asynchronous vs. Synchronous

1. Knowledge and Attitude vs. Skills

Behavior = Knowledge + Attitude + (Sub)Skills

E-Learning courses traditionally focus on the Knowledge and Attitude part of the equation. Through video lectures, example videos, theory and quizzes (“What would you do? A. React angy, etc..”), one could easily build up his knowledge of the subject and, hopefully, change her attitude.

Only recently have online training tools began to really focus on the Skills part of the equation. So, what do you say and how do you say it?

What would you like to focus on in your online training? Some say Knowledge and Attitude should be done online, while skills should always be trained in the classroom. Others, and we, find that people’s individual skills don’t get enough attention in the classroom and online training is a way to offer much more practice time in a safe environment.

2. Passive vs. Active

This distinction is closely related to the first one, but nonetheless worth an individual paragraph. Many e-learning initiatives are rather passive: you watch a lecture, look at examples, read about the latest theories and answer a couple of multiple choice questions. This has many efficiency benefits (you can automatically calculate someone’s progress and score) and for knowledge and attitude this might sometimes be sufficient.

But skills are personal and learned through practice and feedback. This means you have to get out there, try, fail, try again and get to the point that mastery is unconscious. Such a process puts an online training tool in a totally different perspective: simply taking in knowledge is not enough. One has to force the learner to actively work on his or her skills and facilitate the feedback process.

When it comes to skills development, we believe Active is always better than Passive. However, we still see a lot of passive skills trainings advertised, which is particularly sad if you take into account all the promising alternatives new technology offers such as gaming, webcam interaction, Skype, etc.

3. One-to-many vs. One-to-One

How many learners will you serve and how personalized do you want their training to be? There are many shades of gray on this dimension, but it is important to realize if your training is more likely to resemble an individual coaching session or a Massive Open Online Course with 65K participants.

Why? Because the tool needs to support it. Luckily, a lot of tools have a good mix of one-to-many (like a lecture that can be viewed by anyone) and one-on-one coaching features when the situation calls for it. But it’s not the default yet, so check if you can both deliver one message to many people at once and engage personally when needed.

4. Asynchronous vs. Synchronous

In training, you have a trainer and a trainee. Whether they interact synchronously (‘real-time’) or asynchronously has many implications for your training. Synchronous tools (such as Skype or webinars) have the benefit of immediate feedback and direct interaction. However, the trainer and trainee(s) have to be online at the same time: limiting the anywhere, anytime benefits of the Web and requiring people to ‘synchronize’ their calendars.

Asynchronous solutions ask more discipline from the learner and lack immediate feedback, but also allow the learners to self-direct their training. It becomes just-in-time instead of just-in-case. Also, the time lag between the learner’s actions and the trainer’s feedback, enhances self-reflection and spatial learning effects (ie. you retain better in three sessions of an hour than one session of 3 hours).

Both types have there uses and none is better than the other. Just know what you’re choosing for.

Conclusion
There is much to be said about comparing tools (have I even mentioned price or ease of content creation?) but these four dimensions should make it a lot easier. First decide how you want to position your online training. Then chose.

And if you are looking for a tool that focuses on (sub)skills, with an active, asynchronous approach that combines one-to-many and one-on-one, I’m sure you are going to like TrainTool.

Update: TrainTool wins innovative E-Learning Award 2012!

Peter van der Reijden — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 14:00:52 +0000

UPDATE: This Wednesday TrainTool won the Innovative E-Learning Award 2012!

We’re really happy about it! In their report, the jury states that “TrainTool proves that E-Learning can be used to train soft skills.”

– Below you find our prior article about the nomination

Yesterday we got some big news: we’ve been nominated for the Innovative E-Learning Award 2012! The jury, a mix of e-learning and HR experts in the Netherlands, judged all 30 entries on the extent to which they surprise and inspire (the ‘wow’-effect), use innovative technology, while being grounded in a didactic model that has an actual impact.

Three nominees were selected and a presentation next week will decide who goes home with the trophy. Exciting!

Want to read more, check out E-Learning.nl’s announcement (Dutch)

5 Questions to Harm Zandvoort, boardroom consultant HR

Marijn de Geus — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 11:44:32 +0000

This blog is about online training, instructional design and skill development. In our series 5 Questions to: Harm Zandvoort, experienced VP HR and now boardroom consultant with a focus on HR topics.

1. You work for professional servicefirms (business assurance, audit, consultancy) etc. What are the most are the most important skills to develop in these companies?

One the most important issues is to increase the developing power both for the company and the key players. There is an ongoing need to change behavior towards creativity, enthusiasm, open communication (give and receive feedback), trust and positive coaching.

Ways to do this are:
- (Self) assessment
- Challenge (out of the “comfort zone”)
- Support

2. On what criteria do boardmembers judge L&D efforts (either formally or informally)?

Sadly, it is rare for these activities to be judged on anything other than financial (budget) criteria.

3. In your training and executive coaching sessions you work a lot with music and video, why?

Because that’s the way our brain works. In comparison with text, (moving) images and music are ‘stored’ in a different and better way. Images and music trigger the emotional department in our brains and an event which is linked to an emotion is much easier to remember and to transfer into action.

4. In the evolution of learning, are there things you hope/desire and/or where you are afraid of?

Both. A well known Dutch entrepreneur (Maurice de Hond) wants to start the ‘Steve Jobs school’, where children from neglected groups learn to work with new media tools. The strong reactions (enthusiasm and critics) are a demonstration of two camps in our society.

5. What are your sources of inspiration?

I’m a big fan from Marshall Goldsmith and Leonard Cohen. Google as a company fascinates me and Richard Branson’s changing outlook on the world (check the reprint from his biography!).

About Harm Zandvoort

Harm Zandvoort holds a Master degree in economics. He was HR manager at Esso Chemicals, director at PWC and Corporate director human resources at Royal Numico. Since 2004 he works as a boardroom consultant at Strategic Management Centre.

Learn from the best: Effective Sales Training according to Ziglar, James and Tracy

Peter van der Reijden — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 15:55:26 +0000

Image: Inc.com

What are the ingredients for an effective sales training program? With an increasing emphasis on good sales people, this question is more important than ever. So we decided to take a look at what experts such as Zig Ziglar, Brian Tracy and Geoffrey James have to say about designing an effective sales training program. Because on one thing they all agree: selling is definitely a skill that can be learned.

Common patterns

Before we start, I’m aware that this article is about to present you with a gross oversimplification of their angle on the subject. So if you’re interesting in improving sales skills, please check out their own respective blogs and books, which is a good idea anyway.

However, when you look at what these experts have to say about it, some common patterns emerge and I think this could be helpful when you design your next sales training program.

Focus on basic skills

Geoffrey James, in this article on Inc.com, emphasizes that most sales fail because a of a lack of ability or practice in fundamental skills such as establishing rapport, questioning, presenting and closing. Zig Ziglar’s corporate training department, on its website, makes a similar point: although industry context and approach may differ, the underlying sales process is the same. Fine-tuning specific contextual information and techniques are simply not effective enough if the underlying fundamentals are not properly developed.

Take-away: (initally) focus on the basic skills to make the biggest leaps.

Practice, retain and reinforce with roleplays

A good salesman masters the basic skills mentioned above. He or she knows what skills to use to overcome objections or how to close a deal. This kind of salesmanship stems from one thing: practice. And not just practice, as “only perfect practice makes perfect” says James (in this blogpost). “To hard-wire a behavior, you must push yourself to repeat it religiously and correctly.”

Sales skills should be practiced and reinforced in roleplays until these skills become part of the participant’s DNA. It is no coincidence that both Ziglar and Tracy focus on making the training “stick”. Continuously reinforcing new behavior and checking for retention is essential for long-term effectiveness.

Take-away: make sure that your training provides enough opportunities for practice and spread these moments over time. New habits are not mastered in a day.

Personal coaching and feedback

All of the experts agree that within sales teams, the weakest single skill (Tracy) is different for each team member. Whereas one might be great in closing the deal but may lack listening skills, someone else could be great at both but might become way too defensive if he or she needs to overcome objections. A one-size-fits-all training program is therefore rarely the most efficient route to take when you train a sales team. So make sure there is plenty of room for personal coaching and feedback.

Take-away: make personal coaching (from trainer and sales manager) an integral part of your training program.

Where will you train soft skills?

Marijn de Geus — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 11:50:49 +0000

In 2009 I saw the movie Up in the Air. Ryan Bingham (played by George Clooney) travels the country to fire people whose managers are afraid to do so themselves. He is ‘up in the air’ continuously and nearly reaches 5 million frequent flyer miles. But his job changes dramatically when his company introduces the webcam as a viable option to tell ‘bad news’.

Imagine you are a trainer and you’re asked to train Bingham and his colleagues in the original situation: telling bad news face to face (offline). You would probably pick a classroom and practice these difficult situations with a group and some actors.

Now image you’re asked to train Bingham for his new job: telling bad news over the internet (online.) How would you then go about it?

For a large part of our working day we practice communication: confrontional, empathetic, convincing, directly, indirectly etc. To develop this type of ‘soft skills’ we used to go to a classroom to simulate offline situations in offline roleplays. With the software we started to build in 2010, we initially aimed to enable the training of these offline skills in an online setting (to save costs, ease logistics and improve learning effectiveness).

For some of our partners – familiar with live contact, live interventions and the ability ‘to smell each other’ (I’m not making this up…) – this turned out to be quite a shift. People sometimes asked me: how long will it take before the majority of trainers goes online? Judging only from the industry’s readiness to innovate, I thought this would take quite some time.

But I experience an acceleration in the adoption of the webcam and online training in general and the reason is the increasing importance of online communication situations in regular working processes (Bingham had to adjust…). A random trainer or participant can no longer avoid the webcam, flash plugin etc. and as a result we’re getting used to it. Not only does this increase adoption of online training, it also adds another dimension: the ability to collaborate, sell or tell bad news online becomes a quality in itself.

And since you can now train these skills online (accompanied by lower costs, easier logistics and a higher learning effectiveness), why would you do this in a classroom?

Blended Learning, even when it’s more expensive?!

Peter van der Reijden — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 10:04:31 +0000

Blended Learning is not new, but will become the undisputed standard this decade. Why? Because the unique didactic possibilities will enable more effective trainings, not just cost savings. In many cases blended learning will not only be the cheapest alternative, but the best one. Putting it differently: we will even choose blended when its more expensive.

Blended Learning, the mix of classroom and e-learning activities, primarily took off in large countries. Countries in which distance learning solved an acute problem. Largely ineffective e-learning modules had a right to exist, as it was still a more viable alternative than travelling 300 miles to hear a trainer speak. An additional benefit is found in reducing the ‘out of office time’ (as one of our clients called it today, also heard: out of field time).

Especially in health care or sales functions, where someone who is in training has to be replaced by a colleague, the cases for e-learning is easily made. It is clear however, that the e-learning module’s effectiveness and quality is secondary in this consideration. Sadly, there are plenty examples of e-learning modules which only the accountant really liked.

But the primary motive for blended learning is shifting towards ‘quality’. Online tools are no longer a cheap reflection of offline methods, but new combinations of instructional design, context and technology are possible.

For example,
- watching the video on negotiation minutes before that exciting talk
- learning and maintaining knowledge by answering 3 questions over e-mail each day
- a game in which employees learn about new compliance rules while competing wth colleagues
- making your homework in the classroom, while watching the lectures online (‘flipping the classroom’)
- sustainment by practicing your skills online and receiving personalized feedback, after a live group training or just-in-time (<< that’s us!)

The variation of ‘blends’ will only grow and that’s good news for all involved. The participant gets more control, the employer a higher return in less time and the trainer gets to focus even more on the personal development of the participants.

You Are Your Own Best Trainer

Marijn de Geus — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 09:00:47 +0000

A new phone, a new job or a traffic jam. All of these can trigger you to record a new message for your voicemail. You record your message and choose ‘listen to your message’. Usually, you are not satisfied with the first result and try again. This is a fun example of how a confrontation with yourself (your own text or voice) triggers an automatic process of improvement and refinement.

Training with webcam interaction exercises, as you do in TrainTool, is exactly about this process. Participants give a response (to a client, boss etc.) and see themselves. Almost nobody is immediately satisfied with their first performance. He or she will automatically start thinking about ways to improve it and start reading the tips in the sideline. Then they try again and quickly make big steps. Only when satisified, they send their response to a trainer. Our statistics tell us that people record themselves 4,2 times on average before sending it in.

Sending in your response is a powerful motivator. The tension you feel because you eventually have to make your voicemail message public, is similar to the urge you feel to show your trainer and peers a good performance of your (soft) skills.

Training is an investment, not an expense

Peter van der Reijden — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 10:53:55 +0000

Cost reduction is the order of the day for most industries. What is often forgotten, is the fact that there is a big difference between an expense and an investment. In public education for example, clearly a long-term investment, more often than not cost reduction is the leading motive. And now the training industry risks falling in the same trap.

This is understandable, as appearances are against the skill training industry when it comes to return on investment (ROI). Costs are made for a nice location, the pricing model is unclear (incompany prices suddenly drop by 40%) and the raving evaluations at the end of the training hardly match the tangible results at the office.

It seems to make sense therefore, that many training providers lower their prices and shorten the training’s duration. Or: they lower the costs. But a training should be an investment and an investment has a return. The task is now up to training companies to undisputedly prove this return. Because when an employee is able to clearly improve his sales skills (his improvement should be visible) for a sum of $ 500, a positive ROI is easily shown.

And suddenly, there happens to be a budget for an investment.

TrainTool wins Startup Awards 2012

Marijn de Geus — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:41:29 +0000

Last Wednesday the finals for Startup Awards 2012 took place in Utrecht. TrainTool was one of the 60 contestants and was selected to be one of the four finalists. Peter presented for TrainTool in a 2 minute pitch and the event was presented by Henkjan Smits, former Idols jury member. Eventually both the audience and the professional jury (in it, among others, the Rabobank and Tiin Capital) selected TrainTool as the winner. Hurray!

Read more (Dutch):

Financieele Dagblad: ‘Utrechtse start-ups beloond om probleemoplossing‘
Persbericht UtrechtInc: Henkjan Smits reikt awards uit aan startende ondernemers

Creating videocontent is easy (and low budget)

Marijn de Geus — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:59:09 +0000

Creating video for e-learning used to be time-consuming and expensive: you’d hire actors, get professional lighting, an expensive camera etc. Not anymore. With an iPhone as your camera and a tripod + ‘Glif’ voor stabilized footage, everyone is able to record professional material.

TrainTool offers its clients a video-library with ‘webcam interaction assignments’, but clients can also upload their own. By now, doing so has become easy and inexpensive, while still offering good quality. This YouTube movie shows you how.

Let’s say you’d like to create a couple of interaction assignments for a situation in which one has to be assertive. You might think of a situation such as this: somebody is too late for the 3th time in a row and is being casual about it. But really, anything could work: somebody is being obnoxious in a meeting, somebody is having loud private phonecalls at the desk next to you etc.
You get your iPhone and tripod and start recording yourself or a colleague.

Summarized:
1. iPhone in Glif
2. Record (10 to 15 seconds)
3. Upload
And you’re done!

This allows you to quickly build a library of video interaction assignments. In the movie below, Marijn shows you (in Dutch) how easy it is and how a resulting assignment might look like.

Five Trends We Noticed at Learning Technologies Conference

Peter van der Reijden — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:54:58 +0000

This week we visited the Learning Technologies Conference in London. It was great to be there and it gave us a good glimpse of the training market in the UK and learning technologies in general. While at the conference, we found 5 topics to repeat itself in several workshops. Here they are in no particular order:

1. Doing more with less

We wrote about this efficiency trend earlier, but it’s clearly a major theme for many training companies and learning technologies suppliers. This was reflected in workshops such as “The power of 90 minute training”, “Video for any budget” and most telling “Cost or benefit”. The efficiency question has two sides:
a. Measuring the effectiveness of the programme (focus on benefit)
b. Make the programme shorter and cheaper (focus on cost)

2. Blended, please

Blended learning is clearly becoming the status quo. Although many ‘blends’ can be invented, offering blended programs is clearly a no-brainer for the participants of this conference.

3. Mobile learning

A lot of workshops emphasized the possibilities of mobile learning. Especially being able to reflect on a situation just after it happened is, rightly, seen as a major benefit of mobile learning. Many believe it is the most important trend towards real workplace learning (aided by remote coaching and training modules).

4. Social, fun and games to engage the unwilling learners

Unwilling participants is a big problem in e-learning programmes. And to be honest, who can blame ‘them’ if we look at the amount of compulsatory but mind numbing compliance modules that are being offered? Luckily there is a clear call for more creative learning experiences. The participants of the conference believe the solution is to be found in social learning and gamification. We agree.

5. The burden of complex learning architectures and LMS’es

It seems that many large companies have invested heavily in their learning architecture, with the LMS as its most notable proponent. Learning how to deal with these, often proprietary, systems is becoming a topic in itself. This is obviously not a good thing. Delivering an all-in-one learning system that serves all needs is not something we believe in. Let’s strive for easier integration of the best-of-breed tools.

Have you been to the conference? We’d love to hear how you feel about it.

Pytch interviewed Peter van der Reijden (Dutch)

Marijn de Geus — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 19:34:36 +0000

Pytch, a website about entrepreneurship, recently interviewed Peter van der Reijden. In this 3 minuten, Dutch, interview Peter tells about his ambitions for TrainTool and himself. Oh, and you get to see some nice shots of our offices.

TrainTool (@traintool) – Peter van der Reijden (@petervdr) – Pytch Startup from Pytch on Vimeo.

For the Pytch page, click here.

(Nederlands) 5 vragen aan Marcel de Leeuwe

Peter van der Reijden — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 12:29:25 +0000

(Nederlands) "Zelf heb ik veel ervaring met het online trainen van softskills al dan niet in combinatie met een face-to-face training en ik merk dat het online trainen een paar voordelen biedt boven de sessies met bijvoorbeeld een acteur. Ik zie het ook vaak als een drietrapsraket."
Read more →