Introduction

In our ever-changing world, one of the biggest challenges organizations face is how to stay on top of their game while adapting to new markets, new requirements and environments. To stay competitive, their workforce needs to be up-to-date with the latest trends and technologies, so it is not uncommon for employees to attend trainings in the workplace.

A lot of training sessions call for a lot of trainers. Thus, unless you have an endless budget to hire external trainers, you might be better off training your own internal experts who can transfer skills and knowledge to other employees. A competent and skilled group of internal trainers will also help a lot in supporting any future change and transformation initiatives that your organisation might undertake. Additionally, having internal trainers allows an organisation to pass on domain or organisation-specific knowledge from experienced employees to newer ones.

The train-the-trainer model provides an effective strategy to equip employees and subject matter experts with new knowledge on how to teach others and how to foster an environment where everybody feels welcome to improve their skills.

Aim and objectives. The aim of the chapter is to teach the potential trainers how to organize a Training for Trainers, the way he/she can use specific techniques and methods in order to gain knowledge on this topic. As objectives of this chapter were determined the following:

• To elaborate a plan for organizing a training for Trainers (ToT);
• To determine the importance and impact of public speaking within ToT;
• To underline the techniques for sharing information to the audience;
• To demonstrate the motivational tools and techniques for organizing ToT.

The goal of the Training of Trainers (TOT) process is to give new trainers the background knowledge, skills and practical experience to provide Communities That Care training and technical assistance to communities. After completing the TOT and mentoring process, trainer candidates will be able to explain the prevention-science research base and put it into practice, use effective instructional methods, deliver the training and technical assistance components of the Communities That Care system with fidelity, fulfill the responsibilities of a certified trainer.

1. How to organize a training?

Training is an educational process. People can learn new information, re-learn and reinforce existing knowledge and skills, and most importantly have time to think and consider what new options can help them improve their effectiveness at work. Effective trainings convey relevant and useful information that inform participants and develop skills and behaviors that can be transferred back to the workplace. The goal of training is to create an impact that lasts beyond the end time of the training itself. The focus is on creating specific action steps and commitments that focus people’s attention on incorporating their new skills and ideas back at work. Training can be offered as skill development for individuals and groups. In general, trainings involve presentation and learning of content along with practicing new skills as a means for improving workplace behaviors and enhancing performance.

A training plan is a detailed document that guides the planning and delivery of instruction. Whether training people one-on-one or in groups, in person or online, a well-developed training plan allows you to prepare for and deliver thorough and effective classes. Some key things to remember are that you want to be detailed, organized, and realistic.

Method 1. Establishing Your Training Goals

Consider the goals of your organization. In order to conduct effective training sessions, you need to keep in mind the objectives of your business or organization. These goals should guide you as you develop your training plan. For example, if the main goal of your business is to increase sales of medical supplies, you'll want to make sure to convey that to your trainees. 

Identify the benefits for trainees. Make it clear to your trainees that there will be tangible benefits that each will gain by completing the training. Perhaps your trainee will earn a new certification that qualifies her for more responsibility. Or maybe there is greater job security for those who have completed training. Whatever the case, convey these benefits at the outset of training.

Recognize desired outcomes. Include in your plan the specific outcomes you want the training to achieve. Be as clear as possible. These should be more specific than the overall goals of the training. For example, you could say, "At the end of training, we will have 25 new employees ready to begin their first week of work in the Accounting Department at XYZ".

Method 2 Developing Content

Plan necessary steps. A good training plan will indicate exactly how you will accomplish your goals. You should indicate how long training will last, how many sessions will occur, and what will happen during each session. Make sure that the steps align with your specific and broad objectives.

Design lessons. Include in your training plan a list of lessons complete with lesson objectives, specific activities and assessment plans, which may include pre- and post-tests, class discussions, or group activities. Figure out the length of each lesson. Determine whether you will need additional materials or resources for the individual lessons.

Outline the training structure. In your plan, offer specifics about all of the methods you will use in training. For example, if you plan to use a variety of modalities, such as Skype and in-person sessions, make that clear from the outset. It is also useful to explain your objectives for using a variety of methods.

Establish a time frame. To master new skills, trainees might need to meet 1 hour each day for several weeks. If they must be trained by a certain date, include these requirements in your training plan. Indicate whether current employees will need to add this to their additional duties, or if she will need to ask a coworker to help cover responsibilities while she is training.

Create a section for training prep. Your training plan should be a comprehensive document that will make it simple for others to follow your instructions. Therefore, you should indicate exactly how to prepare for training sessions. Be as specific as possible, so that other trainers will have a clear idea of how to accomplish the goals.

Method 3 Including Specific Action Items

Assess the training. Your training plan should include ways that the trainers can evaluate the training as it progresses. There should be clear benchmarks that measure the effectiveness of the training. Specifically state the points during training where the goals should be measured.

Offer alternatives. Not every group of trainees will respond the same to your training methods. You training plan should indicate that trainers will need to be prepared to teach the material in a different way. For each section of content, your training plan should indicate a couple of different ways to convey the material.

Indicate the training participants. Your training may be organization-wide, geared toward a single department or designed specifically for entry-level employees. You may develop separate training plans for different groups or teams. In each plan, be clear about the group that is the focus of the training.

Utilize your colleagues. For example, you will need to calculate training costs. If you are not involved with accounting, you may need to ask someone familiar with your company's financials for some information. Review the list of required training resources to determine how much money you will need.

Choose qualified trainers. In order to offer the most effective training, you will need to select the highest quality employee to conduct the training sessions. They may be people already working for the organization or outside experts. Examine their qualifications and experience before hiring.

2. Public Speaking 

Public speaking is important in both business, education, and the public arena. There are many benefits to public speaking whether you're an individual or a business. Basically, it's a presentation that's given live before an audience. Public speeches can cover a wide variety of different topics. The goal of the speech may be to educate, entertain, or influence the listeners. Often, visual aids in the form of an electronic slideshow are used to supplement the speech and make it more interesting to the listeners. Over the years, public speaking has played a major role in education, government, and business. Words have the power to inform, persuade, educate, and even entertain. And the spoken word can be even more powerful than the written word in the hands of the right speaker.

The major features of effective public speaking, such as: 

■ Use of engaging and interactive techniques 

■ Movement into and out of the audience 

■ Use of gestures 

■ Eye contact (of appropriate duration) 

■ Modulation of intonation

■ Appropriate use of humor 

Be sure to bring up the following areas: 

■ Use of storytelling as a technique to capture attention 

■ Caution about inappropriate use of slang terms or other unacceptable language 

■ Creation and maintenance of a safe learning environment for the audience 

■ Ways to respond to incorrect answers from the audience.

3. Techniques for sharing information

Presentation. A presentation is an activity conducted by a resource specialist to convey information, theories or principles. Forms of presentations can range from straight lecture to some involvement of the learner through questions and discussion. Presentations depend more on the trainer for content than does any other training technique. The process consists from introducing the topic (tell the learners what you’re going to tell them), presenting the material using visual aids (tell them what you want to tell them), summarizing the key points you’ve made (tell the learners what you’ve told them), inviting the learners to ask questions.

Demonstration. A demonstration is a presentation of a method for doing something. The process consists from introducing the demonstration (what is the purpose?), presenting the material you’re going to use, demonstrating, demonstrating again, explaining each step, inviting the learners to ask questions, having the learners practice themselves, summarizing (discuss how easy/difficult it was for them).

Case Study. A case study is a written description of a hypothetical situation that is used for analysis and discussion. The process consists from introducing the case, giving learners time to familiarize themselves with the case, presenting questions for discussion or the problem to be solved, giving learners time to solve the problem/s, having some learners present their solutions/answers, discussing all possible solutions/answers, asking the learners what they have learned from the exercise, asking them how the case might be relevant to their own environments, summarizing.

Role Play. In a role play, two or more individuals enact parts in a scenario related to a training topic. The process consists from preparing the actors so they understand their roles and the situation, setting the climate so the observers know what the situation involves, observing the role play, thanking the actors and ask them how they feel about the role play (be sure that they get out of their roles and back to their real selves), sharing the reactions and observations of the observers, discussing different reactions to what happened, asking the learners what they have learned and develop principles, asking the learners how the situation relates to their own lives, summarizing.

Simulation. A simulation is an enactment of a real-life situation. The process consists from preparing the learners to take on specific roles during the simulation, introducing the goals, rules, and time frame for the simulation, facilitating the simulation, asking learners about their reactions to the simulation, asking learners what they have learned from the simulation and develop principles, asking learners how the simulation relates to their own lives, summarizing.

Small Group Discussion. A small group discussion is an activity that allows learners to share their experiences and ideas or to solve a problem. The process consists from arranging the learners in groups of four to seven, introducing the task that describes what should be discussed, asking each group to designate a discussion facilitator, a recorder, and a person to present the group’s findings to the larger group, checking to make sure that each group understands the task, giving groups time to discuss (this should not require the trainer’s involvement unless the learners have questions for the trainer), having one person from each group summarize the findings of the group (this could be a solution to a problem, answers to a question, or a summary of ideas), identifying common themes that were apparent in the groups’ presentations, asking the learners what they have learned from the exercise, asking them how they might use what they have learned.

4. Motivational tools and techniques

The following non-financial incentives help management satisfy its groups' needs.

• Appreciation of Work Done (appreciation or praise for work done serves as an effective non-financial incentive as well as satisfies one's ego needs);
• Competition (it will prompt them to exert more to achieve their personal or group goals);
• Group Incentives (this results in high morale and, in turn, increase in its productivity);
• Knowledge of the Results (knowledge of the results of work done leads to satisfaction);
• Workers' Participation in Management (inviting workers to participate in management gives worker's a psychological satisfaction that their voices are also heard, a sense of importance among the group members);
• Opportunity for Growth (providing proper opportunities for growth and career advancement and chance to develop their personality, the group  feels much satisfied and become more committed to the organizational goals);
• Suggestion System (suggestion system acts as an incentive for the workers to be in search of something useful for the trainers);
• Job Enrichment (job enrichment as an incentive motivates the executives to exert for accomplishment of their goals).

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