135: How to Get the Most Out of Training, with Bonni Stachowiak

Bonni Stachowiak: Teaching in Higher Ed

Bonni is the host of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast, Dean of Teaching and Learning and Professor of Business and Management at Vanguard University, and my life partner. Prior to her academic career, she was a human resources consultant and executive officer for a publicly traded company. Bonni is the author of The Productive Online and Offline Professor: A Practical Guide*.

Question from Jordan
I am a young manager (mid-20’s). My job requires training large amounts of staff on software and technology. Many of the staff are twice my age, and tend to ignore me when giving trainings. I’m, not sure if this is because of my age, or because I have only been with the organization for 5 years, and many of them have been here for 20+. Or perhaps it is because of the subject matter of the trainings? Do you have any suggestions on how to get through to them?

• Is it content or credibility?
• Seven Principles for Leading People Older Than You [episode #59]
• Seek out people who are giving you objections and find out how to best serve them.
• Dave mentioned How To Win Friends And Influence People*
• Lynda.com* is a good solution for learning popular software online at your pace
• Adobe Captivate is a good option for creating your own simulations
• Screenflow for the Mac is great for screencasting
• Camtasia is another option

2nd Question from Jordan
Do you have any suggestions on conferences one can go to, to expand skills on leadership and coaching?

• Bonni says a conference is a place to build a network, generate new ideas, and learn about new products
• Dale Carnegie Training provides a great resource for changing behavior, which is a great way to get better and leadership and coaching

Question from Kris
I am a manager in a large company and managing a global transformation programme. I am at a cross roads and my development plan includes getting more training on the following: (a) Leadership of global teams (physical and virtual) and (b) Strategic planning and organizational development (how does one define and develop a global organization, roles, numbers of people, strategy, governance, teams, processes, etc) to
implement a global transformation programme. Do you have recommendations on books, education or coaches for my further development?

• Good to Great* by Jim Collins
• Execution* by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan
• The Fifth Discipline* by Peter Senge
• Coaches: Bill Bliss, Tom Henschel, Pam Fox Rollin but find someone who’s done what you’ve done and what they’re reading

Question from Suzie
Audio comment

• If you are a nurse or know one, check out OneLoveforNurses.com
• Jane Hart publishes the Top 100 Tools for Learning
• Poll Everywhere is used by Bonni in her classroom

Question from Andres
In a world of free online courses and MOOCS (Massive Open Online Course); what type of course would you be willing to pay for? What type of content/delivery would definitely be worth spending your (not your employer’s) money on?

• Bonni mentioned attending a class from Linda Krall on creativity
• Dave spoke about Michael Hyatt’s class of 5 Days To Your Best Year Ever

Question from Elmer
How do you make training accessible to the newest employee while bringing something to the table for the most experienced manager? I usually try to leave the conversation open for the subject matter experts in the room to share their knowledge (within reason and on topic) so there is a feeling of collaboration and not speaking down to them in those situations. Creating a course that is comprehensive is difficult.

• Dave suggests segmenting the training, if possible.
• How can you get the subject matter experts engaged in a leadership capacity in the classroom?
• Use a problem-based or case study approach. This engages the more knowledgable people in the room.

2nd Question from Elmer
One of our bosses/stake holders wants us to make our classes archiveable or semi-future proofed so we do not have to constantly go back and re-teach the classes one on one. What are some of the best ways to do that?

• “If the recording of the class was the equivalent to being there, then why are you holding the class in the first place?” -Bonni
• Avoid the temptation of just recording a live class and putting it online.
• Check out Michael Sandel’s Justice class at Harvard that we mentioned (he also has a great book by the same name).
• Articulate has products for online learning
• Susan Gerke has training modules for teams called GO Team

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