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How to prepare and conduct a training: instructions for an hr-manager (Mamonov E.)

Article placement date: 03/18/2015

Internal business coaches are always in demand in the labor market. To conduct training, you need to have special training. But any employee personnel service can become a coach on his own. The main thing is to know the principles and techniques of leading groups and constantly practice. Let's reveal the structure of training planning on the example of sales training.

HR managers are often the organizers of training, rather than its direct executors. This is due to the fact that hiring external specialists on an occasional basis is more profitable than creating your own training center. But the situation is changing. Organizations grow, the number of employees increases, and one day the enterprise will need its own training manager or business coach. You can, of course, hire a specialist, but better manager to train yourself on the staff. Moreover, there is nothing complicated in the technology of teaching and conducting trainings. For an HR manager, moving to the position of a business coach means career and an increase in material income, because the salary of coaches is higher than that of recruiters or HR supervisors.

Training is considered the most effective method learning. It is assumed that, unlike the lecture and seminar forms of work, it allows you to gain skills, and not just memorize information. Indeed, at the trainings quite a lot of time is devoted to practical actions - exercises, role-playing games, discussions. But the most important thing is a special educational structure. In regular lessons, teachers also give practical exercises. For example, the language courses actively use the method of discussion, work in subgroups, etc. But training becomes training through a certain sequence of stages. There are usually seven of them:
1. Preparatory.
2. Acquaintance.
3. Activation.
4. Problematization.
5. Training.
6. Fixing.
7. Feedback from the customer.
The steps must be done in that order. In this way, the optimal level of motivation of the participants is maintained. Let's consider all the stages in more detail.

Preparatory stage

An internal business coach plans the training content based on the wishes of the customer. This is most often the head of the division - the head of the sales department, if we conduct training for account managers. As a rule, customers do not name specific skills that need to be taught. The requests usually sound like this:
- subordinates need to work faster;
- they must sell very well;
- they must have passion;
- subordinates should think better, etc.
Next, the trainer will have to translate the request for knowledge, skills and abilities and come up with specific training topics. Two main questions that are important to clarify before the training:
1) what should be the result of training (what to teach);
2) how to evaluate the result of training.

Example. Clarification of learning outcomes.
The management of the chain of furniture stores ordered an internal trainer to conduct a series of sales trainings for staff. It was decided to adapt the program each time to a specific outlet, because the store administrator knows better what knowledge gaps employees have.
Store manager Sergey V. formulated the final result in this way: "I need them to sell more." Business coach Alexei V. replied that the sale includes several stages - establishing contact, presentation, work with objections, etc., so it is necessary to specify what to focus on.
The store manager believed that salespeople were afraid to take the initiative and be the first to start communicating with customers. The trainer and manager decided that the workers needed to be armed with the appropriate techniques. At the same time, employees experienced difficulties at all stages of communication with customers.
As a result, it was decided to conduct a classic sales training for retail store salespeople.

It is important to agree on how to measure learning outcomes. This is necessary for both the coach and the customer. Sometimes there are unpleasant situations when the coach has done the job, but the manager is not happy. At the same time, he cannot really explain the essence of the claims. It is better to agree in advance on the criteria for the effectiveness of training.

Continuation of the example. Evaluation of learning outcomes.
Alexey proposed to measure the level of theoretical knowledge of salespeople before and after the training using a standardized professional test, which included tasks of this type (example of a question):
1. How to ask questions, identifying the needs of the buyer (choose the correct option)?
A. Very quickly, so as not to let the buyer doubt the quality of the goods.
B. First ask open-ended questions, then closed ones.
C. It is necessary to demand specific characteristics of the goods from the buyer (tabletop thickness, color, etc.). If he can't decide, then don't waste your time on him.
D. Asking questions is not necessary, it only distracts the buyer from making a decision.
Similar tasks in the test covered each topic of sales training. The questionnaire helped to identify knowledge gaps. The trainer presented the results of the survey in the form of a table:

Surname I.O.	Percentage of correct answers
Vetrov S.A.
Kuropatkina S.S.
Lyubimova E.G.
Semenova K.D.
Turkaeva N.N.

As an additional indicator of training effectiveness, we decided to use another indicator - store conversion. The director complained that the sellers did not approach the buyers, were not active, and the conversion indirectly allows you to determine whether employees began to show more attention to customers after the training. The task of the seller is to turn the visitor into a buyer. The more buyers, the more checks at the checkout. Therefore, the conversion is calculated as follows:

Conversion = Number of checks / Number of visitors x 100%.

Made calculations. It turned out that the average conversion per week of work is 40%. This means that every fourth visitor becomes a buyer. The rest go to the store, but do not make purchases.

There is no need to discuss specific methodological techniques with the customer. Some internal coaches, in order to "fill their own worth," begin to say that they conduct role-playing games with ulterior motives and discussions in subgroups, listing various techniques. Such abstruse conversations, as a rule, cause negative reactions. The leader can get annoyed, not understanding the essence of pedagogical techniques, or begins to delve into the details, gives advice. Sometimes customers control the work of a trainer, for example, by asking their employees if they have done the exercise that he advised to do.

Acquaintance stage

The stage of acquaintance is already the beginning of work study group. The work of an internal coach (and indeed any business coach) has an interesting specificity. Conventionally, this profession can be attributed to the service sector. Coach renders certain services other people, as well as a hairdresser, a taxi driver, a teacher. But the process itself is very different. For example, the task of a hairdresser is to make a hairstyle the way a client wants. But the goal of the trainer's work is to satisfy both the client (a member of the training group) and the customer. Training is evaluated by both, and the criteria for effectiveness are different for them.
Participants in training have their own understanding of what effective training is. At the introduction stage, the trainer talks about what the training is about and what its goals are. At the same time, the facilitator finds out whether the vision of the goals of the training participants coincides with the opinion of the customer.

Continuation of the example. Acquaintance.
When the training participants sat in a circle, business coach Alexei said that the purpose of the training was to increase the level of knowledge in the field of sales. He voiced the opinion of management that salespeople are not proactive, do not know the techniques for starting a conversation and, in general, do not know the stages of sales well. The coach also announced the results of professional testing.
In response, employees began to say that they are experienced salesmen, and the authorities "do not know what they are doing." In their opinion, little money is allocated for advertising, so sales do not grow, and the professionalism of the staff has nothing to do with sales growth. In addition, they suggested that the coach influence the company's management so that they finally get promoted. wages. In this case, they promised, sales would certainly increase.

The information received during the acquaintance serves to place accents during the training. The most important thing that the host learns is the attitude with which the participants came.
Sometimes the group is loyal to the training procedure. This happens if employees were informed about the training in advance, goals and objectives were announced. But it happens differently when people are "driven" to study with the words "go, let your brains be corrected there." Here the trainer needs to be careful and plan the content of the sessions in such a way as to correct the negative attitude of the group.

Activation stage

The meeting lasts an hour and a half. After the goals are clarified, the trainer introduces the participants to the topic. Depending on the training and condition of employees, different activation options are possible.
Sometimes a group can immediately be "thrown into battle". In this case, the trainer gives practical exercises where you need to apply all your skills. Usually these are practical exercises close to real work. At the same time, rather complex situations are modeled in role-playing games. In management skills training, they sometimes simulate a "difficult conversation" with an undisciplined subordinate, in sales training - a conversation with a difficult client.
But more often a softer option is used - a group discussion, a discussion with moderation. Very often, trainers show a video where a person finds himself in a difficult situation related to professional activity and makes error after error.
At the activation stage, participants should consider what gaps there are in the work as a whole, what shortcomings are found in their activities. We are not yet talking about the own inefficient behavior of each employee.
This stage of training is similar to other forms of training. For example, lecturers often begin lectures by highlighting the range of challenges facing their discipline.

Continuation of the example. Activation.
Business coach Alexei chose a "soft" version of the introduction to the topic. Firstly, the sellers showed a low level of theoretical knowledge, and secondly, they did not realize that they were responsible for the level of sales in stores. This combination of diagnostic data suggests that if a group is given a serious task, there is a risk that many will fail. Plus, there may be distrust in the method of work, and this will cause a decrease in motivation.
The business coach held a discussion on the topic "What helps me and what prevents me from selling." The whole group was divided into subgroups of 3-4 people. Then the representatives of each subgroup listed what factors help and what hinder in personal selling. The results were recorded by the trainer on a piece of paper on a flipchart.
After the discussion, Alexey drew the attention of the participants to the fact that the success of sales depends on the actions of the seller. And once again, relying on the material of the discussion, he emphasized that during the training, those skills that the participants need will be honed. "You pointed out that it is important not to interrupt the client, and in the training a whole module is devoted to this -" needs identification techniques ", - said the business coach.
Thus, it was possible to remove the initial negative attitude towards learning, which was diagnosed during the acquaintance.

Problematization stage

At the previous stage, the participants understood what the content of the training would be, got used to the method. Now they must become aware of their own skills. As a rule, people believe that they never make mistakes and know everything they need. Non-recognition of one's own imperfection hinders the creation learning motivation. Is it possible to teach something to an ideal employee? Of course not. Therefore, a person needs to be shown that he does not know much, to indicate the boundaries of personal incompetence.
At this stage, the coach is tough. Its task is to expose individual gaps in knowledge and skills. This is the centerpiece of the training. Seminar or lecture forms of work are not characterized by a concentration on the skills of each student. There it is enough to talk about problems, find out opinions, listen to reports.
At this stage, trainers usually conduct a role-playing game, where the task is quite difficult to complete. For this, a so-called hidden motive is introduced. The participant must, using his skills, perform a professional task. In sales training, you need to make a conditional sale, in management classes you need to convince a subordinate to do the job, and so on. Participants playing the role of clients or subordinates are explained the condition under which actions of the active participant they show the desired behavior (buy, make concessions, enter into a position).
After the game, the coach provides feedback on what actions helped and what hindered the task. In this case, negative feedback is about 60%, and positive - about 40%. This is one of key points training. If attention is focused only on the shortcomings of behavior, then the participant can go into a "deaf defense", starting to behave negatively towards the training and the coach. Or he will become so discouraged that he will cease to show any activity.

Continuation of the example. Problematization.
Aleksey offered to play the role-playing game "Sale to a Difficult Client". The actions were recorded on a video camera. Participants sold a kitchen wall in furniture showroom. The coach himself acted as a "difficult" client. He agreed to a "purchase" if the sellers guessed his true motive (a gift to a colleague) and made the presentation correctly. Participants made several typical mistakes.
While watching the video, the business coach drew attention to the fact that salespeople do not listen to the end, interrupt, try to teach the buyer and, as a result, make an illiterate presentation. It was very noticeable on the video.
Alexei pointed out to everyone what they needed to work on.

Learning phase

When the group is prepared to receive information and is eager to acquire new knowledge and skills, you can proceed to the actual training. It includes different modules (topics), and each module is studied according to the "information - development - action" scheme.
First, the business coach gives theory (information), then the participants practice in subgroups - "twos", "triples" or in the discussion mode (working out), and after that role-playing game(action). At the end of the training, a final role-play is usually launched, where skills are developed in all the topics studied.
During the learning phase, positive feedback prevails over negative feedback. In other words, the coach must "catch" the positive moments and fix them. If you continue to problematize the group, then motivation will decrease. Participants will no longer trust the "finicky" coach.
Mistakes should be pointed out gently. Suppose a training participant, speaking about the properties of a product, inaccurately spoke about the advantages and benefits of a purchase. The trainer should show how the presentation will look more impressive, give specific phrases, words.

Continuation of the example. Education.
For shop assistants, the learning phase looked like this:

Training module
Establishing contact
Information	Distance, psychological space. The meaning of a smile, how to smile correctly. Addressing a customer by name
Working off	1. Exercise to understand the readiness to make contact "Loves - does not love." 2. Exercise to establish the distance. 3. Making eye contact "Catch the eye"
Action	Mini-role-playing game "There is a contact!" - enter into communication with a taciturn buyer
Identification of needs
Information	Classification of needs. The law of hiding needs. Active listening techniques
Working off	1. Game "Guess the need". 2. Work in subgroups on the use of active listening techniques. 3. "Guess the need" in teams
Action	Role-playing game "Forgetful buyer". It is necessary to help the client "remember" what and why he wants to buy
Product presentation
Information	Specifications and consumer properties - the difference. Scheme "need - effect - argument"
Working off	Moderated discussion, drawing up a "Furniture Effects Map"
Action	Mini-presentation "Performance at the exhibition"
Work with objections
Information	True and false objections. Objection Handling Techniques
Working off	1. Exercise with the ball "Objection - answer." 2. Written exercise. Drafting responses to objections regarding the quality of furniture
Action	Role-playing game "Return of goods"
Completion of the sale
Information	Training video "Closing the deal"
Working off	Discussion "Application of sales closing techniques". The results are recorded in the form of a table "Situation. Technique"
Action	Role-playing game "Sale at the exhibition"
Final action	Role-playing game "Sale in the store." The classic situation of communication with the client. Participants of the training should apply all the knowledge and skills acquired during the training

Consolidation stage

After the training is completed, you need to make sure that all the knowledge gained in the training is recorded. First, management can ask employees what are the most important messages they took away from the training. Secondly, the workers themselves must understand what the training gave them. Thus, a positive attitude towards training as a form of personnel training is formed.

Continuation of the example. Consolidation.
The business coach suggested two reinforcing exercises. The first is an exercise in awareness of the experience "What matters most in sales." Participants silently, in turn, approached the flipchart and wrote down the factor that contributes to successful sales ("Pause", "Speak the client's language", "Speak with effects", etc.). The trainer then photographed the recordings and emailed them to the participants.
The second exercise is "Suitcase". One participant walked out the door, and the group discussed which two qualities helped him sell and which hindered him. The results of the discussions were recorded on a piece of paper. This leaflet was then given to each. Thus, everyone had information about their strengths and weaknesses.

Sometimes, at the end of the group work, the trainers hold a general discussion on the topics "What's new I learned at the training", "Main conclusions" and the like. The statements of the participants are recorded and sent to each letter by e-mail. Thus, everyone has a "squeeze" of knowledge, the result of training.

Customer Feedback

The training begins with working with the customer and ends with the presentation of the results.

Continuation of the example. Feedback.
The test was repeated two days after the training. A week after the classes, the conversion was measured and the results were presented to the customer.

Surname I.O.	Percentage of correct answers before training	Percentage of correct answers after training
Vetrov S.A.
Kuropatkina S.S.
Lyubimova E.G.
Semenova K.D.
Turkaeva N.N.

Average conversion per week of work = 76%.
Obviously, the level of theoretical knowledge has grown significantly, and this indicates the effectiveness of the training. The quality of service has also improved, it is reflected in the conversion. Thus, the business coach Alexei completed his task.

What should be kept in mind when planning a training?
First. The results of the work are discussed with the customer before the training and "digitized". Management does not like it when training is done for the sake of training. Management is waiting for business results - sales growth, implementation of the plan. Therefore, the criteria for effective training work should be not only knowledge, but also indicators of service and sales.
Second. In training, the stages follow one after another, you cannot skip them, otherwise the dynamics of the training will “break down”. If, for example, you skip the acquaintance stage, then the participants will not be included in the training. They will constantly resist instructions, express doubts about the appropriateness of training.
Third. Only at the stage of problematization of the negative relationship should be more. At other stages, the emphasis is on the positive aspects.
Fourth. The presence of a "dry residue" is required. Participants should take out information about themselves and important ideas from the training in the form of abstracts. This knowledge needs to be documented in writing.

“Doing the same as yesterday, or even 5% better than yesterday, is no longer a formula for success. Significant changes are needed to survive and compete effectively in the new reality.”
/John Kotter/

Training Traditions

What are the trainings for? To create situations that are as close to reality as possible. A sports coach during training brings the conditions for developing skills as close as possible to the reality of the competition. If the players trained on a soft and safe surface, and then went out on a hard playing field during the match, they would be unsuccessful.

What do we do at business trainings, thoughtlessly cultivating the traditions of their conduct? We separate employees from the reality of business as much as possible.

Conducting a training we start by introducing the rules. Imagine a company employee at his workplace in the office (shop, warehouse, office, etc.). He comes after the training and begins to live according to the training rules - “we speak one at a time”, “I-statement”, “we respect the opinion of everyone”, etc. At the same time, the employees around him continue to live according to their usual rules and norms of behavior. At the very least, how will colleagues react to his new behavior - they will ask if he is ill?

When we describe this situation to the coaches, they start laughing - they get the absurdity of what they are actually doing with the rules.

When we ask them why they necessarily begin their trainings with the adoption of rules of conduct, we get similar answers: "Without them, we will not be able to manage the behavior of employees." Think about it - the coach, whose competence includes managing group processes and teaching the skills of successful communication of employees, is afraid that without rules he will not be able to cope with the group.

What effect do we actually achieve by thoughtlessly and according to some generally accepted standard, introducing rules into our trainings?

Employees cease to correlate the training situation with real activities. And, as a result, they also do not transfer the skills that we are trying to form in them into their work. Many employees in training say that what happens during training cannot be applied in their work.

It turns out that trainers, creating a different world at the training, form skills for this other world, and not for real life.

For example. Colonial psychologists periodically conduct trainings for prisoners. But their trainings are as close as possible to the reality of the existence of participants in the harsh conditions of imprisonment. On this occasion, they say this: “After our training, the prisoner must return to the bunk and survive there. We understand that we cannot change the unspoken rules of the colonists. We can create additional resources for survival in the prisoner. There are no generally accepted training rules in our trainings.”

The role of the coach

“Be eaten alive or change! The eternal search for sustainable competitive advantage leads us, paradoxically, not into the realm of numbers, but into the realm of morality.
/Jim Klemmer/

The maximum activity habitual for the trainer during the training causes the opposite effect for the participants. The more the trainer is involved in the training process, the less participants are involved in it. Participants of the training are completely dependent on the actions of the trainer. They are waiting for him to tell them what they should do, what questions to answer. They can afford to be passive while waiting for the coach to activate them. They may act aggressively, waiting for the coach to calm them down. The trainer is responsible for all events of the training.

In one of the trainings for trainers, the participants had to develop the exercise “Working with objections during sales”. The purpose of the assignment is to maximize the involvement of employees in the work. Employees at the training were played by the coaches themselves. After a little preparation, the group identified a trainer who demonstrated a set of techniques that they felt involved the participants in the training.

The coach entered the audience and asked everyone to sit down on 4 chairs. Seven participants of the training sat closely on 4 chairs. The trainer then took from the participants handouts. After that, the coach said that the training would begin only after 2 hours and left the door. A few minutes later, the trainer came and asked the participants, “Is my behavior comfortable? Tell us about your feelings? Was it pleasant or unpleasant?

The group, with interest and humor, began to talk about their feelings, not at all related to objections and resistance. The coach began to "pull the situation" by the ears. Further I quote the dialogue of the trainer with the group.

Coach: "But you're not comfortable sitting, are you?"

Joyful group: “Comfortable! We're really good at hugging each other!"

Even more puzzled coach: "But you were upset when I took all the materials from you."

Group: "What are you, we don't really need them."

Coach: "But you didn't like that I left for 2 hours."

Group with an intonation of mockery: “I liked it! We just didn't believe you!

Then the coach had no choice but to say: “Well then, imagine as if you didn’t like it all. This would be resistance to me and an objection on your part to my actions. This is what an objection is - we will now analyze it with you.

To the question: “What did the coach do wrong?”, the participants answered: “He chose the wrong situations for us so that we would start to object.”

The trainers were so involved in the usual roles of leaders responsible for the behavior of the group that even with a vivid example of the trainer's full responsibility for what was happening, they saw the problem not in the behavior of the trainer, but in the content of the task.

In the example above, the trainer himself came up with situations to which the trainees were supposed to start objecting.

If the responsibility for training during the training is distributed between the participants and the trainer, then the situations of objections should have been invented by the employees themselves. For example, you could organize the beginning of such a training as follows: "Divide into two subgroups and come up with tasks for the members of the other group, to which they will begin to object to you." The other group gets exactly the same task. Both groups then take turns demonstrating what they have come up with. After they act out the fictional situations, the trainer asks each subgroup to identify what caused objections, as well as what the participants did to cope with the objections raised and get their way.

In this version of the training, the role of the trainer is more than that of a moderator of the process. He should stop the work of subgroups in time, focus the attention of participants on the identified behaviors.

The trainer, together with the participants, summarizes the identified behaviors and gives them the opportunity to test how they work in the practice of their real sales. In this option, the participants act as co-authors of the created methodology, and they have no resistance to using it in their activities.

Training objectives

“Trainings are often done retroactively, without taking into account the organization’s strategy and without planning for positive changes at the end of them.”
/Jim Klemmer/

How to conduct training? What really needs to be formed in employees so that they become more productive after training? Just three things:

• The ability to analyze one's own behavior, since without self-analysis it is impossible to change it.
• Responsibility for the work assigned to the employee in the company.
• Striving for achievements, i.e. desire for continuous improvement and development.

Regardless of the topic of training, success is only created when employees have access to these three components.

What goals do trainers achieve by conducting traditional trainings? Take for example the most common training - sales training. This training any salesperson of a company passes more than once, and if he moves from company to company, then many times, gaining experience not so much in sales as knowledge of the methods of conducting these trainings. Any experienced salesperson will tell you by heart about the stages of sales, but in reality will not do even half of what he knows.

Checklists (salesperson assessment sheets that list the stages of a sale and the skills that a salesperson must demonstrate) that monitor the performance of supposedly mandatory sales stages reveal the worst performers among the most successful and experienced salespeople. What is it connected with? Successful salespeople understand the artificiality of the created methods and start selling based on their experience of communicating with different categories of buyers. The question arises - why do sales trainings repeatedly remind successful salespeople about what they don’t actually do? What is the purpose of such sales trainings?

It is known that we continue to train experienced salespeople so that they sell more. How can they start selling more? Due to all the same three components that we cited above: analysis, responsibility, striving for achievements. Are these components formed during sales trainings? Surprisingly, during the training, directly opposite qualities are formed. In fact, by conducting training, we, for the most part, worsen the work of the seller. What and when should the seller analyze when the trainer does not allow him to open his mouth during the training. He constantly directs, reminds, indicates, says what exercise to do, draws conclusions, and provides ready-made materials. What kind of responsibility can we talk about when the entire responsibility for the results of training lies with the trainer, the seller only needs to evaluate him. Who strives for achievements in sales trainings, if not a coach, gaining new exercises to diversify the pastime of salespeople.

It is no secret that salespeople perceive such trainings as an obligation, a separation from work. They require additional motivation in the form of days off for their training.

When checking sellers come, they pretend to follow the necessary sales rituals. When the check goes away, they start selling, based on common sense. The sellers of one salon said that when employees of the training center came to them, they immediately began to make a characteristic inviting gesture with their hand and say the necessary phrase “Welcome”. When the inspectors left, they sighed with relief and simply greeted the buyers like normal people.

Training evaluation

“… of all the decisions a manager makes, none is as important as the decision about people, because it is people who determine the performance of an organization.”
/Peter Drucker/

Another moment of training, closely related to the fact that the trainer used to consider himself responsible for everything that happens during training, is the post-training evaluation of the training by its participants. What do participants rate? The trainer, his materials, how he organized the training, how interesting, useful, exciting, etc. they found. Think about what we are doing. Instead of evaluating the work of training employees, employees evaluate the work of the trainer.

Imagine a lesson at school, after which each student in his diary evaluates the work of the teacher - how much he liked, what he liked, what he understood or did not understand, etc. Imagine what a joy it will be for losers, slobs, etc. They will demand more fun, pictures and attention from the teacher. Each unfulfilled lesson will be considered from the point of view of the fact that the teacher was not emotional enough, did not motivate and did not provide the necessary materials.

How can we talk about the motivation of employees to learn and the responsibility for applying the acquired skills in the workplace, if at the training itself they are spectators who evaluate the entertainment event?

And the coach at this time, as dependent on the opinion of the listeners, is trying hard to be good for them.

What is the tradition of post-training evaluation for trainees? Only one thing - the lack of responsibility for their own training and development. All responsibility is shifted to the trainer, training center, etc.

Moreover, this tradition creates a similar attitude among leaders. Many managers say: “The training center is responsible for learning, let it think about how to motivate my employees to learn and let it be responsible for improving their performance.” Isn't it a convenient position to abdicate responsibility.

Imagine a situation in a company when the head of the sales department says to the head of the purchasing department: “Our business is to sell, and what we sell is your business, and we are not at all interested in the parameters of the goods that you purchase.” Nonsense, you say. In this case, the company does not work as a single entity. But why do we separate learning from the company's business processes? Why is this separation taken for granted?

Learning Outcomes

“There are many messiahs who promise a bright future. There are not enough craftsmen who build the future”
Vladimir Mikheev

In our desire to regulate everything, we begin to do this with what is not amenable to regulation - with human relationships, learning situations, etc. The management of the company is also drawn into this, striving to identify the effectiveness of training through formal digital indicators. At the same time, management is always dissatisfied with the criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of training, since it is not involved in the process of this training. Management stays away from one of the most important business processes companies. It puts this process in the hands of novice coaches, saving on salaries.

Beginning coaches learn to teach by making mistakes and thereby reducing performance. Why do we carefully select a financier, but we believe that everyone can teach? Why do we think that an accountant's mistake is detrimental to business, while a training mistake does not affect anything? Because the accountant's mistake is immediately visible and can be corrected. A learning error is not immediately visible, but has a prolonged effect for a very long time. But management doesn't think about it.

For example, a foreign coach conducting a coach in Russian company, during his training, he emphasized the phrase “You need to select employees for a long time and carefully, you need to fire quickly.” After that, the director of the company began to get rid, without hesitation, of the heads of sales departments, experienced salesmen at their first oversight. As a result, the competitor company received trained personnel, and the director had to train novice sales managers who did not know the product well for a long time. Sales have fallen, the motivation of the remaining has decreased.

It is known that in a situation of financial crisis, the first to reduce the training departments. And they do it right. In the form in which most training departments exist and operate now, they are not needed for companies.

But the need for training and development of employees in these companies remains. Reduction training centers does not mean the elimination of staff training and development. This means a transition to a new level of building a learning system.

How to train properly? Training and development of employees should become an integral part of the work of managers. Managers should become specialists not only in their professional field, but also in the field of mentoring, coaching, tutoring, team management. Responsibility for the training and development of employees in the company should be evenly distributed between the training center, managers and the employees themselves. Only in this case, we will get systematic low-cost in-house training aimed at improving the efficiency of the company. Only in this case, the mentoring system will really work in the company without additional material motivation. Only in this case it will be possible to talk about the creation of a self-learning company that will be more competitive in the shrinking crisis business market.

“Every radical idea provokes three stages of response: 1. It's impossible, and don't waste my time! 2. Maybe so, but, really, you shouldn’t take it on ... 3. I always said that this is a great idea!
(Clark's Law of Radical Ideas).

Any training program consists of mini-lectures and various exercises. And there are only five types of exercises. In the last article, we discussed warm-up exercises in detail. And today we will also analyze in detail basic exercises.

They are also called themed.

• These are exercises that directly train the skills for which the participants came to the training.

These are the main exercises in the training. Hence their name. At the training of oratory skills, these are exercises that form the ability to speak in front of an audience, the ability to gesticulate correctly, the ability to answer difficult questions. In sales training, these are exercises that develop the ability to ascertain needs, use a funnel of questions, work with objections, etc.

• In skill training(the task of which is precisely to develop necessary skills) exactly basic (thematic) exercises should take up most of the training time. Up to 70% of the total time.
• In motivational training the task is different - to create a powerful motivation for the participants to change, to form in them important awareness about themselves, about relationships, about the world. Such trainings may contain very few basic exercises, and sometimes even do without them.

How to find out if this exercise is basic or not? Easily. You just need to ask yourself a question: what skill does it train? If the skill is not trained, then this is not the main exercise.

An important condition for the main exercise is that it must be built in such a way that all participants of the training managed to work. The main exercise, where only a few people from the group trained, is unacceptable. After all, all participants are equally entitled to receive those skills for which they came to the training.

That's why basic exercises are most often performed in pairs or triples ...

And also in mini-groups of 4-6 people. These configurations just allow you to make sure that all participants in the training have time to work out the skill.

For example, let's say we're doing public speaking training, and we want each participant to come in front of the group and give a pep talk for 3 minutes. Let's say we have 16 participants in the training. If everyone goes to the general circle and speaks, it will take us more than 2 hours: 3 min. per performance plus 5 min. for feedback (after all, many will want to speak out, after all, training in oratory skills), a total of 128 minutes per group, plus the legendary “this and that” ...

Usually, when conducting trainings, we try to do as much as possible, and traditionally there is not enough time. Exercise for 2–2.5 hours is a luxury. And another important point - the group will get bored, the energy, involvement and motivation of the participants will greatly “sag” if we do the same thing for 2 hours.

What is the way out? There are two exits:

• Reduce the number of speakers. We propose to perform 4-5 "the most courageous". For them, it's a great experience. After analyzing the pros and cons of each speech, we move on to a mini-lecture about the tools for an effective and incendiary speech. A good option! It’s just that it won’t be the main exercise anymore, because most of the group didn’t practice anything in it.
• Divide participants into mini-groups. For example, 4 "most courageous" participants speak to the general group, they are given detailed feedback under the guidance of a coach. Then we form 2 teams, each of which should include 2 people who have already performed (let them be “team captains”) and 6 participants who have not yet performed. Now in mini-groups it is necessary to continue the work so that everyone speaks. "Captains" organize the process and quality feedback. The coach goes to one or the other team, helping in the feedback.

What do we have in the second version:

• Time is reduced from 2 hours to 1 hour 20 minutes.
• In this case, the skill is trained by all participants.
• The tone and involvement of the participants was at a much higher level, because they worked independently, were involved, involved.
• Plus, we gave an opportunity for an active participant to appear in the role of "team captains", which is good for group dynamics, as it will speed up the distribution of roles in the group. But this is a completely different story ... And we will definitely analyze it in our subsequent articles.

If you need to shorten the time- it means that we give 3-4 active participants to speak, then we form 3 teams, each of which will have 4 non-speaking participants. We get about 1 hour in time. And all the above advantages are preserved.

Doing more than 3 teams within the framework of our conditions (16 participants) is no longer justified. You will lose the feeling of speaking in front of an audience if there are only 2-3 listeners in front of you. Here, the coach always needs to look for a reasonable compromise, so that both the workload on the participants is preserved and time is saved.

Core exercises are large, long exercises. Often they take from 30 minutes to 1.5 hours. Since each participant must thoroughly work out the skill that is laid down in this exercise, then everyone needs to be given enough time so you don't have to rush. And it's just as important to give enough time for feedback, because in the main exercises it is no less valuable than the practice itself.

When colleagues bring me their new training programs with a request to see, make changes, and I see that 10–15 minutes are allotted for the main exercise, this immediately raises my doubts. Well, it doesn't happen like that. Or the skill chosen is too small. Or not enough time is given to study. Or maybe not everyone is involved...

Where do you get the basic exercises from?

Here's the good news - they're easy enough to make yourself! We simply take situations, cases from life related to the topic of our training and transfer them to exercises. Let's create?

• Sales training? Let this be an exercise in pairs. One is the seller, the other is the buyer. The seller needs to sell the goods we offer to the buyer according to the scheme that we gave. For example, we just learned how to build a funnel of questions to find out a customer's needs. The task of the seller: using this "funnel" to make a sale.

How much time to work? Since the “funnel” is new, the participants will have to think carefully, select the right words, so you need to give a lot of time. For example, 7-10 minutes to work one way. The choice of time, of course, depends on the complexity of the goods.

Immediately after the time to "sell" is over, the obligatory component is the feedback within the pairs. This is extremely important. Feedback enables the "salesperson" to reflect on their work, to speak their feelings without accumulating them. Feedback allows both participants in a pair to reinforce understanding of the question funnel.

• An exercise carried out without feedback (immediately after the completion of the “sale”) loses up to 50% of its effectiveness!

What is the best way to build feedback in the main exercises?

1. It's always best to let the person who was "selling" speak first: How does it feel? How effective was the "funnel" in his opinion?

2. Then give the “buyer” an opportunity to express their opinion: Was the “funnel” used effectively? What went well? What else is worth paying attention to and improving?

3. If we plan to bring feedback to the general circle, then at first it is better to give the participants the opportunity to speak out within the pairs, and only then bring it to the whole group.

But back to creating the basic exercises. It is just as easy to come up with basic exercises for any other training topic:

• Influencer training? Please. We are looking for cases from life where the ability to influence is important. Participants in pairs. One side is the driver who broke the rules because he was in a hurry to get to the airport. The second side is the traffic cop who stopped him. It is important for the driver to convince the traffic cop to let him go as soon as possible and without fines.

We ask ourselves, where else in life are there bright cases of influence? For example, one of the pair is an official who can give necessary certificate, or maybe not give it (he will make the decision). The task of the second is to convince the official to issue such a certificate in 7–10 minutes.

• Interpersonal relationship coaching? And we want to teach the participants to negotiate. Fine! So, one will play the role of the spouse, the second - the wife. And they need to agree in 10-15 minutes: they will buy a car (wife's desire) or new furniture in the kitchen / fur coat (wife's desire). The amount of money is limited - either one or the other, the floor of the car and the floor of the fur coat - you can’t :-). We agree!

Certainly, it is logical to put the main exercises after the mini-lecture, in which you gave a certain scheme, which you need to work out in this exercise. In our examples, we will give before the main exercises the scheme of the "funnel of questions", the "algorithm for effective persuasion" and a mini-lecture on "how to easily agree in pairs." By the way, we will also talk about how to make a strong, memorable mini-lecture in one of the subsequent mailings.

As you can see, creating basic exercises for training is quite simple. If you want to add ready-made and "tasty" basic exercises to your piggy bank, you can always purchase them in our "Exercises for training" section. Set the filter "basic exercises" and choose what you need!

And we have to consider 2 more professional coaching moments:

• Pairs or triplets? What to choose?

All our exercises can be done in triplets. Then the third will play the role of "observer".

What are the pros and cons of being an observer? He, as a person who is not involved in the sales process, will give more objective and deeper feedback. This is a plus. It will take 1.5 times more time for everyone to work. This is a minus (although sometimes a plus :-)). Since all members of the trio will go through 3 rounds of selling, the skill will be mastered at a much more stable level. This is definitely a plus!

So, working in triplets (compared to pairs) gives a deeper level of study, forms a more stable skill, but takes more time.

It is also worth considering that working in threes requires a certain level of trust in the group. Just "sell a product to a colleague" or "sell a product when an observer is watching your sale" - for most of the participants in the training, these are "two big differences."

Therefore, at the first stages of the training, it is better to give work in pairs. Working in pairs is the fastest way to build trust in a group. When trust is formed, and the participants are ready to work openly, we give the main exercises in triplets.

What product to sell as part of the main exercise?

There are 2 main options here: build a sale on a real product - the one that participants sell in real life. Or on a product that is unrealistic for them, with which they do not work in life.

Many trainers choose to always work on the real product. And they are wrong. After all, mastering a new way of acting on a real product is much more difficult! There are a lot of “tails”, past experience that draws to the usual way of selling, the participants “slide” into the “as they always did”, and do not train the scheme that the trainer suggested.

The more complex the skill, the more important it is for the participants to really master it - the better it is to do it on an "unreal" product for them!

Do they usually sell cars? So, let the main exercise sell phones. Or let them sell each other a can of coffee according to the scheme you proposed.

By the way, the more unusual the “unreal product”, the more it increases the involvement, energy of the participants, their interest in the exercise.

For example, the task of “selling a hairbrush to a bald man” or “snow to an Eskimo” usually helps not only to practice the skill, but also greatly invigorates the participants.

Of course, having mastered a new skill on an unreal product, you must then transfer it to a real product, give the participants the opportunity to transfer it to their own specifics.

Therefore, experienced trainers often give 2 main exercises for an important skill:

• The first one is faster. In pairs and on an unreal product.
• The second is more difficult. For example, in triplets and on a real product.

And then the skill is really formed! And our trainings become really effective!

Well, it’s time to finish already ... I want to say so much that I just can’t write short articles)). Let's take a "sweet" look an example of a real basic exercise for sales training.

In a mini lecture, the trainer introduces the group to the technology of a competent NPV proposal:

• Features(Red)
• Advantages(bright, stands out from others)
• Benefits(you will be noticed)

Next, he gives an exercise, let's call it "Star Hour":

After we have learned about the FPV proposal algorithm, it would be logical to work it out, as they say, on “cats”. In our case, plastic cups will act as cats.

Each team needs to come up with the maximum possible number of FPV chains per plastic cup. You are given 10 minutes for this activity.

Next, we will play an analogue of the once-existing popular children's program "Star Hour". One team names their NPV chain, the other must name theirs. And so, in turn, until the list or fantasy runs out. The interesting thing is that the chains must always be new and it is impossible to repeat already named chains, including those named by another team.

But I hope everyone understands that there can be one trait, but there can be several benefits and advantages from this trait, and, accordingly, several NPV chains can be built on one trait.

The groups take turns calling the NPV chains until they run out. The trainer comments on the chains, if there are inaccuracies in them (for example, advantages and benefits are mixed up), corrects, prompts.

Time for the whole exercise: about 30 minutes.

Required resources: plastic cups according to the number of groups.

• Is this the main exercise? Yes.
• What skill does it train? Make chains according to the FPV scheme.
• Does everyone participate? Yes, everyone in mini-groups participates in the discussion and development of chains.
• Is the exercise based on a real or unreal product? On the unreal (plastic cups). This means that the FPV scheme will be assimilated faster, and the exercise itself will be cheerful and energetic.

After this exercise, it would be appropriate to give another basic exercise to train FPV already on a real product in order to consolidate the skill and integrate it into the situation of the participants.

Here we are already born and whole pieces of training!

One of the most promising vacancies today can be considered the vacancy of a business coach and coach personal development. People who are able to conduct high-quality and interesting trainings are especially in demand in the modern labor market.

And this is not at all surprising, because the coach must not only be well aware of the theory and practice of his work, but must also take full responsibility for the results of his students. Of course, in this case, the persons must be specially trained.

But few people know that if desired, for example, a representative of the personnel service can independently master the skills of such a “profession” and become a successful leader. Let's figure out how to conduct a training on your own and what organizational issues are important to take into account.

For those who are interested in how training should be conducted, it is important to understand what it is. It is worth saying that training is primarily learning activities (the psychological definition of the term comes from the English phrase “to train”, which translates as “train” or “train”).

They are held in an atypical way for other similar activities and therefore help to create an optimal basis for the rapid assimilation and development of certain knowledge and skills. Note that everyone who has ever participated in a training remembers not only the event itself, but also all the information that they were taught during the event.

Let's start over: the main theses and secrets of success

Given the high success and popularity of trainings, you need to know what their secret is. And the high productivity and effectiveness of trainings completely depends on several components at once:

• A carefully crafted action plan and the program itself.
• Originality and usefulness of the material.
• Relevance and relevance of the topic, freshness of ideas.
• Fascinating and interesting presentation of information.
• Achievements and personal experience instructor.
• Environment.

If you want the training to be successful, be sure to create intrigue. The presentation of information should be catchy, exciting, interesting. Here, the responsibility is completely shifted to the shoulders of the coach, because the success of the entire enterprise directly depends on his ability to speak to the public and the ability to organize lively discussions with the participants of the event.

It should be noted that training can be considered qualitative if the program of which includes all the points described above. In particular, if you are asking the question: “I want to conduct a training - what do I need for this?”, then first of all you should start drawing up an action plan.

Training

If you are wondering where and how to start preparing for the training, then initially think over the main goals of the upcoming event. What tasks and ideas do you need to implement through training? Taking this data as a basis, you should build a program scheme, dividing the training into two parts:

1. Theoretical

2. Practical.

As for the topic, it should be fundamentally new or relevant to the audience. In this case, your classes will be a real full house, which will increase the popularity and relevance of your course. As practice shows, the following several topics are currently in demand:

• Business (opening and developing your own business).
• Personal growth.
• Development and improvement of leadership abilities, as well as management skills.

No less popular are sales trainings, the purpose of which is to increase sales and fulfill plans. Preparation for such events includes drawing up an individual program adapted to a specific enterprise (company, retail outlet, etc.), which is associated with the presence of various individual nuances and characteristics of the company.

If you have to conduct psychological training, then at the preparatory stage you will need to draw up a program that would fully meet the expectations of the students. And in order for the audience to get the expected effect, the instructor must necessarily take into account the needs of the participants. If the material will be presented to the general public, then when drawing up the program plan, it will be necessary to focus on the most “difficult” category of listeners.

If your topic is completely different, then it must be interesting for a wide mass of people, and it must be presented so effectively and at the same time accessible that each participant in the event will surely remember everything to the smallest detail.

Organizational moments

As for the choice of premises, you need to give preference to bright and spacious rooms with comfortable furniture. Usually, when a person feels comfortable, his activity is very fruitful, he concentrates precisely on the information given to him, which increases the effectiveness of the lesson.

Therefore, if you decide to organize a training, you need to first select the most optimal variant of the premises. You can arrange with the customer to provide you with a separate office for the duration of the event. Or rent a separate room that best meets the requirements of the lesson, so that there is a place for listeners, equipment and other paraphernalia.

Also, when planning trainings and seminars, it is important to remember the needs of the customer. The leadership that invites an instructor to train staff does not need the process of “renewal of knowledge” itself. The customer is waiting for concrete results - real business promotion, growth in sales of products (services), improvement in the quality of service, etc., which you can provide him with through training. Author: Elena Suvorova

Usually, groups for active psychological studies are formed according to the principle of a single request realized by each participant. There are trainings for managers who want to learn how to better manage their subordinates, group classes for shy people who want to learn the secrets of free, uninhibited behavior, training groups for athletes, teachers who feel the need to learn to control themselves. Initially, the request of any participant in the training can be reduced to the following: "Teach me the secrets, techniques, devices, using which I will be an invulnerable person in communication with others." Dale Carnegie's books are a brilliant attempt to answer this question. It turns out, however, that, despite their practical orientation, literary and psychological merits, Carnegie's books do not always help. The fact is that even the most conscientious reader, who scrupulously and thoughtfully performs all the numerous exercises contained in them, still does not always get rid of the feeling that he now, after reading, has a lot of knowledge. His, the reader, consciousness is overwhelmed with all sorts of rules, very subtly and aptly deduced from simple everyday observations. He really wants to share his discoveries with friends. Fascinated by the charm of Carnegie's lectures, the reader feels highly competent ... not so much in dealing with different people as much as being able to give a popular lecture on Carnegie-style communication. I did not escape this fate, and many psychologists.

Roughly speaking, if I lecture you on how to harness, for example, a horse, then you will learn exactly this. I mean, learn to lecture about it. Maybe even a good read. However, with the practice of harnessing, you may have some difficulties. One of the first, not embarrassed to write about this in a language understandable not only to specialists, was Anatoly Dobrovich, who spoke about socio-psychological training. “In order to learn how to communicate, people need to ... communicate,” he simply formulated one of the main ideas of any training. I remember the witty lectures of Adolf Ulyanovich Kharash at Moscow University. He suddenly began to think aloud as he explained. For example, he drew the following parallel: when a kitten is born and immediately goes to new owners, losing contact with relatives almost at the very beginning of a cat's life, he still knows for sure that he is a kitten. There is enough information in his genes about this. When a child is born, he does not yet know who he is. After all, the story of Mowgli is only a dream of Kipling, and the real descriptions of the “wolf children” are completely different and there is no need to remind them. Man is born without a mirror in his hands. Therefore, in order to open oneself to oneself, in order to see and understand oneself as a person, and finally, to be convinced of the very fact of one’s existence, a person first looks, as if into a mirror, into another person. The training group for each of its participants becomes such a voluminous mirror. . Therefore, the main nerve of active group work is feedback from the group to each participant in the training. It may seem that the matter remains for a little, for the feedback of this connection, and even for what, in fact, to give it. As often happens, in a simple and, at first glance, not much, there is a sea of ​​​​scientific, applied and practical problems, incidents, questions, not all of which have unambiguous answers.

Any training, no matter what tasks it pursues, almost always begins with the development of the rules for the work of the group and with acquaintance. Rules can be defined in different ways. You can simply hang them on a poster in front of the participants. It is possible, by offering options, to start a joint selection of the most suitable ones. You can start writing yourself. It all depends on what the participants want from the class. If these are group activities related to problems of interpersonal relationships, or even personal problems, then in this case it is useful to start with the acquaintance procedure, declaring only the rules for this first procedure. Then, at the end of it, you can work out the rules of life within the group, turning this development into an independent group procedure. If the participants have gathered to solve some common problem for them, not related, as they think (for now) with the personality of each, or the participants are definitely tuned in and expect some kind of training in behavior, development of skills and abilities, then it is quite dangerous try to turn the development of rules into a special group procedure. Already at this stage, it is useful for a psychologist conducting group work to ask himself questions about what clients say they want and about what they really want. And not from life in general (many want from life, for example, meaning, but not all members of the group are inclined to do this here and now), but from the life spent working in this particular group. So, rules.

Let's try to list all known or encountered in the practice of the author of this manual:

1. Don't be late*.

2. Take care of the privacy of the life of the group.

3. Strive to be an active participant in what is happening.

4. Do not give up the right to say “no”, as well as the right to decide for yourself (yourself) how to behave, how to act in a given situation.

5. If possible, be sincere, report (if you already report) reliable information.

6. Get support, help from the group.

7. Strive to listen to the speaker, trying not to interrupt.

8. Orient yourself to be active by participating in all events, procedures, situations that arise during the work of the group.

9. Express your opinion on any issue.

10. Use the appeal to "you" during the work of the group.

11. Report your difficulties that prevent participation in the work of the "from" and "to" group (the need to miss classes, leave or come earlier or later than the appointed hour). Moreover, each participant has the right to do this in advance. In this case, the issue of his further participation in the work will be decided by the group.

The listing order is random.

12. Speak out only on your own behalf and about what is perceived, felt, experienced, happening here and now.

13. Do not talk about those present in the third person.

In a concise form, as a rule, after even a small discussion (and it is useful to offer each participant to speak according to the proposed rules at least formally, in two or three words), this “code of laws” can take the following form (on a blackboard, whatman paper):

1. The accuracy of the beginning and end of the procedure.

2. Privacy.

3. Activity.

4. The right to say no.

5. Don't cheat.

6. Right to support.

7. Duty to listen - not to interrupt.

8. Participate in everything.

9. The right to a personal opinion.

10. To address everyone as "you".

11. Work "from" and "to".

12. Speak personally about what is happening here and now.

ACQUAINTANCE

Acquaintance is the central procedure of the first session of any training, no matter what goals this training pursues, in whatever key it is conducted. Acquaintance is certainly carried out even if the training takes place in the acting team where everyone seems to know each other. There are several purposes for this procedure. As a rule, the goals actually achieved after the acquaintance did not always coincide with those that the presenter set or thinks he has achieved. It is usually believed that the acquaintance procedure allows you to "rock" the group, to involve its members in new, somewhat unusual reflections about themselves and their personal resources, about how the participants perceive each other. “Introduction” is also aimed at responding to anxiety, if during the procedure each participant is asked to report their concerns regarding the upcoming work, etc. I will list the variants of this procedure that I know of, although, of course, there may be others. . This is a creative business.

1) Each participant in turn or passing the word to any other participant to choose from, as a relay race, is invited to tell the group a name; or that name. which he wants to be called here; or the name that he bore in childhood; or just the name that he likes the most;

2) Everyone calls their names in a circle. Moreover, each next one, before giving his name, calls all the previous ones;

3) Each participant says his name, one of his positive and one of his negative traits, but before talking about himself, he repeats everything that his neighbor said about himself.

As a rule, participants agree that the baton of acquaintance passed on to each other is accompanied by an invisible wave of tension. This tension builds up as the turn to speak approaches, and drops quite sharply after the job is done. The facilitator (who, of course, tends not to come out first with his impressions) can draw the attention of the participants to the fact that many could hardly repeat what their neighbor said about himself. Participants who have completed the task often begin to whisper among themselves, while those who have not yet reached the turn close in on themselves, tense up, concentrate, collect their thoughts, frown. Relieved smiles come later. Usually, in addition to the name, it is proposed to provide some minimum information about yourself. This minimum can be limited both by time (for example, everyone is given fifty-four seconds for any message about themselves), and by specific topics. It is undesirable to formulate more than three restrictions-requirements for this task. Participants get flustered and tend to forget most of the parameters that their utterances must match. And the leader’s constant pulling up destroys the already just emerging atmosphere in the group, increases anxiety. In addition to the name, each participant can be invited to name, inform, express:

– their expectations in relation to the upcoming training;

- their fears associated with the beginning classes;

- any personal feature;

- any personal values;

Sometimes the group is invited to ask questions to each participant after their presentation. Either the number of these questions or their subject matter is strictly regulated. Be sure to stipulate the right of everyone not to answer or to answer as he wants.

A help that includes each participant in the upcoming work is the acquaintance option under the conditional name “Who am I.” This option is useful in groups where participants who do not know each other and are confident that life circumstances will not push them together later, they gathered, having a common request - difficulties in communication. The essence of the procedure is as follows. Each participant on a piece of paper with a bright felt-tip pen makes ten free-form short messages about oneself, each of which, different from the previous ones, begins the same way: “I - ...” What follows is anything that corresponds to the truth. These can be character traits, personality traits, interests, biographical data, various comparisons of oneself with anyone and anything in an allegorical form, and so on. Then the participants attach these sheets to their chests and, slowly walking around the room, read what they have written. At the same time, it is possible to introduce bans on conversations in order to increase the intensity of the discussion of impressions after the group is seated.

The central moment in this variant of acquaintance (as, indeed, in all procedures performed by the group, whether it be games, “numbers”, other structural units of group work) is discussion. The discussion can be aimed at almost anything (but it should not turn into a monologue of a “smart” presenter, explaining, evaluating, noticing with a sharp eye the flaws and mistakes of the unlucky wards). The effect of any procedure will be achieved only if the facilitator, having a sincere interest in any reactions of the participants to what has just happened, will try to be a “voice-over”, “amplifier” of each voiced opinion, expression, surprise, discontent and even unwillingness to speak. The most that the facilitator can dare to do is to try to generalize opinions and offer possible summaries. And only in absolutely indisputable, win-win situations, the leader can draw the attention of the participants to something that has become impossible to ignore, but for some reason this “something” has gone unnoticed. And again, the interpretations that are so tempting to "slip" the group members, the leader should not rush to offer.

An interesting variant of acquaintance can be “acquaintance with intonation”, involving participants in a world of feelings, emotions, sensations, often new to many, with which the participants of almost any training have to “work” basically. In this variant, each participant, introducing himself, calls his name twice. The first time he pronounces it the way he would not want to be called in the group, and the second time - on the contrary, the way he would like to be addressed.

Organization of acquaintance of the participants of any training is a responsible and creative matter. No wonder it is said that "the beginning is a dashing misfortune." Acquaintance determines a lot in the entire further course of the training, and mistakes made at the beginning are difficult to correct. The main criterion here is the severe need to accurately and without advancing (but also without lagging behind) responding to the request of the collective client, which is the group. Moreover, you should not respond to a global request like “teach me how to get along with people”, but to a momentary request. This request is especially cruel "backfires" to the host if the latter neglects it. For example, the whole group actually really wants further classes and with this particular leader, but at this particular moment, most of its participants are brutally wanting to smoke. Group members whose momentary request is ignored by the leader (unless it is a special move by the leader) are ready to hate him for it. Which turns out to be not the most pleasant test for the host.

Yes, by the way, you and I didn’t even notice that we communicate throughout the lesson, sitting on chairs arranged in an even circle so that everyone sees everyone. And there are no tables in front of us. The advantage of this location has become obvious to you and me, isn't it? This organization of the working space of the life of the group is traditional for any kind of training.

Acquaintance is necessary, of course, not only to reacquaint the participants, to let them get used to the new situation. The purpose of the "acquaintance" procedure can be considered achieved if the participants feel interested, intrigued, curious about the further process. Or, if it became interesting what kind of people gathered for the training, how they will behave in the upcoming, yet unknown situations of communication. It is worse if there is an interest in the leader, as in an extraordinary, outstanding, outlandish person. Then the classes turn into “meetings with interesting people”, where the leader is doomed to act as an “interesting person”. Beginners (and, unfortunately, not only beginners) presenters often play this role. This role is very sticky. The group easily, readily imposes it on the leader. And the leader resists, but plays out. Most often, the case ends with the fact that some aggression of the group towards the leader gradually develops. There are psychologists who practice the use of such aggression for the purposes of working on processes that are creative for the group as a whole. However, it would be rash to start your practice of group work precisely with such a “risky” style for the leader and for the very fact of the existence of this particular group. There are three main strategies of the leader in the training of communicative competence in groups, through the phase of which, one way or another, groups of any orientation, orientation, style and “ideology” pass. After all, without making money, gaining at least some increment in the communicative plan, any further movement will be imaginary. Therefore possible initial stage as active methods practical psychology will be the training of communicative competence. Yu. M. Zhukov, L. A. Petrovskaya, P. V. Rastyanikov, denoting the different styles of the leader at the stage of communicative training, speak of three forms: free leading, programmed leading and a compromise, intermediate form. The first style, often accompanied by the epithet “ client-centered”, is characterized as outwardly passive to the extreme. The passivity of the facilitator can irritate the participants. The leader is LISTENING. Moreover, he tries to ensure that on a non-verbal level he is not more exalted, bright, expressive than the members of the group. The leader does not convince anyone of anything, does not explain anything. He gently avoids questions-attacks, demands, harassment of the participants. Here the uncertainty in which the group finds itself soon generates a rather high tension of existence for each participant in the group process. The group chooses itself out of uncertainty. But in order for this to happen, so that the participants simply do not go home without understanding why, in fact, they were gathered here, the leader must be fluent not only in the technique of empathic listening, not only be able to perceive for quite a long time the maximum possible the number of manifestations emanating from each member of the group, but also to be able to feel the group as a whole, which is called “being with the group”. Here is a list (of course, far from complete, and not claiming to be complete, but designed to stimulate the imagination of the leaders) of possible "beginnings" for the leader. So the group got together. Everyone sat down. You as the leader - together with everyone in the same circle. Acquaintance somehow happened. Everything. The group was in anticipation. What should you do as a leader? Here are the options. Choose what is closer to you in the current situation:

1. I won't do anything.

2. I will say that the group is themselves, and the development and usefulness of the group depends on them.

3. Reassure participants that a certain amount of tension is typical for starting group work.

4. I will break the silence with an unimportant question, conversation, “chirping”.

5. I will describe the goals and methods of the group.

6. I will say that each of the members looks tense, and I am curious if the group will budge.

7. Ask them how they feel during the first session (how they feel about the group, or what they see as the relationship they already have).

8. Tell me how I feel (for example, that I am tense and full of anticipation).

9. I will tell you about some experience from my own life.

10. I will ask why everyone is silent.

11. I will ask the group what should be done today.

12. I will say that, as it seems to me, they expect me to start a conversation.

13. I will say that they want me to become their motivating and protective leader.

14. I will say that I consider silence an expression of fear in the group.

15. I will ask everyone to say why they came to the group.

16. Start a conversation about their past experiences (for example, about family relationships).

17. Encourage participants to discuss their goals in terms of learning and behaviour.

18. Use a non-verbal method (for example, start walking in circles, focusing on physical tension).

As you might guess, programmed management means having a detailed plan for conducting a group lesson. However, one can never predict in advance the mood, expectations, behavior of individual participants and the "movement of the group" as a whole. The most convenient position for the leader is when he focuses mainly on the desire to understand, feel, feel and realize the goals that made these people become members of the group. And not just clarify it for yourself once and “calm down”, but constantly be aware of this concern. And it is useful to have “numbers”, “tricks”, exercises, procedures that should (or should not) be offered to participants to do for each lesson and those that would move the group members towards the goals that each of them has. them and the group as a whole. In any case, we must not forget that the programming of the lesson dampens the activity of the participants, emasculates the very idea of ​​active methods of practical psychology. When programming the upcoming lesson, the facilitator should always be prepared for the fact that some “number”, some exercise will not work, will not surprise the participants, will not carry them along the path of analysis and discussion, will not allow them to see the subject for which this exercise was proposed . Moreover, in a live group process, a well-known and repeatedly used exercise by the facilitator can cause reactions of the participants that are completely unexpected for the psychologist. Here, according to the situation, the facilitator can either “fade out”, giving the participants the opportunity to discuss what was revealed for them and right now, not missing for himself as the facilitator the opportunity to further delve into, enter, feel into what is happening, or invite the participants to move on , acting out the facilitator's next prep or discussing their specific concerns. In any case, the beginning, even organized by the leader, if it is also playful, turns on the excitement of the participants, makes it easier for them to move away, at least for a while, from the usual role positions that they adhere to in life, and begin to analyze their own (at the first stage ) communicative problems in a special way through acting out typical, significant situations for them, followed by a discussion.

Thus, in real group work, the facilitator usually uses a compromise form of leadership, which involves the ability to track goals and systematically move towards these goals, and in addition, the ability to improvise along the way, respond to spontaneous group requests, dare to advance in previously unseen planned direction. Generally speaking, if the facilitator feels absolutely calm, comfortable, cozy while working with the group, this may be a sign of his bad work. Elements of internal uncertainty, and hence excitement, are a necessary and inevitable part of the experience of any leader.

 

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