20 tips for conducting effective trainings in Non-governmental organisations (NGOs)

Non-governmental organisations conduct a lot of trainings in the course of a project or program. There are a few tips I would like to share:

20 Tips for conducting effective NGO trainings

1. Treat every training differently; just because it is the same topic doesn't mean it is the same audience.
2. A simple needs assessment can be very useful 
3. Know your audience before your class. It is crucial. If  you don't have the opportunity, start on the first day of training.
4. If there are multiple players or organizations involved in the learning, get their inputs even if they have none. It saves the day.
5. Involve supervisors by carrying them along through the process of participant selection 
6. Always ask about the training environment and required training equipment
7. Always think about the in-country context
8. Culture is important in trainings. Cultures are different.
9. Always customize content to the audience and what they need to know. Using the same content without any room for flexibility is not wise.
10. Align your training methods to fit the audience
11. Respect all participants and never dismiss anyone
12. Always provide a guide for the facilitators and make it simple to use
13. Behave as if you are there to learning too
14. Prepare to handle difficult participants
15. Never make promises you cannot keep; the participants will always remember.
16. Have a monitoring and evaluation plan before the training
17. Think of impact; it is more fulfilling
18. Follow up is necessary. Let it be in your training plan
19. It is not how much; it is how well. Emphasize the main points or what you expect them to do.Possibly each day of training.
20. You can never over prepare. Leave nothing to chance