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

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Using your internal talent as trainers

-
Image
Every year organizations spend money on consultants for a whole lot of things and training is not left out.   We go through rigorous processes to select the best. I will like to see things from another perspective and that is developing trainers within the organization. You will spend but trust me not as much when using external consultants in the long run. Let me be frank with you; THE BEST RESOURCES ARE WITHIN YOUR ORGANIZATION . They understand the system, people and culture within the organization. What we see is that a lot of organization shy away from this wealth of resource and continue on a ride with too many consultants. Tips for using internal talent as trainers 1. Determine the competencies required for each job role. Nothing complex. 2. Categorize the training offerings that will address the required competencies. Those trainings that can be facilitated by internal talents and external consultants. 3. Design a simple framework for utilizing internal tal...
Read more

Developing training skills: tips you have never been told Part 1

-
Image
We are all trainers in one way or the other and no one was born with a special skill to train. We develop it and those who are good at it; keep at it while learning everyday. In my years of conducting training, I have come to learn certain lessons which I want to share with everyone that desires to become a trainer or a better one. 1.  You need to have passion : Passion to train others; passion to see improvement in the system; passion to save lives; passion to see people become better at what they do. I moved from a banking career to international development job specifically in health. While I understood training as a whole, the subject matter was strange but I did something: I looked within to find a connection and I realized that the people I train will be responsible for saving other people's lives. That is where I found my passion. 2.  People are key in training:  Content without the people to train is no training so we need to have and show genuine inter...
Read more

Mistakes/errors can be a learning tool for improvement

-
Show me that person who has never made a mistake or error and I will show you someone who hasn't been adventurous or tried anything new. We all make mistakes and errors. Mistakes and errors can be a very good opportunity to learn; however the fear of not making mistakes has crippled innovation in many organizations. Nobody makes a conscious effort to make errors; it is in the process of doing or creating something that we make mistakes.  How can we turn mistakes or errors to a learning opportunity? 1. Separate personality from the error. Who goes about breaking plates? 2. Have a discussion about what was the reason for the error. 3. Ask what could have been done better. It gives room for improvement. 4. The fear of mistakes and errors can cripple a team or company; create room to try new things even if it is not the norm. 5. Avoid the scenario of sidetracking the individual because they have made an error. Challenge them the more. The mere thought of th...
Read more