I am in the process of writing a training program on how to conduct training programs and I am looking for some anectodal comments on training that you have participated in. My focus is on Virtual training but if you want to share experiences from classroom training, I'll consider those as well.


Please tell me about a time when you participated in a training session, either self-directed or leader lead, that you just loved the experience.

• What caused you to become a raving fan?
• Was it the content?
• The delivery format?
• The support?
• That the course met or exceeded your expectations?

Please tell me about a time when you participated in a training session, either self-directed or leader lead, that you couldn't believe that you actually paid money to participate.

• What caused you to become so disillusioned?
• Was it the content?
• The delivery format?
• The support?
• That the course did not meet your expectations?

It would be helpful if you could be specific without naming names or being obvious about who conducted the training. I wouldn't want anyone to be accused of slander.

If you would prefer to DM me instead of replying to this post that's fine.

Before I consider using anyone's experiences in my program I will contact them to obtain their permission.

Thanks for your help.

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Heather
Robinson Business Solutions

Just to kick things off, I'll share one of my experiences.

I recently participated in a course that was to consist of 4 leader lead webinars as well as a CD containing course materials.

During the first webinar the instructor announced that the second session would not be a live session. It seems that they were attending a training session themselves that day. The information was to have been recorded and posted on their website on the day the second session was orginalled scheduled for us to view. Due to techinical difficulties, the information did not show up until almost 5:00pm the next day.

The preferred method of support during this course was to create a help desk ticket. The help desk took 2 - 3 days to respond to tickets and didn't work Fri - Sun.

The actual course material was good, however the whole process left a very bad taste in my mouth. I could understand asking us to reschedule or accept a recorded session due to a family emergency, but putting us in that position because they wanted to participate in a training session themselves, come on.

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Heather
Robinson Business Solutions

My experience with training, not virtual but still helpful for you, is when I was training during my real estate career. The broker I worked with is also a real estate coach. He has always impressed me with his passion for real estate and helping others. He also always impressed me with the way he genuinely cared about each of his agents as people, not just a source of income. I truly believe those are keys for anyone in a leadership position. Passion and caring about your "students" as people.

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Serita Diana, the List 2 Close Assistant
REVA Academy

Thank Serita,

Passion for your students and your subject definitely make for a more rewarding training experience.

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Heather
Robinson Business Solutions

Hi Heather,

I've taken lots of online classes, mostly through the same instructor. A few years ago he moved the management of the classes to Moodle, which is a pretty good tool for this function. The instructor posts his notes & assignments on the chapter(s) that are going to be covered for that week. Each week a new forum is created with a separate section for each chapter. Students post questions in the appropriate forum. When you post a question or a response, everyone in the class is sent an email with the question/response & a link to the post.

This particular professor also offers a live chat once a week. It is an opportunity to discuss the week's topics, or anything else we feel like talking about. While many of the conversations were not specifically related to the class, they were usually off-shoots of the same topic & very informative.

I have learned so much in these classes! However, I believe that three key things contributed to that: 1) I am disciplined & actually do the reading & exercises required; 2) the instructor is very knowledgeable & responsive - usually you'd have a response within 24 hours unless you posted on Friday evening; 3) the text books the professor has selected have all been excellent. These were 12-16 week programming classes.

I've also taken several webinars of various quality. At an old job, a video cam was set up in the main classroom at the corporate office, and there were live participants in addition to those of us online. This was very distracting because the instructor's mike picked up all the coughing, paper rattling, movements, etc. of the live participants.

More recently I participated in a webinar where all participants were off-site & the instructor muted everyone during the main presentation. If you had a question, you could email it or send it via the webinar online application & of course he opened the session to questions at the end. This was much better as the sound quality wasn't detracted by surrounding noise.

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Lezly Harrison
Laserdog Productions - Code that Doesn't Bite

I have taken virtual training that was self-directed and leader lead. I enjoy both methods of training. However, leader lead does have its advantages when you are stuck and you can usually get an answer right away when it is leader lead.

For both:
1) I love when the lessons are easy to access, understand and apply
2) You can tell from the material that the trainer knows and has a passion for the information they are sharing
3) You are given what you have signed up for regardless if it is paid or not

One Challenge:
When I decided that I wanted to be a VA a couple of years ago, I hired a business coach. At that time, I was not familiar with coaches within the VA world. This was a "general" business coach. She was nice and seemed to know a lot. I ended up paying thousands of dollars for "promises." I say promises because I never received much of what was offered in this 6 month training commitment.

The lesson: do not launch or put products out there that are not finished. You may have a diamond on your hands; but if it is not executed the right way, that may be your only and last chance at producing.

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Natasha
"Gifted...To Take You Global"

Thanks for you input Lezly and Natasha,

Accessablity to the instructor if you have a question is a huge issue, or at least knowing up front what the response time is.

Natasha, you so hit the nail on the head with your final comment about launching a product before it is finished. I am about to start a new training course that is being presented for the first time. The instructor made that very clear up front and offered a discounted rate to make up for any glitches we might hit.

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Heather
Robinson Business Solutions