Introduction
In order to build the capacity of a person who is literally unaware or uninformed on a certain issues or lacking in a certain skill, it is important to make that individual undergo some sort of training. Through immense training, such individual will be able to learn the basics and all the other required components in order to have qualified standing. The duration taken by different persons varies from one individual to another depending on their ability to grasp new things.
Necessary Learning Materials
As a trainer, one is supposed to be armed with the relevant training tools and materials, which may include:
Lecture Notes
Lecture materials are those materials that lectures usually gives out to their students in order to enable them find it easy to learn and understand what they have been taught. Similarly, lecture materials act as guidelines to students who require support to understand something with ease. As a trainer, one is equally supposed to be armed with such materials in order to facilitate easy training.
Handouts
Handouts, on the other hand, comprise of reading materials, synthesized by the teacher or trainer, mostly given out by tutors to students to assist them in the course of their reading and revision. A trainer is equally assumed to have handouts for his students in order to make their reading more simple and understandable.
Assessment tools
This refers to a mode of testing student’s capability and how well they understand what they have been taught. Assessment may entail written down tests or just simple dictation tests. The scores or performance of an individual in this particular test reflects how much one has been comprehending.
Apart from the normal training materials that trainers quite often offer to their students, there are several other outside resources that trainees can use to supplement the training. Some of these outside resources may easily be found from the internet, where a variety of them is available. Similarly, other outside resources may be found through research. In this case, one is likely to come up with a very effective resource that has never been utilized before.
Constraints
In the course of training, it is very hard for a training process to be completed without several constraints. The most common limitation often realized is time consciousness of the trainees. Most of trainees do not have a sense of time; and they assume training time is relaxing time when they can operate on their own standard time. This constraint hinders the progress of the training, as on several occasions, half of the trainees could be late. Another major constraint often experienced is lack of enough financial resources.
Before the training, there was supposed to be a sum of money that was supposed to be set aside to help facilitate the training. The unfortunate thing is that the money was not received and hence we experienced many problems in the undertakings that required instant money.
Finally, I experienced still another major constraint in the course of the training. Instead of taking the scheduled time, I realized that the time spent was far beyond the targeted one. The main cause of this time wastage, apart from trainee lack of time consciousness, was the understanding capability of the trainees.
I realized that most of them were highly affected by their vernaculars and therefore it became hard to train them to communicate effectively. Similarly, most of these trainees took more time than planned to understand the context of what was being trained and as a result, more time was used on repetition work.
Evaluation Tool
After the training, the trainees will wish to know whether they have truly understood and they enjoy giving feedback on whether the way they are being trained is effective. Therefore, it is necessary for a trainer to develop a valid evaluation tool, which will be equipping him with the required valuation on the progress of the training.
The most important aspect of any kind of evaluation is the effect it has on the individual being evaluated. As evaluation is paramount to a person’s confidence, so is the reply, in order to acknowledge people on their progress. In coming up with a valid evaluation tool, it is always important to understand that people tend to rebel against or to react negatively towards form of negative feedback.
This means that one should always look for the positive element even in the negative in order to encourage persons who may be disillusioned by negative feedbacks. However, this is no excuse for not providing relevant feedback that would help the individual grow.
The evaluation tool should equally never criticize without adding some value or positives in it. It should also be remembered that an evaluation tool is most vital for the learner and not necessarily the trainer. The learner will ultimately require this tool in order to be able to analyze his /her understanding or responsiveness to what he is being trained or taught.
Teacher’s notes
Training a person to effectively communicate is not a simple task as it may appear. It is actually harder to train an old person than it is to train a young one. However, the greatest goal of any trainer is to see that all trainees who finish the course are efficiently effective when communicating.
By the end of the training, a trainee should be able to use all the different methods of communication, which include verbal and written communication. Though not often experienced, sometimes some trainees usually fail to meet the required standards and hence are forced to redo what they had earlier done. Teachers’ notes on training in effective communication should necessarily spell out
Training objectives
- To enable trainees be able to communicate effectively
- To equip learners with knowledge and skills in different ways of communication
- To help trainees appraise barriers to communications
- To enable trainees develop broad communication strategies for their organization
- To provide a forum for employees to practice different communication methods
Training methods
Given effective communication requires both knowledge and skills, this training has to use a teacher-learner centered approach. The methods applied should encourage deep interaction between students and teachers. There are several methods that can be used to instruct trainees in effective communication (Hart, 75).
Such methods may include lecture, demonstrations, role playing and group discussions. To equip the trainees with knowledge and skills, the training technique would be class-based and there has to be an element of practice. To internalize what they have learnt, the trainees have to participate and practice recently learned skills and apply them. Practice and making mistakes is the only ways to long term learning i.e. what is learnt by way of practice is not easily forgotten or discarded.
Instructional Goal
After finishing every training lesson, trainees should fully be able to make use of the learning objectives of that particular lesson and consequently be in a position to put to use what they learned in the classes.
The overall goal in an effective communication class is to help students appreciate the importance of effective communication. Additionally, such a class aims at equipping students with effective communication skills in terms of tools and knowledge.
Performance Objectives
After getting to familiarize themselves with new communication skills, particular classes will indicate the certain skills and new techniques for the trainees will be able to use and apply what they have what they learned without any communication mistake
Rationale
Trainees are supposed to learn effective communication skills in order to make better the value of communication. Effective communication makes information remittance simpler and assist intake of the information in a more succinct and comprehensible means.
Lesson Content
Lessons differ depending on the particular communication skills that required. Therefore, lesson content on communication has to be tailored to student needs. for that motive precise lesson substance is rigid to list and explain. The rate, at which a person gets to understand or effectively learn what he is taught, partly depends on the willingness of that particular person and the preparedness of the trainer.
From the mindset possessed by that particular individual, one can be able to be accessed on the length of time he is to take in order to perfect in what he is being trained. The very first requirement is the willingness of the person to learn. Learning should be understood starts from the mind of the trainee. With this perspective in mind, a person should clearly be ready mentally before recruiting for a training session.
He should gauge his mental capability and the extent through which he is prepared to be trained. Similarly, a trainer could be the other factor that facilitates the understanding of a person. A well knowledgeable trainer will impart the same knowledge to his trainee. On the other hand, a trainer who is not competent in his undertakings will personally find it hard to train his student and correspondingly will impart knowledge of low impact to his trainee.
Participant Manual
On this particular requirement, the most important thing a participant may wish to witness or experience is the pictorial representation of information or message that has been taught. Similarly, it may equally become important to follow the chapters or parts of the training that has been captured by the power point presentation. Such presentation makes the training enjoyable, and mostly when the power point is accompanied by sound.
Note Paper
The most important content on a notepaper are the summarized notes that might have been scribbled in the course of training. Such notes are important as they are simple and precise hence do not take one much time going through them. Note paper can equally assist the participant to radically improve or correct a section of the training, which for one reason or another one could not be able understand clearly or comprehend well.
Activities/exercise
In preparing a participant manual for anything he may needs, activities form the part that could have taken place in the course of the training. There are quite a number of activities that usually take place as part of the training.
In a training on effective communication skills, for example, there could be a demonstration, role play, discussions in groups; all aimed at making clear and helping trainees internalize what was taught. Similarly, exercise help an individual comprehend better than in usual training, because exercise will supplement demonstration with talking, therefore making the whole exercise lively and enjoyable.
Extra Resources
Extra resources entail those other facilities that might have been used in the training apart from the learning materials. This are resources other than learning materials that may be necessary to train individuals in effective communication. Such resources may include Computers, Internet connectivity, Stationery, Facilities i.e. training room or hall and extra reading materials.
Extra reading materials could have originated from the trainer or just any other trainee. Such materials are very useful as they help a participant to be at par with the rest. All these extra resources are necessary for a participant to fully appreciate what he or she is learning in a conducive environment.
A learning environment makes a big difference in the process of learning. For a training to be effective, the learning environment has to be properly choreographed. The extra resources are critical in ensuring a proper learning environment is established. For instance, the facilities will determine whether students are able to sit comfortable and learn or not. Moreover, to demonstrate or illustrate some points, it becomes imperative that the trainer uses certain extra resources.
For instance, a computer as a learning tool comes in handy when learning effective communication. To illustrate gains in communication anchored on technology, the trainer may need internet connectivity as a resource. All this resources make a difference in terms of whether students understand what they learn or not.