As a company, The Bob Pike Group uses brain-based research to create our training principles and promote our participant-centered methods. Here is part one of a two-part series that gives you the why behind our instructor-led, participant-centered how.

The training community is abuzz with phrases like "interactive" and "learner-focused." Bob Pike is a pioneer of this type of learning, what he coined "Creative Training Techniques" and what is now known as participant-centered methodology. While knowing you need to continuing sharpening your trainer's edge with education, how do you overcome time constraints and budget restrictions?

Study Shows Significant Drop in Employee Learning and Development Spending for Second Year Results of ASTD's Learning Circuits eLearning Survey

For those of us who train for a living, each year brings new challenges. For example, we might have new programs to deliver or new audiences to work with, but, what if, due to the economy and other budgetary constraints there is nothing "new" to deliver? What do we do then? In my mind, the next step is what I would call continuous improvement. No matter how long you've been training, it's important to continue to improve upon the skills you have. You know the old saying, "You can't teach an old dog a new trick;" well, I disagree! I think you can continue to learn and improve upon the basic skills and competencies you have. With that said, here are a few "Tips and Tricks" to re-visit as you gear up for 2010.

Before the twenty-first century, the term coaching was not used much in the business world. But what a difference 10 years makes! Google the words "Coaching Organization" today and you will find over 6 million matches. In Performance Coaching, managers are shown how to help their individual contributors grow and achieve enhanced performance. Here we aim to grow the individual and gain better results. In simple terms, the aim of Coaching for Success is "growing people - getting results!" One model you can utilize to help people become great coaches is the 4G Model.

The Bob Pike Group has a plethora of workshop opportunities which can be confusing! Which one has the information you need most? Here is a quick assessment tool you can look at to see if any of our programs can help you with difficulties in your own training sessions.

Employees who don't "get" or understand their jobs cost US and UK companies over $37 billion annually, according to Training magazine. And, if you take into account the impact that misunderstanding has on customer satisfaction and brand reputation, how much more would that cost companies? What causes these misunderstandings? And how can you use on-the-job training effectively and consistently?

What new trends are most likely to disrupt the training world this year? Elliott Masie has his predictions along with some tips on how to use them to your advantage!

Cultural Training Beneficial in Global Economy Gadgets Make for Ruder Workplace Training Tech Trends in 2010

Upcoming workshops from January through March 2010 with links.