One of the tenets of learning retention is repetition, but in such a way that it’s not rote memorization or dull.
In using creative training techniques, we suggest revisiting material in different ways such as having participants list their action ideas every so often, playing content bingo as material is covered and then having the winner review the concepts that were part of the bingo, or by using some small group activity to flesh out the content.
In Tony Buzan’s book Use Both Sides of Your Brain, he has a graph that shows the most effective retention is done by reviewing six times over an extended period of time. Buzan suggests having a review after 10 minutes, another after 24 hours, a third at one week, a fourth at one month, a fifth at six months and further review if needed.
While that may be ideal, it probably isn’t within the discipline of most of us to revisit content that many times on our own without a deadline or test to motivate us. As trainers, it also can be difficult to “push” reviews on former trainees.
Here are two ideas for continuing to remind former participants of information they need to retain to maximize their potential on the job.
- While in training sessions, have participants create Twitter accounts. As part of the very easy process, participants enter their email addresses. When you send a tweet that is directly to them or mentions them, that tweet will also be emailed to them so it doesn’t matter if they check Twitter frequently at all—they will still see your message. The two drawbacks to this are you have to be very concise or attach a link to more comprehensive information and it can be difficult to message or mention more than one person at a time.
- However, creating a LinkedIn group may solve those issues for you. You can create a group for your different training sessions. You can set it up so that people have to be approved to join the group so the information is not public. As administrator, you are the only one with access to all the members’ email addresses and you are allowed to send one email per week to all members—another way to follow up en masse. While you’re in training, have your learners sign up for this group.
- If your information isn’t proprietary, you can always create a Facebook page or group; however, permissions, privacies as well as features keep shifting so much that this might not be your best option.
I encourage you to keep on keeping on as you work to make a long-lasting difference in the lives of those who you train. If you need more ideas for improving retention over distances and time, checkout our Twitter page.
