Seen the latest CareerBuilder.com commercial? The one where the training department uses poison pens instead of darts to “recruit” the latest trainees for their seminars? I bet their motto is, “Why not just lecture?” After all, it is easier, you can cover more material, and you have more control of you, your pace and the participants. You only have to worry about your energy level, right? This thinking seems to be the rationale of many a workshop leader these days. They are following in the footsteps of their predecessors of days gone by. “That's how it has always been done...” Or was it? Perhaps the great leaders or teachers used processing to aid in their teaching.
Processing is an endeavor to discover patterns and unique outcomes of participants which is natural a by-product of instructor led - participant centered education. The more participants digest, synthesize, and assimilate what's happening to them, the more self-knowledge that is available for change. New learning and growth-producing experiences are potential results. The challenge becomes helping participants become more aware of these and how to transfer this new learning back to their work site or team.
Processing teases out the richness of the training so it stands out and apart, like the important lines of a page highlighted in yellow. What they like and what they can see themselves using immediately. There is also "stuff" they can't wait to tell their colleagues about and things they want to use soon after the training is over.
In every instructor led-participant centered class there are circles of processing for generalization and transfer of information.
- AWARENESS CIRCLES— patterns of behavior, feelings, conversations, physiology, beliefs, and defenses
- RESPONSIBILITY CIRCLES—owning our projections, identifying strengths and weaknesses, blending our styles with others, acceptance of feelings and roles, and owning one’s own self-limiting beliefs
- PARTICIPATION CIRCLES—increasing options, risk taking, networking, asking for feedback and support, and evaluation.
- GENERALIZATION AND TRANSFER CIRCLES—integrating the training back into the work setting, making changes, commitment, learning, growth and the thirst for more growth, development and training.
Processing helps bring the circles closer together and optimally they become interwoven so that the growth in an instructor led - participant centered setting produces gains at work and on the job site.
So the question really is: Why lecture when you can process? The benefits are longer lasting and have further reaching applications.
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We’re looking for creative training tips—specifically great five-minute openers. Share your tips with us and possibly see your name in print! Submissions will be published in upcoming issues of The Bob Pike Group eZine. Submit tips at ezineeditor@bobpikegroup.com.
This article was re-uploaded from our internal archive.
