How to be a Successful Trainer …

Good Trainers do not take their responsibility as a trainer lightly. They feel invested in the success of the trainee. Usually, this requires someone who is knowledgeable, compassionate, and possesses the attributes of a good teacher or trainer. Excellent communication skills are also required. A good Trainer is committed to helping their trainees find success and gratification in their chosen profession. Overall good Training requires empowering the trainee to develop their own strengths, beliefs, and personal attributes. A good Trainer exhibits the personal attributes it takes to be successful in the field. By showing the trainee what it takes to be productive and successful, they are demonstrating the specific behaviours and actions required to succeed in the field. Remember, the positive attitude must go both ways. It’s important that you always treat your trainer with the utmost professionalism. If you are lucky enough to find a trainer, hold on tight, and take the relationship seriously. A good Trainer is hard to find and most people don’t have Trainers. Don’t take the relationship for granted, you are lucky. A good Training relationship provides new employees as well as interns with someone that will share their professional knowledge and expertise in the field. A good Trainer is available to answer any questions relevant to the job. Good Trainer-trainee relationships are a two-way street; consequently, if you want a good relationship with your Trainer, become a good trainee. This requires a genuine interest in your Trainer and a willingness to do what it takes to become successful as an intern or new employee in the field. Following suggestions and recommendations as well as reading all pertinent literature available in the field is a good way to show your trainer that you are committed to being successful and that you take your career and responsibilities seriously.

What Makes You an Effective Trainer?

Gone are the days when assigning an informal buddy to Trainer a new employee meant going out to lunch and teaching the employee a few lessons about succeeding in the workplace. These buddies generally had no Trainer training and they were clueless about their overall responsibility in welcoming the new employee.
Helping her integrate seamlessly and quickly into the new workplace was well outside of their job description.

Nor was it the organization's expectation that the Trainer is an integral component in a new employee welcome. This has changed - for the better.

When making every employee successful as soon as possible became the new norm, formal organization needs from a Trainer grew. A formal Trainer relationship can jump start the learning curve and help a new employee succeed. A trainer is a demi God for his trainee in true sense.

These are the characteristics to seek in employees who are asked to or assigned to formally Trainer new employees or employees who are new to a department or job. These required characteristics will differ somewhat in an informal Trainer relationship that develops casually between two individuals or a higher level employee and the new employee. Both types of Training start with these needs and these characteristics.

Use a Formal Trainer Process

With a formal trainer process, the transmission of a body of knowledge and other cultural teachings are an expectation of the Trainer relationship.

You will also find that a small component of the trainer relationship is evaluative in nature.

In the sense that your organization is expecting employees who trainer to assess the new employee's fit within the culture of the organization, the role evaluates the new employee.
With the body of knowledge the trainer must convey, the Trainer must also know whether the employee is learning the required information to succeed in his or her new job.

If the employee is slow to learn or not learning, the trainer can help the department make adjustments.

Seek an Informal Trainer

Employees are also encouraged to seek an informal Trainer for each area of expertise the employee wishes to develop or explore. The person in this Trainer role is purely a coach and a teacher with no assessment responsibilities.

Characteristics of a Successful Formal Trainer

• Wants to Train another employee and is committed to the employee's growth and development and cultural integration.
• Has the job content knowledge necessary to effectively teach a new employee significant job knowledge.
• Familiar with the organization's norms and culture. Can articulate and teach the culture.
• Demonstrates honesty, integrity, and both respect for and responsibility for stewardship.
• Demonstrates effective communication skills both verbally and nonverbally.
• Willing to help develop another employee through guidance, feedback, and occasionally, an insistence on a particular level of performance or appropriate direction.

• Initiates new ideas and fosters the employee's willingness and ability to make changes in his or her performance based on the constant change occurring in their work environment.
• Has enough emotional intelligence to be aware of their personal emotions and is sensitive to the emotions and feelings of the employee they are Training.
• He/she is an individual who would be rated as highly successful in both their job and in navigating the organization's culture by co-workers and managers.
• Demonstrates success in establishing and maintaining professional networks and relationships, both online and offline.
• Willing to communicate failures as well as successes to the trained employee.
• Able to spend an appropriate amount of time with the trained employee.
• Open to spending time with diverse individuals who may not share a common background, values, or goals.
• Able to initiate conflict to ensure the employee's successful integration into the organization. Willing to acknowledge, as a Trainer, that an employee may not succeed in your organization.
• Able to say when the relationship is not working and back away appropriately without regard to ego issues or the need to assign blame or gossip about the situation.

If you select employees who have these characteristics to Trainer, you will ensure the success of your formal Trainer relationships. The new employees benefit from each of these characteristics that the employee providing Trainership brings to the table. This, in turn, will ensure the successful integration of the new employee within your work unit.

 A good Trainer possesses the following qualities:

1 Willingness to Share Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

A good Trainer is willing to teach what he/she knows and accept the trainee where they currently are in their professional development. Always take time to stop talking about yourself and ask your trainer how he or she is doing. Ask them about their experiences, learn from their stories.
Good Trainers can remember what it was like just starting out in the field. The trainer does not take the Training relationship lightly and understands that good training requires time and commitment and is willing to continually share information and their ongoing support with the trainee.

2 Demonstrates a Positive Attitude and Acts as a Positive Role Model

A good Trainer exhibits the personal attributes it takes to be successful in the field. By showing the trainee what it takes to be productive and successful, they are demonstrating the specific behaviours and actions required to succeed in the field. Remember, the positive attitude must go both ways. It’s important that you always treat your Trainer with the utmost professionalism.

3 Takes a Personal Interest in the Training Relationship

 Good Trainers do not take their responsibility as a Trainer lightly. They feel invested in the success of the trainee. Usually, this requires someone who is knowledgeable, compassionate, and possesses the attributes of a good teacher or trainer. Excellent communication skills are also required. A good Trainer is committed to helping their trainees find success and gratification in their chosen profession. Overall good Training requires empowering the trainee to develop their own strengths, beliefs, and personal attributes.

4 Exhibits Enthusiasm in the Field

A Trainer who does not exhibit enthusiasm about his/her job will ultimately not make a good Trainer. Enthusiasm is catching and new employees want to feel as if their job has meaning and the potential to create a good life. Your Trainer has to take a special interest in helping you build and develop as an executive. If they aren’t enthusiastic about you and the kind of work you are trying to do, it probably won’t work out. 

5 Values Ongoing Learning and Growth in the Field

Trainers are in a position to illustrate how the field is growing and changing and that even after many years there are still new things to learn. Anyone that feels stagnant in their current position will not make a good Trainer. When starting out in a new career, people want to feel that the time and energy they spend learning will be rewarded and will ultimately provide them with career satisfaction. Good Trainers are committed and are open to experimenting and learning practices that are new to the field. They continually read professional journals and may even write articles on subjects where they have developed some expertise. They are excited to share their knowledge with new people entering the field and take their role seriously in teaching their knowledge to others. They may choose to teach or attend classes to further develop their knowledge and skills. They enjoy taking workshops and attending professional conferences provided through their membership in professional associations.
Finding someone who is committed to continued learning is important. You want someone who truly believes in the power of professional development, regardless of where they’re at in their career.

6 Provides Guidance and Constructive Feedback

One of the key responsibilities of a good Trainer is to provide guidance and constructive feedback to their trainee. This is where the trainee will most likely grow the most by identifying their current strengths and weaknesses and learning how to use these to make themselves successful in the field. A good trainer possesses excellent communication skills and is able to adjust their communication to the personality style of the trainee. A good Trainer will also provide the trainee with challenges that will foster professional development and a feeling of accomplishment in learning the field.
As the trainee, it’s crucial that you listen to the feedback, don’t take it personally, but actually consider it. Remember, this feedback is coming from the right place. You don’t have to do everything your Trainer says, but you should at least consider it.

 

7 Respected by Colleagues and Employees in All Levels of the Organization

Ideally, trainees look up to their Trainers and can see themselves filling the Trainer's role in the future. Mentees want to follow someone who is well respected by colleagues and co-workers and whose contribution in the field is appreciated. Ask your Trainer about his or her experiences working with their team, ask them about how they navigate sticky situations, and ask them about how they got to where they are.

 

8 Sets and Meets Ongoing Personal and Professional Goals

A good Trainer continually sets a good example by showing how his/her personal habits are reflected by personal and professional goals and overall personal success. That being said, your Trainer is busy and you have to expect that. They aren’t always going to be able to drop everything to speak with you. Make sure you don’t abuse the relationship – pick and choose what you bring to your Trainer.

So happy training, Cheers all.

Simple Secrets of Great Communicators..

You Can Improve Your Workplace Communication Skills

Would you like to become an excellent communicator? Convincing reasons exist for why you will want to enhance your ability to communicate effectively.
You will create more opportunities to accomplish your work mission. You will build better and more rewarding relationships with your co-workers and manager. You will achieve more goals with less energy and reduce the opportunity for misunderstandings and cross-purposes.
Great communicators are viewed as successful individuals by co-workers. They become go-to people in an organization because people equate efficacy with effective communication. Great communicators contribute more in their organizations and receive more opportunities for promotion and recognition in their careers. Are you motivated to learn the secrets of great communicators? Here are few of them.

Build the relationship first - always

When a great communicator approaches a co-worker, he takes the time to say, “good morning” and “how’s your day going?” “Did you have a great weekend?” The effect of the relationship-building forays is incalculable. He sends the message, each time he communicates, that he cares about the receiver of the message. He demonstrates that, no matter how busy or overextended he is, he has time to care about you.

When I worked at William D Goodrich’s Legal Process, I was reminded of this secret – loudly.

One morning, I answered an international phone call, “Josh (as this is the name I used to be known in my professional field, AKA Alias), how can I help you?” My caller’s response was a silent pause, and then he said, “Hi Josh, how’s your day going? Has it been a good week since we contacted on Monday?” Something about the way he deliberately slowed our entry into the business discussion got my attention.

Practicing this behaviour was difficult for me at first because my tendency was to jump right into the business discussion, but I’ve never regretted that I took the time to remind myself. My international or internal call greeting became, “Hi, this is Josh, how can I help you in this wonderful morning/evening?”

Build the relationship first for successful communication. For even more successful communication, continue to build the relationship in all interactions in any setting over time. Goodwill has an accumulative effect.

 

Know What You're Talking About

Obtain the knowledge, insight, and forward thinking ability necessary to earn the respect of your colleagues for your industry or subject area expertise. Your co-workers won’t listen if they don’t believe that you bring expertise to the table. Your successful co-workers spend time with you because they respect your knowledge and the value that you bring to the conversation.
They won't respect or listen to, let alone be influenced by, individuals who do not know what they are talking about. So, when you think about secrets of great communicators, subject matter expertise may head the list.

 

Listen More Than You Speak

I received feedback recently that a manager held a performance development planning meeting with an employee and talked 55 minutes of the hour. This is an egregious example of a manager dominating a discussion, but it serves as a reminder.
Great communicators listen more than they speak. When they speak, they are frequently asking questions to draw out the knowledge and opinions of their co-workers.

When you allow yourself to listen, you often hear what is not being said. You can read between the spoken lines to understand the whole context of the other person’s thinking and needs.

This does not mean that they never speak, but it places the emphasis on using the knowledge of the team. It affirms for the team members that their opinions matter and they are valued. It marks you as a great communicator who cares about what others think.

 

Focus on Understanding What the Other Person Is Saying

When a colleague is speaking, don’t spend the time preparing your response in your mind. Instead, ask questions for clarification and to make certain that you thoroughly understand what the other person is communicating. Focus your mind on listening and understanding.

If you find yourself (and that little voice in your head) arguing, prepping your response, or refuting what your colleague is saying, you are not focused on thoroughly understanding her communication. You have stopped listening and have refocused the discussion on your needs.

 

Use a Feedback Loop

Say, "here is what I heard you say" and repeat the gist of the content of the message that you received from the other person’s communication. Don’t ascribe meaning to your co-worker’s communication. You are using a feedback loop to check your understanding and to make sure you shared meaning.
When you check your understanding, you avoid miscommunication and misunderstanding. You circumvent hard feelings and protracted explanations about what your co-worker meant.

 

Listen to the Nonverbal Communication the Other Person Exhibits

Nonverbal communication is a powerful voice in any interaction. The voice tonality, body language, and facial expressions speak more loudly than the verbal communication (sending) or the actual words in many communication exchanges. Your co-worker’s posture, how he holds the whiteboard marker, and his distance from you as he speaks are all powerful messengers.

This is why you find that great communicators seek in-person interaction. They know the amount of information that they lose when they communicate via email, phone, IM, or texting. The youngest generation at work may not recognize the importance of talking with co-workers in person.
They are enculturated to use electronic methods, and this must change. For facts, these methods work. If you want information that is richer and deeper, and for discussion and exchange, you seek out your co-workers. Great communicators listen with their eyes.

 

Watch for Patterns, Inconsistencies, and Consistencies

In any communication, the opportunity for misunderstanding is ever present. A key indicator that your co-worker is not stating his/her true feelings or that he/she is going along with the group, rather than agreeing with the decision, is a combination of factors that you can observe.
You want to watch for patterns (is this how your co-worker typically reacts) and inconsistencies (is this consistent with what you expect from this person).

You also want to watch for matching words, message, the tone of voice, and body language. If any of these verbal and nonverbal communication factors are inconsistent or sending different messages, communication failure is imminent.
Co-workers tend to listen to the nonverbal communication over the verbal. If you are coaching an employee who sends contradictory messages, this is a powerful factor in the misunderstanding that can happen with co-workers. It’s simple, preventable, and often overlooked as a key factor.

 

If Something that Another Employee Is Doing or Saying Bothers You, It's Your Issue

You are the person who is bothered by the action or communication of your co-worker. His actions or communication may have triggered your reaction, but the response belongs to you. You will never effectively communicate if you are pointing your finger and trying to make it your co-worker's issue. He was just trying to communicate.

You need to take responsibility for owning your own emotional reactions. Use "I" messages to demonstrate that you know that you are responsible for the reaction. For example: "You really messed up that customer interaction" is much less effective and honest than, "I was upset watching you interact with that customer for these reasons…"
You-being a co-worker is rarely effective communication. You will most likely receive a defensive response which makes the communication fail. Delivering an honest I message instead is powerful.

 

Wait to Give Critical or Controversial Feedback

If you are going to say anything critical or controversial, or if you're angry or emotional, wait 24 hours before you say it, send it, or post it to see if you still feel that way. Pausing before communicating is an under-appreciated skill of great communicators. You don’t need to communicate what you think or feel immediately. In fact, your communication will be more powerful and thoughtful if you allow the circumstances to marinate for a period of time.

In this era of immediate and constant communication, thoughtful communication goes by the wayside. The instantaneous reaction is promoted and reinforced. It is often ineffective and demeaning. Great communicators collect their thoughts and develop significant “I messages.”

 

Open Your Mind to New Ideas

New ideas live or die in their first communication to a person who has power in an organization. Using the other communication skills presented here, you can make a new idea flourish or fail in an instant.
Rather than immediately rejecting a new idea, approach, or way of thinking, pause and consider the possibilities. Consider what might work in your organization rather than what will fail. Think about the possibility rather than the impossibilities.

Don’t be guilty of the lethal sins of rejecting, putting down, or diminishing an idea before it has been articulated and explored. Great communicators listen for opportunities and pursue them.

 

All Communication Will Go Better if Your Co-worker Trusts You

It is not enough to be a good listener and to draw out the other person’s opinions. They will not level with you or share their real thoughts if they don’t trust you.
You gain trust in your everyday interactions with people when you tell the truth – even when it’s difficult. When you consistently exhibit integrity and trustworthiness in your daily interpersonal conversations and actions, you build your ability to be an excellent communicator.

The co-workers with whom you interact will open up to you. They will be more likely to problem solve with you without concern for losing, and they won’t fear to look bad, stupid, or uninformed if they trust you. Do you see the power of communicating when you have the other party’s trust? It’s amazing.

If you work to enhance your own communication by practicing these skills and taking these actions, you can become a great communicator. Becoming a great communicator will enhance your career, make your days at work rewarding and fulfilling, and reinforce positive relationships with co-workers who love to work with you. Can it get any better than that?