Corporate Training and Coaching - A wholesome learning experience

Learning, upskilling and the pursuit of knowledge in general, has seen significant democratisation due to the advent of e-learning, Ed-Techs, on-demand courses, virtual classrooms and even YouTube, for that matter. One can attain knowledge and skills on pretty much any topic of interest without having to even step out of the comfort of one’s home. The virtual learning universe does come with its own perils, especially when self-proclaimed experts, whose credentials are not verifiable, dole out advice and recommendations which may not be sound, but, the overall comfort and convenience of being able to learn anything by using just your mobile, laptop or tablet, is unparalleled. As much may be the convenience offered by virtual learning mechanisms and platforms, multiple studies have shown that more is retained and absorbed when learning involves more senses than just sight and sound.

“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn”
Benjamin Franklin

A wholesome learning experience
The process of learning is not limited to the content you receive while attending a session. It starts much earlier and continues much after the few hours that you spend in a virtual or physical classroom. An act as simple as getting up, getting ready and getting to the venue of the training opens up all your senses and prepares your body and mind to receive the knowledge in a manner incomparable to sitting in front of a screen and listening to a monologue. 

In a physical classroom, the trainer has the freedom to be more animated, more excited and more involved in the teaching process, thus breaking monotony. Participants not only learn from the trainer but also from other participants through the variety of questions that people ask and sharing of relevant personal experiences around the topic of training. The icing on the cake are physical tasks and exercises that hammer in the learning by combining it with experiences.

It is tough, being an on-premises trainer
Those of you who have watched a film and a live play, would appreciate the difference of skills, planning, preparation and presence of mind needed to pull off both these forms of art. In a live play, there are no retakes, there is no editing, there is no screen as a barrier between the actors and their audience and whatever needs to happen, happens then and there while the play is on. 

On-premises trainers are akin to actors in a live play. They need to be well prepared and rehearsed. They need to be smart to think on their feet and be able to improvise on the fly to handle unexpected situations, circumstances and questions. They will get live feedback from their audience while the play is on and need to be able to adapt their delivery styles to enhance the experience of the audience. 

Delivering on-premises training sessions are stressful, whether you are starting out, or a veteran. For novices, the first few sessions are extremely nerve wracking and stressful. The fact that you cannot have a ‘Learner’ board attached to your forehead means that your audience will not cut you any slack. The fact that you are trainer, irrespective of how new you are to the field, demands that the audience is coming to learn from you, and the experience they demand will be at par with seasoned trainers.

If you are veteran trainer, things are relatively easier due to the confidence of having delivered hundreds and thousands of sessions, but that comes with the baggage of inflated expectations. Your audience expects you to come with all the knowledge in the world and have answers for world hunger and peace. Things become tougher if you are a celebrity trainer. The audience would have watched videos of your sessions on social media due to which the threshold at which they will experience a transformational feeling or enlightenment goes up quite considerably.

Participant Experience in On-Premises trainings
Participants in an on-premises training programme go through a range of emptions and experiences during the programme:

1. It is personal: If you are attending an on-premises training session, however large that group may be, it is still a very personal experience. Every time the roving eye of the trainer meets yours, you feel your presence being registered. Every time a co-participant nods their head in agreement or raises their eyebrows in consternation, you feel the association or dissociation to that reaction. 
2. Overcome hesitation: Good trainers ensure that the objective of their training is not just delivering the content they have prepared. They also ensure that everyone participates, and in this process, participants who wish to share, but are shy or apprehensive, get chances to speak up and feel more confident about themselves when the trainer and the classroom acknowledges their point of view.
3. Comprehend better: In a physical training, an astute trainer can easily spot and feel the audience switching off or losing interest. He/She can then take corrective action and modulate the delivery to shake things up and get back the attention and interest, thus ensuring that the participants get a chance to understand everything and not lose track. 
4. Sharing experiences: On-premises trainings, especially those within small and close-knit groups encourage participants to share personal experiences due to the comfort level between the participants. Sharing of personal experiences, which could be of successes or failures, play a significant role in cementing the learning of concepts and theories.

We do acknowledge that the methodology for learning certain genres of topics is more effective in the online or on-demand fashion, for example, learning a new technology, tool or application. At the same time, there are a wide range of topics and subjects that are best learnt from an expert professional, face to face, in an on-premises training session. On-premises and experiential training sessions open up immense possibilities for organizations to empower their most valuable assets - their employees. These sessions allow them to explore and unlock a whole new world of upskilling and productivity enhancement tricks and techniques through transformation of their behavioural traits. 

If you are part of an organization that is looking to make the leap into the next level of orbit in terms of growth, profitability and exceptional customer experience, be rest assured that on-premises training programs will be the key to achieving your objectives.