Why Do We Structure Training?
Last weekend, I attended a get together for a friend. As most of us in attendance were strangers, our host kicked things off with an icebreaker. After our icebreaker, the host gave a short speech, we then participated in a few activities at our own pace, and wrapped up by opening gifts and bidding farewell to our friend. When I returned home I thought about what activities I would have built into that party when it dawned on me that the host structured her party almost exactly how I structure a training in the Anchor, Content, Application, Future use model.
This isn’t the first time I noticed that our structure applies outside of the training room. Let’s look at a few ways you can use this model beyond lesson planning.
Have you ever been in a meeting where nothing was accomplished? Yeah, me too. Meetings fail if they are not structured and timed. Employees only have a few hours a day for meetings, and this time should be optimized to leverage it in a useful manner. The next meeting you organize, try setting your agenda with the Anchor, Content, Application Future use model and keep things within the time contracts on your agenda.
As a remote worker for the majority of my career, I have been to dozens of team retreats or team building events. As a mom with small kids at home, I appreciate when the time at these retreats is well spent. Departing from one of these retreats — which is often a once a year opportunity to see colleagues face-to-face — without accomplishing the goals we set out achieve is a huge missed opportunity. Once again, these meetings need an agenda and a structure that will set your team up for success. With team retreats, I would go a step further and set outcomes with actionable and measurable objectives to keep the team on task for the duration of the retreat.
Generating ideas in a group with the freedom and safety to say anything is a great way to come up with new ideas or see things from various viewpoints. Brainstorming sessions are often free-form to accommodate the casual “say whatever comes to your head” feeling. I am all for freedom in brainstorming, but these sessions are much more effective if they are structured with more intention with a solid structure.
I see new applications we can use our training structure on a regular basis. How do you use our training structure? Let’s talk about it in the comments below.