• John is one of the best sales people in his company. Would he be the best person to train the sales force?
• Linda was just named Engineer of the Year. Is she the right person to teach new engineers about creating contracts?
• Mike is the head of the department, but when he provides instruction on new system, he puts people to sleep. Should he conduct the training programs for users?

Using internal employees to provide training and instruction sounds like it makes perfect sense. It seems cost effective to take the people who know the most, do the best, and have great success, and put them in situations where they can help others do the same. But just because it looks cost effective doesn’t mean it actually will be. There are potential land mines that internal employee instructors need to be aware of and avoid.

Harder Than it Looks
Training looks easy. Good trainers make it look easy. But don’t be fooled by how things look because being both instructor and entertainer is not so simple. Getting adults to pay attention is important, but the goal is to equip them with skills and knowledge. Success as an instructor often lies in knowing what to avoid as well as what to cover.

Forget Perfection
Everyone has a learning curve, and expecting perfection will lead to disappointment. No matter how vibrant a speaker you are or how motivating people say you were at the last meeting of toastmasters, employees will make mistakes and will have questions. That’s normal and part of the learning process. By the way-let the trainees learn from each other by working some small-group discussions into your agenda. Sometimes the interaction between managers and staff is what your attendees will gain the most from the training.

Write Out Your Plan and Agenda
Never “wing it”: Always have a pre-determined agenda, and share it with the trainees so they know what’s coming. If you say there will be a lunch break at noon, there should be a lunch break around 12:00 PM. You should completely prepare for the training. That also means knowing the subject inside and out.  Trainees are more likely to listen to someone they perceive as an expert.

But remember that your plan is just that a plan. It is not the law. Good instructors are able to deviate from the plan somewhat when the discussion gets into related and relevant areas.

Focus on Interaction
Training should be focused on the interaction between the instructor and the trainees, not reading materials. PowerPoint, or handouts. Try to avoid giving handouts at the beginning; assure trainees that they will receive a summary of what was covered at the end of the program. This way they can focus on what is going on in the classroom.

Don’t just lecture. Use discussion, role play, or on the job training examples and assignments to let trainees experience and understand what to do. Be prepared to answer some of the ‘why’ questions that may arise from discussion.

Walk the Talk
One final tip is to remember: instructors should practice what they preach. Training employees about ethics? Then you should be seen as ethical. Conducting programs on avoiding a hostile work environment? Then you should be seen as someone who steers clear from even the gray areas of harassment. Teaching people about contract negotiations? You should be known as a fair negotiator who creates successful agreements.

Be well prepared, and let your expertise shine through. And don’t forget to allow time for questions!

To learn more, please visit me at my website,
www.jonidaniels.com or my blog: http://jonidaniels.blogspot.com/