Training is a big part of our lives in business today. Great businesses spend a lot of money and time studying all the latest changes and new trends affecting in their industry, how to stay one step ahead of the competition, keeping up with legal, technological, social and cultural changes, and learning what consumers want and how to be of best value in the marketplace, gain market share quickly, and so on. We need training to build our skills, increase our knowledge, and bring new hires into the fold. The bottom line is, part of every good business person’s job description is to go to “school”. But if we are to also be highly productive, we need “school” to be extremely efficient and effective, to get the most out of the money and time we spend on it.

1. Someone reading me 35 PowerPoint slides full of text
2. Darkened room for a morning training, looking at Power Point and falling asleep
3. Highly technical material delivered by a monotone or boring voice
4. Not being able to see, hear, read, or understand everything clearly
5. Training that goes more than 90 minutes without a break
6. Having to show up for a meeting to “learn” material that could have been sent in a memo
7. Being talked to or treated/taught as if I were a child, or worst of all, being scolded
8. Too little content or not enough value in the content that pertains to me
9. Bad environment, poorly run or disorganized, or unprofessional atmosphere
10. Trainer or speaker is incongruent, unconvincing, unprepared, or too longwinded

What the study told me was: for engaged, high-powered, highly productive business-people, their top pet peeves fell into two categories: having the training waste their time, and annoying them with mediocrity. So a good rule of training would be: “Don’t waste their time, be great, and don’t annoy them”! What a concept…

1. Training sessions and presentations that start and end on time
2. Topics that make me think and give me the opportunity to improve.
3. Something cutting-edge! Give me information that is really fresh and new.
4. Trainers and speakers who make things fun and have lots of content.
5. Things that make me laugh, and give me a break from the day’s problems at work.
6. Light, bright rooms with vibrant energy, excitement, and a fast-pace.
7. Practical material I really feel I can use when I leave the session. Real tools.
8. Different delivery methods in the same session so I don’t get bored.
9. Interactive sessions: being able to contribute my thoughts in the training
10. Not having to drive somewhere, good coffee, snacks and enough water to drink

None of the answers surprised me, do they surprise you? They are probably much the same as you or I would say. Keeping these answers in mind as you put together your training plan will insure you deliver the best training possible.