The review is one of the most important parts of any learning. Often though, not enough time is allowed for review in formal training: It’s thrown in at the end of the day, is often rushed, and can be boring - which means it’s often ineffective.
Why is reviewing learning so important? Because the brain is designed to forget things. Think about it: We’re bombarded with new information every day – and much of this information doesn’t need to be stored. For example, imagine how confusing it would be if you remembered everywhere you’d ever parked your car, rather than just the space it’s in now?
There are two things we need to do to ensure our training is remembered: - Make it stand out as an unusual experience. I’ve written before about the need for training to be fun, engaging and strikingly different - no matter who you’re training.
- Review the learning, which helps move what's been learnt from short-term memory to long-term memory. A new memory is like a trail through the woods. If we don’t retrace our steps, it’ll quickly vanish. But if we revisit the path frequently, it’ll soon become a permanent trail. (I found that metaphor on the Internet, and rather liked it.)
Activities to Review Learning There are some great activities in Trainers’ Library that will help you review learning, including: The Winning Post: A great tool for encouraging participants to think about what they’ve gained form the training. Postcard Review: The review process must not stop when the training event ends. Here’s one way to encourage review when the learners are back in the workplace. Pitfalls and Trampolines: These board games, included in our list of Team Building Games, are quite simply brilliant for reviewing learning. More on these and other board games next week!
A Question of Luck  I’ve always enjoyed using quizzes and games as a tool for review. Here’s one of the many ideas I included in an article I wrote a few years back. Prepare a grid on a flipchart with numbered squares corresponding to each of your pre-prepared questions. Try to vary the difficulty of the questions – this adds to the fun. Split your participants into teams of two or three and give each team three ‘lives’. Each team then takes it in turn to choose a number and face the corresponding question (put a cross through the square soyou know which questions have gone). If they get the question right, they keep all their lives. If they get it wrong, they lose a life, and the next team gets the opportunity to answer the question and ‘steal’ the lost life. The team with the most ‘lives’ at the end are the winners.
The Line Manager's Role Line Managers are vital to the review process so think about how you can involve them in the review through focused action planning, for example. And don’t forget, Managers’ Library. It’s specifically designed to get line managers more involved in staff development, giving them the tools to review behaviours and follow up on the great work you’ve started. |