Group Training Methods

In most cases, group training methods are “Instructor-led” and often take place in a classroom setting. One of the primary benefits of group training methods is that they encourage active participation and allow learners to share ideas and evaluate information together.

Lecture

Lecture is typically a single individual sharing information such as facts, ideas, and other types of information to a group of individuals. Lectures can be effective especially if integrated with other training methods. It’s also extremely important that the lecturer is knowledgeable in the information they’re presenting as well as has the ability to retain the group’s attention throughout the lecture.

It is easy to lean toward the traditional style of lecturing where you speak and the participants listen. However, less than half of learners will pick up the information and that number dwindles if you’re speaking too fast or if people start losing interest.

The best practice for using lecturing is to incorporate a variety of techniques throughout the lectures to increase engagement. For example, speaking for 15 minutes and asking questions after a short period of time to check for understanding.

Facilitated Discussion

Facilitated discussion is the management of discussion about the course content so that the learning objectives are met. The facilitator will ensure that the discussion flows logically from topic to topic. This method requires that the trainer have the skills to accept all ideas as valuable, demonstrate how they related to the training objectives, and manage the time and flow of the discussion. This method helps to ensure that learners remain engaged and challenged and that their contribution to the discussion is valuable and appreciated.

Case Study

A case study is an account of a scenario, event, or problem that contains a real or hypothetical situation and includes specific factors that learners may actually encounter. Since adult learners typically bring a problem-oriented way of thinking to workplace training, case studies are an excellent way to capitalize on this. By analyzing job-specific scenarios and the consequences of decisions made in those situations, learners can more easily improve their decision-making skills.

Incident Process

Incident process is similar to case study, except you don’t actually reveal the entire scenario. You start off by revealing the outcome of an incident and then allow the group to consider the factors that led to the incident. This is an excellent method for teaching learners about risk analysis as well as incident severity and probability since they’ll be identifying individual variables that contributed to the incident and any controls that could have prevented it.

Simulation

Simulation training will present learners with a game-like atmosphere that attempts to mimic a real-life scenario as closely as possible. Learners are tasked with making decisions and performing the same actions that they would in the real-life scenario and can experience the consequences of those decisions immediately.

An example of this training is fire extinguisher training. In this case, a fire can be simulated and a learner will be required to take the correct actions with an extinguisher in order to put out the fire. The effectiveness of the learner’s actions can be measured and the outcome of those actions can be seen instantly.

Brainstorming

Brainstorming is an interactive group training method that encourages learners to present ideas on specific issues. The method works well for finding innovative and specific solutions to issues since it allows ideas to be developed quickly, encourages creative thinking, and involves the entire group in the process.

Meeting Method

The meeting training method is commonly used for information-sharing purposes because it’s relative ease of implementation and as well as the knowledge that each participant will bring to the group. Facilitators of meetings should be prepared to control the flow of the session as the participants share their knowledge and experiences. In most cases, interactive meetings work better than those that simply convey information in one direction.

Q&A Sessions

Trainers can use this method to allow learners to clarify individual concerns and facts. While question and answer sessions typically follow training periods once an instructor has completed presenting training materials and information, they can also be stand-alone sessions scheduled for some time after the training. This allows the learners to organize and prepare their thoughts before they ask their questions. This is more especially effective following training sessions where learners are required to absorb a large amount of content.

For the lecturing segments of content or to clarify certain facts, use questioning to keep participants engaged. You can ask a series of questions for each person to draw on their experience and contribute to the topic. As you develop lesson plans, choose several large sections of content that can be broken down into sections. Designate those smaller chunks to groups of people and have the groups get creative in deciding how to teach the content to the rest of the class.