Let me share with you a real experience that I once had when
I was teaching a course on problem solving.
In my class I had a diverse group
of trainees from various disciplines like Finance, HR, logistics, engineering,
etc. According to the instructor’s guide for the course, I needed to walk the
trainees through a case study involving an engineering problem. This case study
would form the backbone of the course. But many of the trainees were
non-technical and I quickly realized that if I continued with the engineering
problem as a case study, I would completely lose the attention of most of my
class. The class would end up a complete waste of time.
I knew I had to deviate
from the canned script. So I told the trainees to individually identify a problem
in their own work to use as a case study. I told them this class would be an
opportunity for them to brainstorm and solve a problem bothering them at work.
This immediately got the attention of the trainees. Some of the problems they
identified were very interesting and relevant. For example, one of them told me
that he had to attend conference calls at 4 AM on several days of the week to
liaise with our headquarters in another country. As we proceeded through the
class, he was able to come up with several thoughts on how to solve/manage the
problem. He told me he had never had the time or opportunity to think about
this problem in a calm and structured manner. Personally I felt very satisfied
that I was able to create some value and make life better for trainees through
the class.
What did I learn from this experience? As a trainer you must have the mental
flexibility to deviate from your prepared outline and improvise in order to
keep the energy levels in the class high.
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