Seven Ways to Get the Most Out of the Next Training You Attend

Written by Kevin Eikenberry


Sometime soon you will be attending some training. It may be a one hour tele-seminar, a one day class, professional conference, or a weekend retreat. It may be something that you are paying for, or it may be something your organization is investing in. Whether you are payingrepparttar bill or not, you are making a significant investment of your time, energy and attention to participate.

Many people approach training as an adult much like they approached classes when they were in school – and those strategies aren’t alwaysrepparttar 142197 best ones to maximizerepparttar 142198 value from a learning experience. Regardless ofrepparttar 142199 length, situation or topic, there are some very specific things that you can do to convertrepparttar 142200 experience into useful learning you can apply in your work and life.

Following are seven strategies that you can apply to convert your time and energy spent in training into real useful learning.

1. Have a goal. Been signed up for some training at work? Decided to attend a seminar on a topic you are interested in? Great! The first thing you should do in any case is set a learning goal. If you are already knowledgeable aboutrepparttar 142201 topic and have specific things you want to improve, setting your goal or goals should be easy. If this is training you are less excited about attending, or are unclear about, you can still set a goal like: “Learn one new thing I can apply at work,” or “Meet one person I can add to my network.” Having a goal and writing it down focuses your mind and will help you gain real practical value from any learning situation.

2. Take personal responsibility. Take responsibility for your own learning experience. The training may not berepparttar 142202 most dynamic or engaging you’ve ever been to, but that is ok, because you have a goal. Make that your focus. Perhapsrepparttar 142203 trainer isn’t going to cover that topic exactly. That’s ok – use their expertise. Ask them at a break, probe for other resources. Stay focused on your goal. Your learning is in your control. Take responsibility for getting fromrepparttar 142204 experience what you want and need.

3. Ask questions. Don’t understand something? Ask for clarification. Want a little more information? Ask for it. A big part of being responsible for your on learning is asking question to get what you need.

4. Askrepparttar 142205 Golden Question. The most important question isrepparttar 142206 one you won’t likely ask out loud. “How can I use what I am learning?” This isrepparttar 142207 golden question because it helps us translaterepparttar 142208 learning to real life. Ask this question of yourself throughrepparttar 142209 training experience. I keep a separate place to keep notes onrepparttar 142210 application ideas I get from asking myself this question when I am in training. This truly isrepparttar 142211 golden question. Ask it of yourself when you start to get distracted, ask it of yourself at breaks. Soon it will become a natural response and an amazingly valuable habit.

Why You Should Hold One More Meeting

Written by Kevin Eikenberry


If you are completely happy with where you and your business currently are then you can stop here. If growth and change aren’t something you have any interest in, there is no need for you to read any further.

I’m serious. You can move on.

But if you do think there are new opportunities to explore, if you do think that there are ways to improve your results, then read on. I’m going to show you how scheduling a new meeting periodically can help make that happen.

That’s right, a meeting.

The Idea Meeting

An idea meeting is a meeting that exists to create, stimulate, encourage and honor ideas. Its entire purpose is to identify and consider new ideas. It is based onrepparttar concept that ideas arerepparttar 142196 seeds of all growth and that without growth, organizations will fail to reach their potential.

You’ve likely been in versions of an idea meeting. You’ve called them problem solving meetings. A problem has been identified and a group gets together to brainstorm possible solutions torepparttar 142197 problem. Ideas are generated, possible solutions considered, and hopefully this effort leads to a solved problem.

Problem solving meetings are important and valuable, and while they share some lineage with an idea meeting, they aren’trepparttar 142198 same. You see, problem solving meetings are reactive, but idea meetings are proactive.

Where Do They Work?

Idea meetings can work in any sort of organization fromrepparttar 142199 multi-national Fortune 500 mega-firm to a two person company. They will work in marketing, manufacturing, product teams, projects teams, finance and HR. They will work in civic organizations and church groups. Anyplace where people understand and care aboutrepparttar 142200 goals ofrepparttar 142201 organization, idea meetings can be extremely valuable.

The Format

The format of an idea meeting can change based onrepparttar 142202 number of people in attendance andrepparttar 142203 specific focus. Sometimes you might want to generate ideas related to one specific objective or strategy. Other times you might wantrepparttar 142204 meeting to be completely open. In either case, let people know aboutrepparttar 142205 idea meeting at least a couple of days ahead of time. Suggest that they be thinking about their ideas and writing them down to share inrepparttar 142206 meeting.

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