I believe one of the biggest “no-balls” of Corporate Training & Development is not having a defined “why”. (Read as non-alignment of purpose, objective, and expectations).
Sure, it’s a power packed 6 that’s knocked off the roof of the stadium and the crowd has gone nuts… except, the crease was overstepped even by a fraction. That’s when the Umpire comes into play.
Similarly…
No matter the profound processes, captivating simulations, activities or games and engagement, flashy props, laughter and fun, etc: if it doesn’t address/alleviate the burning areas, it simply doesn’t count. Convince yourself how you want, but it’s just expensive, empty noise.
One of the core competencies (and a moral responsibility) of being FaciliTrainer / Facilitator, is Consulting. I see it quite like donning the hat of the Umpire.
Ensuring fair play on both sides, identifying loopholes and gaps, discovering challenges, protecting the play and players, giving ethical and honest recommendations, stakeholder management, mediation- it’s all respect for the craft and the game.
And quite like ‘player records’, after the ‘match’ is over, here too, there’s a detailed report citing: what was the objective; desired outcomes; gaps and challenges; how did we bridge them; how successful were we; what emerged; what was observed; what happened; way forward, etc.
I’ve noticed often that under the guise of doing something new, thinking out of the box, something fun etc., the core objective gets lost. And in worse cases, it’s not even identified, let alone lost.
Most ubiquitous example that comes to my mind is: “there is a communication gap in the employees. We need an extensive communication training”.
It is only after a very detailed and thorough diagnosis that the layers and undercurrents get identified, and then the aha moment for the client is that “communication” was never the real problem, it’s actually Ownership, Trust, and Accountability. The said communication gap was only a visible symptom, not the root cause.
Now imagine the Organisation’s dismay after investing a hefty amount getting on board the who’s who of the training world to do elaborate training programs on how to communicate?
Think taking a paracetamol for a bleeding wound, and then blaming the medicine doesn’t work? Kinda like that.
Hope this helps.
Here’s to more hits and fewer misses!
A No-Ball is a No-Ball, even if you hit a Six
