Ask, Not Tell

I mentioned an offsite meeting in HK.    I learnt something more about empathy.

The meeting room we used was spacious with a lot of natural light coming from the balcony.    But simply because it was so spacious, some slides were not legible to the participants at the back of the room.   Whilst I was showing the slides, I started to realise this issue.   And my first reaction to show my empathy by saying ‘…let me show you the activity instruction in writing….  I understand that the slide is not clear to those at the back…  let me read it out for you….’

It was alright until ……. I said the above a few times during the day.    It became annoying when I reminded them the problem without doing anything about it (at least from the participants’ perspective)   In fact, I only realised this after the event when someone gave me feedback.

I always think that showing empathy is always good.   But it seems that sometimes it is not….  when you cannot do about the underlying issue.

I have spent almost 2 weeks in Beijing delivering classes.  I found a place where I can rent a bicycle.   Cycling turned out to be my morning exercise.  I once woke up at 0539 and rode to the Jing-Shan Park behind the Forbidden City.    Cycling refreshed me and it energized me for the classes during the day!!

我在北京上课也有差不多2周了，这次我发现了一个出租单车的地方！骑单车就变成我早上的运动，有一次我530就起来并爬上故宫后的景山公园。 骑单车让我一天上课的时候更精神！

[View from the Jing-Shan Park]

[Forbidden City]

After transiting in Singapore and Johannesburg, I finally arrive this morning at Gaborone in Botswana!   So far, I see lot of space but very few people!

在新加坡和约翰内斯堡转机后，我终于到达博茨瓦那!   地方很多但人很少！

An email came to my mailbox yesterday saying that there is an event by the Hong Kong International Coaching Community called ‘Ask Not Tell’.   It is about changing organisation by coaching.   What a coincidence!

This is my new ‘toy’ – the logitech presenter.  I lost my old one (Kensington) at work.  See my previous post on this.

This device is more advanced than my Kensington one without scarificing too much the simplicity in design.   There is an interesting function – the device can count down time and vibrate when the time is up.   It helps the facilitator control time in a subtle way.

I spend my Chinese New Year holiday in Shanghai this year.  As usual, I feel like being in the war zone here during the Chinese New Year – the firework is everywhere.  The atmosphere is the strongest on the new year eve and the day 4 of the Chinese New Year.  (On day 4, people are supposed to receive the god of fortune by playing firework.   As such, the businessmen generally spend a lot on day 4 on firework.)   Anyway, back to the topic….

Before the Chinese New Year holiday, a few colleagues and I reviewed the learning from Dr Rothwell’s classes.  We talked about course evaluation.  Normally when we talk about evaluation, it is about end of class evaluation – e.g. the famous Kirtpatrick 4 levels of evaluation.    However, some raised a question on that day ”How to get feedback on your class before it finishes?’    This is a valid question especially for courses of longer duration e.g. over 1 day.  It makes sense to check how the learners think and – the course as much as possible.

Here are some interesting thoughts we came up:

Just ask them - It is always an option.  In fact, we should not forget this option.  But sometimes we do commit this mistake.  We continue to talk, talk and talk without at least asking the learners how they feel.

Ask them tactfully - If we ask for feedback openly, the feedback is likely to be a polite (and thus not informative) one.  This is especially the case in the Asian environment.  We got to do it tactfully.  For example, I learn a method from Sharon Bowman – Ask the learners to position their hands in front of their chests.   If they are very satisfied with [say, speed of delivery], raise 5 figures.  If they are very unsatisfied, raise only 1 figure.   They will probably be more frank since they are expressing privately.   With that, you can then get a quick feedback with whatever question you ask.

Keep a feedback wall - Another way is to post a flipchart where the learners can write their feedback on.  You can keep it blank or post a few questions for them to answer.  Preferably, the flipchart should be posted at place where the learners can write without anyone seeing it.   For example, you can post it on the side of a whiteboard which faces the wall.

Talk to a few – Identify 2-3 whom you believe to be expressive and can represent the others (or pick randomly).   Invite them to observe and stay behind on say day 1 to give you feedback.   Most will be more comfortable to tell you more in a small group setting.  And they will feel honoured for your invitation.

Hide yourself in the toilet – It is the most extreme measure!   Some said that the comment exchanged among the learners during the first tea break is key to the success of a course.   So, once you announce the tea break, you should run to the washroom and hide yourself there, you will hear the most frank (and brutal) comment from the learners!!

If you try out some, let me know how it go!!

Another interesting point raised by William Rothwell is that all training intervention should have a post-course test.  And we should develop the test before the course content.     On the contrary, I understand that most will first design the course content after understanding the course objectives (which Dr Rothwell calls Instructional Objectives with a strict definition on) .     We may or may not have a post-course test.  And if there is one, we do it by reviewing the content.  We select the key pieces of knowledge with which we want to check the learners’ understanding.   We then put them in the test.

Dr Rothwell’s point s quite an insight to me:

• It makes a lot of sense to have a post-course test in order to check the training effectiveness.   It helps engage our stakeholders (or simply the one who pays for the course)   I am not sure whether test can be appliable to all kinds of course e.g. presentation skills.  But for the very least, we should always consider putting such a test.
• It also makes sense to have an end (post-course test) first before developing the mean (course content). It is more objective-focus.  What to achieve (Objective) > How to measure the result vs the desired achievement (Test) > How to get there (Content)

I have attended a class by William Rothwell last Nov.  To me, the experience carried new perspective how I can look at training as a career.  Well, not an entirely new perspective, but the experience made the perspective more obvious to me.   In fact, I have been writing a number of posts on this realisation – ‘training’ is not just about speaking in the classroom.  It is about an attempt to change human performance.

In a specific ‘how to’ term, ‘training’ is about how to perform the responsibility to change human performance in the corporate setting.  It is about how to secure resources from the corporate budget.  It is about how to understand well and set a correct expectation what is the desired human performance change.    It is about how to maximize return with given resources. Read more