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Train the Trainer Manual How to Develop a Training Plan Development and execution of a well-conceived training plan is the cornerstone upon which a successful training program rests. A training plan exists on at least two levels:
The following is a suggested template which will help guide you through the process of developing your training plan. The template identifies a number of basic elements that should be included in your training plan and will make your plan more useful as a tool in guiding you through your training program. Please keep in mind that the following template is just a guide and can be altered and changed to suit the needs of your branch or program. Also keep in mind that your training plan need not be overly complex, but without a framework of some kind, your exhaustive training efforts may not bear the fruit it should. Training Plan Elements Background The Training Plan should begin with a background section which describes the following:
The background section should be predominantly narrative in structure with perhaps a table or organizational chart to assist you in framing the context of your plan. Current Status The purpose of this section is to describe what sort of training has been completed to date. This section of the corporate plan should be updated each year, and referenced against the previous year for comparative purposes.
This section will be greatly assisted by including a table to indicate current readiness against total numbers within targeted employee groups. Mission Statement The Mission Statement should address what it is you hope to achieve in a global sense with the training plan. For example, your overall goal may be: To ensure all ministry staff have a comprehensive baseline awareness of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (the Act) and understand their roles and responsibilities in complying with the Act. It may take one or several different types of training and probably a number of sessions to reach this overall goal. The overall goal differs from course goals and objectives because it is much broader and all-encompassing than course goals and objectives which tend to be more specific to the training and more limited in scope. It would be very challenging to reach the above overall goal in one or even 5 years. A number of different types of training would have to be implemented in order to reach the overall goal. Course goals and objectives are also much more measurable than the overall goal because course participants can help you assess whether or not you have met them. Methodology The methodology describes the approaches to training delivery that will be employed. For example, your training plan may cover 2 years, 5 years and only one course, or perhaps a phased approach would be more appropriate for your ministry. You may begin with general training one year and include more advanced training the following year. You may also want to offer one or two courses a year on specific topics. The options for this portion of the training plan are limitless.
Training Methodology should also be updated each year in the corporate plan as delivery methods are evaluated. Description of Training If you are doing more than one type of training, you may repeat this section in order to describe each type of training you will be conducting (this is where your training plan becomes more specific both in terms of deliverable and time frames). Time Frames Approximately when will the training be offered? Will it be offered from January to March every year or just for 1999? Will a session be offered once in September and once in February every year or one year? Will the training be offered quarterly, yearly, monthly or weekly even? Will you be offering training via videoconference? If so, when? Approximately when do you expect to have brochures or other documentation complete? Will the documentation be updated each year? When do you expect to have your Web Page up and running? Goals What goal(s) do you hope to achieve from the specific training that you plan to offer? Identify Clients: First identify which client group will benefit from the training: Is the goal to ensure all staff in the ministry have the opportunity to participate in FOI Awareness Training or is the goal that all staff must participate in FOI Awareness Training? Is the goal to train all local staff, or all staff throughout the province or is the goal to identify FOI contacts in branches and throughout the province and just provide training to them? Maybe only certain identified staff in a division will require the training? Decide who the clients for your training will be and then develop one goal to include these clients in some sort of training. Objectives: Once you have identified the client group that requires training, then identify what you hope the participants walk away with: Is the goal to provide a comprehensive base-level of expertise to support the client groups compliance with the Act or is the goal to ensure all contract managers participate in training that specifically focuses on the impact of the FOI Act for contractor records? What needs of the client group can you fulfill? Learning Objectives Learning objectives are specific and measurable. Learning objectives identify specifically what the participants will do/learn/understand/identify/recognize etc… Some examples of objectives would include any of the following: The participant will:
Organization What do you need to accomplish the training objectives? Coordination of Training Delivery:
Materials: Once you have identified how you will deliver the training, what materials do you need to deliver the training:
Training Schedule and Budget Finally, the Training Schedule and Budget specifically identifies the date, method, cost and approximate number of participants to be trained. It would be useful to identify the approximate number of participants to be trained by staff level (this will make it easier to report back to ISTA in complying with the Cabinet Training Directive):
For example, you may decide to train approximately 20 people on September 24, 1999 locally by conducting a training session with yourself as the facilitator. The cost in this case is not applicable. You may, however, decide to conduct the same training in Kamloops for approximately $340.00 (this includes 1 night accommodation at about $80.00 for one night, transportation to and from course location, about $40.00, meal allowance of about $38.00 and the air flight at about $192.00). Cost would be a factor in getting brochures printed through Queen's Printer or contracting someone to set-up a Web site. Reporting Finally, when the annual round of training is complete, you should consider the type of reporting you wish to do. A summary of the above information is a good place to start and you can flesh out this report with the actual cost and number of participants trained. This information will be helpful in forming part of your overall evaluation of the training program. You may also want to create an Executive Summary to report on the successes to date, the challenges ahead, and the potential impact on staff and budget for the coming fiscal year.
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