I, of course, love leadership training. However, I find it even more valuable when there’s an easy way to double your training take aways without additional cost.
At the conclusion of a leadership training project with a client recently, one of the senior managers said, “In order to keep this learning going, I’m going to pull my notes once a quarter just to see what else I should be working on.” I wasn’t quite sure what he meant by his comment. When I asked for a clarification, he provided a brilliant insight for me, “Liz, quite often I find that some of the notes I make during training sessions or a conference workshop only make sense to me. They’re not even related to the topic you or the speaker may be making at that time, but something you just said, spurred an idea in me that caused me to jot a note to myself. Later, when I look back through my notes, I often find good ideas for new techniques or things I could or should do to improve my outlook, productivity, or management skills — and they may have nothing to do with what you just presented.”
His insight resonated with me as I often find myself doing the same thing. If the training or presentation support materials are developed well, there is often little need for me to take many supplemental topic-specific notes. However, as I listen to the presenter and consider how to apply what the presenter is sharing, I invariably jot very specific notes relevant to my company, my team, and myself. These notes are typically specific to one of our projects, clients, or to a team member’s task. Often these non-speaker/trainer specific notes are hidden gold and not only increase productivity, but obviously double the value of the training and presentations I attend.
Why not pull out your old training and workshop notes?
What gold can you mine and apply as you double your training take aways?
Copyright MMXIII – Liz Weber, CMC, CSP – Weber Business Services, LLC – www.WBSLLC.com +1.717.597.8890
Liz supports clients with strategic and succession planning, as well as leadership training and executive coaching. Learn more about me on LinkedIn!
