Getting The Best Out Of A Training Course

If you're young and in your first business role, you may never have been on a training course before. If you're an old hat and have been to many, you may have become so complacent that you're not getting the best out of the courses that you're still going on. Either way, there are some tips available to get the best out of any course:

Prepare - don't go in blind

"Okay team, we have some organisational skills training tomorrow", says your manager. If you groan, shrug, or even look forward to it - do you prepare? Many of us consider training to be a complete package where we walk in raw and walk out with a bag full of knowledge. This isn't necessarily so. If you prepare, you'll get more out of the course.

"How can I prepare?" you may ask - "I know nothing about the topic we're training on!". Fair enough, but surely you know how to conduct an internet search and see what a typical course will cover. Then you can get into the training mind-set before you walk into the training room.

If it's something you're really serious about learning or that is essential to your current job, you could even buy books on the training topic to really get ahead - it will be worth it.

Take notes that you understand

Almost all training courses will have you teetering out of the door with your hands full of hand-outs at the end, never to be looked at again. Remember, the notes you are given are written by the trainer and not you, so if a month passes without you looking at them, you may not understand them at all.

Everyone has a different style of remembering details and absorbing them, so employ your favoured one while in the training room. Make notes that you understand, and that you will still grasp the meaning of a couple of weeks or months down the line - you'll be glad you did.

Don't be afraid to ask questions

Peer pressure or the fear of looking stupid can sometimes infect some training courses like the plague. If you really don't understand a point, and think everyone else does just because their hand isn't up, they may just be feeling pressure like you. If you don't understand something - ask!

It's your only chance while you're still in the training room and the person with the answer is standing in front of you. If you really want to, you could ask in the break or straight after the course, but ask you must, or you'll have a gap in your knowledge that you may regret later.

Ask for follow-up training if you need it

Whether it's a refresher course or just a Q&A with a trainer, don't be afraid to ask your boss and/or the training company for a follow-up if you need it. There's nothing worse than going through a training course feeling like you either didn't grasp what was being said or not learning a key point.

Training courses are there to help - everyone - including your boss, would want you to get the best out of it. If you need a little more time than everyone else, it's nothing to be ashamed of.