
A workplace training session
Two classes of formats dominate conventional workplace training. The instructor-led classroom format usually employs session durations of a half-day or more, face-to-face, addressing complex subject matter using a combination of readings, presentation, interaction, games, and experiential techniques. Online self-study formats usually involve shorter sessions, addressing technical material using readings and/or video recordings, coupled with multiple-choice proficiency examinations.
The two methodologies have dramatically different cost profiles. Not surprisingly, instructor-led classroom formats are more popular, and the online formats are lower in cost. [Schmidt 2007] A natural question arises. Is there a way to lower the cost of instructor-led formats while maintaining their effectiveness and popularity for the subject domains they address? Ten-minute training might suggest a path forward.
The ten-minute training format
The fundamental objective of the ten-minute training format is delivery of a small package of knowledge that attendees can apply in their jobs immediately. A knowledgeable instructor leads the session, which is conducted as an interactive videoconference, with all participants able to speak to the class, and all participants' images visible to each other. To encourage interaction, attendance is limited to 20 participants. Session duration is ten minutes, with five additional minutes for "Q&A". Typical programs consist of 10 or more sessions, related to each other, and designed to be delivered in a set order. In this way, the ten-minute training format can deliver bodies of knowledge comparable in scale to what conventional formats now deliver.
Advantages of the ten-minute training format
The principal advantage of the ten-minute training format is that it provides instructor-led education at low cost while avoiding the disruption of regular work that accompanies the longer sessions of conventional instructor-led education.
Ten-minute The fundamental objective of ten-minute
training: deliver a small package of
knowledge that attendees can use todaytraining achieves cost reduction compared to conventional instructor-led approaches because there is no need for travel. The instructor needn't travel to the work site, and participants needn't travel to the instruction site. Participants can attend from wherever they are in the enterprise.
Ten-minute training also avoids disrupting regular work because of its short session durations. Organizations can set aside a single time period each day or each week for ten-minute training sessions, and by scheduling around that time slot, regular work can proceed unimpeded.
Finally, because the program design emphasizes immediate application of the knowledge or skills imparted, learning continues after the session, enhancing the effectiveness of the method.
Why conventional instructor-led methods have the form they do
The economics of conventional instructor-led training are driven by costs of travel and lodging for either instruction staff or participants or both. To manage these costs, organizations lengthen training sessions to limit the cost of travel per hour of instruction. Session durations (pre-pandemic, and again now post-pandemic, presumably) might range from a half-day to a full week. This results in sessions that cover a large amount of material — more than most people can put into practice immediately upon returning to work. Much of it is therefore unavoidably forgotten.
Subjects suitable for Ten-Minute Training
The class of subjects most clearly suitable for ten-minute training includes those that have very little content. Sometimes, though, we can handle such items in an announcement. But if we expect the class attendees to have questions, ten-minute training can be a valuable approach.
Another class of suitable subjects includes those that can be sliced into small chunks. One example might be renaming the lanes of a Kanban board, or changing the exit criteria for those lanes. A larger subject, still suitable for ten-minute training, is Kanban itself.
Increasing complexity still more, we can use ten-minute training for a change management project that we've divided into stages. We can deal with each stage by further slicing into ten-minute chunks.
Last words
The ten-minute training approach provides a valuable combination of the low cost of videoconferencing with the interactivity that makes instructor-led classroom training so popular and effective. And scheduling is easier because there is no need for travel time, and the time slots required are so short. It's a valuable tool for subject matter that can be delivered in small chunks. Top
Next Issue
Are your projects always (or almost always) late and over budget? Are your project teams plagued by turnover, burnout, and high defect rates? Turn your culture around. Read 52 Tips for Leaders of Project-Oriented Organizations, filled with tips and techniques for organizational leaders. Order Now!
Footnotes
Your comments are welcome
Would you like to see your comments posted here? rbrenaXXxGCwVgbgLZDuRner@ChacDjdMAATPdDNJnrSwoCanyon.comSend me your comments by email, or by Web form.About Point Lookout
Thank you for reading this article. I hope you enjoyed it and
found it useful, and that you'll consider recommending it to a friend.
This article in its entirety was written by a human being. No machine intelligence was involved in any way.
Point Lookout is a free weekly email newsletter. Browse the archive of past issues. Subscribe for free.
Support Point Lookout by joining the Friends of Point Lookout, as an individual or as an organization.
Do you face a complex interpersonal situation? Send it in, anonymously if you like, and I'll give you my two cents.
Related articles
More articles on Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness:
Own Your Space
- Since we spend so much of our waking lives in our offices, it's surprising how few of us take control
of our immediate surroundings. If you do — if you make your space uniquely yours — you'll
feel better about the time you spend at work.
How We Avoid Making Decisions
- When an important item remains on our To-Do list for a long time, it's possible that we've found ways
to avoid facing it. Some of the ways we do this are so clever that we may be unaware of them. Here's
a collection of techniques we use to avoid engaging difficult problems.
Renewal
- Renewal is a time to step out of your usual routine and re-energize. We find renewal in weekends, vacations,
days off, even in a special evening or hour in the midst of our usual pattern. Renewal provides perspective.
It's a climb to the mountaintop to see if we're heading in the right direction.
Completism
- Completism is the desire to create or acquire a complete set of something. In our personal lives, it
drives collectors to pay high prices for rare items that "complete the set." In business it
drives us to squander our resources in surprising ways.
Improvement Bias
- When we set about improving how our organizations do things, we expose ourselves to the risk of finding
opportunities for improvement that offer very little improvement, while we overlook others that could
make a real difference. Cognitive biases play a role.
See also Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness for more related articles.
Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout
Coming September 17: Workplace Bullying Doesn't Work
- A common belief about perpetrators of workplace bullying is that they have an outsized view of themselves and their power. The truth might be rather different. They could be dealing with an addiction cycle — a sense of weakness after the effects of previous bullying incidents have dissipated. Available here and by RSS on September 17.
And on September 24: Time Is Not a Resource
- In the project management community, it's often said that time is the most precious resource. Although time is indeed precious, to regard it as a resource — like finance, equipment, or people — can be a dangerous mistake. Time is not a resource. Available here and by RSS on September 24.
Coaching services
I offer email and telephone coaching at both corporate and individual rates. Contact Rick for details at rbrenaXXxGCwVgbgLZDuRner@ChacDjdMAATPdDNJnrSwoCanyon.com or (650) 787-6475, or toll-free in the continental US at (866) 378-5470.
Get the ebook!
Past issues of Point Lookout are available in six ebooks:
- Get 2001-2 in Geese Don't Land on Twigs (PDF, )
- Get 2003-4 in Why Dogs Wag (PDF, )
- Get 2005-6 in Loopy Things We Do (PDF, )
- Get 2007-8 in Things We Believe That Maybe Aren't So True (PDF, )
- Get 2009-10 in The Questions Not Asked (PDF, )
- Get all of the first twelve years (2001-2012) in The Collected Issues of Point Lookout (PDF, )
Are you a writer, editor or publisher on deadline? Are you looking for an article that will get people talking and get compliments flying your way? You can have 500-1000 words in your inbox in one hour. License any article from this Web site. More info
Follow Rick
Recommend this issue to a friend
Send an email message to a friend
rbrenaXXxGCwVgbgLZDuRner@ChacDjdMAATPdDNJnrSwoCanyon.comSend a message to Rick
A Tip A Day feed
Point Lookout weekly feed
