By Cy Charney and Kathy Conway
It is said that trainers have to deal with three
types of people:
- Learners, who want to be there and get as much as they
can from the session.
- Vacationers, who want to have as much fun and free time
as possible.
- Prisoners, who resent being there.
If you find yourself confronted with a problem
participant, here is some hands-on assistance from The Trainer’s
Tool Kit by Cy Charney and Kathy Conway (AMACOM 1998).
The Negative Person
Most often the frustration is legitimate. Your goal is to help the
participant to find a good reason for being at the training session.
Here are some suggestions:
- Allow the person to vent and get any frustrations off his or
her chest. Then you can decide whether to:
- Empathize and ask if you can move on.
- Empathize and determine if the issue needs to be dealt with
right away.
- Empathize and offer to deal with the issue later or at the
end of the meeting.
- Control your response:
- Don't take the issue personally.
- Don't get drawn into an argument.
- Don't show anger. Keep calm (outwardly), and keep a straight
face. If you show that the negative person is getting to you,
you will be demonstrating publicly a lack of ability to deal
with the situation.
- If the person is making wild, exaggerated statements, canvass
other opinions. This way the person will be made to understand
that his or her opinions do not represent those held by others
in the workshop.
- Ask the frustrated learner to give you ideas as to how to deal
with the difficulties.
- Call a time-out and regroup. Collect your thoughts and composure.
Take the time to revise your strategy to deal with the problem.
- Let peer pressure deal with the culprit.
- Address antagonistic questions as serious and legitimate. Simply
answer them and move on.
The Overly Talkative Participant
- Establish a learning contract at the beginning of the session
that includes the concept of giving everyone an equal opportunity
to participate. If there are continuing interruptions, remind
the person diplomatically of the contract and the importance of
getting other perspectives.
- Jump in when the person stops to catch his or her breath, and
echo the person’s comments. For example, say, "So what I'm
hearing is that… Thank you. Now who else has something to
add that has not already been covered?"
- Do a round-robin to ensure equal opportunity for all to use
the available time. Say, "Let’s go around the table and get
one idea from each person. If you don't have an idea, just say
'Pass.'"
- Frequent eye contact with the person will serve to invite additional
comment. Avoid it.
- Direct questions to people other than the talkative person.
- Talk to the person privately at a break, and stress the importance
of letting everyone have a chance to respond.
The Rambler
- Summarize the person’s ideas in order to bring clarity before
moving on.
- Emphasize the importance of staying on schedule.
- Record the ideas offered on a flip chart. This will reduce
repetition and force the person to organize his or her thoughts.
According to Charney and Conway, "Your best
strategy for anticipated difficulties during training is getting
good information beforehand about the group and its dynamic."
They recommend reviewing evaluations from other groups to whom you've
given the course, talking to someone who has trained the group before
and talking with the manager or managers of the participants.
Click
here for "The Top 10 Tips
for Trainers," from The Trainer’s Tool Kit.
If you would like more information about AMACOM’s
extensive library of training titles, please click
here.
To learn more about the topics discussed in
this article, consider these AMA seminars:
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