Leveraging your learning

How many speaking, training, coaching sessions did you attend over the past few months?  How many of the “great ideas” you came across did you actually implement?  Here are some strategies you can use to make sure that you maximise your time, your learning and networking opportunities.

Create a learning proforma for every session

• Create a strategic plan to complete for every session you attend. It should include fields like objectives, details of the facilitator, speaker, your personal slant on the session, the key startegies that you will implement, resources mentioned etc.  Is this sounding a bit like a feedback form?  Well, it's a personal feedback form - one that you can use to take control of your learning.  
• Set yourself goals to achieve as a result of attending the session.
• Ask yourself why you are attending the session.  What would you like to do differently as a result of going?  Your goal could be to implement three ideas the facilitator suggested for a period of three months and evaluate their effectiveness.

During the session

• Be prepared!  Mental preparation for you is just as important as for the facilitator or presenter.  Visualise all the great ideas you are going to get from the session.  Get there early.   Take your proforma, pens and paper. 
• Avoid the back of the room!  (This is an easy way of being able to be passive in the session).  If you seat yourself at the front, you will find yourself interacting more and being “in” the session.    
• Participate!  Yes, I mean get up and do role plays, ask questions, interact, network.  Your personal learning experience will be enhanced a hundred fold if you are involved in the process.   
• Trust!  If you find yourself doubting, feeling negative or plain saying “BULL” to the ideas and suggestions made by the facilitator you may need to question your beliefs.  I’m not saying you are wrong, just to think about it before you make a decision around he content.  You might just learn something about yourself that was never on your list of objectives for the session.

After the session - and within 24 hours!

• Dedicate more time!  Go back over your notes.  Create an action plan for achieving the goals you set. Maximise the networking opportunity – get in with other participants.  Monitor your actions and thoughts - have they changed as a result of the session.
• Take responsibility!  Becoming accountable to yourself for your learning outcomes is empowering.  You will notice the changes in yourself as you DO what you set out to achieve from attending a session.  Take something small and “just do it”! 

Make this year your year to leverage from your learning!

Brain Boost Accredited Facilitators lead corporate and public accelerated workplace learning, training and development sessions.  There are over 300 programs to choose from and a vast number of fully accredited facilitators who are all subject matter experts in their chosen field ready to deliver tailored and customised programs to you.