Train the Trainer: Darryl Heller

Editor's Note:

Training is often overlooked by organizations giddy with the thrill of bringing new technology into the office or community. Over the years, I've seen many organizations finally embrace the idea that technology can help them achieve their mission more effectively and better serve their constituencies. But once they've managed to raise the money and buy the requisite hardware and software, they realize they didn't budget the time or money to get their staff trained so that they could get the most out of their investment.

One of the reasons that training is overlooked is that funders often view it as unnecessary. In budgets that must be constantly reviewed and justified, the important thing, or so commonsense says, is to get the technology and figure out the rest along the way. This is fine if everything has been thought out in advance and there are people on staff who have the expertise to make the technology work. However, what happens if that person leaves? Or what happens when computers and technological resources are purchased for several departments, and it's not clear who will need to use them?

These and countless other situations make developing an internal "train the trainer" program a smart option for some nonprofits. "Training the trainer" means identifying an existing staff person, or several staff members, who have some technology expertise and teaching this person to train other staff members to use the technology. By training one key person to train others in the organization, you distribute the knowledge and create a repository of knowledge within the organization so that no one person carries all of the organization's knowledge.

A train the trainer program could involve sending one staff member to an outside training class to learn about the technology, then teaching that staff member how to train other people on staff. It is important to train the trainer how to teach other people so that the information can be spread effectively. Effective train the trainer programs will teach trainers such skills as how to facilitate a meeting, how to deal with students who are having trouble, and how to teach effective note-taking.

Many nonprofits work with limited resources, financially and with staffing, and do not generally have an IT department to meet their technology training needs. Also, given budget constraints, it is not always possible to send many staff members to outside training. Developing an internal training program can be empowering, and it allows organizations to become more self-sufficient.

Reasons to Train the Trainer

Although a train the trainer program may not work for every organization, there are some great benefits. In general, it is a relatively inexpensive and painless way to make the most out of your technology investment. While it may be possible, and at times necessary, to send staff to outside training classes (for specialty software that only one position may use, for example), there are compelling reasons to consider a train the trainer approach:

Save money -- It is much cheaper to teach an existing staff person to train other staff members than hire someone new. A word of caution, however: organizations often make the mistake of making people take on trainer responsibilities on top of their existing duties, without making any changes in these duties. This is a sure way to burn out the very person you need to rely on. Given that most nonprofit staff are already overworked and underpaid, it is important that some of the designated trainer's existing duties be redistributed to keep the job manageable.

Empower your organization -- By developing internal training resources, nonprofits increase their resources and teach staff to be self-reliant. Because the in-house trainer is a peer whom other staff members feels comfortable with, this can alleviate some of the fear that is endemic to learning something new.

Quickly deal with staff turnover -- Every organization has lost staff members just at the moment that they become truly proficient at their jobs. Investing in training someone only to have him or her leave can be demoralizing. By training internally, new staff can quickly be trained and brought up to speed on their responsibilities.

Use technology skills throughout your organization -- By training internally on all of the technology that an organization depends on, hardware and software can more readily be used across the agency. Since the trainers are always around, they can share their skills with different departments as needed.

Making the Decision

While a train the trainer program can work well, there are some drawbacks. Sometimes train the trainer programs lead to a slow degradation of skills as the trainers forget the skills they were originally taught, or, having failed to properly understand the information in the first place, pass on incorrect information. Also, if you rely on one trainer, when the trainer leaves, there's often an even bigger hole in the organization to fill. For this reason, it's important to document the training process, so that a new trainer can assume the role without too much trouble.

In addition, some organizations don't factor in the true costs of such programs. Although it may seem that there aren't any costs to training staff once you've trained your trainer, you need to consider the cost in terms of staff time. Generally, in-house staff who are suitable train the trainer candidates can only deal with one or two people at a time; the ability to teach a large class is rare. Thus, you need to factor in the cost of your trainer's (and trainees') time as he or she trains in small groups.

When deciding whether this option is appropriate, here are some questions to ask:

• Is your organization tired of losing staff members who hold critical knowledge?
• Does your neighborhood or city lack a free or low-cost training center that has a nonprofit focus?

If you answered yes to either of these questions, you should consider a train the trainers program. This doesn't mean that you forsake other training options. By adding this model you simply enhance the resources available to your organization and your staff.

Finding Your Trainer

Once the decision is made, the next step is identifying the person who will train your staff.

Teaching, like other skills, is learned more easily by some than by others. While in principle anyone can learn to become a trainer, you probably don't want to trust just anyone with making sure that your staff members become experts with your precious resources.

So first make sure your trainer is a teacher, since it is true that while almost any one can learn technology, it is not true that everyone can teach technology.

There are a number of skills that a good trainer must possess:

Patience -- Patience is the most critical skill for teaching in general, and technology training in particular. Most techies are notoriously impatient people. They will often resolve your problems without teaching you how to resolve them yourself. This is fine for the immediate situation, but does not support the long-term empowerment of individuals or the organization.

Facilitation skills -- A trainer, in addition to being a teacher, is also a group facilitator. Given the diversity of skill levels and ability in a training class (this can be minimized by doing a good assessment at the onset of starting any training course and grouping like-skilled students together), the ability to work with a group of trainees is an important skill for the trainer to possess.

Ability to teach people at different skill levels -- Remember that technology can be intimidating, especially to novices. If you move too fast or do not explain the information in a language that is familiar to the students, you will lose them. Using analogies that are relevant to student's everyday life and inserting generous doses of humor are invaluable ways to make students feel comfortable.

In general, you want to find a teacher who has a knack for explaining technology rather than someone who is simply a "techie".

Once you have a trainer, the next step is training him or her to become a trainer of others. This is not as big a leap as finding a trainer, but remember that training a trainer is less about teaching technology and more about teaching someone to teach.

One important point to remember is that training is an ongoing learning experience. That is the beauty of teaching - you are always in a position to learn. If you find that person, then you have found a gold mine.