Training your team is an essential part of running a successful business. An effective training agenda template improves employee retention and engagement, and helps increase your company’s bottom line, as noted by Training Magazine. Ineffective training, as Forbes reports, can cost organizations millions of dollars.
As a trainer, you want your sessions to be efficient, effective, and worthwhile. Who wouldn’t? To reach this goal, your training agenda should include the aim of the training. This should be followed by the resources, activities, and lessons you’ll need to guide your trainees toward the specific learning objective. It should also show how you’ll measure the success of that particular training. One way to streamline this process is to create a training agenda template to use each time. A good template is easily customizable for a range of training programs and can be used by anyone on your training team. Most of all though, it’s a time saver.
How to Develop Your Training Agenda Template
To start, you will need to develop headings that outline every step of the process. Once it’s time to conduct the training, you will fill in each section to customize your different training scenarios. Every training is different, of course. So while your template provides a framework, remember to be flexible when you need to be. That being said, here are the six main sections to include in any solid training agenda template:
1. Introduction and Scope
Your introduction and scope is the background to your training plan. It will help orient your thinking and cover some of the logistics. Include a brief overview of what the training will cover and ask yourself some questions to make sure you have all the details:
- What is the purpose of the training?
- What kind of training is it?
- Who is the audience, and who do you expect to attend?
- When will the training be?
2. Learning Objectives
Think about your end goals, and exactly what you want your trainees to learn. Specifically, what are the skills and competencies you want them to take away from your training? Be sure to identify why the training is important and the end result that you expect. Different trainings could have different types of learning objectives, so make sure your training agenda template leaves room for that.
3. Training Strategy
Your training strategy should include a list of the roles and responsibilities associated with the training. Who’s delivering it? Who’s assisting? And, who’s providing the resources? You also need to indicate where the training will take place and any equipment you may need. You may want to book a particular conference room, or to provide breakfast for your team. If there is a presentation involved, do you need certain technology like a projector or a screen?
4. Training Materials
Think about what materials you are going to use for the training, and provide a checklist of common items. Be sure to leave extra space in your training agenda template to write in, since you may need to go beyond physical copies of training materials, a printed version of your slideshow, scratch paper, or pencils. The materials you use will have a huge impact on the way the training session runs, so you need a clear idea of what they are, why you are using them, and who is supplying them. In the template, also provide a space to fill in how you will source the materials so that everything is prepared on time.
5. Presentation Plan
List your specific agenda and techniques in your presentation plan. It should include a list all of the points you need to cover, the order you’ll present them, and how you’re going to teach them. Using different presentation techniques is a good way to keep trainees engaged and also takes different learning styles into account. For example, there may be situations where it’s appropriate to start with an ice breaker, or there may be others where you want to dive right in. Is the presentation more interactive, or do you have to do most of the talking? Make sure there is enough room in your training agenda template to spell these things out.
6. Evaluation
Lastly, you will need a way to measure student performance and the success of the training, as well as the overall results for different training sessions. There are different options for evaluation, and a checklist might be appropriate here in your training agenda template. Options could include a multiple-choice quiz at the end of the day, a Q&A session, comment cards, or a variety of other options. But use this part of the template to indicate what makes the most sense for your training.
Getting It Right Every Time
By starting with a customizable training agenda template, you will save time and resources when planning for training across your business. Using a template will also ensure there’s consistency in how training is planned and executed since different trainers can follow the same guidelines. And, in the long run, your trainings will produce better results, which is the ultimate goal.