After years of exclusively building custom experiences for our clients, our company Labyrinth Training put together its first ready-to-use collection of training, The Library. The exercise forced us to focus on what the core elements were that made our work effective. I explored those here, talking through five things that matter - the ‘what’. Now I’d like to talk a little bit about the ‘how’ for each of those ‘whats’. You can find…

By Peter Grossman

*Above: A conceptual illustration Showing two sides of compliance training tone*

“What does success look like?” is an important question to ask at the outset of any project. Clearly defined goals help focus people to work toward something rather than just…work. While everyone wants their learners to know the rules and behave accordingly, one common definition of success goes something like, ‘And if they have a question or see something that doesn’t seem right, I want them to call me!’ In order to accomplish that goal, learners need to feel comfortable reaching out. It is essential to realize that they aren’t responsible for their level of comfort – you are!

How you communicate during your training exercises is as, and perhaps more, important than what you communicate. If your tone is unapproachable, judgmental, or condescending – even if you ‘didn’t mean it that way’ – your audience will be less likely to reach out when they need help. Here are three ways to help foster communication between your learners and you/your team:

Tone Means Using Clear Language

First of all, drop the legalese. Speaking in plain language isn’t ‘dumbing things down,’ it’s speaking to your adult audience the way they speak in their day to day lives. Remember, you’re not trying to train experts – that’s you! You’re trying to train issue spotters (every training is a ‘bystander’ training in some capacity.) Less ‘The FCPA says…’ and more ‘Here’s what a bribe looks like in real life.’ Part of being a skilled educator is being able to explain complex concepts in simple language so you can educate your entire audience. Trust that they’ll ‘get it’ even without the technical terms and legal jargon.

Tone Means Respecting Your Audience

Next, move from critical to empathetic. By reframing ‘here’s what will happen to you if you mess up,’ to ‘we know you want to do the right thing, here’s how!’ you send the message that you think of your audience as made up of well-intended folks, as opposed to a bunch of people trying to get away with something. Learners in this setting are looking for a partner, not an enforcer. I often refer to this as the ‘strict parent’ vs the ‘cool aunt’. Who are you more likely to call when that thing that wasn’t supposed to happen…happened? Both are figures of authority, but one is much more likely to make you feel comfortable through the process without judgment while still getting things resolved. You want your learners to reach out if there’s ever a problem and they’re much more likely to if you create an environment that is conducive to communication.

Tone Means Having Fun

Finally, have fun! ‘But what’s fun about training,’ you ask? Well, historically, not a lot. But just because that’s been the typical experience doesn’t mean you have to follow in those unhelpful footsteps. This isn’t to say that things like money laundering are funny. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have a little fun when you’re talking about them. So much of this is about storytelling. It is infinitely more engaging – and fun – for a learner to be immersed in a tale of how something happened than it is to simply be told what the rules are. You don’t need to be a stand-up comedian. Anything you can do to make your stories relatable will be fun for our audience. It could be setting a hypothetical somewhere familiar like your office or including an inside joke that only folks who work at your company would understand. Fun isn’t just laughter, it’s also the feeling of belonging.

The same rules apply to making the training, too! If you communicate clearly and directly with your audience, the trust that accrues over time will facilitate better learning. If you approach your learners with empathy and curiosity, you build a bridge for communication. If you have fun making it, they’ll have fun taking it.