Avoid “Death by PowerPoint”…
June 1st, 2009It is difficult to believe that some training courses are still run on the “Death by PowerPoint” premise - those courses where the presenter pulls out his laptop and projector, and proceeds to expound on his impressive slides that illustrate the most wonderful theories.
You have probably had to endure some of these, and they probably rank amongst your worst experiences.
Now I’m not suggesting that PowerPoint slides shouldn’t be used at all. In fact, I would be lost without the visual aids that can so easily be created to demonstrate what I am saying. But there is more to training than going through hundreds of images and theories.
In her book “Facilitating with Ease”, Ingrid Bens suggests that human beings simply can’t listen for longer than 20 minutes without some loss of information.
She states further that in a classroom full of adults, productive give and take is preferable to lecture and monologues. Trainees who participate learn more. This has particular relevance to Problem Solving and Root Cause Failure Analysis training.
Effect problem solving in companies is easier to achieve if people can demonstrate critical thinking, present balanced arguments and be open to alternatives.
Through the use of practical case studies and active class discussion, delegates’ thinking and problem solving skills are improved. By exposing them to conditions that caused failure in other organisations, they will be able to recognise these in their own work situations.
