Leading Professional Development

…Or how to survive a day of training adults.

Come to grips with the reality that a pile of candy in the middle of the table is only going to garner you a certain amount esteem from participants.

Accept that in the history of professional development, there has never been a break that has lasted the pre-determined amount of time, and there never will be.

There will be someone at lunch that will unpack a tiny container of some organic healthy substance that makes everyone feel bad for the Big Mac and super size fry they are about to go order.

There could be an hour and a half allotted for lunch and some participants would still bring back fast food to-go bags and gallon soda cups to begin eating as the session starts back.

Don’t give one table all the dried out markers or bad colors (aqua, puke green, or a yet to be identified pastel).

Carouselling isn’t what you think it is.

Jigsaw activities usually serve just to identify the “alpha leaders” at the tables…much like a pack of wolves.

Assume that 99.89% of the people on an electronic device are not using it to engage in your topic. They are on Twitter, ESPN, Facebook, or messaging someone else in the room making fun of you.

Train the Trainer

Think real hard about pulling off the pedagogical feat of imparting, in only 2 hours, all the information the group needs to know from the 3 day training you received on the same topic.

The longest 3 minutes of the day will be the feedback surveys everyone is required to fill out at the end of the training.

If this training involves an additional duty, additional time, or additional paperwork added to the plate of the participants afterward, then I advise taking two things off their plate beforehand unless you want to be burned in effigy on the football field.

…and the most sure-fire way to survive a day of training adults…

…SHOTS.

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