Similarities – and Differences – Between Training and Communication

“I need training.”

Don’t get me wrong, I dearly love to hear those words when I pick up the phone, because it means that I might get the chance to help someone and work on a new exciting project.  The problem, of course, is that a pretty significant percentage of the time that declaration is just not quite…true.

Training, as far as I’m concerned, means that the person going through it can do something at the end that they couldn’t do at the start. Most of what businesses call training actually isn’t training by that definition. It’s communication.

Training and communication share a lot of elements, but they have some distinct differences, as well.

Clear, concise language that gets right to the heart of the matter.Clear, concise language that gets right to the heart of the matter.Say the same thing more than once, applying the “Repeat to Remember” brain rule.Maybe say the same thing more than once, applying the “Repeat to Remember” brain rule.Use worked examples to help the audience see the principles you’re talking about in action.Maybe used worked examples to help the audience see the principles you’re talking about in action.Identify and focus on how the information will actually be put into practice on the job.No need to identify or emphasize how the information will actually be put into practice.Give the audience opportunities to practice the key skills you are trying to teach.

Communication is very effective for most business goals. Really, the biggest difference is that in a straight communication piece, you aren’t trying to help the recipient APPLY the information. That’s appropriate an a lot of situations, either because the recipients will already know how to apply the information you provide, or because it’s not really information you need them to apply. Both happen in business all the time.

That’s not to say it’s a good practice. I would submit that if you can’t identify HOW someone needs to use the information you want to provide them, perhaps you shouldn’t be providing it. At the very least, you shouldn’t be pushing it. Instead, focus on making it available to those who want it. More importantly, focus on making it valuable to those you believe need it – so they will seek it out on their own.

That’s where an instructional design focus can be helpful even for communication projects. Instructional design is all about giving people information in a way that lets them apply it to the work they do every day. Even if you aren’t going to truly train people on a topic, you still typically want the information to be constructed in a way that makes it useful.

Do you distinguish between training and communication projects? How are they different when you create them?

This entry was posted on Monday, August 23rd, 2010 at 4:57 pm and is filed under learning design, learning transfer, project management of learning solutions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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