Episode Overview
This episode features Dr. Carrie Graham, owner of Carrie Graham Learning and Solutions, discussing how to create exceptional adult learning experiences. Dr. Graham shares her expertise in adult learning best practices, instructional design, and leadership development, drawing from over 25 years of experience across healthcare, higher education, and management.
Listen Here > https://www.melittacampbell.com/post/dr-carrie-graham
10 Key Points
- Adult Learning is High Stakes: Unlike children's education, adult learning directly impacts workplace performance and can affect people's livelihoods, making effective training and development crucial for organizational success.
- Adults Learn Differently Than Children: Adult learners bring extensive life experiences to every learning situation, requiring trainers to acknowledge and leverage these experiences rather than treating them as blank slates.
- The "Why" is Essential: Adults need to understand the reasoning behind what they're learning. Explaining the "why" helps them connect new information to their existing knowledge and apply it effectively in their professional development.
- Know Your Learners First: Before creating any training content, understand who your clients are as learners - their background, experience level, time constraints, and learning context. This forms the foundation for effective leadership development programs.
- Strategic Content Building: Information should be presented in a scaffolded approach, starting with foundational concepts and gradually building complexity. This prevents overwhelm and ensures mastery before advancing to higher-level skills.
- Facilitate from Your Comfort Zone: Even introverts can excel at training delivery by leveraging their natural strengths, such as asking thoughtful questions rather than traditional presentation methods.
- Less is More: The primary reason people don't complete courses isn't lack of content - it's information overload. Effective training focuses on essential elements that empower employees to take action.
- Don't Choose Platforms First: Select learning management systems and tools after understanding your learners' needs and designing the experience, not before. The platform should support your vision, not constrain it.
- Perfection Isn't Required: Start with clear outcomes and iterate based on feedback. Even experienced educators refine their training programs through multiple iterations to develop stronger leadership skills in their participants.
- Learning Extends Beyond Courses: Effective professional development can happen through various formats - workshops, masterminds, coaching sessions, and other structured experiences that build leadership qualities.
10 Takeaways/Action Items
- Assess Your Learners: Before developing any training program, conduct a thorough analysis of your audience as learners. Consider their professional background, experience level, time constraints, and learning preferences to create targeted professional development plans.
- Start with Foundational Content: Structure your training and development programs to begin with basic concepts before advancing to complex topics. Include checkpoints to ensure understanding before progression.
- Explain the "Why": Always provide context and reasoning for what you're teaching. Help participants understand how new concepts connect to their existing knowledge and professional experience.
- Leverage Your Natural Style: Identify your strengths as a facilitator and build your training delivery around them. If you're introverted, focus on facilitating through questions rather than traditional presentations.
- Keep Initial Programs Simple: For your first training iteration, focus on core outcomes with minimal content. Take detailed notes during delivery to identify what needs to be added or removed for future sessions.
- Design Before Technology: Create your learning experience and understand your audience needs before selecting platforms or tools. Choose technology that supports your vision for empowering employees.
- Build in Regular Feedback Loops: Create mechanisms to gather participant feedback throughout the training process, not just at the end. Use this input to continuously improve your leadership development offerings.
- Separate Business Identity from Personal Worth: Maintain healthy boundaries between your professional training business and personal identity. This separation allows for objective improvement without personal criticism affecting your confidence.
- Focus on Application: Ensure your training programs emphasize practical application of concepts rather than just information transfer. Help participants develop actionable leadership skills they can implement immediately.
- Explore Multiple Delivery Formats: Consider various ways to share your expertise beyond traditional courses - workshops, group coaching, masterminds, or mentoring programs that develop leadership qualities and support ongoing professional development.
Resources
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