Training Techniques to turn Large Teams into Decision-makers

We’ve all been part of a group training session where you walk away feeling like your time was wasted. More often than not, you may have found yourself in a room with a lot of people who felt the same way.

It’s close to impossible to have a productive group discussion when there are 100 people in the room. When a training group is too big, employees don’t have a chance to participate, and few are able to have their questions raised or concerns voiced. That leads to a work culture where people don’t feel empowered to make decisions, a crucial skill that defines good teamwork.

If your company has a large number of employees, it’s imperative you learn to adopt specialized training techniques that allow everyone the opportunity to contribute.

The end result is employees that become valued, confident decision-makers.

Over the years, studies have found large training groups equals more distraction and dissatisfaction. When employees aren’t engaged in meaningful activities, it often means less productivity, reduced motivation, and individuals that don’t feel like they’re part of the bigger, decision-making body.

As a result, companies end up wasting time and money—especially when they use outdated, boring teaching methods.

The next time you have a group training, ditch the traditional lecture or PowerPoint pitfall. Instead, find a teaching method that focuses on the participants by allowing employees to learn together.

Have training techniques with large groups that are fun, interactive with unique ways to teach your team new skills while empowering them to be more efficient policymakers.

Rather than have everyone discussing openly, a different technique could be a kind of team-building exercise. You can start by asking your group, “What is our biggest issue?”

Next, give everyone a few minutes to think about a problem. Ask them to write down their thoughts on sticky notes, keeping the specific task in mind. For example, ask them to write down why that issue is important.

Next, have each employee place the sticky notes on the wall. From there, everyone works together to sort the notes according to what they feel is most relevant, important, or useful.

During the exercise, there’s no discussion. This lets team members see where they agree or disagree with others. In addition, the “problem” isn’t just one person’s idea—everyone actively participates.

This is a fast and effective way to get employees working together to identify challenges while making decisions as a group.

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Every large group training session can benefit from facilitators—people that guide or direct individual teams during discussions or exercises.

These are the people who prompt participants with questions or conversation starters. They also monitor the group activity to ensure everyone has a chance to talk or share their ideas. Of course, having more facilitators also allows for more groups with fewer people, which gives each attendee more individualized attention and time to participate. Co-facilitators work extremely well when there’s specific domain knowledge being discussed.

In my experience, employees don’t dislike team exercises. What they don’t enjoy is not being able to make the decisions that allow for positive change and growth.