Page 384 - The Creative Training Idea Book Inspired Tips and Techniques for Engaging and Effective Learning

lucas chap 10 11/20/02 1:11 PM Page 373
Have Participants Co-Facilitate Celebrating Successes 373
If you have someone with a special talent or knowledge related to your session topic,
ask them to share what they know with others. You might learn some new things also.
They can share a best practice, explain a process they use, or otherwise share expertise.
Recognize their efforts with group applause or a ceremony and/or a reward.

Use a Traveling Trophy or Award

Create an award or buy a plastic trophy that you can use in class. Present it to the first
person who comes up with a solution, volunteers to assist, or whatever else you decide.
Tell learners that the recipient gets to hold the award until someone else offers a cre-
ative solution or takes some other designated action. If you use these to designate group
leaders, you may want to have a trophy for each group. The award provides visual con-
firmation of positive performance.

Arrange for Peers to Say “Thank You”

Build in activities during and at the end of your session in which learners can give one
another thanks or positive feedback. For example, you can have participants turn to
one another to say “thank you” for offering information or helping make the learning
experience better. You can also have everyone form groups at the end of a session, then
pass out small strips of paper so that each person has one strip for every member of his
or her group. Have all learners write the names of peers on the strips of paper so that
they have one for each teammate. Finally, have members of each team write one posi-
tive thing on the strips that they liked about their teammates. Encourage them to sign
the strips so that people know who the comments were from. Collect all the strips and
separately group the comments for each participant. You may want to do this as partic-
ipants fill out their session evaluations. Without reading the strips yourself, distribute
them to the appropriate learners. Each learner now has nice comments from his or her
peers with which they can end their day.

Give “Thank You” Letters
If you cannot get a member of senior management to attend your session closing, ask
that one of them (ideally the president or CEO) at least provide a letter addressed per-
sonally to each learner. Ask him or her to stress the importance of using what was
learned to improve themselves and the organization and thank them for their partici-
pation. You can draft this letter for signature, thus increasing the likelihood of getting
one done and that it will say what you need. At the end of the session, present the letter
in an official organizational envelope, possibly along with a Certificate of Achievement,
diploma, and/or a small present.