The Training Program (Fabrics, Inc.)

The Training Program (Fabrics, Inc.)*** Please read in full before bidding*****Label and answer each part** Plagiarism report MUST be attached*** Introduction and conclusion paragraph required**** Paragraphs must consist of at least 5 complete sentences***6 scholarly sources is REQUIRED**** I have numbered each chapter to make easy reading, if you have any questions feel free to ask!! Graduate level work is expected!!!! Follow all instructions,,,,,…..

Presented at the end of chapters 4, 5, 8 and 9 of the Blanchard and Thacker (2013) text, are examples of what would be done in a real situation regarding a small business that requested training (these sections can be found in the electronic text by going to the “Summary” section for each chapter and scrolling down). Review the Fabrics Inc. examples at the end of these chapters. These sections are labeled, “The Training Program (Fabrics, Inc.)”. Blanchard and Thacker (2013) have demonstrated the phases of the Training Process Model, from the needs analysis to evaluation. Notice how the phases build on one another.

Chapter 4 presents the needs analysis, the beginning of a step-by-step process for developing a training program, for this small fabrications company. Chapter 5 continues with a description of the Fabrics, Inc., training program identifying the training design. Chapter 8 provides examples of some of the training outputs, starting with the instructor’s manual and elaborates on the development and implementation steps. Finally, Chapter 9 examines the evaluation phase of the Fabrics, Inc. training.

The paper should use APA formatted headings to identify each of the following required sections:

Abstract

Background of Fabrics, Inc.

Needs Analysis

Training Design

Development and Implementation

Evaluation of Training

Conclusion

References

The paper should be 2,000 to 2,500 words in length (excluding the title, abstract, and reference page) and respond to the following prompts for each phase of the training process model:

Needs Analysis (Chapter 4)
Critique the organizational analysis conducted for Fabrics, Inc. and determine if there are other questions that should have been asked. Review the operational analysis done through the interview. Note that it was not completed. Generate some of the other questions that should be asked.

Training Design (Chapter 5)
In the design phase of Fabrics, Inc. Blanchard and Thacker (2013) only developed objectives for conflict resolution. Choose one of the other training requirements and develop three to four learning objectives. Critique the design component and identify areas that were not addressed satisfactorily.

Development and Implementation (Chapter 8)
Note that there is no discussion of Fabrics, Inc. in the development or implementation aspects of the training. List and describe additional training modules that could be developed based on the training objectives that were developed in the design phase of Fabrics, Inc.

Evaluation of Training (Chapter 9)
Evaluate the two evaluation instruments used in the Fabrics, Inc. case. Discuss how the evaluation results should be used. Be sure to address internal and external validity of the measurements.

The paper

Must be 2,000 to 2,500 words in length (excluding title and references pages).

Must be double spaced and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.

Must include a separate title page with the following:

Title of The Training Program

Student’s name

Course name and number

Instructor’s name

Date submitted

Must include an abstract and the required headings as noted in the prompt above.

Must use at least six scholarly sources in addition to the course text.

Must document all sources in APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.

Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center

The Training Program (Fabrics, Inc.) chapter 4

This section is the beginning of a step-by-step process for developing a training program for a small fabrications company. Here, we examine the TNA for the program, and in subsequent chapters, we will continue the process through to the evaluation.

Fabrics, Inc., once a small organization, recently experienced an incredible growth. Only two years ago, the owner was also the supervisor of 40 employees. Now it is a firm that employs more than 200. The fast growth proved good for some, with the opportunity for advancement. The owner called a consultant to help him with a few problems that emerged with the fast growth. “I seem to have trouble keeping my mold-makers and some other key employees,” he said. “They are in demand, and although I am competitive regarding money, I think the new supervisors are not treating them well. Also, I received some complaints from customers about the way supervisors talk to them. The supervisors were all promoted from within, without any formal training in supervising employees. They know their stuff regarding the work the employees are doing, so they are able to help employees who are having problems. However, they seem to get into arguments easily, and I hear a lot of yelling going on in the plant. When we were smaller, I looked after the supervisory responsibilities myself and never found a reason to yell at the employees, so I think the supervisors need some training in effective ways to deal with employees. I only have nine supervisors—could you give them some sort of training to be better?”

The consultant responded, “If you want to be sure that we deal with the problem, it would be useful to determine what issues are creating the problems and, from that, recommend a course of action.”

“Actually, I talked to a few other vendors and they indicate they have some traditional basic supervisor training packages that would fit our needs and, therefore, they could start right away. I really want this fixed fast,” the owner said.

“Well, I can understand that, but you do want to be sure that the training you get is relevant to the problems you experienced; otherwise, it is a waste of money. How about I simply contract to do a training needs analysis and give you a report of the findings? Then, based on this information, you can decide whether any of the other vendors or the training I can provide best fits your needs in terms of relevancy and cost. That way, you are assured that any training you purchase will be relevant,” said the consultant.

“How long would that take?” the owner asked.

“It requires that I talk to you in a bit more detail, as well as to those involved; some of the supervisors and subordinates. If they are readily available I would be done this week, with a report going to you early next week,” the consultant replied. The owner asked how much it would cost, and after negotiating for 15 minutes, agreed to the project. They returned to the office to write up the contract for a needs analysis.

The interview with the owner (who was also the manager of all the first-line supervisors) was scheduled first and included an organizational and operational analysis. What follows is an edited version of the questions related to the organizational analysis.

The Interview

Direction of the Organization

Q: What is the mission of the company? What are the goals employees should be working for?

A: I do not really have time for that kind of stuff. I have to keep the organization running.

Q: If there is no mission, how do employees understand what the focus of their job should be?

A: They understand that they need to do their jobs.

Q: What about goals or objectives?

A: Again, I do not have the time for that, and I have never needed such stuff in the past.

Q: That may be true, but you are much larger now and do need to communicate these things in some fashion. How do employees know what to focus on: quality, quantity, customer service, keeping costs down?

A: All of those things are important, but I get your point. I never actually indicated anything about this to them. I simply took it for granted that they understood it.

Q: What type of management style do you want supervisors to have, and how do you promote that?

A: I assumed that they would supervise like me. I always listened to them when they were workers. I believe in treating everyone with dignity and respect and expect others to do the same. I do not have any method to transmit that except to follow my style.

HR Systems

Q: What criteria are used to select, transfer, and promote individuals?

A: I hired a firm to do all the hiring for me when I was expanding. I told them I wanted qualified workers. As for the promotion to supervisor, I picked the best workers.

Q: Best how? What criteria were you using?

A: Well, I picked those who were the hardest workers, the ones who always turned out the best work the fastest, and were always willing to work late to get the job done.

Q: Are there formal appraisal systems? If yes, what is the information used for promotion, bonuses, and so forth?

A: I do not have time for that. I believe that people generally know when they are doing a good job. If they are not, I will not keep them.

Job Design

Q: How are supervisors’ jobs organized? Where do they get their information and where does it go?

A: Supervisors receive the orders for each day at the beginning of the day and then give it out to the relevant workers. They then keep track of it to see that it is done on time and out to the customer.

Reward Systems

Q: What incentives are in place to encourage employees to work toward the success of the organization?

A: Well, I think I pay them well.

Q: Does everyone receive the same amount of pay?

A: At the present time, yes, because they are all relatively new supervisors. I do plan to give them raises based on how well they are performing.

Q: But you indicated that you do not really have a method of informing them what you are measuring them on. How are they to know what is important?

A: Well, I will tell them. I guess I need to be considering that issue down the road.

Performance

Q: How do the supervisors know what their role is in the company?

A: I told them that they needed to supervise the employees and what that entailed.

Q: How do they find out how well they are doing in their job? Is there a formal feedback process?

A: I talk to them about how they are doing from time to time, but I get your point and will think about that.

Q: Are there opportunities for help if they are having problems?

A: Take this problem with the yelling and getting employees angry at them. I have talked to them about it and have offered to get them training.

Q: How do they feel about that?

A: Actually, they thought it was great. As I said, none of these supervisors have had anything in the way of supervisory training.

Methods and Practices

Q: What are the policies, procedures, and rules in the organization? In your view, how do they facilitate or inhibit performance?

A: I really do not think there is anything hindering their performance. I am always willing to help, but I also have work to do. That is why I promoted employees to supervisors, so I would not have to deal with that part of the business.After gathering information on the organization, the consultant gathered operational analysis data from the manager (owner). The consultant used the method provided in Figure 4-3. What follows is a portion of the completed form.

JOB TITLE: SUPERVISOR	SPECIFIC DUTY: BE SURE WORK IS COMPLETED AND SENT TO THE CUSTOMER ON TIME
Tasks	Subtasks	KSAs
Organize jobs in manner that ensures completion on time	Examine jobs and assess time required	Knowledge of types of jobs we get Knowledge of times required for jobs to be completed
	Sort and give jobs to appropriate employees	Organization and prioritizing skills Knowledge of employees’ capabilities
Monitor progress of work	Talk to employees about their progress on jobs	Knowledge of proper feedback Effective feedback skills Helping attitude
	Examine specific job products during production to ensure quality	Knowledge of quality standards Quality assessment skills
Listen effectively	Provide feedback to employees about performance	Knowledge of effective listening skills Knowledge of conflict styles Conflict resolution skills Knowledge of proper feedback Effective feedback skills Positive attitude for treating employees with respect
And so forth . . .

Next, the consultant met with the supervisors, first as a single group of nine to do an operational analysis and then individually to discuss individual performance. He chose to use a slightly different approach to the operational analysis because he expected that they might have some problems working from the form used with the owner. The following excerpt comes from that interview.

To begin the meeting, the consultant said:

I am here to find out just what your job as supervisor entails. This step is the first in determining what training we can provide to make you more effective in your job. First, we need to know what it is you do on the job. So I am going to let you provide me with a list of the things you do on the job—the tasks. Let me give you an example of what I mean. For the job of a salesperson, I might be told a required task was to “sell printers.” This description is too general to be useful, or you might say you must “introduce yourself to a new client,” which is too specific. What we need is somewhere in between these two extremes, such as “make oral presentation to a small group of people.” Are there any questions? OK, let’s begin.

Q: Think of a typical Monday. What’s the first thing you do when you arrive at work?

A: Check the answering machine.

Q: That is a little too specific. Why do you check the answering machine?

A: I need to return any important calls from suppliers or customers.

Q: What do these calls deal with?

A: Complaints usually, although some are checking on the status of their job.

Q: Anybody else do anything different from that?

A: No.

Q: What do you do next?

A: Examine the jobs that have come in and prioritize them based on their complexity and due date.

Q: The task, then, is organizing and prioritizing the new jobs you received. What next?

A: Meet with each subordinate, see how they are doing, and distribute the new work.

Q: Tell me what “see how they are doing” means.

A: I make sure that they are on schedule with their work. I check their progress on the jobs they are working on.

Q: OK, so check on progress of subordinates is the task. What next?

A: After all the work is distributed, I check to see what orders are due to be completed and sent out today.

Q: OK, but I guess that assumes everyone is on schedule. What do you do if someone is behind in their job?

A: Depends how far behind the job is. If it is serious, I may simply take the job away and give it to someone I think can do the job faster.

A: I do not do that. I find out what the problem is and help the person get back on track.

Q: So you spend some time training that person?

A: Well, sort of. It is not formal training, but I will see why the person is having problems and give some of my “tricks of the trade” to speed things up.

Q: Anybody deal with this issue differently?

A: I do not usually have the time to do any training. I will give it to someone who can do it, or in some cases, just do the job myself. Sometimes that is faster. After all, we have all this useless paperwork that we have to do.

Q: I want to come back to the paperwork, but first, are you saying that no standard exists for dealing with employees who are having problems with particular jobs?

A: Sure there is. The boss expects us to train them, but with the pressure for production, we often do not have time to do that.

A: Well, I agree with that. Even though I do stop and spend time helping, I often feel the pressure to rush and probably do not do a good job of it. I do try and tell them what they need to do to improve in the particular area.

Although the format used in the session starts first thing in the morning and continues through a typical day, clues often emerge as to other tasks that are done. The mentioning of “tell them what they need to do to improve” causes the consultant to focus on that task and what other tasks are related to it, because the owner did indicate that providing feedback was an important task.

Q: OK, let’s look at the issue of telling them how to improve. We could think of that as giving feedback to employees. What other tasks require you to discuss things with subordinates?

A: We are supposed to deal with their concerns.

A: Yeah, that’s right, and also we are supposed to meet one-on-one with them and discuss their performance. Trouble is, these new employees are know-it-alls and not willing to listen.

A: You’re right about that. On more than one occasion, many of us resort to yelling at these guys to get them to respond.

A: Boy, is that ever true.

Q: What about the paperwork?

A: Well, it is stupid. A clerk could do it, but we are expected to do it. If we do not, then billing and other problems come up, so we have to do it or else. …A: Yeah, it takes away from us being out here where we are needed.And so forth. …
Other questions that might be asked:

What is the next thing you would do in the afternoon?

The next?

What is the last thing you do in the day?
That pretty much describes a typical day (Monday in this case). Is there anything you would do at the beginning of the week (Monday) that is not done at other times?

How about at the end of the week? Is there anything you do then that is not done during the rest of the week?

Is there anything that you do only once or twice a week that we missed?

Now think about the beginning of the month. What do you do at the beginning of the month that is not done at other times?

How about the end of the month?

Is there anything that is done only a few times a month that we might have missed?

The beginning of the year?

The end of the year?

Are there any tasks that we may have missed because they occur only once in a while?

You will note that often it is necessary to redefine the task statements for the incumbent. This art comes with practice. The following list contains some of the tasks and relevant KSAs obtained from the TNA.

Tasks	KSAs
Deal with customer complaints	Knowledge of effective listening processes Knowledge of conflict resolution strategies Listening skills Conflict resolution skills
Organize and prioritize jobs	Knowledge of types of jobs received Knowledge of time required for various jobs Organization and planning skills
Check on progress of subordinates’ work and provide feedback on performance	Knowledge of proper feedback processes Communication skills
Deal with concerns of employees	Positive attitude toward treating employees with respect Knowledge of effective listening processes Knowledge of communication strategies Positive attitude toward helping employees

Next, for the person analysis, individual meetings with supervisors and one with the owner (supervisor of the supervisors) were conducted. The questions came right from the job analysis and asked about the supervisors’ knowledge of the areas identified, the skills needed, and their attitudes toward issues identified as important in their job. The introduction to the interview was as follows:

From the interviews, I have listed a number of knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are necessary to be an effective supervisor here at Fabrics, Inc. I would like to ask you how proficient you believe you are in each of them. By the way, do not feel bad if you have no understanding of many of these concepts; many do not. Remember, the information gathered will be used to determine how to help you be a better supervisor, so candid responses are encouraged. In terms of having knowledge of the following, indicate to me if you have no understanding, a very low level of understanding, some understanding, a fair amount of understanding, or complete understanding.

The results of the TNA identified a number of KSAs (training needs) that were deficient, as well as some nontraining needs.

Addressing Nontraining Needs

The following nontraining issues need to be addressed to help ensure that supervisory training will be transferred to the job:

Have owner (either with others or on his own) determine the goals and objectives of the company and which aspects of performance should be focused on.

Set up a formal appraisal system where, in one session, the owner sits down with each supervisor to discuss performance and set objectives. In another session, performance development is discussed.

Use objectives set for the year and clarify how rewards (bonus, pay raises, and so forth) will be tied to the objectives.

Set up similar sessions for supervisors and subordinates in terms of developmental performance review (at a minimum). Also, consider incentives based on performance appraisals.

Hire someone to relieve the supervisors of some of their paperwork so they can spend more time on the floor.And so forth. . . .

Training Needs

Several training needs were evident from the needs analysis beyond what was indicated by the owner. Specific to those issues, however, supervisors were particularly candid in indicating that they had never been exposed to any type of feedback or communication skills. They had no knowledge or skills in these areas. Attitudes in this area were mixed. Some believed that the best way to provide feedback is to “call it like it is.” “Some of these guys are simply not willing to listen, and you need to be tough” was a typical comment from these supervisors. Others believed that treating subordinates the way you would like to be treated goes a long way in gaining their support and willingness to listen.

A partial list of training needs includes lack of knowledge and skill in:

Effective listening

Communication

Conflict resolution

Effective feedback

Employee performance measurement

Employee motivation . . . and so forth

At this point, we will leave “the training program” with the needs identified. The next step is the design phase. We will return to Fabrics, Inc. at the end of Chapter 5.

 

The Training Program (Fabrics, Inc.) chapter 5

This continues the description of the Fabrics, Inc., training program that we began in Chapter 4. Recall that Fabrics, Inc., grew quickly and experienced problems with its supervisors. InChapter 4, we described how the consultant completed a needs analysis. From this TNA, the consultant determined a number of areas in which supervisors could use training. A partial list included a lack of KSAs in the following areas:

Effective listening

Communication

Conflict resolution

Effective feedback

Measuring employee performance

Motivating employees

For the purpose of this exercise, we deal with only one, conflict resolution. The first step will be to develop the learning objectives.

The Learning Objectives

Some of the learning objectives are as follows:

The trainee will, with no errors, present in writing the four types of active listening, along with examples of each of the types,with no help from reference material.

When, in a role-play, the trainee is presented with an angry comment,the trainee will respondimmediatelyusing one of the active listening types. The trainee will then explain orally the technique used and why,with no help from reference material.The trainee will be presented with five of these comments and be expected to correctly respond and explain a minimum of four.

The trainee will, with 100 percent accuracy,provide in writing each step of the conflict resolution model, along with a relevant example,with no help from any reference material.

In a role-play of an angry customer, the trainee/employee will show concern for the customer by listening and providing alternative solutions, using the steps in the conflict resolution model,with help from an easel sheet that has the steps listed on it.The trainee must use all the steps and two types of active listening in the role-play.

After watching a role-play of an angry person and an employee using the conflict resolution model,the trainee will,without reference to material, immediatelyprovide feedback as to the effectiveness of the person using the conflict resolution model.The trainee must identify four of the six errors.

Reaction Objective

The trainee will, upon completion of training,respond to a 15-item reaction questionnaire withminimum scores of 4 on a 5-point scale.

Transfer of Training Objective

When an angry customer approaches the employee and begins speaking in an angry tone of voice,the employee will,immediately,use the conflict resolution model tocalm the customer down.

Organizational Objective

Three months after training,there will be a 75 percent dropin letters of complaint from customers.

Design Issues

We turn now to design issues. The conflict resolution model has four steps and requires attending to cues at verbal, vocal, and visual levels. From an ET perspective then, it is a complex task. The four steps in the model are as follows:

Use active listening.

Indicate respect.

Be assertive.

Provide information.

Further examination of the model reveals that the first part, active listening is a complex task by itself,¹⁰⁰ as is the total model. So the first decision is what mix of spiral/topical sequencing to use in the training of this model. Active listening, being a skill that can also be used on its own, suggests the use of topical sequencing to train employees in active listening first. Then we will use spiral sequencing to train the total conflict resolution model.

Teaching of the cognitive component of each of these skills will be completed before the skills training, but for brevity we will discuss only the behavioral component. Using SCM, as proposed by ET, we first determine the epitome (simplest version of the task that still embodies the whole task). For active listening, it will be to use the skill in an everyday situation, such as discussing which movie to see. In this situation, the initiator (person in the role of disagreeing with the trainee) will simply disagree regarding a movie the trainee wants to see. This situation has minimal emotional content and should require minimal monitoring of the initiator by the trainee, as it will not result in an argument. The same epitome used for active listening can also be used for the conflict resolution model because the latter simply takes the discussion to a different level.

The most complex task will require dealing with a great deal of anger on the part of the initiator of the discussion. Once these two extremes are conceptualized, those in between can be determined.

Let’s now examine this training at a micro level using Gagné–Briggs theory. For the module related to teaching active listening, we want to begin by getting trainees’ attention, as suggested by Gagné–Briggs design theory. This can be accomplished by showing a video of two people in a heated argument and then asking, “Has that situation ever happened to you? Would you like to have a better way of responding in such a situation so tempers do not flare?” This would allow you to introduce active listening. The next step in the theory is to inform the trainees of the goal. Presenting the learning objective related to active listening accomplishes this. The training would continue to be designed paying close attention to the steps in the design theory.

Now let’s turn to the evaluation component as an output from the training design. To consider these, we turn back to the learning objectives, which are as follows:

The trainee will, with no errors, present in writing the four types of active listening, along with examples of each of the types,with no reference material.

The trainee will, with 100 percent accuracy,provide in writing each step of the conflict resolution model, along with a relevant example,with no help from any reference material.

These, along with a number of similar objectives not shown, will require a paper-and-pencil test of declarative knowledge.

Regarding the behavioral component of the evaluation, consider these objectives:

When, in a role-play, the trainee is presented with an angry comment,the trainee will respondimmediatelyusing one of the active listening types. The trainee will then explain orally the technique used and why,with no help from reference material.The trainee will be presented with five of these and be expected to correctly respond and explain a minimum of four.

In a role-play of an angry customer the trainee/employee will show concern for the customer by listening and providing alternative solutions, using the steps in the conflict resolution model,with help from an easel sheet which has the steps listed on it.The trainee must use all the steps and two types of active listening in the role-play.

After watching role-play of an angry person and an employee using the conflict resolution model,the trainee will,without reference to material, immediatelyprovide feedback as to the effectiveness of the person using the conflict resolution model.The trainee must identify a minimum of four of the six errors.

These objectives will require carefully developed standardized role-plays. The role of the initiator will be scripted and standardized to provide each trainee with similar situations to respond to. In addition, a standardized scoring key, which will guide the scoring of a trainee in the behavioral tests, will be developed. These scoring keys will provide examples of acceptable and unacceptable behavior of the trainee, and a rating scale for different responses. There will also be a scoring key provided for the explanations (oral test) that follow the behavioral part of the test.

We will return to Fabrics, Inc., in Chapter 8, to provide a look at the development process.

 

Fabrics, Inc., Development Phase chapter 8

Recall that in the design phase for Fabrics, Inc., we developed objectives. The output from the design was an examination of the various methods of instruction and factors that affect learning and transfer. These outputs are now the inputs into the development phase of training. The process is to develop an instructional strategy, which leads to a program development plan. The program development plan includes developing instructional material, obtaining needed instructional equipment and facilities, creating or obtaining trainee and trainer manuals (if applicable) and selecting a trainer. Following are partial examples of some of these outputs, starting with the instructor’s manual.

Instructor’s Manual

First we will provide a section of the instructor’s manual that will take you through the start of the active listening training. This will lead into the practice sessions for active listening followed by an example of that material.

Instructor’s Notes	Timing	Points to be Covered	Reference
The question being asked is to get the trainees’ attention and involvement in determining the need to learn how to listen.	20 min	Ask the question “Why do we need to attend a training session on how to listen? After all, listening is a natural thing, right?”
As you get trainee involvement, record their responses on an easel sheet. When ideas have been exhausted, examine the sheet, compare it to the prepared easel, and discuss any that had not been thought of by the trainees. Tape both to the wall next to each other.	Easel points tend to believe that we have the correct answer so why listen to others; they need to listen to us message overload, too much going on at once >believe that talking is more important listening is the responsibility of the listener listening is a passive activity	Easel
Now ask for a volunteer to play a peer of yours at a meeting. When you have someone, set up the scenario of you two sitting in a room waiting for others to show up for a meeting. Progress on the task has been slow but sure. Ask them to respond to what you say as they would in a real situation.	Say “OK, now it is time for practice. I am handing out instructions for the practice sessions using Person 1, 2, 3; it is titled Handout 1. Now go to Instruction Sheet 1, and read the instructions to the trainees.
The volunteer will answer as most people do in situations like this as they move directly to dealing with the issue. Responses will likely be something like the following: So what should we do about it? We have made some progress. It’s not as bad as all that	After they respond, point out to all that this is a typical response, as most people move toward trying to address the concern in some way. Point out that what you need to do is provide support through active listening first, then move to deal with the problem.
Give volunteer the statement to read, and ask to reverse the roles and say that same statement to you.	When they read the statement, respond something like “So you are saying that we are wasting our time at these meetings?”	Handout with statement on it
Now ask for volunteers. To each one say one of the following statements. Then provide feedback as to its effectiveness regarding active listening. . . .	I do not want to work with Bill on any more projects; he never does his share. You are always giving me unscheduled work. I can’t get it done. We tried that last year, and it did not work, so let’s not go there again.
Now you are going to provide the trainees with the opportunity to practice their new skill. You will need Instruction Sheet 1 to read from and Handout 1 to give to trainees while you read the instructions from Instruction Sheet 1.	Say “OK, now it is time for practice. I am handing out instructions for the practice sessions using Person 1, 2, 3; it is titled Handout 1. Now go to Instruction Sheet 1, and read the instructions to the trainees.
This is the end of the instructor’s manual example

The preceding example is a sample of what should be contained in an instructor’s manual. Now let’s turn to instructional material.

Instructional Material

Part of the training is going to involve trainees practicing active listening skills they have been taught. Following are the instructions for this (Instruction Sheet 1) and a sample of the exercise “Person 1, 2, 3,” which is an exercise designed to provide trainees with practice situations where they can use the new skill.

Instruction Sheet 1 (Instructor reads this to trainees)

“Now that you have seen how to use active listening in your response, we are going to give everyone an opportunity to practice this skill. To do this, we are going to put you into groups of three trainees. Each person in the triad will have a sheet labeled “Person 1,” “Person 2,” or “Person 3.” Now look at the Active Listening Exercise Instructions I have just handed out titled Handout 1, and follow along while I read it out loud.”

The trainer now reads the instructions from the sheet (Handout 1) going down to the third situation (Situation C) and then asks if everyone understands or has any questions. Once the trainer is satisfied that everyone understands their roles, she puts them in groups of three and hands out the Person 1, 2, 3 sheets, one to each of the three person groups, again asking “Are there any questions?”

Following are the instructions that are handed out for the exercise “Person 1, 2, 3.”

HANDOUT 1 Active Listening Exercise Instructions

Initiator: Begins the exercise with a conflict-provoking statement.

Active Listener: Receives the statement from the initiator and provides an appropriate response.

Observer: Watches the interchange between the initiator and the active listener. After completion, the observer gives feedback regarding the appropriateness of the active listener’s comment. NOTE: You have an example of an effective active listening response to that situation, so as an observer you can coach the active listener if necessary.

Each group member will be alternating among the three roles!

Situation	Person 1	Person 2	Person 3
A	Initiator	Active Listener	Observer
B	Observer	Initiator	Active Listener
C	Active Listener	Observer	Initiator
D	Initiator	Active Listener	Observer
E	Observer	Initiator	Active Listener
F	Active Listener	Observer	Initiator
And so forth

Following are the handouts for the three person groups. Each person in a group will receive Person 1, 2, or 3.