What is the problem you are experiencing?

Very often you'll get a request from a business unit for a specific type of training, for instance "My sales team needs team-building training."

Do not accept the requester's interpretation of the skills that are needed because they usually:

1 - have a myopic view of the situation (a sales manager will only see problems related to sales), and

2 - they usually do not have an understanding of how poor-performance can be manifested in different ways and that an entirely different approach might solve the presenting problem

For instance, we worked with a financial firm with salespeople throughout the United States and a sales-support staff that was centrally located. One of the problems the salesforce was experiencing, according to a regional vice president, was a lack of teamwork. His interpretation was that the support staff was not sufficiently invested in the success of their assigned salesperson(s).After a brief period of investigation, two factors came to light: 1 - the salespeople and their support person had never met, and 2 - the support staff didn't have a clear picture of the sales cycle and when they could expect requests for support (at the proposal stage, during negotiation, making presentations, etc.).

The salespeople had attended numerous training programs and the support people had attended none. So only one-half of the team had an idea of the process and expectations. The reason team training was requested was because the regional vice president of sales believed the two groups were at odds based on numerous complaints from the sales staff lamenting a lack of timely support.

So while training was indeed one of the solutions, what was delivered to this group was not what was originally requested. Why? Team building would have addressed the first problem (the "teams" didn't know one another) but would not have addressed the second (the support staff didn't understand the sales cycle and their role in it).

Always ask questions before agreeing to design, deliver or procure training. It will save time, money and your reputation!

Next month we'll look at a different question to ask.