Tips and hints for facilitating training sessions.
When planning your sessions, you may find the following list of questions helpful:
- How many people are you expected to teach?
- Who are they? (clinical/ non-clinical, band etc)
- How many sessions will you teach? How many hours do you have to teach?
- Will your lesson be based in a classroom/conference/e-learning/seminar/one to one session/cascade training?
- What resources are available to you for this? (Not just financial, think laptop, projectors, pens, paper etc)
- What is the main human factors message your organisation wishes to teach?
- How will you know you have been successful?
Identifying your faculty
The Bring-Build-Buy map can help you identify your faculty of facilitators. We recommend that facilitators meet the following specification: [Put in box?]
Facilitator specification
Experience
- Previous experience in delivering training.
- Previous experience of running groups/ workshops or seminars.
- Background in health / social care.
- Background in the training of communication skills.
Skills
- Confident in front of a group and able to deliver training to group of 30 people.
- Ability to deal with a diverse group of learners.
- Ability to manage group dynamics.
- Able to create a safe learning environment where participants feel included and challenged to learn.
- Excellent communication skills, able to model these to the group at all times.
Attributes
- Motivated to deliver safer patient care.
- Open to new ideas.
- Time available to deliver training sessions.
- Role model and advocate use of SBAR in own practice.
Set up your training sessions
- Agree when you will hold the training sessions.
- Book venues and refreshments for training sessions.
- Create list of training sessions and who will facilitate each session.
- Send out dates for booking. Continue to publicise through project.
- Complete course front sheet for each training session.
- Upload course materials onto intranet so they can be sent to participants after training session.
- Update training database after each session.
Some resources and tools to support you:
- Lesson plan template.
- Recommended resource is the NHS Education for Scotland Train the Trainer Toolkit: a practical guide to help others facilitate learning in the workplace.
- Method Kit cards for workshop planning. Free download here.
- NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement have published a Handy Guide to Facilitation.
- Human Factors for Healthcare Trainer’s manual and Course Handbook is available if you need more training on Human Factors content.
- Skills for Care Care Certificate Resources have list of competencies and workbook for learners for Standard 6 (Communication).
- List of activities to use when teaching large groups.
Accessibility
It is best practice to ensure training is fully accessible by:
- Asking attendees beforehand if they have any dietary or access requirements;
- Ensuring that venues are fully accessible and where possible have a hearing loop;
- Making information available in a range of formats including electronic and large print;
- Consider the provision of interpreters or translated material for particular groups where English is not their first language;
- Consideration of equalities issues should enable all participants to access the training. Good practice guidance here and here.
Some specific considerations:
- Consideration should be given when training staff how staff on maternity leave will receive training on their return.
- Case studies should be representative of the patient and staff populations and include BME examples. The example case studies provided include a range of examples across each protected group.
- Consideration should be given to a range of training dates/ times to avoid excluding part-time staff or staff who work evening and weekend shifts.
- Refreshments for training events should cater to any dietary requirements notified in advance.
Video resources
Some videos you may find helpful in delivering training sessions:
- The trouble with handovers
- Situational awareness and escalation (lighthouse and American navy ship).
- Leadership at all levels.
Evaluating training sessions
The Kirkpatrick evaluation model is covered in the Train the Trainer session. Some tools for you to adapt for evaluating your training sessions:
- Course front sheet (to keep your own records)
- Pre-training self-assessment
- Post-training evaluation sheet
- Post-training reflection log
- Multiple choice assessments of learner knowledge with facilitator answer sheet
- Assessment form for supervisors to assess learners on their return to the workplace
- Certificate of competency
Slides and handouts will be shared online on the Life system, but some example slides and handouts for you to adapt:
- Example slides (based on Sirona Care and Health slides)
- Example handouts (based on Sirona Care and Health scenarios)
If you attended our Train the Trainer sessions and would like a copy of presentations from the training to be resent to you, please email nathalie.delaney@weahsn.net.
