logo image

ATD Blog

Don’t Lose a Training Project!

By

Thu May 30 2013

Don’t Lose a Training Project!
Loading...
Don’t Lose a Training Project!-441e6bad7ccd08273ac2f30532c5454964d7640d1d69324a24a5cce1b978e10b

That first meeting can be the big win or lose.

Initial training project meetings, where the training request is explored, may include the internal client, subject matter experts, instructional designers, production, and project managers. It can be a time for high-level analysis to determine how the request will proceed, but also a time when the client can feel overwhelmed. This initial meeting can be critical to the success or failure of a project.

Does your training fail to get off the ground, or are you adept at getting the customer to come right along with your training ideas and solutions?

If you are new to designing and producing education, project management, or performance improvement, sometimes customer service skills are overlooked in favor of the erudite knowledge and complex processes in your own field. I have seen some interesting approaches when educators meet business people: “You know, we have a process you will have to follow.” “Did you know you will have to do this, this, or this, or we can’t meet your timeline?”  “We will tell you what you will do to train your folks.”

What happened to collegiality, customer services and collaboration? Consultants seem to do this part better than peers within larger organizations. Outside vendors may practice a more apparent customer service approach than internal providers.

Let me share my experience for how to make the most of that first client meeting, whether you are an external or internal. Remember the word ADEPT to help you navigate this first encounter.

  • Acquaint and acknowledge

  • Decipher needs and outcomes

  • Educate about your role

  • Provide summary and next steps

  • Transition to the project

Acquaint and Acknowledge:  Introduce yourself, and then learn about your client, the department, the vision, and their organization. Acknowledge the expertise and goals of the group you will be working with. It is during this time that you should take notes and integrate the information you have learned in future conversations and meetings. Look around you. Are there pictures of kids, pets, events? Are there awards or diplomas that can give you conversation springboards? I have found that if I connect with my client, I will have more success getting new project ideas and solutions accepted. Also it is important to acknowledge the clients expertise, time constraints, resource issues, and training desires. This builds mutual trust and respect. Understanding where you client is at the moment— what are their desires and project expectations— will inspire or moderate your solutions.

Decipher Needs and Outcomes: Engage the client with questions that will determine how much more analysis is necessary. If they can answer who the audience is, what do you want learners to do, and at the end, describe the result you want, you will be able to continue with a sense of direction. It is your job to decipher clients’ real needs, but not make it so painful that they give up and run the other way. It is also critical to determine the person at the highest level who can sign off on content and deliverables. Do not continue unless this is clear.

Education:  This is the time to temper your enthusiasm and expertise. Much like a magician, don’t’ give all your tricks away at once. Tell them your competency and how your group works. I always couch my words in phrases such as, “This is how we can help you…” or, “This is the way we support you…” I especially like to share an example of a charter that we can work on to agree upon responsibilities of  the entire training collaboration.

Provide Summary and Next Steps:  This step can be done in the meeting or following the meeting. I always do this the same day via email and copy all stakeholders and anyone not at the meeting. This is also the time to give next steps such as required approvals, next meetings (with an agenda), enumerated resources, and content meetings.

Transition: Moving the initial inquiry to a project hopefully means you have been ADEPT at this first meeting. If more analysis is need or more resources are required, use this time before the project begins to put your team in order. This will also be a time to create a project scope and transition development to your training team to plan possible solutions to the clients training needs.

If you are ADEPT, you have a project. If you have missteps along the way, you may need to go back in the process where you fumbled. Thankfully, people working with people understand missteps and usually the communication can be mended. Keep your best customer service skills sharpened. If you keep ADEPT in mind, you will have a word encourager to guide your skill as a learning professional engager.

You've Reached ATD Member-only Content

Become an ATD member to continue

Already a member?Sign In

More from ATD

Loading...

Copyright © 2025 ATD

ASTD changed its name to ATD to meet the growing needs of a dynamic, global profession.

Terms of UsePrivacy NoticeCookie Policy