Essential Ground Rules for Training Adults in the Classroom

Three Minute Train the Trainer #9

This is #9 in the Three Minute Train the Trainer series for new trainers. Check out the other tips at the end of the article.

The Ground Rules

When you are training a group of people fact to face, it is your job to set the standards. If you don’t, someone else will, and that someone will be a person with a strong personality or a talker.

You can use ground rules to keep your session on time and on topic.

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Your objective is that your trainees can do the task you are teaching by the end of the session. They are more likely to achieve this if there are no distractions.

Here are some appropriate ground rules for a face-to-face training session and some phrases to help you if your trainees break them:

1. Phones on silent or buzz

If your trainees are on call or are managers or parents, they will need to keep their phones on for emergencies. Ask your trainees to turn their phones on to buzz or silent, so the training is not disturbed.

What to say: “Please put all your phones on silent so we can minimize distractions.”

2. No looking at phones in the session

If your trainees answer emails or look at social media in the training room, they are not learning from you. There is a reason the trainee is in the session; otherwise, they would not be there.

What to say: “I’ve noticed a couple of people looking at their phones. Please put all phones away while we are in the session.”

3. One person talking at a time

Do not allow butting in or side conversations. In the session, everyone must get to speak and have the opportunity to ask questions. Some people are naturally more confident than others and may talk over others.

Side conversations are when a couple of people are whispering and not paying attention to whoever is talking. This behavior is distracting for everyone.

What to say: “One person talking at a time please.”

3. Keep to topic

Do not allow your trainees to go off-topic to discuss other issues.

Any group of colleagues put together in one place will have plenty of opinions about improving the workplace. Your job as a trainer is to make sure your trainees don’t hi-jack the session to talk about other concerns.

What to say: “Let’s re focus and keep on topic.”

4. Keep to time

Tell your trainees you expect them to come back from breaks on time. Keep to time in the exercises and don’t allow talkers to waste time on other issues not related to the training.

What to say: “We need to keep to time, and I’ll be starting the session on time after each break,” or “Let’s move on, we need to keep to time.”

5. Respect other people’s contribution

Do not allow toxic criticism of other people’s ideas. You never know what people will say in a training session. One trainee might say something incorrect and be harshly criticized for it.

Or a person may voice an opinion only to be bullied by another trainee for holding that opinion.

As a trainer, your job is to make sure everyone is polite. There are ways of disagreeing with someone without unpleasant behavior.

What to say: “Let’s respect everyone’s opinion please.”

6. Confidentiality

Your trainees need to know that what they say will not be repeated outside the session. Once your session gets going, your trainees can get carried away and say things about the organization or colleagues that they really should keep to themselves.

Some training sessions, for example, Health & Safety, may cover sensitive topics like bullying, harassment, anxiety, or mental health. If someone shares something personal, they need to know it stays confidential.

What to say at the end of the session: “We talked about some sensitive issues and our colleagues. Please remember the ground rules and don’t repeat the conversations we had today.”

7. Everyone contributes

All of your trainees need to join in if you want a successful session. They are all there to learn, not just the talkative ones.

Ask quiet people for their opinions or contributions. Don’t let the noisy, confident ones take over the session.

Make sure you ask each trainee directly for answers or their opinion.

What to say: ‘Thanks, let’s hear from someone else this time.’

These ground rules are generic and suit most but not all sessions. It’s up to you as the trainer to decide what is appropriate.

Managing your ground rules in the session

Put your suggested ground rules on a flip chart or whiteboard ahead of time. Once the training session starts, ask the trainees to agree to the ground rules. Explain this is so that the session runs well and they get the best opportunity to learn.

Ask the trainees if they have any further ground rules they would like to add. Then display the completed rules in a prominent place on the wall for the rest of the session.

Flip chart paper works well as you can move it around if you need different parts of the room for group work.

If any trainees break the ground rules, remind them by referring back to the flip chart or try out the phrases I’ve provided above. Bear in mind the phrases will only work if your trainees hear you. If the session is out of control with lots of side conversations, you will have to speak loudly.

Tell the trainees at the beginning of the session that you will call them up if they break the ground rules. Give the trainees an example of what you will say so they are not surprised in the session.

If you have people in the room who are higher up the food chain than you, it can be difficult for a new trainer to enforce the rules. Planning what you will say and telling your trainees in advance that you will say it, helps.

Planning works better than suddenly blurting out, ‘Get off your phone,’ because you can’t think of anything else to say.

Summary

As the trainer, you must run the session to ensure that your students learn.

If you allow distractions or poor behavior such as looking at phones, you are not providing an optimum training environment.

Remember that running a group training session is a skill that develops over time. If you are a new trainer, do your best, keep practicing, and if you mess it up, think about what you would do better next time.

If you run enough classroom sessions, it will become second nature.

If you enjoyed this article, you’ll love my weekly newsletter about all things training and leadership. Click here to subscribe, it’s free! You’ll also receive a Ground Rules Checklist as a welcome gift.

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