Training, Trust and Traffic Lights!

"They're not allowed to do that!" was the distraught shout from my 6-year-old son, as the driver in front of us pulled away from the temporary traffic lights while they were still on red.  

When you're six, right and wrong seems very black and white, or in this case...

 red and green! And while I completely agree with him, I can see why this driver might have made this decision. It’s fair to say that these four-way traffic lights have not been the most reliable. They've had intermittent service and seem rather random in their waiting times. Ultimately, having spent four weeks of second guessing these lights, the driver had lost trust in them.

In training, trust is an essential part of building a learning environment, but if we're not careful, trust can be easily lost.  For example: If a participant eagerly answers a question only to be dismissed, how likely are they to answer future questions? Or, if they turn up on time for a series of sessions but the Trainer always starts late to accommodate latecomers, how likely are they to continue to turn up on time?

Experienced Trainers are usually talented at reading people, building expectations and relationships well before learning even begins. But for new Trainers, if you find your audience is uncharacteristically ‘breaking the rules’, you may want to consider if you have broken their trust first.

So, whether it's dodgy traffic lights, or dodgy training techniques, let's focus on creating better expectations and relationships, allowing people to make better decisions and not feel like they must run a red light because they've lost that trust.

If you want to start your career in Training and Development, or know someone who does, why not check out the Curious Trainers' Academy which will be launching in 2018.