SOFT SKILLS TRAINING
We provide soft skills training both in person and online.
Soft skills are the skills we use to maintain our relationships and motivate one another to take action. Specifically, they include the skills we use to address ruptures to our important relationships.
Over the years we have provided interactive training to a variety of organizations with a focus on
communication,
conflict resolution,
emotional intelligence,
assertion,
negotiation,
mediation,
dealing with difficult behavior,
customer service,
nonverbal communication,
de-escalation skills,
stress management,
diversity and inclusion.
We offer a learning experience that is impactful and memorable.
Importantly, it is focused on the emerging needs of your employees.
To start a conversation about your training needs, email john@johnford.com
““John’s session on conflict resolution in the workplace was outstanding. An engaging presenter, John provided excellent content, offered opportunities for useful interactive exercises, and gave us tools we can continue to use going forward. He framed what could have been a difficult topic in a positive context.”
— Beverly Cherner, Director of Institutional Relations at Point Blue Conservation Science”
Adult learning theory
Addressing gaps between desired and actual performance levels is the focus of training and human resource development. A body of knowledge has emerged that describes how best to train adults. Malcolm Knowles, who is considered the father of adult learning theory, set forth these tenets:
• Adults are autonomous and self-directed learners
• Adults have accumulated a foundation of life experiences and knowledge
• Adults are goal-oriented
• Adults are practical, focusing on what is most useful to them in their work
• Adults need to be shown respect
Building on the work of Knowles, Edgar Dale explored the learning modalities that work best for adult learners. As Confucius before him, he found that learning is most effective when learners are actively involved in doing something during the learning experience.
When that occurs, after two weeks we remember 90% percent. By contrast, when we only read something, we remember 10 percent, when we hear something we remember 20 percent, and when we see something, we remember 30 percent.
By using more than one sense, we increase retention. Thus, we remember 50 percent of what we hear and see, and 70 percent of what we say. Chances are you will remember this diagram better than this paragraph!
As Knowles noted, learners are autonomous and self-directed. One of the biggest challenges in delivering training in a work setting is overcoming the resistance of the learners to being there. Resistance is expressed in a variety of ways: “We already do this,” “I don’t have time for this,” This is just another flavor of the month”
To blame the learners is to miss the point. The task of the trainer is to address those resistance points, recognizing that resistance is typically a sign of an unmet need. Building on the work of Knowles, it is important to demonstrate to the learners the relevance of the training to the learner.
A key best practice in training is conducting informal interviews with participants prior to the training. This alerts the trainer to the resistance climate and allows the development of a strategy to address the concerns. Getting defensive around points of resistance does not help.
Knowles noted that adults have a vast body of lived experience. To discount that is fatal. In our rush to make trainings interactive, we are often surprised at the resistance to the role-play. For now, let’s focus on the disconnect between the dry text of the role-play and the lived experience. Again, this is where pre-training informal interviews can play a vital role in ensuring that any role-plays used are true and relevant to this organization’s experience.
Beyond that, the challenge of the trainer is to come up with creative ways that ensure that participants practice the new skills they are learning, and do so using their own lived experiences as the reference point. For example, in conflict resolution training, it’s always best to have the participants identify a conflict situation of their own and work on that through the day.
Through our trainings, we support your organization to become conflict-management competent, which involves:
Knowing how to identify conflict early so you can nip it in the bud
Having simple tools to de-escalate, not escalate, conflict
Having a clear path to the lasting resolution of conflict
To start a conversation about your training needs, email John at john@johnford.com
