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Avoiding Common Pitfalls in Managing a Small Training Department
By Carol P. McCoy
Inevitably in a small training department there are common pitfalls, which can drain you of energy and undermine your effectiveness. Learning to identify, avoid, or overcome the following dangerous traps helps to ensure your success:
? Trying To Do Too Much. First, don’t try to do too much or you will become overwhelmed. When starting up a training department, you may be flooded with requests for all the training that people wished they had had when there was no training department. With all the pressure, it is easy to get into a reactive mode. Being in continuous crisis can exhaust and discourage you, and burden you with short-term requests so you neglect longer-term priorities. Avoid a fire-fighting mentality by having a strategy and mission, by assessing needs in order to understand expectations and priorities, and by creating a business-focused plan. Having a longer-term focus not only helps the organization you serve, it also helps you stay true to your values and priorities. Learn to make choices to respond to what’s really important versus what is merely most urgent.
Five Strategies for Running a Small Training Department
"Five Strategies for Running a Small Training Department" written by Dr. McCoy, in the book, The Training Manager's Quick-Tip Sourcebook (by Institute of Management and Administration (IOMA), Susan C. Patterson), a product published by John Wiley & Sons,.
The chapter will help people to:
- establish credibility
- manage limited resources
- build a reliable and efficient training function.
Managing the Small Training Staff
Managing the Small Training Staff - (Chapter One of In Action: Managing the Small Training Staff) (.pdf file)
Why invest in management training?
AUGUST 2001
By Dr. Carol McCoy
Have you ever read a Scott Adams' "Dilbert" cartoon about the pointy-haired manager and felt that Adams was describing your boss and your company? If so, you are not alone. Even though most managers want to be competent managers, ineffective management practices are common in the workplace.
Nothing can be more frustrating to an employee than a new manager who hasn't a clue how to deal with people. Even experienced managers make mistakes, which lower morale and productivity.
Why are management skills so important? Why don't managers know how to manage? How can training help?
Developing people, Part I: A worthwhile investment
OCTOBER 2000
By Dr. Carol McCoy
Let's say you're a manager in a growing company. As the business year ends and the company wants to reduce expenses, senior management asks you to trim your budget.
What's the first area you think of cutting back? Is it training?
Why is training and development often the first area to go when the budget must be cut? Has your manager ever held you back from training or have you ever cancelled training because of immediate job pressures? Why is personal development seen as expendable?
Developing people, Part II: Take the initiative
NOVEMBER 2000
By Dr. Carol McCoy
Have you ever left a company because you felt that you were stagnating and not improving your skills? Have your employees left because your organization didn't help them to develop their skills?
Workers today count on learning new skills and knowledge that can help further their careers. What's the best way to help people grow?
Development of new skills and knowledge doesn't have to be complicated or expensive, but development really pays off when it's planned and aimed at something important. This involves creating a developmental plan. How do you do that?
Plan Ahead to Reduce Management Scrutiny of Your Training Budget
Reprinted with permission from IOMA
IOMA'S REPORT ON MANAGING TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT
Issue 00-03 MARCH 2000 (Susan Patterson, Editor)
Most training managers think about their budgets the same way they think about going to the dentist-you've got to do it, but it's no fun and you want it to be over fast. But budget you must or you may lose face-and your funding for future training programs. They key to successful budget management is (a) understanding what senior management expects from you regarding training expenses; and (b) tracking your budget so you can produce information they need.
Begin by asking yourself these questions, taken from Managing a Small HRD Department, by Carol P. McCoy (Jossey-Bass, San Francisco).
Small Training Department—Big Impact: Having the Right Skills
by Carol P. McCoy, Ph.D.
In a specialized training role, you need to have specialized competencies, such as design, needs assessment, or facilitation. But what if you are a one- or two-person training department and are responsible for all aspects of training? What do you need to be good at to have an impact on your organization? Successfully managing a small training department requires a broad base of competencies.
- Business knowledge
- Knowledge of training and performance
- Organizational and management skills
- Intellectual skills
- Relational skills
- Technical skills
- Resourcefulness
- Resilience