In my first job, I did a great deal of training. After teaching the same class to different people over 10 times, my boss and I began changing things up. We would come up with something new and if we liked it, it was in. Periodically the owner of the company would ask to hear the latest editions. Most of the time he would smile, nod and say, “don’t forget the basics”. And then he would leave. I would be bummed he didn’t LOVE the newest thing and didn’t really get what he meant.
Over the next 15 years I continued to do training. One of the hardest things to remember was just because I had said the same thing 10, 15, 25 times, the audience was new. And a light came on – what the owner of that company had been saying was to keep focus on the things the students truly needed to know. The basics.
That was major for me and now, training materials always start with the basics. What do people really need to know – bottom line? What are the most fundamental things people need to know at the end of the class? It has really made all the difference. That isn’t to say I don’t change things up to keep things interesting because I do. The stories are always different, the exercises may change, and I may add a new nugget here and there, but the core elements stay the same.
Where can you in your business focus on the basics? What ARE the basics in your business? It is a good thing to consider!
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