TABLE OF CONTENTS What's in This Chapter?
Learning concepts
Training designs
Advantages of different designs
This chapter provides some background to help you choose a training design that fits the needs and time limitations of your organization.
The purpose of your training is to help people learn how to provide excellent customer service. There are many different ways to achieve this goal, and so a crucial step is deciding how you will help learners see the relevance of the material you present. The instructional process involves preparing learning opportunities and considering how activities will appeal to different types of learners.
The programme designs in the following chapters include curriculum guidelines for training sessions. If you have completed some assessment to determine the actual needs and goals of your organization (as described in the previous chapter), you will have a better idea of which programmes or learning activities will best meet your needs.
Learning is a very individual process. Chapter 5 highlights some principles of adult learning and facilitation that will help you think about how to enhance the learning process. In addition, some information from basic learning theory might help you design a suitable curriculum.
In her book About Learning, Berenice McCarthy (1996) suggests that people learn in the following four ways:
There are those who ask Why? and who need to reflect in concrete ways, such as asking questions and writing.
There are those who ask What? and who need to know theories, facts, expert opinions and...
