Many training topics involve procedures (such as how to draw a mind map) or processes (such as stages in cultural adaptation). Here’s an interactive lecture format that encourages the participants to go beyond a presentation and critically and creatively examine the steps of the procedure or stages of the process.
The facilitator makes a presentation explaining the steps of a procedure (or the stages of a process) and invites the participants to discover a step (or stage) that was left out. He also asks the participants to work out details of the missing step or stage. Teams of participants conduct a discussion and present their conclusions.
To explore the steps in a procedure or stages in a process.
Maximum: Any number
Best: 15 to 30
About 10 to 20 minutes for the lecture and 10 to 20 minutes for team discussion and presentation.
- Paper and pencil
Prepare an outline. Specify the procedure or process you want the participants to explore. Make a list of steps or stages. Specify details of each step (or stage) in terms of what input are required in the beginning, what activities are undertaken, and what outputs are produced. Prepare an outline (and appropriate slides) for a presentation.
Make your presentation. Explain the steps in the procedure or the stages in the process. Describe the activities associated with each step or stage.
Announce a missing item. Tell the participants that you left out one of the steps or stages in your presentation. (This is not really true, but you are not lying because there could always be more logical steps or stages) Explain that the missing item could be at the beginning, middle, or the end of the procedure or process.
Organize teams. Divide the participants into two ore more teams, each with two to seven members. Seat each team around a table.
Encourage team discussion. Ask the team members to compare their notes, discuss the steps, discover the missing step, and work out relevant details (such as the input, activities, and output). Announce a 7-minute time limit for this discussion and start your timer.
Invite presentations. Blow a whistle at the end of 7 minutes. Announce the end of the discussion period. Ask the teams to take turns to present their ideas about the missing step and explain their reasoning.
Give your comments. Wait until all teams have made their presentations. Offer your feedback, comparing the ideas from different teams. If any presentation indicates some fundamental misconception, provide corrective feedback.
Variations and Adjustments
Really leave out a step? Instead of the participants trying to discover an imaginary step, you may leave out an actual step in the procedure. After the participants figure out the missing step and make their presentations, you present details of the missing step.
Recently I conducted a training session on the process of team development. Here’s the outline I created:
Forming. This stage begins with the need for organizing a team. The inputs include the mandate for the team and the nomination of a team leader and members. During this stage, the team members are unsure about what they are doing. Their focus is on understanding the team’s goal and their roles. They worry about whether the other team members will accept them. Team members frequently look for clarification from their leader. At the end of the stage, the team members are ready to begin working on their task.
Storming. This stage begins when the initial administrative logistics for a new team are taken care of. During this stage, the team members try to get organized. The team’s performance is marked by conflict among the members and between the members and the leader. Through this conflict, the team attempts to define itself. At the end of this stage, the team members have established their personal preferences.
Norming. This stage begins after the team members have had their debates and disagreements succeeded in resolving their conflicts. During this stage, the team members feel more secure with one another and with their leader. They effectively negotiate the structure of the team and the division of labor. At the end of this stage, the team has specified the roles and responsibilities of each member.
Performing. This stage begins when the team members reach consensus about their norms and operating procedures. During this stage the team members behave in a mature fashion and focus on accomplishing their goals. This stage is marked by direct two-way communication among the team members and a focus on the completing their mutual tasks. At the end of this stage, the team members achieve their goals.
I organized the participants into three teams and asked them to discover a step that is missing. Here are the responses from the three different teams:
Pre-teaming. One of the teams related the missing stage to what happens before the team is formed. During this step, the participants work on their regular jobs. The input for each potential team member is his or her job specifications. Their activities involve professional job behavior. The outputs are the results required of each job.
Commitment. Another team identified the missing stage as the transition between norming and performing. The input to this stage is a set of roles, responsibilities, requirements, and resources identified at the end of the norming stage. During the commitment stage, the team documents its agreements and specifies how each member interacts with each of the other members. At the end of this stage, the team is ready to focus on its task.
Disbanding. The third team identified the missing stage as the last one after the team has achieved its goals. The input to this stage are the results of team’s performance. During this stage, the team closes down various activities, delivers the final products to appropriate users, and writes a final report. The outcome of this stage involves the team members returning to their original jobs.
After listening to the presentations from the three teams, I made some suitable comments. For example, I talked about the fifth stage found in some articles about team development which is called adjournment. I pointed out that this stage is similar to the stage of disbanding as described by the third team.
The following table presents the structure of Missing Items as an interactive lecture.
|Step||If you are the facilitator, do this||If you are a presenter, do this|
|Present your lecture||Explain the different steps in the procedure or the stages in the process.||Listen to the explanation and take notes.|
|Announce a missing step.||Tell the participants that you left out one of the steps or stages in your presentation.||Try to discover the missing step.|
|Organize teams.||Divide the participants into two or more teams.||Sit with your teammates and introduce yourself to the others.|
|Encourage team discussions.||Ask the team members to compare their notes, discuss the steps, discover the missing step, and work out relevant details.||Discuss the missing step with your teammates.|
|Invite presentations.||Ask the teams to take turns to present their ideas about the missing step and explain the reasoning.||Assist your team in making the presentation.|
|Give your comments.||Offer your feedback, comparing the ideas from different teams. If necessary, provide corrective feedback.||Listen to the facilitator.|
Reuse the Template
You can use the Missing Item game plan for designing a new interactive lecture on your own topic. This format is particularly useful when the training content is a procedure with different steps or a process with different stages.
- Steps in creative problem solving
- Steps in launching a new product
- Stages in the grieving process
- Steps in coaching an employee
- Stages in cultural assimilation
- Stages in implementing a policy
Beyond Procedures and Processes
With a few minor adjustments, you can apply this interactive lecture format for training topics that involve factual information or principles. Instead of asking the participants to figure out the missing step or stage, you can ask them to discover the key pieces of information or the important guideline that is left out of the list.
Here are some recent interactive lectures designed by my associates:
- Important principles of effective management
- Key specifications of our new product
- Prescriptions for handling an abusive customer
- Guidelines for effective negotiation
- Ground rules for avoiding conflict of interest
- Suggestions for preventing workplace violence.