Trainers need Training too

I have been training in financial institutes for several decades now and know that we all need training.  We just don’t all need the same training.  A key to being a great trainer is having enthusiasm about what you are training.  Training the same subject over a long period of time can do one of two things.  The trainer can get bored teaching the same subject, and their audience will be bored as well.  We all remember college courses that were arduous to get through because the professor was tired and bland.  Or a trainer can keep getting better, more polished and more interesting if they stay engaged with their audience.

So how do you keep your enthusiasm?  Keep learning.   Keep getting training yourself.  When you know new stuff you are excited to pass that along to those you train.  I have taught a course, “Train the Trainer” for a long time.  It is a great course because I get to spend time with like-minded folk.  My audience may be trainers that have been at it a long time or fresh new trainers or a combination of both.  I enjoy learning from both.  The more seasoned trainers always have a wealth of great stories of their training experiences, some hilarious, some inspiring and some disasters to avoid.  New faces tend to bring a refreshing optimism to the class.  I love to meet young professionals excited about their career.

No matter what you do, training is a great way to pump up your enthusiasm. 

Still learning,

Honey Shelton

www.interaction-training.com

Your Best Day

Did you enjoy your day off?  Starting the week on Tuesday can be challenging if that means you have a full Monday’s worth of work to do on top of your Tuesday portion. 

And if you are anything like me, it takes me a little more time to get back into the swing of my work routine after a day off. 

So how do you organize your day when your to do list is longer than your hours in the day?

Everyday you should order your day by priority not urgency.  Think through what you want to accomplish long term.  What are your business goals? Do the things first that directly work towards those goals. 

Write out your “have to do’s” and assign them a time slot.  Then fill in the rest of the day.  At the bottom of your list you can put things that you’d like to accomplish if time permits. 

Of course we all have days when the urgent takes over and that is all we get done.  But when you work at prioritizing you are much more likely to also achieve forward progress towards your business goals.

If you don’t know how to set goals, spend some time with a mentor and ask how they set goals.  If you don’t have a mentor, find someone at work whom you admire and ask them if they would be your mentor.  They will most likely be honored.  If not then you don’t want them to be your mentor anyway.

So tomorrow get up and have more purpose in the way your day is structured. 

Still learning,

Honey

www.interaction-training.com

A Great Place to Work

Want to find a great place to work?  Turn where you work into a great place.  I have been a trainer for many decades.  In that time I’ve seen some work environments become incredibly more enjoyable because of training.  A properly trained supervisor will know how to build teams that work together harmoniously instead of fighting against each other.  A trained worker will have more confidence in their job and be more satisfied with their work.  Sometimes there will be employees that just don’t “fit”, even after training.  In those cases the best thing for the team and even for the individual may be to let them go.  A misfit can bring the whole atmosphere down.  I’ve seen many times when an employee was let go and upset.   But then they found a job that was a better match for their talents.  In the end, everyone came out better.

No matter your position in your organization you matter.  You play a part in the overall atmosphere of the place.  If you go in to work grumpy the first person you talk with will catch a bit of your grumpy.  If you go in to work with a good attitude, that good attitude will be contagious as well. 

Purpose to be a game changer by being the best you can be everyday. 

Still learning,

Honey Shelton

http://www.interaction-training.com

P.S.  Over the years of training I have answered a lot of  tough workplace questions.  Have a tough question?  Send it my way in a blog response and I’ll answer your question.

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Wild Workers

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Are your workers wild about where they work?  Do they enjoy being together?  Do they find value in what they do everyday?

 As a supervisor in any organization you know you are doing well when your workers seem to thrive in the working environment.  I know I’ve walked into some establishments and felt a light-hearted mood in the air.  I wanted to do business with those people.  I’ve also walked into places where I wanted to turn and run because I felt a bit of hopelessness in the air.

Develop your own team into one who is wild about where they work.  Work of course cannot be all fun and games but it doesn’t have to be nose to the grindstone for 8 hours straight either. 

The first step in developing an invigorating culture is to start with a great group of employees.  Prepare well and ask the right questions at every interview and you will end up with a talented team.

To develop a top-quality workforce:

• Develop the largest pool of qualified candidates possible
• Establish a careful candidate selection process
• Perform appropriate background checks
• Collaborate with all key stakeholders in making a selection
• Create a new hire responsibility checklist for successful indoctrination
• Make an employment offer that confirms your position as an employer of choice
• On-board your new hire in a style that reinforces they made an outstanding choice to accept your offer
• Confirm and track the role stakeholders play in the success of the new hire

My passion is helping others improve their working environment.  Listen in on one of my webinars or attend a workshop for CE credit.  Here's my Calendar.

Still learning,

Honey Shelton

www.interaction-training.com

Who Cares?

“People don’t care what you know until they know that you care.” John Maxwell

If you have some authority over another at your work a critical component in building a team is having compassion.

Team members support each other.  Team members rejoice when another hits a homerun.  Team members work together. In other words, team members care about each other. As a leader in a team you need to exhibit the characteristics you’d like your team to have. 

In the financial industry the teller line is a team.  The supervisor needs to be compassionate and understanding even with challenging team members.  In order to grow a team, the supervisor must learn how to coach.  A coach will assess the strengths of each team member and put him or her in position to best use those strengths.  A coach will also work on minimizing weaknesses within the team.

 

In a teller line, the supervisor must observe how the tellers are interacting with customers so they can encourage and/or correct as needed.  What they don’t need to do is hover.  Hovering supervisors can sabotage their efforts.  Hovering shows a lack of respect and trust in an employee.  A coach, on the other hand, has had a hand in training the team. A trained team is more predictable, trustworthy and respectable. 

A coach respects and encourages their team towards success.  Be a supervisor who coaches with compassion, excellence will follow.

Still Learning,

Honey

Learn more about this webinar by clicking here:

“Start Coaching and Stop Hovering Over the Teller Line”

Teller Coaching

Successful supervisors coach their team towards achievement.  A bank teller equipped with great training and superior coaching will find success.   In an atmosphere where team members can fully use their skills, knowledge and creativity, they reach the goals of the department and the company. The supervisor’s job is to encourage the team, organize  ongoing work with clear direction and specific goals.

Learn to use the strengths of each team member. Challenge them to build a plan and execute it.  Help them to see the value of what they do and how that value relates to the success of the team.

A supervisor who doesn’t know how to coach their teller line, tends to hover.  Hovering over the teller line can make the tellers feel anxious.  That anxiety will show when they are talking with customers.  I have put together a webinar to help supervisors learn to encourage their teller line towards greater efficiency and customer service excellence…and stop hovering.

Learn more about this webinar by clicking here:

“Start Coaching and Stop Hovering Over the Teller Line”

Still learning,


Honey

www.interaction-training.com

Be A Great Boss

How important is it to evaluate your effectiveness?  I would say it is up there with taking responsibility for your health.  High on the list!  You can’t get where you want to go if you don’t have a clear picture of the destination, a road map and plenty of fuel.  Frequently consider where you are and where you want to be.  Lay out the road map to close the gap between the two.

Supervisor Boot Camp, Click here for all the info

Here’s a profile of the ideal leader developed by a group of supervisors participating in a training workshop on discipline.  When asked to identify the ten major functions of an effective supervisor ranked in order of importance, they came up with the following list:

1. Delegates authority in areas affecting their work

2. Consults with subordinates before making decisions pertaining to their job responsibilities

3. Gives employees the reasons for implementing decisions.

4. Doesn’t play favorites.

5. Praises excellent work.

6. Reprimands subordinates who fail to observe the proper chain-of-command relationships

7. Never reprimands or disciplines in front of coworkers.

8. Encourages employees to offer their opinions and criticisms of supervisory policies.

9. Listens to employees’ explanations before placing blame in disciplinary situations; accepts reasonable explanations, not excuses.

10. Obeys all the rules that subordinates are expected to obey.
 

 

This is a great checklist for you to use when scrutinizing your effectiveness.  You can take this a step further and email me for a complimentary Leadership Quiz you can take that will provide you the opportunity to self-evaluate your ability to be a true role model.

Still learning,

Honey

www.interaction-training.com

P.S.  To get my free leadership quiz just shoot me an email at  honey@interaction-training.com

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