All of our programs, whether they be leadership or negotiation related begin with a set of interpersonal skills critical to the competency being taught.  The skills section along with other business-related research and personal insights, come during the first half-day of any classroom session.  That allows the rest of the session time to be spent learning and practicing the application unique strategies to real-life situations.  The skills and strategies combine to make powerful, productive interactions.

Now, we can offer for our Retail Multiunit Management (RMM) and our Retail Negotiation Series (RNS) skills pre-work in an electronic format with input-able fields.  That means the document can be read and you can take personal notes about what’s important to you or questions you may have for the facilitator about the reading.  The exercises also allow participants to see an example and then type in their own responses to the exercise questions.  The document can then be saved on the attendee’s hard drive or a hard copy printed for use during the session.

This pre-work is an option that the client decided when and how to use.  In our recent use of these forms our facilitators find that the skills section can be cut in half from a time standpoint.  The added interaction of having the participants share their reactions and responses with their table group and then present that to the larger group also builds competence and understanding because they own the information. Saving time in the session means that more time can be spent practicing how to use what they learned which strengthens the likelihood participants will feel more motivated and competent to use the traing immediately back on the job.

While the discussion about whether to use pre-work or not continues.  We wanted to be ahead of the curve in our offerings regardless of which approach the client chooses.  What’s your choice?  Do you use pre-work for classroom sessions?  What’s been your experience with people completing it?  Share your thoughts here or tweet us @mohrretail.  In retail every day is a chance to learn. MOHR.

Posted in Retail Pulse
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About MOHR Retail

For more than 30 years, MOHR Retail has developed the critical people-to-people skills needed to create results in the retail industry—and we’re just getting started. Through innovative classroom and online learning methods, as well as our ongoing national retail research projects, we continue to stay on top of the trends so we can fuel the success of specialty stores, chain stores, outlets, catalogue retailers, department stores, and more. Nowhere does learning meet experience as it does in a MOHR Retail training program.