In-Person Training Holds Value

“Unfortunately, everyone is kind of rooted at their desks since the pandemic and taking online courses and webinars.” All agency members are required to have a certain numbers of training hours annually depending on their position. Some classes are required, but for the remaining hours Samuels has some suggestions.

Soft Skills is open to anyone and consists of four classes of two hours each that deal with decision making, problem solving, communication, and interpersonal relations. “It’s all interactive, everything is experiential.” Members first learn the concepts. “Then I throw challenges at them and they see how they do. It’s a fun class.”

“The Happiness Advantage series is one I’m trying to push, because of the stress –everybody is working harder, there’s a lot of pressure.” She says this is a science-based approach to figuring out the skills needed to get into a happy place, and then stay there. “I think it helps in work life and home life.”

One of the newest in-person classes is Real Colors. “This breaks personality types down into four colors – you do the questionnaires and inventories, you talk about how you respond to different things, how you communicate, and you learn about yourself and each other so that your interactions can be more positive and productive.”

Samuels offered a plethora of reasons why in-person live training is beneficial:

• The opportunity to network – our relationships with others are huge assets that. Partnership opportunities, referrals, and knowledge sharing abound.

• We are more focused on the topic when physically present.

• Learning is increasingly effective when it is shared with others; eye contact and body language enhance the informationgathering component of learning.

• Being out of the office can be reinvigorating and inspiring.

• Learning is a method of self-care when the learner is invested and not just crossing it off the “to do list.”

• Engaging with others helps to learn material as “connections” have been found to improve recall.

• People tend to share experiences in live classes which creates opportunities for validation, tips and tricks, and other perspectives.

• It’s FUN!

“I would love to see people getting back in the classrooms,” Samuels said. “You tend to get more out of a class if you’re making human connections.”

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