Dear Shirley
I am due to deliver training overseas for a customer. How can I ensure that I’m best prepared for this assignment?
In particular I would be grateful for any advice around travel arrangements and the provision of training materials.
Many of us have experienced occasions when we’ve arrived at a venue but the training materials haven’t. And it does rack up the tension.
I once flew to Mexico to deliver training in Spanish for the very first time. It was a new programme I’d just written in collaboration with the customer and there were some 200 people in the room. The last thing I needed was to discover that my training materials were held up in customs.
Luckily we had arrived in Mexico a day before the event, so there was enough time to put a contingency plan in place (Andy Crotty and I visited a local market to source alternatives!).
It’s not the only time that has happened to me, either. I recall Chris Cummins and I having to print and staple materials in a conference support room at the hotel in which we were delivering.
When you’re trying to prepare to deliver training, this level of stress is not at all helpful.
Avoiding messy mistakes
I started to realise that my training materials were likely to be held up in customs following long haul flights to the likes of China or South America, so for many years it’s been my habit to take the majority of materials in my suitcase and engage local printers where needs be.
You can often expect to deliver to around 40 delegates, which means that you’ll need to pack pens, toys, workbooks, posters and OTD quotes.
Yes, I’ve pushed two 30kg suitcases through Miami Airport (and that wasn’t only down to the amount of clothes I’d packed!) but I’d rather do that than risk not having the materials at all.
I did once deviate from this advice and I wished I hadn’t.
I was delivering a programme for a major customer in Germany and I’d catered for 30 people. The problem was that the number of attendees had grown and I’d forgotten to ask for more supplies. When I opened the box of materials I’d received, I realised my mistake – and had less than two hours to put it right.
Luckily a helpful administrator was on hand but I would have noticed the mistake earlier if I’d packed or printed everything myself.
I may look like a control freak but I’ve found that taking this approach greatly benefits my mental state to deliver the training and ensures no messy mistakes in front of customers.
The impact of Brexit
Prior to Brexit, it wasn’t necessary to take all of your materials with you when travelling in Europe but sadly it’s now safer to do so, rather than leaving them to the vagaries of various countries’ customs authorities.
We now have coaches in every part of the world, and as a global team we all help each other.
I’ve also found it much easier to print materials abroad when there is an OTD colleague based nearby, although sometimes just residing in the same country is helpful.
Paloma Moreno and I are due to deliver key account manager training in Barcelona soon. I’ll be flying in from the UK, so Paloma has kindly arranged for a local printer to produce materials for us, despite living some distance away in Valencia.
We’re confident we’ll have all of the materials we need to deliver and that will give me space to relax and ensure I’m in the right physical and mental state.
Even if you’re confident in delivering a programme, the supporting materials are designed to enrich and enhance the experience for customers and play an important part in its overall success. Without those materials you will have to work so much harder as a facilitator.
A helpful tip for packing
Here’s the tip: pack two suitcases on your outbound flight but make sure that one is smaller than the other.
It will mean that you’re in the best position to deliver a great training experience.
And you’ll be able to pack one suitcase inside the other when you fly home.
They thought we were mad in those Mexico City Toy Shops! If take a good look at this, there you are Shirley, centre stage!