How to evaluate participant reactions

- Trainers, especially new ones, take for granted that the course they deliver will address what it's supposed to address, and participants will leave satisfied. I wish this was the case, but unfortunately, it isn't. Let's address how you can effectively apply the evaluation form or smile sheet to quickly evaluate your next training session. You start with the type of questions to ask and how you ask them. Typically, trainers ask high-level questions and simplistic ones, like, "Did the staff enjoy the training? Did the staff like the trainer? Does the staff feel it was an appropriate use of their time? Do they think the material was relevant to their work? How likely would they recommend the course to their colleagues?" But be honest, do you believe questions like, "Did they enjoy the training," offer any value to improving your course? Or do you really care if they like you? Probably not. High scores here might make you feel good, but it really doesn't add any value to improving the course. So, let's get rid of these questions, we don't need these. Let's focus instead on what they want to take away. I'm going to put in some questions that will get participants to think about whether the training program prepared them to make them better at their job. This is called performance-focused evaluation. Rather than asking generic, "Did you like the course?" type questions, ask questions targeting on-the-job performance. Let's evaluate a course on writing a specific type of report. So, rather than asking, "How much do you believe this course offered you value?" Ask, "How well are you able to apply the reporting skills into practice on the job?" And below that, we can provide quantitative response choices, called a Likert scale. You've seen these before. One to five, strongly disagree to strongly agree. Pretty straightforward, but the question wording is where we get the real value. This method focuses on what the participant learned, and how well they learned to apply it in context. You see, scaled responses that give you numbers like 3.8 or 4.1 out of 5 aren't actionable on their own. Yes, it's feedback, but it's inherently biased. There's a limit to the value. So we need to create questions with qualitative responses to really guide our next steps. Okay, so take this question, we see the Likert scale, one through five, but let's add a meaningful label to each response choice. This will give us a qualitative context, and a richer set of feedback data. Here's what I'm going to add. One is for, "I'm not able to apply these concepts." Two will be, "I have some understanding but will require additional training, practice, guidance, with this skill." Three will be, "I can apply the concepts to my work, but will require support." Four, "I believe I have competency with the concept." And five will be, "I know I can perform to an expert level." Obviously, the smile sheet shouldn't be your only evaluation tool. And perfect questions don't exist. Make a professional judgment. Keep these questions targeted, and offer focused answer choices. This simple adjustment makes your smile sheet effective and worth the time.