Case Studies Flashcards
A talent development (TD) professional is teaching an eight-hour, interactive team-building class for 12 people at a client site. Nine participants arrive for the class on time. They are working in groups of three and have started engaging in a team exercise that will take about 30 minutes, when the other three registered participants walk into the room an hour late.
What should the TD professional do?
explain the group activity instructions to the new arrivals
Put the new arrivals into their own group.
Discuss the ground rules with the new arrivals.
Explanation:
The talent development (TD) professional should help the new arrivals start the team exercise with as little interruption to the rest of the group as possible. The three new participants should be put into their own group, and have instructions and ground rules explained to them. It penalizes the rest of the group if the TD professional pauses the exercise to place the new participants into existing teams or repeat the introductions or instructions. The TD professional should also refrain from calling out the new arrivals’ tardiness.
After the lunch break, the participants are engaging in another team exercise. The TD professional notices that one of the participants is obviously messaging on the phone and is not participating in the exercise.
What should the TD professional do?
Walk towards the participant who is not engaging while monitoring the group.
During a break, ask the participant if everything is okay.
Check the schedule to see when the next break will occur.
Explanation:
The goal in this situation is to have the participant fully engaged in the team exercise while not interrupting or embarrassing the participant. Walking towards the distracted participant or checking on the timing of the next break are subtle ways for the talent development (TD) professional to show they are aware of the behavior without being distracting. The TD professional should ask the distracted participant if everything is okay, but do so during the break. All other choices will interrupt the exercise or may embarrass the distracted participant.
The TD professional is in the last hour of the class. All of the content from the agenda has been covered, and the participants have completed the participant’s guide and engaged in many activities.
What should the TD professional do to assess the effectiveness of the team-building class?
Confirm that class goals and objectives were met.
Have the participants complete an evaluation of the class.
Have participants state how they will use the material learned.
Have participants state how they will use the material learned.
Explanation:
The talent development (TD) professional should use a Level 2 evaluation to measure learning, ensuring the training was effective. This could include having participants complete an evaluation, state how they will use the material, or demonstrate the new skills in a role-play. The TD professional may also confirm that class goals and objectives were met. Asking participants if they enjoyed the class is a Level 1 evaluation and will not measure effectiveness. Having the participants evaluate each other is ineffective and potentially embarrassing for the participants.
