Time is a limited commodity. We have a limited number of hours in the day. You have a limited number of instructional hours available to teach your material. The people you train have a limited amount of time they are willing and able to invest outside of training to engage with pre and post course material. You have a limited amount of time to invest in course and content planning, development, and refinement.
Given all of that, you may want to invest some time in reflecting on how you are currently using your time and how you might use it more effectively. From a training perspective start by determining how much time you actually have for training. Saying you have “40 hours” for a course does not factor in hourly breaks and lunch breaks. If you take five 10-minute breaks in an 8-hour day and an hour for lunch that takes an 8-hour training day down to 6 hours and 10 minutes. Factor in transitions between training activities and brief explanations and that leaves you with 6 hours of training time at best.
Is that 6 hours a day a one-day in-service training day, part of a two-day basic certification course, part of a 40-hour course, or part of a 6 month academy? If it is part of a 6-month academy, then how many total days do you get to teach that topic? Are those days consecutive, or spread out over the course of the entire academy? How many participants are in each training session? How many instructors do you have for each training session? What do you have for facilities and training equipment? In the total number of days is it all theory based content or a combination of theory and physical skills? What level are the participants expected to perform at upon competition of your training? Is this a “basic” level course or an instructor certification course? What written and / or practical tests do they need to pass at the competition of the training? Who dictates the content of those tests and the way they are administered?
It is easy to get caught up trying to implement all the cool drills or exercises that were shown on a course you attended into your training without considering the above questions. Personally, the things I factored in when teaching a two or three day defensive tactics course to security officers was far different than what I factored in teaching police recruits over the course of a six month academy.
It is easy to get enamored with what martial arts instructors do at their dojo with students who voluntarily attend class two to five times a week for years, but that is not the public safety training world.
It is easy to get enamored with the professional sports training model, but that is not the reality for public safety training or performance demands.
It is easy to get enamored with what military special operations does in training, but that is not the public safety training or deployment reality.
It is easy to get enamored with what police special operations units are doing in training, but that is often a very different world than training patrol personnel.
It is easy to get caught up spending hours creating flashy “super cool” slides with sounds and graphics when your time is likely better spent focusing on developing effective content and on professional development to enhance the depth of your knowledge and the quality of your instruction.
Being a good trainer is a lot of work and makes a lot of demands on your time. For some, training is a fulltime assignment while for others it is collateral duty. Regardless of whether training is a fulltime or parttime assignment, it is important to make the best use of your preparation time, and your training time. Remember, training is not about you. It is about the men and women you have the privilege to training. It does however start with you and the effective use of your time.
Take care.
Brian Willis
Winning Mind Training – Providing practical training to law enforcement professionals in the areas of instructor development, Performance Enhancement Imagery, leadership and mindset.
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