One of my clients has changed their course evaluation forms.  When participants were asked how likely they were to recommend the course to a friend I scored straight 10s on my last course.  This brought their whole week’s averages soaring up so its a great end to the week for them.  I’m also particularly pleased as I was very tired today.

As trainers we get external validation (or verification)  almost every time we do any work.  It’s great to have all those positive strokes but do we really need them?  Everyone needs to be told that they are doing a good job even when they already know.  Praise is a fundamental management tool. I can feel when things are going right so although I like the eval forms, I really want them so that the client can see that it all went really well, cos they are not usually in the room.

How do you know if things are going well?  What do you feel?  What do you hear?  What do you see?  If you can capture that then you’ll need less external validation and can plan to be your own best supporter, giving yourself positive feedback whenever necessary.  What did you do well today?