01 Jun From Hostage to Explorer: The 4 Types of Participants in Trainings

Last month we talked about “Five Curve Balls Thrown During DEI Trainings (and How to Respond).” We gave examples of misunderstandings and challenges that may come up during Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) training. That discussion focused on engaged learners sharing their conceptions (or misconceptions) about the content curriculum. We provided strategies for trainers to respond, which could also be helpful as insight for personal conversations.

However, not all participants walk into a DEI training as engaged learners and ready to learn. You can bet every time that you will find four types of participants who show up for a company-required DEI training. Knowing this, I like to open every training by acknowledging and welcoming people from each of these categories. That opening works as an inoculation to prevent people from shutting you out before you even start. “I see you. I know you are here. I know how you feel.”

The Four Types of Participants in a company Mandated DEI (or any other) Training

The Hostages

The hostages, or prisoners if you like, are individuals who are here because they’ve been required to be there. They are imagining all the “real work” they need to do while they are sitting in the training.

The challenge with hostages is how they may absorb energy from the trainer or be “contagious” to other learners in the room. We assure them if they will roll with us for the first 45 minutes, you’ll find there’s something of value that you can apply directly to your effectiveness in working with others in your company.

The Critics and Cynics

The critics and cynics don’t resist physically being at the training. But they are positive it won’t work and will challenge you on every little thing. While it’s worthwhile, even helpful to have questions that will tie the learning to this specific workplace, you also don’t want to get derailed.

Effective training is well-planned to have concepts build upon each other and to make full use of the time allotted. The talent here is to invite the critics and cynics to hang with you and trust your process, promising them they will find something relevant during the training. Circling back to an earlier question, once you get to that part of the training, can serve to hit a point home for that company or group.

The Vacationer

Vacationers are thrilled to have a “day off,” with permission no less! They are there to relax and chill out and maybe even fall asleep. A balance of full group lecturette’s mixed in with exercises, discussion and breakout rooms will help to keep this participant involved and engaged.

The Explorer

The amazing explorer! This is the person who is here ready to engage, coming in looking to learn a new tool. Look to them for examples of challenges in the workplace and thoughts on practical applications for the training content.

Give People Permission to Be Who They Are

These are not fixed categories, meaning that attitudes may change over the course of training, be it one day or multiple days. Giving people permission to feel however they feel at a training lets them be present as who they are. And being present opens the door to change.

I saw that first-hand at a training for a packaging center once, coming in for the second session of a two-day training spread out over a couple of weeks. When I came into the room at 7:30 am there was already an employee sitting in the room, sipping coffee in the corner. “When I came the first day I was hostage,” he confided. Giving him permission to be a hostage made him open to at least listening to the content. And now he was arriving early, to not miss a minute of what was to come.

From Resisting to Succeeding

Listen to Police Chief Steve Strachan talking about how this played out in a training for the Bremerton, WA Police Department.

Questions and challenges are part of the process of shifting your mindset. By acknowledging everyone in the room, you are inviting them to speak up during the training. That’s always more powerful than when people keep things to themselves or wait to express something they’ve held onto throughout the training, only in the evaluation, after the fact.

There will always be resisters in any sort of training. Acknowledging that as part of your “inoculations” at the beginning of a training has the power to open ears. Then trust your proven process and content to open minds.