In The News: Training with Improv and iPods

Did you see the interesting article in the business section of Monday’s New York Times?

Today’s training continues to move away from powerpoint lectures toward forms of higher engagement, both toward interactive exercises (often derived from improv) and toward technology.

In particular, this article highlighted the value of sales and service employees who deliver “intuitive” and “responsive” service. Trained improvisors know that improv is more often the art of responding, rather than the art of creating. What would happen to your business if your colleagues were more intuitively responsive to your customers?

This article also highlights what I believe is a false contradiction in modern training techniques. Can we offer training solutions that feature both technology and interaction with other humans? Are trainings with improv and iPods mutually exclusive?

Of course not, as any experienced gamer knows. Today’s simulation games offer a plethora of ways to interact with other humans, and increasingly, this technology is available on mobile devices. The challenge for trainers and instructional designers is to keep the interpersonal skills at the center of the learning activity. This article highlights a few different ways that modern training organizations have discovered to do this.

How about you — have you seen other examples of computer-moderated training interactions that keep the soft skills front and center?