Trainers’ tasks
The task of the trainers is to encourage group members, make observations and give them positive feedback on their participation. It is important to thank the participants for their comments and encourage silent group members to join the discussions. Positive feedback is effective when it is directed towards a concrete situation or task and when it is given as soon as possible.
The emotional state of the individual participant and the whole group can vary from feelings of stress to enthusiasm and sociability. A positive, safe, encouraging and sociable atmosphere motivates individuals to participate, share their experiences and use the group for their own benefit and the benefit of others. In contrast, tension and stress prevent positive group processes and the generation and acceptance of information and learning.
The trainers and the techniques they use play a vital role in creating an atmosphere that promotes learning. Trainers should learn the participant’s names on the first day to be able to address them personally. Nameplates on each desk make it easier to remember names. In in-person implementation, nameplates on each desk make it easier to remember names. In online implementation, it is a good idea to first make sure that the participants have logged in to the program with their calling names, so that it is easy for the participants to see each other’s names and use them in the discussion. Depending on the online platform used, the trainer should give instructions on how to change the display name or make it visible to others at the start of the first session.
Using the Trainer’s manual as a guide
The Trainer’s manual is devised to guide the trainer with detailed advice when they start working with groups. It follows the programme structure, which is important for the trainer to learn during their own training.
The manual directs the trainer to proceed according to the programme, which ensures that all major career planning and management-related issues are dealt with and that the best possible use is made of the programme and its process-like structure.
The Trainer’s manual contains detailed instruction for each situation. It also contains general directions that the trainers should bear in mind during the course of the programme and which they should follow in accordance with the basic principle of the method.
It will not disturb the group if trainers occasionally browse through the manual. It is important that trainers find their own style and informal tone, which is as concrete as possible, to express the issues presented in the book. As a trainer, being yourself is an important part of the programme.
Trainers’ role
Trainers effectively work as partners in the Towards Successful Seniority® group method. The intensive programme demands that both trainers divide their constant attention between many activities, such as following the manual, observing the group process, communicating with the group, writing down the main points of group discussions and exercises on a flip chart and attaching the pages to the walls of the workspace or, in online implementation, recording them in PowerPoint or some other program and sharing the screen with the participants.
The programme has been planned in such a way that dividing attention between so many activities works best when the trainers have agreed on their roles beforehand. In this way the training is not too stressful. When there are two trainers, the participants’ motivation is easier to maintain and issues can be handled more effectively.
Authority and trust
Leading a group successfully requires authority and trust between trainers and the group. Trainers have expert authority due to the research background of the programme and its development, as well as due to their knowledge of work life and occupational health, which is reinforced by their professional status. This expert authority is established at the very beginning of the programme by presenting the Towards Successful Seniority® method’s background, goals and contents to the participants.
However, expert authority alone is not enough to create a confidential interpersonal teacher-student relationship. Over-emphasizing one’s expert authority gives the impression of arrogance, which in turn conflicts with facilitating an active and self-steering learning process.
Success in group work requires, in addition to the trainers’ expert authority, authority as a reference person, and related to this, the group’s trust. The reference person role is successful when the participants respect the trainers, bond with them and feel that they are equals and can therefore influence their behaviour. In order to gain the role of a reference person, trainers can try to reduce their social distance from the group by sharing something of themselves, their own experiences of success or failure, their work situation, and by showing that they approve of the participants’ opinions. The openness of the trainers serves to encourage and motivate group members to participate reciprocally and openly share their own experiences and future action plans.
Trainers should note that during the programme, group members also act as role models when they tell the group about their own choices, experiences and goals. It is helpful if trainers are tolerant of all comments shared in the group. When necessary, the returning issues to the group technique is a good tool for handling controversial questions and does not require the trainers to act in an all-knowing expert role, presenting answers to problems. In this way, group members will find that they can express their opinions about things, as well as listen to others and accept the fact that not everyone shares the same opinions. Each participant can choose the comment that best suits them out of those presented.
By the trainer setting an example and showing that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, the group atmosphere improves and the active learning process develops. Successful group work strengthens self-directed learning and problem-solving, also outside the group.