Do your trainers know how to teach? Or, are they just glorified page-readers pushing around a mouse on a large screen repeating the written word on a slideshow? Because if that is all your trainers do, then spare me, please, the agony of wasting my time. I have better things to do. Period. End of S-T-O-R-Y.

I was sitting in a “training session” once where the paid Consultant came in, set up a laptop connected to a presentation screen (in fact a television) and proceeded to “train” the team on a property management software system. I looked over at a newly hired Leasing Consultant who was sitting there with pen in hand, notepad positioned carefully across her lap, listening intently. After only six minutes, a Deer-In-the-Headlights glazed expression slowly spread across her face. It wasn’t only that she was lost, but she was also completely disengaged. As comments began to surface regarding policy changes being implemented, the trainer completely lost this person. She was the very reason people had been summoned together at this property – the opportunity to actually train someone on the software system – and it became a complete waste of time.

At the end of the day, the Consultant packed up her laptop and quietly left the room, no doubt on her way to the airport where she would place a call to the CEO telling him what a great day it had been and how much information she had “trained” the onsite teams to swallow. Meanwhile, these people turned to me and began bombarding me with all their questions, some of which I could answer and some of which none of us had a clue.

Property management professionals need the right tools in order to perform. In addition to this, they must have the proper resources and environment in which to learn. If you are going to hire someone to train your teams, shouldn’t these trainers at least know how to teach? Teaching is not the same as training. Teaching is exchanging information, of course, but it is also more than just this. Typically, a teacher instills a love for the subject matter in a way that inspires a team to create, embellish and build upon the idea, concept, or facts being taught. Training is simply telling a person what to do and leaving it at that. For a successful training program, the Trainer must also be a Teacher. Otherwise, every office will be filled with individuals who perform but who may not “get” the concept and cannot understand why it is important that tasks are completed a certain way.

A good example of this is in the area of Fair Housing. How many of us utilize an online learning system that mandates teams complete their training on Fair Housing online? Generally all the important information is there. Your teams register and log in and complete the course, including a test. But what happens when that team member has questions and needs further explanation so they really, truly understand a concept? To whom do they turn? Hopefully, there is someone onsite who can mentor and further develop the concept. If there is not (and there will not be if the employee is at home in front of their computer), then there is every risk that the person will make a mistake once he or she is on his or her own. Mistakes inputting a Prospect’s information can be fixed, but a mistake in Fair Housing treatment of a Prospect can be expensive.

There is an important distinction between training someone to get up and greet someone in the office and teaching that person WHY it is important to do so. In my opinion, if all you want to do is send someone to one of my sites who is going to prop open a laptop and point and click a mouse to words on a screen, then either I can stay home or the trainer can. Send someone to the sites who is knowledgeable about the subject matter, who can answer questions, who solicits feedback, and who leaves contact information for further follow-up (even if there is a fee associated with follow-up.)

On-line training courses are quick, effective, initial ways to provide information regarding a subject area. But companies need to put some dollars into the truly essential function of teaching on site personnel concepts. Those hired to come to sites or locations should be personable, energetic, and prepared with handouts or a flash drive to leave with teams, as well as being willing to inspire their audience members to learn and grow. Otherwise, “training” is equated, in my mind, with dog shows and circus acts. In the property management industry there are so many wonderful people who are out there and it would be a 100% return on time and money invested in bringing these people to our sites and cities – every day, not once in a blue moon.