Throughout your career, you’ll likely take new classes, undergo new training programs, and develop new skills differently. To an extent, the results of these efforts depend on the educator or trainer offering them, but you also need to employ measures to get more value out of your training.

How do you get the most out of a new training program?

Understand the Curriculum at a High Level

Before you even start your new training program, take a step back and try to understand the curriculum at the highest possible level. What exactly is this course trying to teach you? What are the objectives of the course? What are the individual chapters or modules of the course and how do they link together to form a coherent picture?

If you’re taking an online training course, like if you’re getting forklift certified, you’ll probably be able to look at all the individual modules in advance. There will also be explicitly stated goals; for example, the goal of forklift certification is to educate and train you so you can operate forklift equipment safely, in line with OSHA safety standards.

With this context, you’ll be able to better understand the purpose of each piece of the puzzle; this will allow you to retain more information and properly contextualize everything you’re learning. This is also valuable for understanding the full extent of the curriculum so you can properly allocate time and build good study habits.

Dedicate Yourself to the Learning Process

When it comes to training, you get out what you put in. If you want to get the most value out of a training program, you need to dedicate yourself fully to it.

• Take the training seriously. It’s easy to see a training program as a means to an end, especially if you’re seeking a valuable certification, a degree, or some other credential. But you’re not going to get the results you want unless you truly take the training itself seriously.
• Create a positive learning environment. Make sure you have a positive, practical learning environment available to you from the start of your training program. Depending on your personality and learning style, that could mean an isolated office free of distractions or a creatively stimulating, comfortable and open room – or something unique. All that matters is that the environment fosters better learning for you as an individual.
• Eliminate or minimize distractions. When you’re focused on the curriculum, don’t allow yourself any distractions. Turn your phone off. Block tempting websites. Be cautious with music and other secondary forms of entertainment.

Take Notes Actively

Note taking is a skill, and like any other skill, it gets better with practice. But even novice and relatively incompetent note-takers benefit from taking notes, as the very act of taking notes encourages information retention. Take notes actively throughout the training program, and consolidate your notes after each session so you have organized information to work with.

Review Your Notes Independently

It’s also a good idea to review your notes independently and systematically. Reading through your notes once a week, every week is often more effective than trying to cram everything at once at the end of the training program.

While reviewing your notes, pay close attention to anything you don’t understand or gaps in your information; these should be calls to reach out to your teacher or trainer with questions.

Ask Lots of Questions

Speaking of questions, be sure to ask a lot of them. Even the best teachers and trainers can’t read your mind, so they can’t possibly know what you do and don’t understand. Questions are a form of engaging with the material, and they encourage you to gather more information about the subject matter.

Get Help If You Need It

Too many trainees are reluctant to ask for help, either because they feel self-conscious about what they don’t understand or because they don’t want to waste their teachers’ or trainers’ time. However, most teachers and trainers are more than happy to provide you with extra assistance; you just have to ask.

Test Your Mastery by Teaching Someone Else

Albert Einstein, a pretty smart dude, is credited with saying, “If you can’t explain it to a six-year-old, you don’t understand it yourself.” While both the attribution and the literal interpretation of the quote are a bit dubious, there is value in improving your mastery of a subject by trying to explain it to someone else.

With these strategies, you can get more out of any educational or training program. You’ll pay better attention, you’ll absorb more information, and you’ll retain that information further into the future.