Dealing with Disruptive Trainees

We've all experienced it in some form or another.  You are in a training session, and there is someone who refuses to participate, starts asking ridiculous, off-topic questions, or has their nose in their phone or laptop.  My personal favorite is the "what-if" participant. You know, the one that insists on inventing completely implausible scenarios in which whatever concept you are teaching would not work, and asking what they should do if it occurs.  I had to endure this for years in a previous position by a fellow manager that attended our monthly management meetings.  It created a very tense environment in which it was hard to concentrate on the topics at hand.

How can we as trainers handle disruptive participants?  Do we call out their behavior or do we allow it to continue to erode the session?  Of course there are no black and white, right or wrong answers to these questions.  There are many factors to consider, as our goal is never to embarrass the one disrupting (even though we may want to at times), but instead to cease the behaviors so training can be productive for all participants.  In his August 2015 Trainer Tops blog, Onno Schuit, gives some helpful strategies for dealing with disruptive trainees.

One of the first pieces of advice Schuit discusses, is in the curriculum design itself.  He advises designing training to "circumvent or anticipate any objections," and "don't provide potentially disruptive participants with any ammunition."  This can be achieved over time by observing trends in trainee behavior, and modifying the design to proactively deal with common disruptions.

A common practice that Schuit advises, and I myself have used in my own trainings, is to call a break when things start to get heated with a participant.  Once the session goes to break, pull he/she aside and ask them about their objections.  By saying something like "I notice you do not seem to be enjoying today's training, please tell me if there is something I could do better," you are not attacking them for their behavior, but you are putting the onus on them to explain why they are not engaged.

Sometimes, in group training situations, it can make a huge difference by simply relocating the disruptor to another area.  Schuite advises paying close attention to each participant's demeanor, and moving the person next to someone that is highly engaged to act as a kind of mentor.  This doesn't need to be done in a way that singles out the participant; it can be framed as a way to change up the environment mid-way through the session to revitalize the room.

One final way Schuite discusses dealing with difficult trainees is to get the group to explain how the training affects them.  This can help participants that feel the training is not applicable to their specific work, or feel that the training is "beneath" them in some way.  If you can get group consensus about the value of the topic and how it relates back to each participant, this can keep further distractions from occurring.

While these are just a few examples, they set a good foundation for dealing with different types of disruptions.  There will be times that someone is so disruptive, you may have to (privately) ask them to leave the training, and/or get their manager involved.  These are not easy conversations, but as trainers it is important to have them for the sake of the rest of the group.  All it takes is that one Negative Nancy (or Norman) to ruin the dynamic and make the training ineffective.


Source: http://blog.trainertops.com/2015/08/how-to-deal-with-difficult-trainees/

Image Sources: https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/misbehavior-college-classroom/
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