In Training (a lost cause)

Been too busy (or is that lazy?) to come up with anything meaningful to write about. The past week has just flown by and I am staring down the barrel of another weekend. Normally we hold out at the house for Halloween and pass out candy to the roving hordes that roam the neighborhood, but we are heading out to catch a football game at my Alma matter and will spend the weekend camping out in the RV lot in the trailer. Been doing this gig for years with my parents & brother and it is more of a mini-vacation away from home/office. With the fall weather finally here to stay, we try to enjoy the outdoors a lot more.

Got sucked into a training class yesterday. One of those classess/seminars that the company has determined that its entire management team needs. This is one of a series of 4-6 hour classes on various management/leadership techniques (communication, dealing with stress, how to plan projects, conflict resolution, etc.). Not counting the 5+ wonderful years I spent in the Army, I have been in business for ~25 years in various roles from individual contributor to department manager. I have had a plethora of these styles of classes/training over the years and even spend time learning communication when I got my MBA. Given all of that background, I honestly feel that these classes are a total bust. I am trying not to be one of those old, entrenched farts who sits in the back of the class muttering "That'll never work here", but I feel that some of this material cannot be adequately covered in a 4 hour class. To me, some of these classes should be 2 days to be effective and we are cramming them into 4 hours (not counting breaks). Yesterday's class was on communication. We are learning techniques on how to communicate effectively. Would be a good class for the masses, if they spent more time allowing people to absorb the subject. For once, I was glad to have my blackberry so I can keep in touch with the outside world. To me, the highlight of yeserday's training was reading about terri's potty problems. Of course, after years of taking these classes, I tend to go "off script" when it comes to the role playing exercises just to lighten the mood. In one scenario, where my partner (another manager I have worked with for 8 years) and I were to practice communicating about a problem. I was supposed to encourage and empathize with my co-worker about his work load when he griped about it to me, but it came out more like: "Is that all? Oh, just man up and deal with it. Quit whining like a 5 year old and get back in the saddle." Somehow, I don't think the instructor did not seem to appreciate my sense of humor.

And I wonder why I keep getting invited back to these classes...