Is It Real Training or Is It "Training?"

A training broker recently told me that she'd noticed a trend toward 90 minute classes. Her theory is that the time limit may be spurred by a desire for a workshop that delivers the essentials quickly and which does not take a half or full day.

Having sat through many programs while wishing the presenter would get to the point, I can understand that desire. In my experience, many training programs take far too long. Most of the classes I teach run 3 1/2 hours long. A few run around six hours. I am seriously considering 90 minute programs for some topics.

On the other hand, some subjects genuinely require more time. Rushing through them so the employer can check a box and announce, "They've been trained!" is a farce. 

"They" have sat through a class but they have not been trained.

And that brings up the nature of the training market. Inertia has always been a major competitor. Employers tell themselves that training isn't needed and so they sit tight. But now, more than ever, there is the fake action competitor. The fake action classes are extremely low-priced, very short, sessions that are held so someone can say they were held. Their main purpose is to provide management with the ability to say "We've had training."

I can't do that.

But I sort of like the 90 minute option.