Classroom Environment

Prior to developing our analyst training program, I had the privilege of being sponsored for a full-time 10 week analyst training course to help us prepare curriculum.

 I found myself greatly disappointed.

The instructors covered a vast amount of information on virtually every major analysis discipline and topic. However, these well-meaning experts were so desperate to teach everything they thought was important, they forgot students might not be able to absorb it all in such a small span of time.

I calculated that my eyes glazed over roughly 5,000 PowerPoint slides in those 10 weeks. Unfortunately, the information overload resulted in me remembering very little.

As a result, I tell new instructors the worst thing they can do is drivel through hours of PowerPoint slides. Covering less information more thoroughly at a slower pace will insure important information sticks.

Our advice is to teach the core - see 'Like an Analyst" posts for specifics. In general, unless the job position is for something that requires years of specialized training (i.e. translator or highly technically oriented), new hires are almost always retrained by co-workers and mentors in the trenches to meet their specific needs.

Students Own the Program

Students need to own the training program. We stress that the Program's success comes from them, and they have the responsibility to do well to insure future students have the same opportunity they have had. As a result, our students have significant input into what projects and brief topics they cover and present their findings directly to our sponsors. Perhaps more importantly, we share the status of our contracts/funding, and students help write quarterly reports. This is also an easy way for students to gain project management experience.

We are strong believers in constant student participation and follow the “Five Minute Rule.” The Rule states that an instructor should never lecture for more than five minutes without some type of student feedback. Students need to feel involved with the class or they will disengage.

Build a Team

Building a sense of team and trust is absolutely critical. Expect to blur the line between business and personal life with young analysts more so than previous generations. To build these relationships and sense of team, we typically spends the first 15-20 minutes of our classes discussing important things such as how a roommate threw up on the living room couch and complaining about how all their tuition money (debt) seems to go towards the immaculately kept landscaping on campus.

Resources permitting, I would recommend no more than 10 students per class. This isn’t so much about one-on-one attention with the instructor. Instead, it goes back to the sense of team. The more students in a class, the longer it will take to form a true sense of unity and purpose. Additionally, more students increases the chance cliques will form and the inevitable petty politics that comes with them.

When starting our Program, we had talked about getting individual desk to form a proper classroom. Instead, we went with a big conference table. At the time, we took this route simply because it was cheaper. However, I soon discovered the joint work-space was a great educational decision as it promotes increased communication and collaboration. I highly recommend it, and if you happen to find a King Arthur’s round table, let me know - ultimate collaboration!

Informality Tends to Promotes Innovation

My final suggestion is to lose the tie and wear jeans - figuratively speaking if you happen to be one of those weird people that like dressing up or work somewhere with an archaic dress code. Analysis is not basic algebra with easily definable right and wrong answers in which a rigid environment might be useful to promote discipline. Approaching analysis from a highly regimented military perspective tends to produce products that are equally regimented and reactive by nature.

Our experience suggests the next generation of analysts respond best to informal environments where they feel more comfortable sharing thoughts and innovative ideas without fear of embarrassment or negative scrutiny. We've had great luck making new comers confortable by having regular nerf gun battles =].