1 | - PPI Business NLP: Participant Research
- August 2002
- Lewin Associates©
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2 | - This report contains the results of a survey designed to understand participants’ views of NLP programmes provided by PPI Business NLP. It forms part of a broader exercise to establish the value delivered by PPI Business NLP.
- Of the sample surveyed, all participants believe NLP to be very useful both personally and professionally, and regard PPI Business NLP’s courses as enjoyable and effective methods for developing NLP skills.
- For many people, PPI Business NLP’s programmes are the start of a process of acquiring NLP skills. They are a catalyst for further development.
- Some people identified small changes that could have improved their experience as delegates, although these were highly personal and varied requests. However, a significant proportion of attendees spontaneously requested some form of ongoing support mechanism to help them continue to develop their skills and apply what they learnt after the end of the programmes.
- Without exception, participants perceive there is value in PPI Business NLP’s courses for others in their organisations. The range of roles identified as possible targets for the programmes is broad, reflecting the general requirement for these skills in all professionals. Based on our experience, there are good reasons to target NLP courses to sales people, customer service staff and all positions which involve managing people.
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3 | - The aims of the research were to understand:
- How useful people found the course(s);
- What the most valuable thing was that they had learnt on the course(s);
- What they have put into practice, and what results they are getting as a result of using these new techniques;
- Whether anything could have improved their experience as a delegate;
- Whether they believe the course would be especially useful to any particular job function .
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4 | - The survey followed a review of over 200 feedback forms and was carried out by means of a short, structured telephone interview. The results were then cross-checked against the information included on the response sheets completed by participants directly after the courses.
- The telephone sample was self-selected – 12 people responded to an e-mail saying they would like to take part.
- Some participants were company employees, others from partner companies and the job functions and grades differed widely.
- People in the sample had participated in different PPI Business NLP programmes, and had varying degrees of prior (and post) programme experience of NLP training.
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5 | - Without exception, delegates were highly positive about the course experience. This suggests that the programmes are based on best practice training principles – i.e.pace; instruction vs. practice; variety etc.
- “NLP is potentially life changing – I thought the course was great”
- “I found it very useful”
- “I enjoyed it and found it very interesting”
- “It was a worthwhile investment of time”
- “I thought it was amazing”
- “I thought it was brilliant”
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6 | - Participants identified a wide range of different personal benefits they gained from the programmes. The sheer breadth of these perceived benefits reflects the volume of things covered in the programmes and the range of tastes the programmes are designed to appeal to. The following two pages contain some of the comments.
- “I feel big changes - I have more tools to do things”
- “My writing skills have improved”
- “I use techniques for identifying types of people”
- “My relationships with others are better - I see their reactions now…I’m less pushy as I can be more detached”
- “I communicate more clearly”
- “I help people see things differently - particularly their relationships with others in the team and outside. I’m a better coach.”
- “It’s helped my negotiation skills”
- “Managing relationships, influencing, planning, problem solving and helping others to do better”
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7 | - “Since the course, I catch myself doing things that are different to what I would have done before. I find myself saying things that are ‘slips of the tongue’ that are really embedded commands, and using verb tense to help people move problems around…I just do it”
- State change techniques…and using questioning techniques to elicit different responses”
- “It’s been great in terms of my boss…I never seemed to connect before and it helped me to work out where I was going wrong and use his language…I was a bit obstinate at times and now I use rapport skills to concentrate on what he’s saying… He’s letting me go on the next course so he must see the benefit!”
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8 | - The broad range of roles identified reflects how useful NLP techniques are for everyone. The range also reflects how they can help people develop their skills right across the range of personal competencies.
- “Strategy, free-thinking areas”
- “Training functions, coaching and managerial roles”
- “Senior managers and leaders”
- “Coaches and managers all the way down the organisations…and those who need to manage their manager!”
- “Sales - an adapted course for sales people could help them become better planners, goal setters and empathizers”
- “Customer services could benefit from a programme. The answer might be just one thing - one simple idea - like voice tone matching which will get huge increases in satisfaction”
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9 | - Whilst some people explicitly stated that they found the balance of input to activity exactly right, some wanted more practise exercises. This reflects peoples’ personal learning styles and, given the balance of views, the course content and structure should not be changed.
- A concern shared by a couple of participants was around the ease with which NLP accreditation was achieved. Several people said words to the effect that ‘it’s too easy to get your licence’. This partly reflects a broader issue of how rigorously participants should be assessed on NLP programmes in general - a source of debate within the NLP community. In reality, whilst some may feel that their qualification is devalued as a result of ‘everyone getting one’, only those with adequate interest in NLP and skill are likely to go onto the next levels.
- A consistent view from many delegates was for the need for practise sessions to follow the programmes. Some felt these sessions might be mediated using a technological solution. It would be useful for PPI to think about how it might set up such a group and whether it wants to run / facilitate this group in any way, or leave it to participants to organise. How it is paid for also needs considering.
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10 | - The range of positive comments about PPI Business NLP’s programmes suggest that they inspire participants about NLP and encourage them to take their understanding further. They also offer a whole host of tools and techniques for people to get better results in their everyday lives, which many of them find they are able to apply after the course. There’s no doubt that some form of practise community would increase the rate of application of these tools. PPI Business NLP should decide what it wishes to do about this and might use the existence of the group in marketing its programmes.
- In terms of competencies, the improved results that participants say they are getting, cover every single competence. The courses are therefore great general skill builders. Having heard participants describe their experiences on the courses however, we do not believe it appropriate to mandate attendance. The programmes are relatively intimate, and require an open mind to get the best from them - which may not be the case where people are ‘sent’.
- In terms of depth, rather than breadth, PPI Business NLP might consider crafting together its material in such a way so as to major on developing skills a single competence area (such as communication / managing people etc.) and running shorter programmes for targeted audiences. (See over).
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11 | - Perhaps unsurprisingly, participants didn’t identify a particular group as being likely to get most benefit from the programmes; the tools are clearly useful for everyone. However, if the company can identify a particular group that is not getting the results they should be, (perhaps in customer service), a specialised course might be developed to solve the problems. Such a course should be developed through PPI Business NLP modelling the strategies used by people who are brilliant performers in the problem area. PPI Business NLP should them develop a niche course to help others acquire these strategies.
- In short, PPI Business NLP’s programmes appear to be highly fulfilling for participants and help people get measurably different results in their personal and professional lives. The number of participants who have received funds for subsequent courses also suggest that these benefits are perceived by managers and others around them.
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12 | - Lewin Associates is a bespoke consulting outfit, which specialises in helping organisations get more out of their people, and people get more out of work. They work with individuals, teams and whole organisations, to facilitate change and improve performance. The scope of their work includes executive coaching, leadership development, and culture change.
- Laura Lewin can be contacted on +44 (0)7802 478715
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Notes
