There is nothing unusual about providing delegates with notes to support the course messages, but how many sets of notes are referred back to?  In our experience most of those 'heavyweight' ring binders that are handed out at the end of courses collect dust on a shelf!

We approach course notes differently, our workbooks are all produced using colour to stimulate the learning process and are designed to be used during the course. 

Delegates start using them at the very beginning of the course by recording their own course objectives in their workbook and continue to use the workbook throughout the course.  Findings from case studies, results of group and individual exercises, profiles and notes are all recorded in the workbook, alongside the course messages and copies of the trainer's slides.  This results in all notes and information being held in one place which means that reference back is more likely to happen.  The final part of the workbook that all delegates complete is their 'Personal Improvement Plan', here they record the actions they are going to take as a result of the course and commit to time scales.

We find that this integrated approach to course notes maximises learning and results in increased usage of the notes following the course.  We encourage delegates to use their workbooks as a review document between themselves and their manager when returning to work.  This gives the opportunity for the delegate to share their learning and  'Personal Improvement Plan' with their manager therefore maximising skills transfer from the classroom to the workplace.