Course Plan

Any course should have an introduction, a middle (when the content is delivered) and an end.

• Introduction
  • Give trainees the aims of the course
  • Give trainees the timings of the course (start, finish, breaks, etc.)
  • Allow people the opportunity to get to know each other and you
  • Create the "rules" under which the course will run ( e.g., are phones to be switched off?).
• Middle
  • Cover the content of the course, e.g.:
    • Licensing law
    • Alcohol
    • Creating the right atmosphere
    • People skills
  • Try to use a variety of exercises (with no one exercise lasting too long)
  • You may wish to change the order of the sections (though the order proposed here is much tested and generally works well).
• End
  • Recap the key points of the course
  • Give people the chance to give feedback (evaluation).

Introduction

Suggestions for Activities:

• Use slides or handouts to cover an outline of the course, including the basic timings, the key aims of the course and the benefits for the participants
• Use an introductory exercise to allow people to get to know each other and begin to relax (remember to include yourself in this)
• Do a ground rules exercise where people come up with and agree on the types of rules they would like for the day (e.g., everyone to be back on time after breaks, phones to be switched off, etc.).

Examples of Games:

These are particularly good for warming people up at the beginning of the day or energizing when levels dip.

Example 1, "Talking Wall". Trainees write down thoughts on a particular topic on a post-it. These are then stuck on a wall, with particular topics grouped together. This can be a game which introduces a discussion exercise.

Example 2, "Word Association". The Trainer shouts out or recalls words on an overhead and trainees say / write other words or issues that are associated with the word, as covered during the course.

Example 3, "Catch". The group stands in a circle facing each other. Ask each learner to think of a question based on what has been covered during the course so far. You as the Trainer should start by asking a question and then choosing which learner should answer it by throwing a bean bag or a soft ball to that learner. You may wish to also say the respondent’s name to make it clear for whom the bean bag / ball is intended.

Suggested Activities to Cover the Content of Server’s Guide

You will need to choose a variety of different types of activities to deliver each part of the course. The following gives a range of suggestions for each section of the Server’s Guide. A summary of the key learning points for each section is also provided. You should ensure that all of these topics are always covered during the course.

Section 1: Licensing Law

Much of Section 1 is about facts. The discussion on best practice aims to influence behavior.

Suggestions for Activities:

• Set learners an assignment to do before the course to find out what the laws are in your country or local area. During the course, go through what they found out, correct any mistakes and add in any bits they may have missed.
• Give a lecture on what the laws are in licensed premises, possibly backed up by handouts.
• Give a quiz to see how much learners already know. Go through the answers and fill in any gaps.
• Use a video or pictures / diagrams showing common effects of alcohol, which learners have to spot. Go through the answers and fill in any gaps.
• Lead a discussion on what systems learners already have in their work environment to ensure they keep within the law.
• Get learners to write a Store / House Policy for their own premises either during the course or as a post-course assignment. This should cover what systems they have or could put in place to make sure that they don’t break the law.
• Use stories to illustrate the learning points.

Example Activities for Licensing Law Section

Example of an Anecdote (or Story):

This example can be used to explain that, although something may be legal, it may not be socially responsible.

In Scotland under the current law, you normally have to be 18 to buy alcohol. There is an exception allowing 16- and 17-year-olds to buy alcohol with a meal in a restaurant area of a bar. Only limited amounts of alcohol are allowed, and only certain kinds of alcohol.

The local 16- and 17-year-old school children found this out and began to go to a local bar for lunch. Some had alcohol with their lunch. The teachers found that, when the children returned to school for the afternoon, they were very sleepy and unable to concentrate in class.

Although no one was breaking the law, it was felt that the manager was not being socially responsible to serve alcohol to the young people at lunchtime and so he was asked to stop. When the problem was explained to the manager, he was happy to stop serving alcohol to young people.

Example of a Written Quiz:

These can take several different forms from multiple choice to explanatory answers. It is easier to check knowledge and, indeed, quicker to mark and to provide feedback if the questions are such that they are clearly right or wrong.

Example of Multiple Choice Questions:

Good practice for closing time could include:

(a) Shout at customers to get out – you’re fed up with them and want to go home now?
(b) Serve customers double rounds at last orders?
(c) Remain friendly and nice to customers and ask them politely to drink up and leave?
(d) Let customers take as long as they want to drink up?

Section 2: Alcohol

Some of Section 2 is about facts, but there is also a lot of influencing opinion and behavior.

Suggestions for Activities:

• Give a quiz to see how much learners already know. Go through the answers and fill in any gaps.
• Give the facts about alcohol in a lecture, possibly backed up by handouts. It may be possible to get handouts from specialist organizations on certain topics – e.g., health agencies may be able to give alcohol information or the police may be able to give drink-driving information.
• Use a video or pictures / diagrams showing common effects of alcohol. You may wish to show a person becoming more and more drunk and ask learners to select when they would stop serving that person more alcohol. You may wish to use a picture / diagram of the body and ask candidates to show how they think the alcohol is processed or what parts of the body they think are affected by alcohol.
• Ask learners to name / pour a common drink. How strong is it? What measures are used to serve it? Using the formula, work out how many grams of alcohol are in the drink.
• Lead a discussion on what systems learners already have in their work environment for measuring drinks.
• Use stories to illustrate the learning points, or draw on people’s own experience (e.g., discuss what signs of drunkenness learners have observed in their customers).
• Give learners the statistics about alcohol-related problems (e.g., health, accidents and crime) either in a lecture or as a handout. You could possibly get experts, such as the local police or staff from the Accident and Emergency department of the hospital, to give a talk on the effects of alcohol.
• Lead a discussion, backed up with a presentation of the facts, about how much alcohol it takes to affect a person’s ability to drive.

Example Activities for Alcohol Section

Examples of Questions:

Questions can be either "open" or "closed".

Closed questions allow the respondent to answer either "yes" or "no".
Short closed questions can be used to get agreement and establish a logical argument to influence opinion. For example, "Do you agree that too much alcohol is bad for a person?"

Open questions require a longer answer and would be used in most other circumstances (e.g., to establish current levels of knowledge and to check understanding). Open questions often begin with what, how, who, when, etc.

Example of Pictures / Diagrams

Pictures / Diagrams can be used to illustrate the progressive range of signs that are observed when a person drinks alcohol.

Section 3: Creating the Right Atmosphere

Most of Section 3 is about influencing opinion and behavior and giving learners the skills to do their jobs with confidence. Some facts are also included.

Suggestions for Activities:

• Set learners an assignment to do before or after the course looking at atmosphere in licensed premises, customer service and interactions and then go through what they found out. These could be discussed during the course or learners could be asked to draw their own conclusions.
• Ask learners to list what annoys them when they are customers and discuss how these problems can be minimized or prevented.
• Give the facts about what can influence alcohol-related behavior in licensed premises, possibly backed-up by handouts.
• Get learners to write a Store / House Policy for their own premises, either during the course or as a post-course assignment.
• Lead a discussion on what systems learners already have in their work environment for minimizing problems. This could focus on particular areas, such as closing time.
• Use a case study or ask learners for stories from their own experience of dealing with customers.
• Ask learners to write an action plan for the points they wish to put in practice at their premises (particularly good for managers).

Example Activities for the Section on Creating the Right Atmosphere

Example of an Assignment:
An assignment would usually be done before or after a training session; it could be gathering information or applying what has been learnt. The assignment may be practical (e.g., go back to your bar and put in place a certain policy) or it could be written (e.g., write down the laws surrounding drunkenness that apply in your area).

Example of a Case Study:
Case studies of real-life examples are useful to bring into the training.

Example of an Action Plan:

Ask participants to write down one or two things they can do when they get back to their premises, which will help to ensure that they keep within the law. This would work well if it is done following the discussion about what systems the other learners already have in place – they can share best practice.

Any action plan should be "SMART", that is, Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound.

It would help if you could give learners an example to follow.

Section 4: People Skills

Most of Section 4 is about influencing opinion and behavior and giving learners the skills to do their jobs with confidence. There are some facts included.

Suggestions for Activities:

• Set learners an assignment to do before or after the course looking at customer complaints, how these were handled and what the outcome was. These could be discussed during the course or learners could be asked to draw their own conclusions.
• Use role-play to practice how to deal with different situations. This could focus on particular high-risk situations, such as partying in large groups.
• Use role-play / drama or pictures / diagrams to demonstrate good and bad body language.
• Use a video or pictures / diagrams to discuss difficult or common situations. Look at what the warning signs are; when interventions can be made; what good practice could be for a given situation; what servers should avoid doing; what sort of back-up the server might need.
• Lead a discussion on what systems learners already have in their work environment for minimizing problems.
• Ask learners for stories from their own experience of dealing with customers.
• Discuss what works well when dealing with customers and what does not work.

Example Activities for the Section on People Skills

Video / DVD:
These are particularly good at showing real-life scenarios or examples of good / bad practice. Some examples of training information and resources are given on the following website - www.efrd.org.

Example of a Role-play Exercise:
Role-play can be carried out as a small-group exercise, with everyone taking part in the group at the same time, rather than leaving two or three people "acting" in front of an audience, which can be very uncomfortable for many learners. If the role-play is done in small groups, it is good to include one person as an observer in each group. Each observer can then report to the main group on the key things they observed (e.g., body language, key phrases, etc).

You could use role-play as an exercise to help with section 4 of the Server’s Guide. For example, one person could pretend to be a bar employee, another a drunken customer and the third can observe how the bar employee handles the situation.

Recap Section

It is important to recap the main points of the course. It is also good to allow people time to reflect on what they have learned and to give them the opportunity to provide feedback.

You may choose to do an evaluation questionnaire during this period. You may also wish to do further evaluation, such as following up a sample of the learners after a period of time has passed (e.g., 2 - 3 months). This checks whether learning has actually been implemented in the workplace.

Example of recap: Quick-fire questions, summary points using overheads.