Ten Characteristics of Great CLE Programs
What’s
a “GREAT” CLE program? The answers
are many, and they reside in the minds and hearts of the participants,
the planners, the faculty and the sponsoring organizations. No one criterion or group of criteria can
fully capture the subject. But
perhaps a set of criteria can be useful in guiding an individual’s or
an organization’s best efforts in maximizing the impact of its programs. That’s my hope in suggesting the following
list and explanatory comments.
1.
Great CLE programs (GCLEs) respond to significant
learning wants and needs of practitioners.
CLE organizations owe it to those in their markets or constituencies to
focus their resources where they are most needed. Hence
their choice of course subjects needs to be based on efforts to find exactly
what their learners most want and need from time to time.
CLE sponsors must find a balance between offering what their learners
need and what they want. Lawyers
may need learning in many subjects such as writing, speaking, practice
management, applying emotional intelligence skills, etc., but experience
has shown that relatively few will spend the time or money for such courses. Lawyers,
on the other hand, have often shown that they WANT learning on cross-examination,
new legislation, and estate planning techniques. CLE sponsors, having unique financial needs
and goals, must find viable balances in their curriculum planning between
serving known wants and seeking out hitherto unknown ones.
Choosing and offering a choice of learning media are critical to serving
the learning wants and needs of diverse and changing populations of lawyers. In-person programs will probably remain viable,
but audio and video conferencing are growing, satellite TV and radio have
interesting futures, online is growing, and other media are being developed. Great
CLE programs can be offered on many media, and careful thought needs to
be focused on exploiting the peculiar advantages of each medium so they
fulfill users’ wants and needs as effectively as possible.
2.
Great CLE programs help participants actually
learn to DO something of value to their clients and themselves.
While the occasional legal literature course may be valid and valued,
even attended in reasonable numbers, lawyers in general want and need
to learn specific, applicable skills in CLE courses to repay their investments
and to feel that their time and effort are well spent. Having
the goal of helping people learn to apply specific skills is a vital discipline
for all CLE faculty and planners.
In fact, the definition of what lawyers will be able to DO following the
CLE course should be the focus of educational objective setting for all
CLE planners. Such focus can suggest
specific, practical educational activities consistent with effective professional
education techniques noted below.
3.
GCLEs maximize learning with great faculty
selections.
Inspired subject and media selection and clear educational goals are of
limited value unless highly capable, motivated and trained people serve
as learning leaders. (I use the
phrase “learning leaders” mindful of the Winston Churchill quote that “I
want to learn, but I do not want to be taught.” Perhaps “learning
leader” captures the ideal of the professional education faculty person
who helps the lawyers to learn what they want and need in the most effective
ways.)
Learning leaders must have the motivation to serve the learners’ educational
wants and needs in the most effective ways. They
must be enthusiastic and knowledgeable about their subject, willing to
devote the necessary time to preparation and teaching, and willing to
work with the CLE planners to lead the learning in effective ways.
Learning leaders need not be the biggest names in the field, although
big names seldom hurt! Often the
faculty member with the most motivation is the one that is relatively
new to CLE and who wishes to establish a name in the field.
Learning leaders as a group must represent the diversity of the profession
because that diversity impacts the credibility of the program for many
in the market and hence their motivation and satisfaction.
4.
GCLEs maximize learning through use of excellent
professional education techniques.
Great subject choices, great educational goals, and even great faculty
choices fail to make a great course happen without the employment of appropriate
professional education techniques.
By now we’ve all learned through our own training and experience that
professionals learn most effectively through a range of approaches including
didactic, experiential, and kinetic. Most
CLE courses will be of maximum effect if they use such a range of approaches.
Lawyers in general learn by “processing the material”—applying it in realistic
ways through discussion, case studies, quizzes, role playing, etc. A GREAT CLE program can hardly happen without “processing
of the material” by the participants.
ALL CLE sponsors must offer training in the use of effective professional
education techniques to their learning leaders. Such training will vary depending on the sponsors’ resources,
and it may be offered in live seminars, publications, videos, web site
resources, etc. Without such focused
training efforts, most learning leaders chosen from the bar will simply
talk at people. And, while some
can do that with apparent success, most faculty members will squander
their opportunity if that is the totality of their approach.
5.
GCLEs maximize learning with great supporting
materials.
“
Materials” now include traditional “printed on paper” things, CDs with
outlines, forms, legislation, etc., web site references, and other things. Whatever the medium, learning can be enhanced
and extended by well-thought out and presented supporting materials.
Materials enable the learning leaders to provide examples, case studies,
forms, checklists, problems, primary sources, etc.—learning aids to rely
on to “process the material” during the course and afterward.
Materials can add credibility to the course, the learning leaders, and
the CLE sponsor. The CLE sponsor,
for profit or not-for-profit, is in business. Credibility is crucial for long-term viability. For
the learning leaders, they too are in business, and credibility as well
as memorability are important. To
give short shrift to materials is a serious mistake.
6.
GCLEs sensitize participants to the ethical
and professionalism issues latent in the substance—and suggest responsible
paths for dealing with them.
Inherent in the skilled practice of any area of law is awareness of the
ethical standards and pitfalls and the techniques for handling them promptly
and effectively. Hence no treatment
of law practice technique can be deemed complete, let alone “GREAT”, without
capable attention to the ethical aspects.
Most often treatment of the ethical aspects will benefit from case studies,
and effective treatment will usually include practical discussion of solutions—not
merely observations about the existence of problems.
7.
GCLEs maximize learning by beginning and ending
with ‘bangs”—events, stunts, demonstrations, and other techniques that
stimulate attention and drive home learning.
Lawyers are never far removed from thinking about the many problem-laden
files sitting on their desks, credenzas and office floors. To
reach them, to gain and hold their attention, to drive home the importance
of the immediate learning experience, and to send them away with motivation
to implement new learning, CLE planners must ignite the fireworks from
time to time.
“
Fireworks” need not be flamboyant, although flamboyancy may be useful
and appropriate at times. Simple tricks such as intentionally provocative opening and closing
remarks or short plays can do the job of seizing attention and stimulating
learning. Whatever the technique,
without some excitement, some out of the ordinary approaches, few CLE
programs will reach the “GREAT” level.
8.
GCLEs add value by including implementation
steps for new skills/knowledge and suggest relevant practice marketing
ideas.
While it may be valuable to develop a new skill, the real value may come
in knowing exactly how to implement it when returning to the office. Perhaps it requires training or re-training other staff members. Perhaps
it will require communicating with clients or opponents. To
the extent that CLE planners can assist in the practical, immediate implementation
of the new learning, they may be able to raise the value of their course
from good to great.
While a “GREAT” CLE course need not include marketing in its content,
and to do so may be far beyond the essential syllabus, some consideration
of practice building in light of the learning objectives and market involved
may be just the right “bonus” item for a given course. And,
an essential key to superior professional eservice of any kind is the
inclusion of unexpected bonus service—service that adds surprise and delight
that bring back clients for future service and generates enthusiastic
referrals.
9.
GCLEs attract appropriate attendance through
great marketing plans and execution.
Whether the attendance goal is 25 or 2500, CLE sponsors ill serve themselves
if they do not take professional, skilled approaches to the whole cycle
of marketing. This means thorough needs analysis, testing,
product development, presentation and evaluation, and new analysis. Only by following all parts of the cycle can
the CLE sponsor truly have ground to believe that it is serving the felt
wants and needs of its markets.
Advertising deserves to be well executed to stand out from the crowd and
to do justice to the importance of the subject, the markets, the clients
to be benefited, and the learning leaders whose work will often be done
as a service to the bar. How pathetic
it is when superior volunteer work is let down by poorly conceived or
executed advertising!
Of special interest to me is the proper selection of titles for CLE courses. Most titles CLE sponsors choose are bland,
even boring, and fail to include a primary benefit of attendance in them. Amid the avalanche of advertising mail lawyers
receive daily, the pieces with dramatic, value-laden or otherwise arresting
titles are the ones that are most likely to be read.
While CLE will probably always rely most heavily on direct mail advertising,
thoughtful, creative CLE planners should also be using thorough, detailed
marketing plans tailored for each course and using a RANGE of approaches
to attract participants.
10.
GCLEs serve their audiences
with excellent, surpassing customer service.
The credibility of the individual course, the CLE sponsor, and the faculty
members can be enhanced—or diminished—by the quality of the customer service
surrounding them. Bright, friendly,
knowledgeable, immensely helpful customer service people are vital in
competitive, highly ambitious businesses. This
means careful selection, careful training, thoughtful incentives and reward
systems, and regular expressions of appreciation from staff and governing
board people. Customer service
people in CLE organizations are frequently the FIRST-LINE troops dealing
daily with the heart of the business—the customers.
Great customer service must provide ALL that the customers want promptly
and with a great attitude. Such service providers must be available, personal, flexible, open,
and willing to admit and empowered to correct mistakes.
Great customer service should plan for ways to surprise customers with
added services or bonuses—techniques for adding the “Wow!” factor to each
interaction.
11. [Bonus Criterion!] GCLEs
send participants back to work with renewed enthusiasm, energy, and
motivation to implement new knowledge.
Even if all the above elements were employed to make for a GREAT CLE course,
I’d say it would fall short unless each participant leaves with a spring
in his or her step and the desire to stop at the office and change things
on the way home. We’re really in the change industry—changing
behaviors for the good of the clients, the lawyers, the society. Change only happens with motivation.
So, all faculty members should be encouraged to let their passion for
the subject show through, to encourage all participants to appreciate
the opportunities that the law and the practice have given them, to treat
the new learning with appreciation and enthusiasm and to embrace it with
energy and good humor! |