Skip to content

A Toolkit for Solving Common Training Challenges

What this is

A set of practical strategies you can apply when designing or running training in real-world, resource-constrained contexts.

Use this when:

  • you are adapting your training to your learners and context
  • something is not working in your current design
  • you need practical options to try

This is not a checklist to complete.
It is a set of patterns you can draw on.

These strategies build on:

  • Part 1: Designing for real-world impact
  • Part 2: Designing for openness and reuse

How to use this

  1. Identify one challenge in your training
  2. Scan the sections below or use the Quick Finder
  3. Choose 1–2 strategies to test

If multiple constraints apply, combine strategies from different sections.

Do not try to apply everything at once.

Quick finder

If you are facing a specific challenge, start here:

Access and infrastructure

Understanding and learning

Participation and engagement

Applying learning

Scaling and sustainability

Multiple challenges at once

Designing for overlapping constraints

Practical strategies

  • identify 2–3 key constraints that overlap for your participants
  • combine strategies from multiple sections instead of applying them in isolation
  • prioritise participants facing the most barriers when making design decisions
  • test your training against the most constrained participant, not the average one
  • reduce complexity by using fewer tools, fewer steps, and clearer instructions
  • use multiple modes at the same time (visual, verbal, practical)
  • check whether one design choice creates a new barrier elsewhere
  • adapt pacing, participation format, and materials together rather than one at a time
Click to read more...

When this matters

  • participants experience multiple constraints at the same time
  • a solution that works for one constraint does not work when combined with others
  • barriers reinforce each other rather than appearing separately

What this affects

  • who can participate fully
  • who benefits from the training
  • whether learning translates into action
  • whether training feels accessible, relevant, and usable

Example

A participant may:

  • have low literacy
  • not be fluent in the training language
  • lack confidence to speak

Use:

  • visual instructions
  • small-group discussion in shared language
  • structured turn-taking
  • guided practice instead of open-ended independent work

Common mistake

Designing for a single “average” participant and assuming that one solution will work for everyone

Designing for low connectivity

Practical strategies

  • design activities that work fully offline
  • use paper-based or downloadable materials
  • sync data after activities instead of during them
  • pre-load devices with any needed content
  • use USB, Bluetooth, or SD card transfer where appropriate
  • prepare printed backup copies of essential materials
  • simplify tasks so they do not depend on live platforms
  • test activities in low-connectivity conditions before delivery
Click to read more...

When this matters

  • participants have unreliable or no internet access
  • connectivity is too weak to support live tools or downloads
  • training takes place in rural or infrastructure-constrained settings

What this affects

  • access to materials
  • participation
  • continuity
  • ability to practise during and after the session

Common mistake

Relying on live tools, live demonstrations, or cloud-based materials that fail in real conditions

Designing without digital tools

Practical strategies

  • design full workflows using paper, discussion, and physical materials
  • use printed templates, worksheets, and checklists
  • simulate tasks through role-play or demonstrations
  • use flipcharts, whiteboards, sticky notes, or large paper for group work
  • create reusable paper-based tools participants can take away
  • build learning through doing rather than showing slides
  • organise group work so one person records while others contribute verbally
  • ensure participants can complete the full task without any device
  • introduce digital tools only if they clearly improve the outcome
Click to read more...

When this matters

  • digital tools are not accessible or appropriate
  • participants do not have reliable access to devices
  • technology would distract from the main learning task
  • the training outcome can be achieved without digital tools

What this affects

  • accessibility
  • confidence
  • real-world usability
  • whether participants can actually use what they learned afterwards

Common mistake

Adding digital tools because they are expected, rather than because they are useful

Designing for limited digital skills

Practical strategies

  • introduce one tool at a time
  • teach through real tasks rather than feature walkthroughs
  • use peer support or buddy systems
  • include low-stakes practice before real tasks
  • repeat workflows more than once
  • demonstrate slowly and visibly while participants follow along
  • use step cards or simple task sheets
  • keep instructions short and sequenced
  • allow time for troubleshooting without making participants feel behind
  • distinguish between learning the task and learning the tool
Click to read more...

When this matters

  • digital tools are needed but unfamiliar
  • participants are new to digital workflows
  • confidence with technology varies across the group
  • digital tasks create anxiety or dependency on facilitators

What this affects

  • participation
  • independence
  • confidence
  • ability to apply learning after training

Common mistake

Teaching features instead of tasks, or expecting participants to learn several new tools at once

Designing for mixed literacy

Practical strategies

  • use visuals instead of dense text
  • demonstrate before explaining
  • use step-by-step guidance
  • repeat key ideas in more than one format
  • turn instructions into checklists rather than paragraphs
  • use examples, scenarios, and demonstrations instead of abstract explanations
  • ask participants to explain ideas back in their own words
  • combine verbal explanation with hands-on practice
  • reduce unnecessary jargon and technical language
Click to read more...

When this matters

  • participants have varying literacy levels
  • reading-heavy materials exclude some people
  • confidence drops when written instructions dominate

What this affects

  • understanding
  • confidence
  • independence
  • participation in activities

Common mistake

Relying on written explanations and assuming that silence means understanding

Designing for time constraints

Practical strategies

  • keep sessions short and modular
  • prioritise essential outcomes over coverage
  • produce one usable output per session
  • provide simple summaries or recap notes
  • structure sessions so participants can miss one part without losing everything
  • begin with a quick recap and end with one clear next step
  • reduce optional extras if they compete with core learning
  • build catch-up opportunities into the design
  • focus on minimum viable learning rather than perfect completeness
Click to read more...

When this matters

  • participants have limited time
  • participants balance training with work, caregiving, or other responsibilities
  • attendance may be irregular
  • there is not enough time to cover everything you would like to include

What this affects

  • retention
  • completion
  • continuity between sessions
  • whether participants leave with something usable

Common mistake

Trying to cover too much content and leaving participants with fragmented understanding

Designing for inclusion and participation

Practical strategies

  • use small groups
  • structure turn-taking rather than relying on open discussion
  • assign roles in group work
  • include silent reflection before discussion
  • allow contributions in different formats, such as speaking, writing, or drawing
  • build in moments where each person has a defined opportunity to contribute
  • watch participation patterns and rebalance if needed
  • use prompts that invite experience, not just “correct” answers
  • make it clear that different kinds of knowledge are valuable
Click to read more...

When this matters

  • participation is uneven
  • some voices dominate while others stay quiet
  • power dynamics affect who speaks, contributes, or is heard
  • gender, age, status, confidence, or language shape participation

What this affects

  • engagement
  • learning
  • whose knowledge is surfaced
  • who feels the training is for them

Common mistake

Assuming equal participation will happen naturally without designing for it

Designing for language barriers

Practical strategies

  • use local languages where possible
  • translate key concepts and terms, not only full materials
  • use visuals, demonstrations, and examples to reduce language load
  • allow group discussion in shared languages
  • encourage participants to explain ideas in their own words
  • simplify the language of instructions without oversimplifying the ideas
  • check meaning, not just whether participants recognise the words
  • create glossaries for essential terms where useful
  • avoid assuming that translation alone solves comprehension
Click to read more...

When this matters

  • participants are not fluent in the training language
  • technical terms do not translate easily
  • multiple languages are present in the group
  • language barriers affect understanding, confidence, or participation

What this affects

  • understanding
  • participation
  • confidence
  • ability to apply learning correctly

Common mistake

Assuming that providing translated materials is enough for full understanding and participation

Designing for real-world application

Practical strategies

  • use real scenarios, problems, or cases from participants’ context
  • design for real decisions participants actually face
  • include action planning
  • ask participants to bring real examples or problems into the session
  • build activities around the conditions in which the work will really happen
  • identify what participants will do differently after training
  • make room for testing, adapting, and troubleshooting during the session
  • focus on transfer: how this idea moves from the training room into practice
  • follow up on what participants tried, not only what they learned
Click to read more...

When this matters

  • training must lead to action
  • participants need to use what they learn in their own context
  • the value of the training depends on whether people can apply it afterwards

What this affects

  • impact
  • retention
  • motivation
  • whether learning is seen as worthwhile

Common mistake

Keeping training abstract or assuming that participants will work out application on their own later

Designing with intermediaries (train-the-trainer)

Practical strategies

  • include practice teaching during the training
  • provide facilitation guides, not just participant materials
  • simplify materials so others can reuse them
  • distinguish clearly between what must stay the same and what can be adapted
  • ask participants to adapt an activity for their own audience
  • include common facilitation challenges and how to handle them
  • provide short scripts, prompts, or step-by-step activity notes where useful
  • focus on helping participants teach with confidence, not just understand content
Click to read more...

When this matters

  • participants will train others
  • impact depends on knowledge being passed on
  • your primary learners are facilitators, peer educators, community workers, or local leaders
  • the original training will not reach everyone directly

What this affects

  • scale
  • sustainability
  • consistency
  • whether the approach can travel beyond one event

Common mistake

Assuming participants can teach others effectively just because they understood the content themselves

Designing for reuse and scale

Practical strategies

  • create modular materials that can be lifted and reused in parts
  • allow adaptation rather than locking everything into one format
  • provide editable files, not just fixed outputs
  • make clear what is context-specific and what is transferable
  • include notes for future facilitators or adapters
  • show examples of how something could be adapted for a different audience
  • keep formats simple enough to be reused in low-resource settings
  • document assumptions that shaped the original design
Click to read more...

When this matters

  • training will be reused
  • materials need to travel across contexts
  • others may adapt the training later
  • the value of the work depends partly on wider uptake

What this affects

  • scalability
  • quality of reuse
  • consistency
  • long-term usefulness

Common mistake

Designing for one context only and assuming others will know how to adapt the materials later

Designing for imposter syndrome

Practical strategies

  • normalise learning, uncertainty, and not knowing
  • start simple and build early success
  • highlight existing knowledge and lived experience
  • use peer work to reduce pressure on individuals
  • make room for questions without attaching shame to them
  • frame mistakes as part of learning, not evidence of failure
  • use examples of people like the participants successfully doing the work
  • avoid overloading people with expert language at the start
  • recognise progress explicitly, especially early on
Click to read more...

When this matters

  • participants lack confidence
  • participants feel they are not qualified to be there
  • participants hesitate to try, ask questions, or take up space
  • people compare themselves negatively to others in the group

What this affects

  • participation
  • confidence
  • willingness to apply learning
  • how much people benefit from the training

Facilitator practices

  • avoid acting as though competence should already be in place
  • reinforce that the training is for learning, not for proving ability
  • notice when silence may be about confidence rather than understanding
  • respond to uncertainty with encouragement and clarity, not speed

Common mistake

Assuming silence means understanding, confidence, or readiness

Designing for low decision-making power-agency

Practical strategies

  • focus on small actions participants can actually take
  • map influence pathways rather than assuming direct authority
  • distinguish between what participants control, influence, and cannot change
  • design activities around realistic spheres of action
  • include practice in communicating ideas upward, outward, or across teams
  • help participants identify allies, gatekeepers, and decision-makers
  • build strategies for working through existing structures, not around them
  • recognise advocacy, persuasion, and coordination as valid training outcomes
  • avoid framing success only as direct implementation
Click to read more...

When this matters

  • participants cannot make decisions directly
  • participants work within institutional, social, or political constraints
  • learners are expected to act, but do not control resources, approval, or implementation
  • participants can influence outcomes only indirectly

What this affects

  • application
  • motivation
  • sustainability
  • whether participants feel the training is realistic

Quick diagnostic

You may have an agency problem if: - participants say “this is useful, but I cannot decide that” - learners understand the content but do not see how they can act on it - proposed actions depend on people who are not in the room

Common mistake

Assuming full autonomy and designing as if participants can simply decide to act

Designing for limited confidence to speak up

Practical strategies

  • structure participation rather than relying on open discussion
  • use small groups
  • include silent reflection before asking for spoken input
  • allow written or drawn responses before verbal sharing
  • give people time to think before expecting immediate contribution
  • use prompts that ask for experience, not only “right answers”
  • invite contributions in rounds so everyone has a defined chance to speak
  • validate partial contributions instead of rewarding only polished responses
Click to read more...

When this matters

  • participants are silent
  • some people speak while others hold back
  • participants have ideas but do not feel comfortable voicing them
  • speaking in the group carries social risk

What this affects

  • engagement
  • peer learning
  • whose knowledge becomes visible
  • whether quieter participants shape the training

Facilitator practices

  • do not equate speed with confidence or competence
  • avoid letting the same people answer first every time
  • create space without forcing disclosure or performance
  • notice whether silence is about confidence, power, language, or trust

Common mistake

Relying on open discussion and then interpreting silence as lack of interest or lack of knowledge

Designing for lack of trust in the system

Practical strategies

  • start with participants’ lived experiences before introducing new concepts
  • ask participants what has and has not worked in their context
  • use local examples and evidence rather than external case studies
  • demonstrate value early through a small, practical win
  • be explicit about what the training can and cannot change
  • avoid making promises about impact you cannot guarantee
  • involve trusted local intermediaries, such as peer facilitators or community leaders
  • co-create parts of the training with participants instead of delivering everything pre-designed
  • make processes visible, including how data is collected, used, and shared
  • allow participants to question, challenge, and adapt the approach
Click to read more...

When this matters

  • participants are sceptical of institutions, data, or external interventions
  • previous programmes or actors have failed or caused harm
  • participants question whether training will lead to real change

What this affects

  • willingness to engage
  • openness in discussion
  • uptake of tools or approaches
  • long-term application

Facilitator practices

  • acknowledge uncertainty and limitations openly
  • avoid positioning yourself as the sole expert
  • listen actively and reflect concerns back
  • respond to scepticism with curiosity, not defensiveness
  • build trust through consistency between what you say and what you do

Quick diagnostic

You may have a trust problem if: - participants are quiet but not disengaged - participants say “this won’t work here” - participants avoid using tools after training - questions focus more on risks than possibilities

Example

Instead of: Starting with external frameworks or tools

Use: - begin with “What has worked here before?” - map local practices and knowledge - introduce new approaches as extensions, not replacements - test one small, visible application during training

Common mistake

Trying to build trust through authority or promises instead of relevance, transparency, and consistency