These words are music to most learning specialist’s ears. Unfortunately, they’re not always easy to implement.
Most workplaces lack an essential ingredient to support these types of initiatives: an internal trainers community.
Building a structured group of trainers within your organization can facilitate skill development, improve collaboration, and create a better learning culture.
Let’s look at how to achieve it.
What is an internal trainers’ community?
An internal trainers’ community is a structured group within an organization, made up of employees who hold a training role. These trainers are responsible for facilitating learning and development activities for their colleagues.
The trainer community leverages employees' existing knowledge, skills, and experiences to enhance the organization's overall learning culture and improve employee performance.
Setting up a trainers’ community can be an easy or a tough sell, depending on your company culture.
If your organization is learning-driven, you’ll probably only need to give some high-level information about the value this initiative can offer.
If not, you may need to develop an entire pitch to present the idea to the top decision-makers. Use what you know about your company's mindset to decide how much work your initial pitch needs.
Here are the key steps to getting buy-in.
Step 1: Be clear about the problems you’re trying to solve
The easiest way to get buy-in is to be clear about the issues you’re trying to tackle. It’s a simple theory, but it can be challenging to execute.
Start by categorizing the problems an internal trainers’ community can solve:
Once you’ve done this, break the problems down even further by explaining them both qualitatively and quantitatively:
Qualitatively - sharing feedback quotes from exit interviews
Quantitatively - presenting data from engagement or exit surveys
Step 2: Be clear about the benefits the organization should be expecting
Just like the problem, you should also explain the benefits both qualitatively and quantitatively. Giving your organization clear and qualified data on how this initiative will improve the business plays a significant role in getting stakeholders on board.
Here are examples of what kind of data points you can pull from:
Qualitatively - use testimonials from previous internal trainers
Quantitatively - look at clear KPIs, such as scores for specific engagement questions
No matter whether your company is fully on board or showing signs of resistance, it’s always a smart idea to make a list of potential benefits. That way, you can manage expectations.
Here’s a list of the main benefits to get you started:
Standardizes training quality across the organization, aligning it with organizational goals
Promotes knowledge sharing so essential expertise is spread across the business
Creates internal SMEs and reduces the need for external trainers (which is a long-term cost saving)
Drives organizational performance by providing more effective training programs
Builds a culture of recognition and visibility among employees
Provides employees with more professional development opportunities to boost overall employee engagement
Fosters a culture of lifelong learning within the business (encouraging employees to take ownership of their professional development journey)
Drives down the learning budget by focusing on internal knowledge sharing
Step 3: Be transparent about the investment required
As with any learning initiative, creating an internal trainers’ community requires an initial investment. There’s no use sugarcoating this fact with your stakeholders. Instead, be transparent about the expected costs.
When calculating the total investment, consider these different buckets of costs:
Cost of opportunity
Go deep when calculating your costs, making sure to account for everything. For example, you should factor in the salaries of internal trainers. After all, the company is still paying them, and instead of doing their actual jobs, they’re delivering training.
Operational costs
Calculate a list of how much your community operations will cost, factoring in the price of tools, creating materials, and other administrative costs. You may also need to consider the additional expense of running events or workshops - like renting a space.
Other costs
Create a bucket for other often-overlooked costs associated with the initiative—for instance, incentives or gifts for trainers.
Step 4: Give stakeholders regular updates on community activity
Communication plays a pivotal role in winning (and maintaining) stakeholder buy-in. This is where a solid internal comms strategy comes into play.
You should send regular updates to important stakeholders on your progress, results, and lessons learned. A one-pager with the key details works best.
For best results with your comms strategy, take time to identify:
How often stakeholders like to receive communication - Do they want weekly or monthly updates? Or just looped in when there’s an important change?
What channels stakeholders prefer to receive communication on - Do they prefer an email? A Slack message? A catchup meeting?
What type of communication they prefer - Do they want a detailed report? A quick overview? Data visualizations?
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Misconceptions about creating an internal trainers’ community
It’s time for some real talk. Let’s debunk eight common myths about building an internal trainers’ community in your organization.
Myth 1: It’s a “one-and-done” job
Many L&D teams think they can just send a message to the entire company announcing an internal trainer opportunity, and the job is done.
There’s a little more to it than that.
Actually building a community takes time and effort. But the payoff is worth it.
I recommend these resources to help you set up and nurture your community.
This is a framework to help you build, run, and evaluate your trainer’s community. It starts with three fundamental themes to help you ask the right questions:
Identity - these questions focus on beliefs (all strong communities have a clear understanding of who they are and why they exist)
Experience - these questions explore what happens in the community and how its purpose translates into tangible value for its members
Structure - these questions look at the operational factors of running a community and how it maintains stability
The Orbit Model is designed to build “high-gravity” communities that excel at attracting and retaining members thanks to exceptional member experience.
The model comes from software development, but the principles translate to all kinds of communities.
It can help you get answers to critical questions, including:
How to measure community engagement and growth
How to attract new people to my community
Which members to prioritize spending time with
What contribution to ask each community member to make
This playbook shows you how to run and develop communities of practice in your organization. It’s a science-backed framework that offers step-by-step guidance, best practices, and interactive visual boards for co-creating your community roadmap.
It covers the eight facets of success:
A strong vision (that can be translated into SMART objectives)
A solid governance framework (including stakeholder and decision-making structures)
A core group of leaders to co-own and steer the community
Convening regularly and through meaningful activities
Active collaboration and cooperation
Systematic community management (both async and sync)
The Get Together framework by People & Company offers a nine-step process for developing your community-building plan.
It also creates a visual way to identify gaps in how you’re trying to bring your internal trainers’ community together.
Myth 2: It’s the L&D team's community
Let’s be clear about something. It’s the employees’ community, not the L&D team’s. Understanding and communicating this from the very beginning is crucial if you expect employees to drive the initiative and take ownership.
Be sure to clarify that the L&D team should be less present in the community as time goes by. Sure, you’ll be heavily involved in the beginning to get the initiative off the ground, but the community members are the owners.
This lines up with Github’s Orbit Model (mentioned earlier). It’s made up of four main concepts:
Gravity - how quickly member involvement is changing in the community
Love - how involved each individual member is in the community
Reach - an individual member's sphere of influence and how visible and connected they are within the community
Impact - the outcomes of community operations
Successful (or high-gravity) communities are made up of core contributors that drive and maintain the group. But they also rely on active community members who contribute regularly and newcomers.
As you can see, this model emphasizes the need for a community-owned and led group.
Myth 3: It’s the organization’s community
Another risky mindset is to believe that the community belongs to your organization. The reason behind this is simple. When we think of it as the organization’s community, we naturally communicate the organizational benefits more than those for the members.
The result is alienating members because they can’t see what’s in it for them. They’re also less likely to take ownership of driving the community forward without the L&D team’s intervention.
Myth 4: We should do it for the whole company
Another common misconception is that the community should be for the entire company right from the start. I think this is a risky mindset.
Why? Because some departments might be more prepared than others for the initiative.
Instead, I suggest taking an iterative approach to ensure higher engagement.
This ties in closely with the adoption curve model.
If you’re unfamiliar with the adoption curve model, it’s a graphical representation of how people adopt a new product or idea over time. It’s usually an S-curve because people adopt new ideas at different rates based on factors like personality and social relationships.
As L&Ds, we should always keep the adoption curve model in mind.
That means always starting with early adopters and using them as champions later in the process to expand the community across other departments.
Myth 5: We should have a big community
In marketing, they talk about “vanity metrics”. You know, having a lot of impressions on your posts, but very few people actually engaging with your content. Or a huge newsletter list that nobody ever opens.
The myth that “bigger is always better” haunts more than just marketers. It can also cloud the judgment of learning specialists.
I recommend starting small. A small but engaged community will be much more valuable than a large group of individuals who never contribute.
Myth 6: Participation should be mandatory
As L&Ds, we understand the value of an internal trainers’ community more than anybody. And because of this, we can get pushy.
This is a mistake.
If your community is going to thrive long-term, employees need to be able to choose if they want to participate (or not). Forcing their hand will only create a disengaged community that will quickly run out of steam.
Instead, encourage colleagues to join by showing them the benefits and encouraging them to co-create and co-run the initiative.
Myth 7: There’s no need to document the community activity
One of the big catalysts behind knowledge-sharing initiatives is to keep critical information in the business when colleagues leave the company. The same goes for the trainers’ community.
If you don’t document community activity, you run the risk of losing key knowledge. You could also stall community activity.
It’s inevitable that members of your organization will leave the company (or the community). So, I recommend documenting all community activities in a centralized hub. That includes:
Recordings of sessions
Community roles
Shared resources
Community processes and workflows
Important communication
Myth 8: Trainers already know what they need to do and how to do it
Don’t assume that your trainers automatically know what they need to do. Or that they know how to organize impactful learning experiences. This assumption can hurt your initiative and lead to a lack of participation.
If that’s the case, this lack of knowledge could stop them from contributing effectively.
If we’re going to make any assumptions, let’s assume that they need our support as L&Ds to convert their expertise into explicit knowledge for their colleagues.
We should work with them to share techniques on what makes an effective learning initiative and how they can turn their knowledge into a training program.
Running an internal trainers’ community
When you run a marathon, they say the first and last stretches are the hardest. Setting up an internal trainers’ community is similar.
Knowing where to start can be a big hurdle. But once you have a process in place, you’ll quickly gather momentum.
Here are my tips for running an effective trainers’ community.
1. Where to start when there’s nothing in place
If the first step is proving challenging for you, I suggest starting by putting out feelers to gauge interest. Once you’ve gathered some intel, follow the steps below.
Make a list of interested volunteers
Speak to your colleagues to identify volunteers who are interested in the initiative. Once you have a list of volunteers, set up a session together.
Hold a kick-off session
Set up a collaborative session with all the volunteers to determine the community’s:
Vision
Mission
Purpose
Roles
Activities
Processes
Rituals
There’s a lot to cover, so you may want to hold several shorter sessions.
Use a liberating structure to guide the session
Even with a small group, this kind of collaborative session can quickly go off track. I recommend using the 1-2-4-All framework to structure discussions, encourage equal participation and manage your time efficiently.
If you’re unfamiliar with the framework, here’s how it works:
Participants spend 1 minute silently reflecting on a topic or questions (noting down their thoughts)
Members pair up to share their ideas and spend 2 minutes building on each other’s opinions
Participants get into groups of 4 for 4 minutes to ****share their ideas and identify common themes or solutions
Each foursome shares their findings with all of the participants
A framework like this ensures all your volunteers own their ideas and get involved in solution-finding.
2. How to set up the roles of the community
According to Github’s orbit model, assigning roles isn’t necessary, but it is valuable. Especially for larger or more complex communities.
Assigning roles makes sense in an internal trainers’ community, but they should be volunteer-based. You also need to remain flexible, acknowledging that new roles will emerge as your community grows.
Following the Orbit Model, members are assigned roles according to the jobs they do in the community (or what we need them to do). They’re a great way to “increase love” because they offer clear paths up the commitment curve.
As L&Ds, we know people like to know what they’re supposed to do and when.
Here’s how that might initially look in your trainers’ community:
Core contributors who drive and maintain the community
Active community members who contribute regularly (orbiters)
Newcomers who are just beginning to contribute to the group
Be prepared for roles to change as your community evolves.
Community rituals are shared actions or traditions that hold special meaning for a group of people, bringing them together and strengthening their bonds. They give every member a sense of belonging.
The Guild makes an important distinction between rituals and habits. Rituals are based on habits, but they’re a collective activity.
Examples
Regular rituals can keep your community engaged and cohesive. Here are some examples to try:
Regular “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) sessions
Virtual or in-person social meetups
Monthly member spotlights
Regular roundups of community achievements
A space to celebrate community milestones (e.g., reaching 200 members)
Regular polls
A space to share updates on current projects or focus areas
Discussion forums to share ideas and deep-dive topics
4. How onboarding acts as a main community ritual
One community ritual is often overlooked - onboarding. How you onboard members into the community sets the foundations for its long-term success.
As a result, it’s the most important community ritual to get right. When planning your onboarding, think about the collective habits you want to build.
What core practices do you want to set up?
How will they help you achieve your shared purpose?
What types of gatherings will bond your community and help you learn together?
The answers to these questions will steer your onboarding process, helping you create meaningful and engaging community rituals.
The role of the L&D team in running an internal trainers’ community
Do you remember earlier in this guide when we said that the community doesn’t belong to the L&D team? That’s still true.
As L&Ds, our support will be pivotal to the trainer community’s success. But where do you fit into the equation?
Here’s how your role should look.
Guide the initial co-creation of the community
You will act as the North Star for the community during the initial co-creation phase, using your knowledge to set the ground rules and keep the initiative on track.
That will include driving the following activities:
Conducting initial research
Identifying volunteers and core community members
Getting stakeholder buy-in
Calculating the overall cost of setting up and running the community
As learning specialists, we do our fair share of facilitating sessions. So, it makes sense for us to assume this role during community brainstorming sessions and decision-making discussions.
You’ll use facilitation skills to set ground rules and structure the sessions using brainstorming techniques. Here are some examples:
Mind mapping - start with a central topic and build ideas from there
Starbursting method - ask a series of Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How questions
Round Robin - divide your community into small groups and have them pass their idea to their teammate, who must either build upon or counter it
Reverse brainstorming - give the community a problem and ask how they can create this problem or agitate it
Offer the resources the community needs
As L&Ds, we’ll take on the role of listening to community needs and providing resources (where we can). That may be training, help with communication, offering tools, or hosting workshops.
Our role is a supportive one, which means we need to understand the challenges community members are facing.
Market the activity of the community to create internal & external buzz
Learning specialists wear many hats, including a “pro marketer” one. We know how to build a communication strategy to create buzz and how to promote L&D activities both internally and externally.
The community will need this expertise.
You can (and should) support members in creating a marketing plan to generate interest in the community and celebrate achievements. Share your tactics and engage with community communications to boost awareness across the organization (and beyond).
Celebrate active members to showcase desired behaviors and make them feel valued
The internal trainers’ community is a space that encourages members to take ownership. But it may take time for members to understand what the desired behaviors are and how to assimilate them.
In the beginning, your L&D team may need to step in and publicly recognize members who showcase the desired behaviors.
Let’s say a member drives a new activity or takes ownership of a community ritual. This is a perfect opportunity to shine a spotlight and celebrate their actions, at the same time highlighting the desired behaviors.
Other members will see this public praise and follow suit. And thanks to the affirmative recognition, the original team member is more likely to make this behavior a habit.
A six-step process of launching an internal trainers’ community
Now, let’s put that all together. Here’s the six-step process to successfully implement an internal trainers community in your organization.
Step 1: Pitch your idea with as many details as you need
Step 2: Launch the initiative in a small group
Step 3: Meet to discuss the operational model of the community (purpose, roles, rituals)
Step 4: Start running the community based on the operational model discussed with your members
Step 5: Market the community’s activity and showcase ROI to stakeholders
Step 6: Continuously onboard and offboard community members
The benefits of setting up an internal trainers community are sizable for the individual members and your organization. That said, this is not a one-and-done activity. It requires a solid strategy, clear communication, and expectation management.
The best practices in this guide can help you build and nurture a long-lasting community of trainers, that everyone in the business can benefit from.
IOANA GÖZ
Co-Founder & Learning Architect @Offbeat
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