To improve in anything, you must first understand where you are excelling and where you are falling short. This mantra is especially true for your corporate training programs.

Conducting post-training surveys is the best way to stay informed about the success and failures of your training efforts. By collecting feedback from your participants you can

• Evaluate the effectiveness of your training

• Make improvements in the training program

• And plan efficiently for the future training programs

Post-training surveys help to,

• Enhance your training

• Ensure that the training fulfills its goals

• Ensure that you get value for the money you’ve invested

But post-training surveys are only as good as the questions they contain.

So in this post, we’ll show you how to write effective post-training survey questions. We will show you the best examples and types of questions from which you can draw inspiration.

Questions to measure the trainees’ experience with the training program

1. Please rate the training program on a scale of 1-10

Why ask this question: This helps you to understand the overall satisfaction level of your trainees with your training program

2. During the program, I came across a lot of new ideas, which are useful to me.

• Strongly agree

• Agree

• Neutral

• Disagree

• Strongly disagree

Why ask this question: To understand if your trainees were introduced to any valuable and beneficial new ideas during the training. By getting exposed to new ideas or skills that they never knew before, your trainees tend to see value in your training programs.

3. The program was well structured and sufficient time was allocated for each subject/session.

• Strongly agree

• Agree

• Neutral

• Disagree

• Strongly disagree

Why ask this question: To understand if your trainees are happy with the structure of the training program and the time allotted to train them on each subject.

4. Were the learning objectives clearly defined before the course began and throughout the length of the course?

Why ask this question: It is crucial for the trainees to clearly understand the main objective/s of the training before getting started with it. Also, they need to keep this objective in mind throughout the training and make efforts towards acquiring knowledge to achieve that objective.

For example, if it’s a new product launch training then the trainees need to focus on acquiring the new product knowledge and sharpen their new product selling skills

5. Did the training meet all your expectations?

• Yes

• No

(If no please explain what we have missed)

Why ask this question: Your trainees see value in your training program only when all their expectations are met. So ask this question to ensure that your training program has met all the expectations of your trainees. This helps in effectively engaging the trainees in their training.

6. What did you like the most about the training?

• Content

• Instructor’s knowledge

• Delivery by the instructor

• Structure of the training program

• Examples provided

• Interactivity

• Game sessions

Why ask this question: To understand what your trainees see as the highlight of the training program. Once you know this, you can implement more of it in your training sessions to make it appealing for your trainees.

7. Is there anything that we could change or improve in the training?

Why ask this question: Understand what improvements do your trainees want to see in your training program

Questions on the structure and execution of the training program

8. Were the training sessions interactive?

Why ask this question: In a training scenario, your trainees are equivalent to the computer monitors (not literally). What I mean to say is that if you go for more than 5 minutes without interactivity it puts them in sleep mode. To avoid this, the instructor needs to encourage interaction in between the training sessions.

So ask this question to ensure that the training was carried out in an interactive way.

9. Was the training well-organized and well-run? If no, please explain why?

Why ask this question: With this question, you can understand if you have been successful in perfectly organizing and running the training program or have you missed anything unknowingly

10. Did the training move at a steady pace?

Why ask this question: If your training is too fast, the trainees would have difficulty catching up. On the other hand, if it is too slow, it would drive them to boredom and ultimately get them disengaged and disinterested. So, ask this question to make sure that your training is moving at an appropriate pace.

11. Was the training relevant to your job? If yes, how do you think you can practically use it in your job?

Why ask this question: Find out if the trainees felt that the training they received is relevant to their job. If yes, find out how do they think they can use the new knowledge and skills that have gained to do better jobs

12. Did you feel you had sufficient time and appropriate resources to complete the training?

Why ask this question: Find out if the time allotted for the training was sufficient and convenient for the trainees. And if they had all the resources that they need to successfully complete the training.

13. On a scale of 1-5, please rate the collaborative working opportunities of the training

Why ask this question: The trainees tend to learn better from their colleagues than from an instructor. So it is important to encourage collaboration and peer-to-peer learning activities in the training sessions. So ask this question and gauge to what extent was collaboration encouraged and implemented in the training.

Questions on the instructor

14. How engaging was the instructor?

• Very Engaging

• Somewhat Engaging

• Not engaging at all

Why ask this question: With this question, you can understand if the instructor delivered the training in an interesting and engaging manner

15. Did the instructor take your questions/ doubts in between the training session and has given answers patiently?

• Yes

• No

Why ask this question: To know if the instructor carried out an interactive training session and addressed the doubts of the trainees

16. Was the instructor friendly, approachable, and supportive?

• Yes

• No

Why ask this question: The instructor plays a major role to ensure that the trainees learn efficiently. So, ask this question to find out if the instructor was friendly, approachable, and supportive towards the trainees.

Questions on the Training Content

17. On a scale of 1-5, rate the quality of the training content

Why ask this question: Understand what your trainees think of the quality of the training content

18. Was the overall training content interesting, engaging, and up to your expectations?

• Yes

• No

Why ask this question: Content is the king in training as well. Your training content needs to be interesting, engaging, and up-to the expectations of your audience. This ensures that your audience stays engaged and interested throughout the training.

So ask this question to find out if your trainees think that your training content is engaging and interesting enough for them.

19. Did you find the content easy to understand?

Why ask this question: This is to ensure that your training content is crisp, intuitive and easy to understand for the trainees.

20. Was there any content you were expecting but was missing? If so, please elaborate.

Why ask this question: To understand if you have missed any content anywhere

21. Which of the following multimedia used in the training is your favorite?

• Images

• Storyboards

• Infographics

• PPTs

• Short videos

Why ask this question: To learn in what format do your trainees prefer to view their training content.

22. In what ways can we improve the multimedia used in this training? Please explain.

Why ask this question: With this question, you can learn how to improve the multimedia that you use in the training.

23. What additional topics you wish were covered in this training session?

Why ask this question: Find out if your trainees were expecting any topic to be covered in the training which you did not cover

Questions on knowledge

24. Did you learn everything that was laid out in the learning objectives of the training program?

Why ask this question: Find out if all the learning objectives of your training program have been achieved.

25. Did you learn something new? What did you learn?

Why ask this question: Your trainees will see value in your training programs only when they get to improve their skills or learn something new from it. So, find out if they have learned anything new from the training and what have they learned.

26. How competent and prepared do you feel with regards to this knowledge?

• Very confident

• Somewhat confident

• Not confident

Why ask this question: Find out if your trainees feel competent and confident about the knowledge they have gained in the training

27. Do you feel confident about efficiently using the knowledge and skills that you have acquired in the training in your job?

Why ask this question: Know if your trainees are confident that they can practically implement their knowledge and skills in their job

Questions on Knowledge Reinforcement

28. Do you believe that continuous learning is beneficial and helps in retaining knowledge?

• Yes

• No

Why ask this question: Ask this question to find out if your trainees see value in continuous learning and are keen on acquiring knowledge continuously

29. Are you receiving regular knowledge reinforcements? If yes, how often do you receive them?

Why ask this question: It’s crucial to regularly send knowledge reinforcements to the trainees so as to drive top-of-the-mind knowledge recall amongst them. So ask this question to find out if your trainees are receiving knowledge reinforcements on crucial training topics regularly

30. Do you regularly take quiz tests? How often does a quiz test get assigned to you?

Why ask this question: Quizzes are a crucial part of reinforcing knowledge. By taking assessments regularly, your trainees will be able to recall crucial information and you will be able to gauge their knowledge retention. So, ask this question to ensure that quiz tests are getting assigned to them and they are taking those tests regularly.

31. Do you have suggestions on how we can improve reinforcing knowledge?

Why ask this question: Your trainees are the best people to tell you what is working and what isn’t working for them in knowledge reinforcements. So, take their suggestions and make improvements

A Summary of all the Post-training Survey Questions

Want to conduct a pre-training survey for your sales team before they begin their new product launch training?

Survey Questions to ask your Sales Team before a New Product Launch Training