I love the status by Post It Notes. Definitely going to do this in the future.

My experience lies in "quick start" technical training, largely centered on CAD software for engineers. They are generally a tough crowd, and they demonstrate many of the behaviors mentioned in this great piece.

Over time, I also centered in on not having a follow along. It just never works! People are too diverse in their skills and how they process information. Plus, there are the ones who are able to follow me perfectly, but don't seem to catch the concepts at the same time. I see them rushing through bits here and there attempting to get it their way, or at their own pace.

There are a few things I would add to this method:

1. Play foot ball coach. There is this task ahead, and it's the documented one. Show 'em the highlights and talk through "the play", setting expectations and putting them on watch for a few "gotchas" they may experience. Don't do the whole thing. Just the highlights as a mixed mode, lecture for concepts, quick demo to actualize key things they want to know. Leave the easy stuff to their own self-discovery.

2. This one may be a bit controversial, but I've had awesome results with it.

Prepare to leave the room. You will actually leave for a few minutes too. Setup a simple problem for them to solve, and lecture through the bits they need to solve it. Provide documentation on those same bits.

Just prior to leaving, tell them why and that you will be right back in 10 minutes or so.

The reason you are leaving is to get them to question. In fact, the more they question, the better it will be when you return! Instruct them to write their questions down, or queue them however they want to, and to talk among themselves, and finally, that you will demonstrate one or more solutions to the little problem they are about to attempt.

If they attempt it and have success, that's great. If they attempt it and fail, those questions are exactly the ones they need answers to, and the best way to get at them is to actualize the struggle well enough for them to pose them meaningfully.

Then just leave. It doesn't have to be long, nor should it.

Be sure and return while they are still supposed to be working. You can hand out a little help individually, and or share experiences with some of the students who did see success and are choosing to do the same.

When the time is up, it's up.

Direct their attention to your part of the room, and walk through the solutions. This will generally be an interactive experience, filled with their comments, questions, comparisons and contrasts of solution methods, etc...

Then grant them a little more time to take one of those solutions and solve with it. The ones who didn't have success will likely get some, and those that did will explore a different solution.

3. Take time to lecture on some of the best practices, and the why and how behind how things are. These can be very informative and helpful sessions. Often, there are ways to think, and there are the ways the software or system creators think. Understanding both of those can really help with intuitive discovery and solution finding.

In these, the basic ideas behind whatever it is get put into context, case studies, work experience stories, whatever makes sense.

4. Free time allowance.

Each day, make sure there is some unstructured time. People often want to explore something they discovered in class, or they just didn't have success with one or more of the lessons and concepts.

This allowance of time is for closure that day. They can get some remedial help to get past a problem area, or they can free style and apply what they learned, etc...

If appropriate, allocate a larger block of this time near the end of the course and encourage them to bring problems to class. Everyone collaborates, shares and builds, or writes, or whatever it is with you facilitating productive activity.

I have found these things to be extremely helpful and productive in adult learning scenarios of various kinds.