Participants were also asked their preferred training session length for each topic, and their responses directly correlated to their interests: the greater the interest respondents had in a topic, the more time they thought should be allocated to the training topic. Overall, participants preferred relatively short trainings, giving the greatest preference to trainings between 1 and 2 hours (42%).
Figure 6. Correlation Between Training Interest and Desired Training Length
Correlation - Training Interest and Desired Training Length
4.00
Navigating federal, state, local regulations
3.50
Writing product specfications
3.00
Procurement forecasting
Advertising RFPs/IFBs
Optimizing procurement cycle times
2.50
Managing vendor relationships and pitches
2.00
1.50
1.00
1.50
1.70
1.90
2.10
2.30
2.50
2.70
Average Interest Level (3=High, 2=Moderate, 1=Low, 0=None)
Large SFAs (>20,000 students) and school business officials had the greatest interest in training on navigating regulations, and small SFAs (<1,000 students) and administrators the least. Large SFAs were more interested in optimizing procurement cycle times than smaller SFAs. Fittingly, respondents who named lack of alignment between local, state, and federal procurement rules as their top challenge were 12% more likely to name navigating state, federal, and local regulations as their most preferred training topic. Elements of Successful Trainings Respondents were asked which training elements were most important to them (such as instructors and tools), their desired training format, and who should deliver training. Respondents preferred concrete tools and resources, with 57% ranking this as their first or second choice, followed by the dedicated capacity, expertise, and skillset of instructors (42%), to other training elements, such as the chance to work on an applied project, the credibility of the organization, and the opportunity to connect with peers. Nearly half (49%) of respondents preferred live trainings and 26% preferred virtual trainings. Only 11% preferred online self-study courses, 9% pre-recorded content, and 6% static documents or workbooks.
19 Procuring Good Food at School: From Contracts to Lunch Trays |
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