05 Mar

“I know all of this already…”

ID-100139665“The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance – it is the illusion of knowledge.” – Daniel J Boorstin

From time to time when we run a training event, a coaching discussion or a group coaching session, we will hear someone say “I know this already”, “I’ve covered it previously in my career”, “I’ve done a lot of this before” or any number of variations on this theme. As soon as we hear such statements, there are small alarm bells going off in our heads.

These alarm bells come from years of experience in learning environments – 9 times out of 10 when we hear these comments we know that this person might just be the participant who needs the content/learning the most.

Really? Yes, really. The bells are picking up on two elements of concern:

  1. There might be a hidden reason for making such a statement
  2. Their mind-set might be limiting their opportunities

Firstly, let’s look at possible reasons that people say “I know it already”. We have no doubt that people who make these comments have indeed participated in training or workshops on the topic at hand, yet they usually don’t tell us this just so we know – there’s almost always an underlying, sometimes unconscious reason for them telling us. Some possible deeper reasons might include one or more of the following.

They:

  • believe that they do know all of the detail and there is nothing more they need to know
  • truly believe they are applying these skills already
  • want to be acknowledged for their experience
  • think we should ask them to share in the session – for the group’s benefit
  • have heard it before and don’t want to sit through it again
  • have too much work on and would love to get out of the session
  • don’t like learning in a ‘classroom’ environment
  • are actually a bit insecure about their skills and don’t want to be put in a position where they may not be the expert
  • are an experienced manager/employee and  don’t want others to think they need to learn more (see also point above)
  • have had a bad experience at a previous learning event and are now wary of all trainers, facilitators and coaches

Some of the reasons above may have sounded very valid to you. So why do those alarm bells go off for us then? It’s because we are concerned that their perspective may be limiting their full potential.

Our concern comes from the following:

  • Knowing and doing are two very different things: people who say they know it already might know the theory, yet in reality they might not be putting it into practice
  • Openness to learning is a core leadership attribute: great leaders are always curious, always learning; even if they are knowledgeable, they know the benefit of refreshing their skills or hearing other people’s perspectives
  • Great leaders lead by example: attending a learning event has a secondary purpose of demonstrating to those you lead, collaborate with or manage that you see investing in development as important
  • Fear is self-limiting: fears of not getting it ‘right’ and of not being the expert can hold you back from beneficial growth and development. Successful people do not let such fears limit them – they know that facing your fears could be the best pathway to ongoing success
  • Refreshing is maintaining: if you really believe you will not learn anything new, then is there really any harm in refreshing on what you know to maintain your level of ability? Refreshing is maintaining

Happy ongoing learning!

engagingPOTENTIAL: training, team development, coaching

Specialising in working with managers to develop extraordinary teams!

© Engaging Potential Pty Ltd

30 Oct

Stop wasting money when training your team!

“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” – Benjamin Franklin

How many times have you sent your team members on training programs and afterwards wondered why you even bothered? Many managers feel frustrated when they allow their team to take time off work to be trained, then don’t see any results afterwards. It can often seem like a huge waste of time and money and many managers don’t realise a few simple actions might deliver better results.

Training can be mandated by head office, it can be suggested by the employee, it might be recommended by HR or you might identify a program that you believe will help a team member. Yet we are often ahead of ourselves – trying to find a solution before we’ve identified the problem or indeed that there is a problem in the first place! Or we might be ‘ticking an employee development box’, trying to keep an employee happy or even just getting them out of the office for a few days! So before you throw someone into a training program, make sure you have covered off a few basic steps. The tips below are no guarantee, although they should help you start to see better results for your investment.

1. Identify specific strengths and gaps

Take a few moments to write down what you see as the strengths and gaps (areas for development) for the individual. Be specific – don’t just say “good at their job” – identify what specifically it is that they do well or what specifically they could be doing better. For the developmental areas, consider what behaviours you would like to see if they had closed the gap in this area. Finally, prioritise developmental areas – their importance to the individual’s ability to do their job is a good starting point. After you have done this for your employee, it’s a great idea to have a conversation with them to see if you are on the same page – ask them what they think their strengths and development areas might be, then share your thoughts. This opens up constructive dialogue, helps raise their self-awareness, and by asking for their input, you are encouraging them to take responsibility. In these discussions, generally it is best to start with strengths as these are so important to acknowledge!

2. Determine cause of gaps: skill, knowledge, experience or capability

Areas for development have many different causes for each individual. Sometimes it is a skill that they are unfamiliar with, or it may be some background knowledge is missing. Perhaps they have not had the opportunity to demonstrate a skill. Or maybe they do not have the capability to close the gap in development – this might relate to emotional or intellectual intelligence, geographical location or other physical barriers. Of course, often the cause of the gap is an overlap of some of these aspects. Once you know the cause/s of a developmental gap, it will help you determine what might be needed from a learning program. As with point 1. above, and other points below, often this can be a joint discussion with the individual.

3. Understand how they like to learn

Different people learn differently. Take a moment to uncover how  your employee BEST learns. For example, do they learn through reading, discussions, role-plays, applying skills in the workplace, observing  others, and so on. Understanding this will help determine the type of training they might need and also the extra help they might benefit from to support any theoretical learning. And if you don’t know how they like to learn – ASK! Sometimes the way they like to learn will tie in with their strengths – for example, they might bring a very structured and detailed analysis to projects so their learning preference might be to read, take notes and structure the key concepts into memorable points before applying them to a specific task.

4. Identify learning opportunities and plan

Work with the employee to identify a learning plan for closing the gap. Based on their learning preferences, this might involve attending a training program or it may be more comprehensive, like being assigned a specific task, attending training to learn more about the skills required for the task, being coached by an expert in the area and getting feedback at key milestones of the project. Try to incorporate opportunities where they can enjoy and reinforce the learning through use of their strengths – for example, if they are excellent presenters, then have them present the key concepts of any training back to the team afterwards; if they are problem-solvers, ask them to identify areas of the business where the training concepts might improve systems and processes.

5. Reinforce the learning

Prior to beginning their learning plan, including any training sessions, meet with the employee and ask them what they hope to get out of the activities/training. By verbalising their thoughts, they are more likely to take responsibility – they are telling you what they want to learn, so they have to own it. And if they can’t think of anything, perhaps back to point one before you waste money and time! Of course, if you have expectations of their learning that they don’t identify, it’s a good idea to highlight these; they might include how you hope they will apply the skills post training. Then after the training program or learning activity, meet with the employee again to seek their feedback on how they found the learning and what they got out of it; also how they see themselves applying what they learnt back in their daily job. And make sure the learning is reinforced at regular intervals – through follow-up training, discussion, application and coaching, as appropriate. Without effective reinforcement, people will forget, not use effectively or not use at all what they have learnt. Your role as a manager is to help support this reinforcement in an ongoing fashion.

There is no guarantee that you will always get the maximum return on investment for any training that you provide for your employee. What you can do though is to support the learning process effectively to enable the right solution in the right way.

Happy training outcomes!

engagingPOTENTIAL: training, team development, coaching

Specialising in working with managers to develop extraordinary teams!

© Engaging Potential Pty Ltd

26 Aug

Coaching and training

“A little knowledge that acts is worth infinitely more than much knowledge that is idle”   – Kahlil Gibran

Many managers believe that people development is solved through training. What they often forget is that there are factors that influence how effectively the employee implements new skills after a training program. 

These factors include the individual’s desire for learning, their expectations of the training, the quality of the learning environment and other aspects beyond the classroom, such as stress at work or issues at home.

Here we focus on the role of the manager / coach in the effectiveness of skills transfer from training into the workplace.

There are three things a manager should do when their employee attends a skills training program:

  • Understand the employee’s perspective on the training BEFORE they attend – ‘What is your objective at this course?’, ‘What do you hope to get out of it to help you in your daily work?’     – and also explain any expectations they may have as a manager – ‘I’ve asked you to attend this program because…’, ‘After this course, I hope you will have further skills to…’
  • Follow up with the employee as soon as possible after the training to understand what they learnt from the program, how they will use the skills and any developmental ACTION PLAN they may have.
  • The manager should then COACH to the new skills and objectives – not just once, but several times to ensure support and ongoing implementation of skills. 

No matter how fabulous a training program is, if the skills covered are not used and coached afterwards, the benefits will be negligible. The reason? Trying out a new skill in the workplace can initially feel awkward and so may not always be successful. This can put some people off and they may go back to their old way of doing things. However, if they stick at it they will become more comfortable with the skills and start to see results.

This is where a manager can provide valuable support with coaching to help employees through the initial awkwardness. By encouraging employees to harness their strengths and apply them to new skills, or to help them focus on what aspects are challenging them, a coach can help the coachee to build awareness and take responsibility for applying what they have learnt in the classroom.

Training is the building block for development, while coaching helps the learning live.

A large international company has studied this interplay of coaching and training in detail. They found that not coaching post-training led to an eighty-seven percent loss of any skills change the program initially created. (Six characteristics of world-class sales coaches – Scott K Edinger, Huthwaite)

Do you want to throw away eighty-seven cents in every dollar that you spend on skills training?

If not, then it seems that the answer is to coach your employees after they attend training! A hectic workplace does not always make this easy, but it is important.

To help managers out, training professionals should be able to provide suggestions for follow-up and coaching activities. They are also a source of information to further understand your employee’s strengths to help implement the skills and their focus areas for development. Whilst often a trainer’s perspective is only a snapshot from the training room, it certainly will add to the information you already possess as a manager.

So the next time you have an employee attending a training program, what will you do? And as an employee, what will you expect of your manager to support your learning?

engagingPOTENTIAL: training, team development, coaching

Specialising in working with managers to develop extraordinary teams!