I have conducted staff training, consumer education, classroom teaching, and adult continuing education presentations. Each time, the same threshold issues are always present.
Learning something new is an emotional experience. We all have memories of a bad supervisor who made us feel inferior or nervous in the workplace. I can say unequivocally that anxiety in an employee impedes learning. A manager must give some thought to the approach to be taken during training, to avoid hurting the feelings of workers. Be empathetic and aware of the impact that someone in a position of power, such as a teacher, manager, or supervisor, can have.
Individuals in business sometimes can be even more sensitive to their reputations. So when asking questions, look for a raised hand, and if the volunteered answer is wrong, say something positive such as, “Good guess, but…” or “Close to the target, but…” Also, rather than lecturing continuously like a know-it-all, it can be good to ask leading questions because it implies you have respect for the ability, thoughts, and ideas of those you are instructing.
That said, if employees have such a big ego that they don’t feel they have anything to learn, that attitude will impede progress. A little modesty, humility, and doubt can go a long way. I think it is OK to tell a worker that explicitly. But it also must be modeled. If you don’t know something, say that and let learners know you will do some research and close the loop later.
Every employee is different, interprets things individually, and learns at a unique pace. For this reason, it may be advisable to use more than one approach during the training session. Some lecturing is good, but certain key ideas should be reinforced through a written handout or a PowerPoint presentation. Sometimes group discussion or getting people to work in small teams to come up with an answer or play a game is useful. With PowerPoint, don’t just input written words—add visuals such as charts, graphs, and lively photos.
It also may make sense to group students so there isn’t a huge range between the one who knows the most and the one that knows the least. Part of this relates to the speed at which you teach, but the other question relates to the intimidating effect a more experienced student can have on a student who is new to an area.
Laying the foundations of the job’s expectation must occur before proceeding to matters of greater detail and complexity. Failure to lay a foundation can mean that at some point in the future everything collapses like a house of cards. You don’t want to create a ticking time bomb. Laying a foundation means making sure the employee understands the underlying fundamental concepts, the big picture, the essence.
For example, if I am teaching insurance, I don’t get into the details of policy coverages or ratemaking right away. I make sure learners understand that insurance is present when there is both risk transfer and risk pooling. Then I ask them what the purpose of a deductible is. Why? Because if they don’t understand the basic insurance mechanism, there will be no “coat hanger” to hang the coats (other facts and details) on later.
Almost all learning involves acquisition of a new vocabulary, industry jargon, or government acronyms. For example, when training a new employee in sales, the individual may not be familiar with industry lingo. The trainee who comes from a similar background will adapt quickly to your teachings, while a trainee with differing experiences will need more guidance in order to succeed. Using concrete examples can help.
The key for management is to figure out what each person knows, does not know, and must learn and design the training around that. In a knowledge-based economy, workers who lack the knowledge to do their jobs may endanger the organization.
Lloyd Lim has worked in government and business as a manager and a lawyer. For more than a decade, he oversaw his parents’ small business, as well as helped implement a number of government interventions. He has a Bachelor’s in English literature from Columbia University, a JD from UCLA, and an MBA from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He is also the author of four works: “Reinventing Government: A Practitioner’s Guide, Basic Stuff That Everyone Should Know,” “Beyond Obamacare: Solving the Healthcare Cost Problem,” “No More Stupidtry: Insights for the Modern World,” and his latest work, “Business Tool, Not Platitudes.” He currently runs “Lloyd Lim Solutions” for pro bono and consulting initiatives out of Honolulu, HI.
