Learning After the Training

In my previous article, I described the GAPS Model of individual development as an approach that allows a learner to fill in skill gaps by using a series of learning steps that progressively build toward proficiency in the skill

So when you’ve completed each of the GAPS steps, you should be ready to hit the ground running on the other side of the chasm, right? Well, likely not. And this is the point where even the best development strategy can break down.

To become truly proficient at a task, you need to begin performing it in actual situations.  And no matter how closely your Synthesize-oriented learning activities resemble reality, they are after all just simulations. When you exercise the skill for the first time in actual situations, you’re still in learning mode. And you’re likely to become frustrated and discouraged when you encounter real-world challenges that the simulations didn’t cover – especially when you feel as if you’re on your own when it comes to figuring out how to proceed.

You can muddle through this School of Hard Knocks, and certainly many people do that. But you can also seek out some supporting mechanisms to help you through this critical period when you’re trying to transfer classroom learning back to the job. Such mechanisms include:

Action Learning – Action Learning is a process in which small groups work on real problems, periodically reflecting on and discussing (usually with the help of a coach) their individual and group learnings. By using actual situations as a laboratory for exploring how their learned skills and knowledge can be applied, participants can get the benefit of learning to deal with non-simulated complexity in a supportive environment. In addition, the organization gets the benefit of a completed project.

Coaching – In their influential book Transfer of Training, Mary Broad and John Newstrom demonstrated how the actions of a class participant’s manager immediately after a training event play a critical role in ensuring the application of the learned skills back on the job. Coaching at this stage can be focused on helping the learner discover how the skills and knowledge she acquired in training can be applied to  real-world situations.

Class Reunions – After a class has concluded, the facilitator can schedule a follow-up session with all participants to share and discuss some of the ways in which the participants have applied their learnings on the job. The participants can also describe some of the challenges they’ve had in implementing their new skills and knowledge and can gain insight from their cohorts about how to deal with those challenges.

Shadowing – As Yogi Berra once said, “You can observe a lot by just watching.” Shadowing involves approaching someone whose performance you’d like to model and asking if you can spend time with them as they go throughout their business day. This can be an effective way of understanding more about leadership practices and the types of things on which they focus in a typical day. Or, if you have a more specific skill you’re trying to develop – say, making effective presentations – you can watch someone who has mastered the skill and take a few pointers as he performs it.

Seeking Feedback – This can be thought of as the reverse of shadowing. When you’re trying out a new skill, you can ask someone whose opinion you value to observe your performance and provide feedback. You can make this even more powerful by briefing the observer upfront on the specific parts of the task you find challenging and asking the observer to pay particular attention to those parts.

Games – One of the biggest and most promising trends in organizational life today is gamification, the application of game structures (with their competitive aspects) to non-game contexts such as learning and development. As Ellen Langer has shown in her research on mindfulness, recasting a “task” into a “game” can have powerful benefits for individuals and organizations, such as greater engagement, increased motivation, and better retention of learning points.

The public records lookup site MyReportPlan.com demonstrated how gamification could be used as a post-class follow-up. The company split its customer service representatives into two teams, with one team playing themselves and the other team playing problem customers. The goal of the customer team was to create the most difficult-to-solve customer service problem possible. Then the customer service rep team tried to solve the problem as quickly as possible. Points redeemable for rewards were given to the rep team for solving the problem in a set amount of time, and to the customer team for stumping the reps.

If MyReportPlan.com only experienced an uptick in energy and engagement from its reps, the game effort would probably be worth it. But there was more: Measurements showed a 58% increase in customer satisfaction after a team was put through game training. Clearly, the reps’ self-generated learning based on real-life customers, along with the competitive features of the game structure, resulted in better transfer of learning and solid bottom-line gains.

REFLECTIONS FOR THE YES! LEADER

Many leaders seem to believe that developing their people’s skills is a matter of giving them a “training pill” – that is, sending them to a class and expecting immediate performance improvement when they return. As we’ve seen, though, the classroom event is usually just the start of the learning process. It’s what happens after the class that makes the most difference in applying what’s learned in the class. And it’s the leader’s post-class actions that can be the difference between “Yep, fun class” and “Hey, this stuff really works!” – because many of the post-class strategies mentioned above can best be implemented by the leader.

Here are some questions for the YES! Leader to consider:

·         Do you discuss an upcoming training class with a team member before the class begins, emphasizing the importance of the topic and creating a plan for post-class follow-up?

·         Do you seek opportunities to coach your employees as to how they might apply their new skills to real-life situations?

·         Are you always on the lookout for creative post-class experiences that can give your team members an opportunity (with your support) to exercise their new skills?

·         As you develop your team, do you observe the 70-20-10 guideline that says that 10% of learning comes from formal classes, 20% comes from coaching and learner observation of others, and 70% comes from on-the-job experience?