Facilitate pre-training conversations and set expectations. As a supervisor or manager your job doesn’t end when training is identified or scheduled, it has actually just begun. Sit down with employee that is going to training. Have a discussion about why this training can be valuable to them and to business. Have them think about their goals for training. Recognize that first few times you do this people are going to look at you like you are crazy. They may not have an answer and that is ok. Be patient and help them identify a goal or goals for their attendance and have them write it down and take it with them to training. Then schedule a meeting for after training event to review what they learned and how you can support them in reaching their goal(s).

Encourage partnerships. If you have more than one person attending workshop, encourage them to partner up upon their return. A “learning partner” gives people support and some peer coaching and support when they are back at work. It helps people hold themselves accountable for doing something with what they learned. If you are sending just one individual, encourage them to “make a friend” in training and form this partnership with that person.

Have a follow-up meeting. People should return from training prepared for their follow-up meeting with you. Sit down and go over what they learned. If they haven’t yet come up with a specific action plan for trying and/or using what they learned, help them build this plan in meeting. Make sure this conversation ends with a defined action plan with a timeline.

Expect (and inspect for) results. People now have a plan, and it is your job as a leader to help them hold themselves accountable for that plan. Schedule follow-up meetings, check in or do what ever you can to support and encourage them to follow through on their plan.

Notice that five of these steps require no additional monetary investment. The investment they require is time, thought and energy. These additional investments are activities that will transform dollars spent into real organizational improvement.

All of this is true because training is an event, but learning is a process. To maximize return on your investment you must invest in more than activity or event, you must invest in learning process.

Kevin is Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group (http://KevinEikenberry.com), a learning consulting company that helps Clients reach their potential through a variety of training, consulting and speaking services. To receive your free special report on “Unleashing Your Potential” go to http://www.kevineikenberry.com/uypw/index.asp or call us at (317) 387-1424 or 888.LEARNER.

How?

By using jargon or skipping what seem to be obvious steps.

In order for us to successfully transfer our knowledge, or teach someone what we know, we must break steps down. We must share each piece of information one step at a time.

We have learned this information and so can others. But we must teach them from their perspective, not ours – remembering what it felt like to be a beginner.

Connect Dots

My daughter loves to color and has many coloring and activity books. One of activities found in many of these books is something I used to call a “Dot to dot.” In a dot to dot puzzle, you draw straight lines from point 1 to point 2 to point 3, etc.

By looking at page before you start to connect dots, you can’t really tell what is going to be drawn. You may have some clues based on how many other lines and related pictures exist on page, but until you complete puzzle, you don’t really know what you have.

Our expertise is like that. We are asked to share what we know with others for their benefit. What our job really is is to set a context and provide a bigger picture for them. Telling them steps or procedure or technical components of something isn’t enough. They need to know situation environment, surroundings. They need to understand relative priority and importance of various things you are teaching them.

As “expert” you help them complete their own mental puzzle by guiding them in connecting their own dots.

Making these connections is how we will be most successful in having our expertise valued and used by others. And you can only connect these dots when you have other three barriers reduced or eliminated for yourself.

Your success will expand as you expand success and capabilities of others and lessons of this article can help make that happen.

Kevin is Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group (http://KevinEikenberry.com), a learning consulting company that helps Clients reach their potential through a variety of training, consulting and speaking services. To receive your free special report on “Unleashing Your Potential” go to http://www.kevineikenberry.com/uypw/index.asp or call us at (317) 387-1424 or 888.LEARNER.