Training:  A Vital Ingredient Requiring Deliberate Engagement

Supervisors are responsible for developing teams through training. Its importance cannot be overstated—training provides intrinsic benefits to the individual, the team, and to the broader organization.

Classically, training can be formal, where concepts and methods are presented in an academic environment, as well as less formal, such as on-the-job training (OJT) where concepts and methods are applied to job-specific scenarios. Certainly, the risk is that the applicable elements presented in formal training fail to be applied fully, or at all, to assigned tasks. Without a deliberate methodology, a structured framework, and active engagement on the part of the supervisor, “bridging the gap” between formal instruction in the classroom and lessons learned through experience, is left to chance.

Deliberate Methodology:  Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail

Bridging the gap between formal training and OJT is no different. The preferred outcome is a team member who comprehensively and flexibly applies what was learned in the classroom to the situation on the ground. As with anything, this requires effective planning, which involves:

• Comprehensively assessing the specific task for the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to successfully accomplish the objectives.
• Reviewing relevant formal training to apply to those elements identified, above.
• Effectively applying the formal training elements.
• Reflecting on lessons learned through application—what worked, what didn’t, what needed to be tailored, and why?

Structured Framework & Active Engagement:  Plan the Work & Work the Plan

Active engagement by a supervisor, as well as a structured framework is vital to methodically and thoroughly develop a plan linking formal training and OJT. Nothing can substitute for the perspectives gained through experience. Engaging the two creates a repeatable process–providing the team member a structure for addressing new tasks, while reinforcing the supervisor-team member coaching relationship.

The framework itself requires two components:

1. A systematic way to define the on-the-job task in detail, and
2. a repository of existing formal training materials.

The dissection of the on-the-job task helps to reveal the knowledge, skills, and abilities that can be applied to accomplish it. For example, universal to almost any task is the management of its scope, cost, schedule, and risk. In addition, “softer” knowledge and skill areas can be considered, such as team building and conflict resolution. The structured framework allows the team member to consciously assess and select those knowledge and skill areas required for the task.

Engagement by the supervisor is critical to ensure the team member is following the process and to provide insight. The application of the process should be reinforced throughout the team member’s career. In addition, the supervisor can provide insights into how to apply formal training principles to the particular task, thus combining “book smarts” with “street smarts.”

Bottom Line:  A Win-Win on Multiple Levels

Leave no doubt:  Creating a deliberate methodology – using a structured framework – active supervisor participation – all take some concerted effort, up-front. However, the dividends are clear. These elements linked to formal training create a true coaching relationship. Leaving any question about the necessary investment of cost, time, and risk in implementing such training and, even more so, its pertinence to the successful outcome of tasks – to fall by the wayside. With application comes reinforcement, and with reinforcement comes confidence and improved performance. Supervisors and team members alike, can certainly cheer those qualities.

If you would like to learn more about linking formal training and OJT or to experience our tailored, just-in-time (JIT) training – customized to fit your organizations needs, please contact us.