One of the golden rules for teaching – whether children or adults – is the adage attributed to the Chinese philosopher Confucius: “I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand”.
The most important part of learning is not usually a specific training event, but what happens before and after it. Yet commissioners of learning and development – and managers – still put the greatest focus and invest most on learning events rather than the pre- and post-event actions that will ensure people remember and understand their new skills or knowledge.
This series will look at how managers can make the most of training opportunities for themselves and their teams. But first, here are some general principles to help you build really effective learning and development plans.
Get people out of their comfort zone
I don’t think I have ever learned anything without feeling some trepidation. Whether it is the knowledge that you will need to present to a senior panel, do an exam, or be part of a mock scenario, having some skin in the game means people will stay focused.
Be aware of learning styles
We are all individuals and like to learn differently, but as a manager it’s easy to suggest courses or learning activities that suit our own style. It’s worth asking how team members like to learn. Ask them to complete a learning-styles questionnaire if they are not sure.
Remember the importance of social and peer learning
A really important way of sustaining learning is to “continue the conversation” after the learning intervention. We’ve all been on courses that are enjoyable but the materials gather dust and we go back to old ways unless there is some support and encouragement to do otherwise.
Don’t forget benchmarking
If you send someone on a management skills course, how will you know they are a better manager afterwards? A quick and easy way to do this could be a 360 review that you revisit a few months after the course.
Flip your expectations
Since the pandemic forced us all to adopt new ways of working and learning, it is much more common for people to learn at their own pace from any location. Bringing together people at the same time in one place to look at a set of slides seems a little passé. This has really strengthened the concept of a “flipped classroom”, in which participants look at slides, watch videos and read relevant material before group sessions, which may be virtual or face-to-face. The facilitator can then prompt discussion, manage group tasks and set up activities or action plans to support learning transfer.
Face-to-face training
Face-to-face training remains an important part of any development plan, but you should plan carefully and pick your training wisely to make the most of the opportunities it provides. Let’s look at some of the main types of face-to-face training and how to incorporate them into your personal and team development.
Immersive/experiential
What is it? People need to practise what they have learned in realistic scenarios to give them the confidence to use those skills at work. Examples might include an organisational-development programme that ends with providing a real coaching session for a director, or an interviewing-skills course where participants spend a day interviewing real applicants and then watch their performance on video with feedback.
When is it useful? If you need to apply skills straight away and some level of competence has to be assessed by the trainer.
What are the drawbacks? Some people don’t like to be thrown in at the deep end, particularly those with a more reflective approach. It’s always helpful to pre-warn people about what is included in the training and explain how this will benefit them. Confidence can be undermined if sessions don’t go well.
How to make the most of it Continue the practice back at work. Most skills are like exercising a muscle: the more you do it, the more expert you will become. Line managers should be aware of what the course covers and prepare or delegate similar activities back in the workplace.
Residential
What is it? It’s essentially a grown-up sleepover! These are usually for people to attend longer programmes, sometimes a week or more in duration, and they are often in lovely, peaceful locations. Generally, they are for senior leaders due to the expense.
Social and peer learning will be in full swing, as groups typically work on challenges together and the rapport built over a few days will lead to sustained networks where participants continue meeting and collaborating for years to come.
When is it useful? If you are investing in a residential course, it must be justified. Often these courses are best suited for skills or points in a career when there is a value in building networks and collaborating to resolve complex problems across organisations and sectors.
What are the drawbacks? It can be quite some time away from the office and challenging for managers to cover and delegate work.
How to make the most of it Managers might want to think about how learning is cascaded to others in the team to maximise the investment. This could be done though a lunch-and-learn series or a handbook created by the team members that attended.
One-day workshops
What are they? Probably the most common form of learning pre-pandemic, a one-day event will usually bring together a group of people at around the same level to cover a set of learning objectives with input from a tutor, interspersed with group work and individual reflection. Occasionally there are informal assessments built in, and sometimes a certificate of achievement.
When are they useful? It can be very effective if fairly simple skills have to be learned quickly. Look for well-designed events which factor in different learning styles, get people out of their comfort zones and provide practice.
What are the drawbacks? Post-pandemic, we have woken up to the concept of asynchronous learning: learning in our own time at our own pace. Having to show up at a certain hour to be taught at the same time and pace as everyone else can feel inflexible or old-fashioned.
How to make the most of them Line managers should discuss what team members want to achieve from a course and how they will embed the learning back at work, such as through coaching sessions or delegated activity to practice the new skills.
Journalling and action planning also helps: make a note of the key things you learned and what you will do differently, as well as what other learning and development might help.
Conferences
What are they? The boundaries between a work event and a training event are blurred, but a conference can be just as useful in improving performance as formal training. Conferences give people an opportunity to explore areas linked with their work – such as HR, health or defence – or with the sector they operate in. Civil Service Live is perhaps the best example of a conference geared towards civil servants with a focus on learning and development.
There is usually a choice of seminars and lectures to attend, a good selection of food and drink and many like-minded professionals to network with.
When are they useful? If there are specific issues the team would like to improve, conferences can support thinking in an area: for example, getting new ideas on how to evaluate training or attending a supplier exhibition for support with procurement.
What are the drawbacks? Not all seminars or exhibition stands will be relevant. Attendees should plan time carefully and consider a cost-benefit analysis to gauge whether it’s worth the time away from work.
How to make the most of them While it’s easy to relate courses and longer training programmes to work objectives, it requires more effort to demonstrate the value of some conferences, so line managers will need to think through the purpose of team members attending. It’s good practice to ask them to report back to the team and make the connections themselves as to how their new knowledge will help performance.
Coaching/mentoring
What is it? A mentor or coach can work with an individual over a number of weeks or months to help them process work challenges, reflect on other learning interventions, try out ideas and come to successful conclusions.
At senior level, there is usually an initial chemistry meeting with a coach or mentor to assess whether the two can work successfully together. Coaches and mentors can set tasks between sessions to provide material for the next session and will usually work out long-term goals at the first session.
When is it useful? Mentoring in particular is useful at the start of a new role or promotion to support successful transition. Career coaching can be useful for progression, as the coach helps to unblock barriers and think through steps that can help an individual navigate a selection process.
Coaching or mentoring is also valuable after one-off training sessions linked to behaviour change – such as leadership and management development. It allows for follow-up and reflection on what is working or not working, as well as how to overcome challenges around the desired change.
What are the drawbacks? These activities require a lot of proactivity, reflection and honesty: it is not for everyone to learn in this way and can be frustrating for people who are not prepared or in the right frame of mind. A series of coaching sessions is probably not the right intervention for a problem that needs to be fixed immediately.
How to make the most of it Team members must be engaged with the coaching and have good chemistry with their coach. Specific goals should be set and coachees will need to put the time in between sessions to put ideas into practice and to reflect in enough depth to have the next high-quality coaching conversation.
It’s also worth carrying out a psychometric assessment beforehand so that the coach has a profile of the individual to form the basis for discussion, especially for career-progression sessions and developing leadership skills.
Action learning
What is it? The premise of action learning is that people are empty vessels to be filled with knowledge, but also active participants with their own experiences and knowledge to bring. An Action Learning Set is a group of people, often from the same workplace or in similar roles, who work together with a facilitator to solve problems relevant to their work.
When is it useful? An ALS is really effective when work needs to be taken forward quickly. For example, Dods Training ran some sets for policy professionals in the Department for Exiting the European Union, where policy decisions had to be made quickly. The groups set their own agenda through establishing common themes and a facilitator took them through pressing in-tray issues in each session, supporting them to come up with effective ways to resolve issues.
Action Learning can be a critical component of training programmes that require the delegate to go back to work and behave in a different way.
What are the drawbacks? Action learning requires a very proactive approach. People expecting to be “taught” in a traditional way will be disappointed.
How to make the most of it A self-directed learning culture is key. People need to go into action learning prepared to contribute and share, support their peers, be open and honest about challenges they face, and accept direct and constructive feedback. They also need courage to take on board the advice from the ALS and try things out back at work that may seem uncomfortable at first.
Tina Seth is a former civil servant and business development manager at Dods Training, part of the Total Politics group, which also publishes Civil Service World