Posts By: optimus

Does training and development really improve productivity and performance?

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We often do not give enough credit and attention to learning and training and development. Actually is their a difference between those two sets of words? I think that training and development implies putting into action what we have learned whilst learning may only mean acquiring the necessary knowledge to do something. For example my son learns a lot from watching TV and has an expert opinion on just about everything but does not do to much with it. In other words he does not walk his talk because although he thinks he knows something, he does not show that he can do those things.

I am writing this because this morning I was watching a part of a training video I purchased for learning how to use my new HD video camera so I can make high quality videos for my work. This requires getting professional results from this awesome little prosumer camera (the Sony HRDC1) http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/sony-hc1.shtml

As I was watching the video I recalled a conversation I had with my friend Peter who graciously video taped me giving a seminar last month. He has the same camera and convinced to buy it after explaining the features and how great the video turns out. When we were setting up for the shoot that day I asked Peter what settings he was using on the camera and he replied none. He was completely relying on the automatic settings of the camera, and replied saying that the camera does such a great job itself, why bother changing anything? After watching the video this morning I realized he was saying this because he did not know any better. He does not realize the tremendous potential one has to control the camera through it’s manual settings and get far superior results. The video explains why one should opt for the user controls in order to get truly professional results.

As I was watching the video and learning how I could control the various options to improve the quality of the video I was thinking back to some of the things I had taped recently and how this information would have greatly benefited me at that time. In fact just 3 days ago I was taping a speaker and could have used more appropriate settings to assure the best results.

Of course watching the video is not enough. I need to pick up the camera and actually practice applying the settings that is recommended. In fact this reminds me of the steps to training that assures skill development and not just knowing something. These steps are:

  1. Explain the purpose or objectives of the training and why it is important
  2. Explain each task or skill that you want the person to learn
  3. Demonstrate the task or skill
  4. Have the person perform the task or skill while you the trainer observe
  5. Provide feedback on the person’s performance. Reinforce what they are doing well and redirect on what needs improvement
  6. Repeat the above steps if needed
  7. Provide follow-up. Agree on the level and frequency of follow-up required

Following these steps always delivers greater results. Just ask yourself how many things have you learned that actually stuck and were put into practice? The cause for this is probably reflected in the above list.

I was very impressed with the quality of the video I watched as steps 1-3 were done extremely well. Of course they could not do steps 4-7 without being there with me, so it is up to me to practice. This is where training often fails to produce the desired results. Those doing the training do not always consciously follow the above steps and easily forget about the follow-up. This is why in organizations managers are the ones who should do as much of the training themselves as they can or develop a follow-up plan with the trianing provider in order to make sure the skills learned will be practiced.

I can safely say that I will put these new camera techniques into practice. In fact I brought my camera to work with me and plan to do some video taping tonight to practice immediately. I will soon be bragging to Peter about how knowledgeable I have become about my camera and I know he will be begging to borrow the video so he can learn to.

So you see training can help us to claim our right to brag and thus increase our self-confidence and esteem. This is a good thing as long as we don’t go overboard. I also feel that my investment in my camera, which costs quite a bit more than the average models was well worth it as I feel I now know how to use the tool to get the superior results I had originally envisioned.

What are your thoughts on training and it’s importance to results and goal achievement? Please provide your comments.

Are You the Go To Person in Your Organization?

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Are you the go to person in your organization?

Can everyone depend on you to get things done or to make sure projects move forward? That may make you feel good, and powerful, but it could also stunt your growth by loading you down with too many tasks or responsibilities.

I recently worked with a client who had moved up within his organization to become Operations Manager of this growing manufacturer. He earned that position because his main motivation, of accomplishment, and his preference for high efficiency and for taking action drove positive results. He has a track record for having his departments be on time with their projects. Not all departments in the organization are as efficient, so he was naturally the go-to person to fix this problem in the rest of the company as well.

There are only so many hours in a day and he cannot supervise all the departments himself, so time has become a huge obstacle for his continued success. He thus needs his managers and supervisors to become autonomous and this brings up another problem and question: can his management team produce the same results that he is used to getting? After all, he cannot clone himself or enforce a leadership style that is not appropriate for his supervisors and managers. This is where strategic planning plays a significant role in staff development. When we think of strategic planning we first think of business or market strategy. Of course this is essential, but the strategy must extend itself to people and processes as well. Processes need to be assessed and improved continuously to enable the business strategy to work, and so does the people side of things. Contrary to processes, people are not always so flexible and maneuverable in terms of developing their leadership and teamwork abilities, which can of course cause them to become complacent or even resistant to change.

So our high performing operations manager needs to train and coach his managers and supervisors on how lead their teams for maximum effectiveness, so that he can be replaced and freed to continue to use his qualities, namely his effectiveness and accomplishment. Otherwise they act as a threat to his continued ability to get results and may cause him and the organization to fail. This can lead him to experience stress, it may undermine his effectiveness, and perhaps even cause him to display negative tendencies of his type like being overly aggressive and excessively task-oriented. To act strategically this operations manager must follow these three steps:

  1. Make sure the managers or supervisors are fit for the job. If not they need to be re-positioned or replaced.
  2. Train and coach his managers and supervisors on how to be effective in their roles as leaders.
  3. Provide ongoing support so that the managers and supervisors with their teams can be autonomous in solving problems as they arise.

By doing the above, along with the use of a good business strategy, excellence is a guarantee. Failing to do so is a sure-fire recipe for failure. To learn more about Style of Leadership contact me or read about our Style of Leadership & Team Development training workshop here. Stephen Goldberg, sgoldberg@optimusperformance.c