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must discuss the items with each other and each member can explain why
they think one item is more important than the other. Every time the group
ends up “surviving” in the challenging environment. This activity helps them
learn how to interact with each other and work together as a team, and
ultimately shows that the group makes better decisions than the individual.
Proactive Coaching
There are really two parts when it comes to coaching. First, it’s important
for mid- to upper-level management to be working with an objective third
party, whether they are inside or outside of the company, who can coach
the supervisor. This will allow the supervisor to improve their management
skills, learn new techniques for coaching their employees and give them
insight into how to better their own coaching skills.
The second part is within the relationship between that supervisor and
their employees. A supervisor should be able to sit down with each of their
employees on a regular basis to coach them on behavior-related matters,
such as discussing how to approach a difficult situation or advising them on
problem-resolution techniques. This should be an ongoing discussion that is
had at least once a month as a proactive effort to better the employee and
build a good working relationship. However, in certain situations, the supervisor
should take more of an immediate approach and address the employee on
specific issues that need more timely attention. Feedback that is timely is often
more meaningful and actionable. This is not limited to situations that could
have been handled differently but also extends to praise and recognition when
they’ve exhibited one of the new skills they have been working on.
On-the-job Training
Part of the process of decreasing the skills gap that is normal due to
specific or changing job requirements or new technology is on-the-job
training. The employee can arrive with the basic skill set required for the
job, but an onboarding process that includes training is still expected. This
process involves the supervisor, or other employees who have been there
longer, walking the new hire through the steps of specific procedures and
processes of the organization.
In this specific training technique, the need for good communication skills
becomes very important. Especially with the diversity in today’s workforce, there
are many different types of people with varied backgrounds who must work
together. Having the skills to clearly communicate can be difficult and these
skills will improve with practice. This can even be an issue on the leadership
side if the supervisor is managing a remote team or is more comfortable using
a digital correspondence format as opposed to in-person training. Effective
communication becomes even more important in a virtual world.
Online Training
Online, or virtual, training is a growing trend. Shorter training sessions,
such as webinars, online courses or videos, are becoming more common
and highly requested. However, it is important to understand when they
are appropriate and when they are not. These “just-in-time learning”
formats are great for learning technical skills, step-by-step processes or
understanding certain procedures in working with a program or software.
On the other side, if a company is looking for a certain behavioral or
attitudinal change in an employee, it becomes difficult to accomplish this
in a one-hour virtual session. For example, if a company wants to train its
customer service team on techniques to deescalate agitated customers,
this requires more of a discussion on how to examine the employee’s
attitudes and moods as well as reading customer cues, which is difficult to
do in a short time through an online format. For online training, supervisors
should evaluate if the employees will really learn the skills needed through
this method or if another technique would be more effective.
Applied Learning
Probably the most important part of addressing the skills gap is having
an action planning component where employees can apply what they
learned to their work life. Whether after instructor-led, online or any other
training course, having concrete takeaways is key. If there are no action
items, the employee may not be able to even recall what they learned a
week later if they don’t immediately start applying at least some of the
new learning. This seems to happen because of a “whirlwind effect.” The
employee will get back to their desk and have a whirlwind of activities,
tasks and communication that they need to do, and they will forget
about the training session. It requires a very conscious effort to take new
knowledge learned from the class and put it into action.
Encouraging employees to teach others what they learned or to articulate
points they learned to their supervisor and then try to apply them can
make a huge difference. This is where supervisors can see how their
investments in training have paid off. They can watch for those specific
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