Turn your expertise into learning
Once you’ve been in a role for a while, you may be asked to teach newer team members. This can result in several frustrations, including:
Finding the time not just to teach, but then to be available for questions
Figuring out what they actually need to learn
Realising that they’ve forgotten what you’ve taught them
These frustrations often come from:
The curse of knowledge
You’re the expert, but you’re having to take a complicated process and make it really simple. You’re also having to articulate something you probably know intrinsically.
It can often feel like there’s an unspoken pressure to show why you’re the one teaching.
But when you’re training a newer team member, you don’t need to get them to the same level as you. After all, that took years to achieve. You just need them to be able to do the basic tasks their role requires.
Start with purpose
The person you’re training is new. They don’t need to know everything! But sometimes it can feel tempting to teach them a little bit of everything just in case something pops up in the future.
After meeting with you, what should your trainee Think, Feel, or Do differently:
Think – Is there a piece of knowledge that needs to be top of mind?
Feel – An appeal to the emotive side of the role. Maybe they need to empathise with customers, or fear the consequences of a health and safety incident
Do – Is there an action or task they need to be able to complete?
How high should the bar be set?
Consider what level your less experienced colleague should be operating at, and then teach them to reach that level. To gauge what the correct level to operate at is, consider the following:
Must, Should, Could:
What MUST they know to be able to work to your minimum standard?
What SHOULD they know to be able to confidently do the role unsupervised?
What COULD they know that would make them an expert?
When answering those questions, consider how much supervision, resources, job-aids, or room for failure and experimentation there will be when they’re on the job. That might make the difference between a must or a should.
Focus on the must know’s initially. Once they’ve mastered those, you can looking at making the next lesson a bit more advanced.
Practice or discuss – reinforce the learning
Because you already know the topic well, it may feel like you’re covering the basics in a simple manner. But the person you’re talking to doesn’t always know what points to take away and may forget some crucial elements.
Minimise the amount they forget by:
Providing practice opportunities – This can be as simple as having them demonstrate what you’ve just taught
Asking questions – If you ask purposeful questions designed to get them to think critically about an answer (rather than as a test), it can be an opportunity to have them thinking deeper about the topic
Providing them space to ask their own questions or to comment – This is the ultimate in tailoring the learning experience. If they ask questions when they’re unsure about something, you’ll be able to address their specific shortcomings
How do you know you’ve taught them well?
You’ll start to get a feel for the success of your training when you implement the activities above. However, there will also be some key signs to looks out for:
Are they able to independently do the task you taught?
Do they continue to ask questions on topics you covered in the training?
Are their questions more advanced than what you trained them on, indicating they’ve mastered the basics and are now thinking outside the box
Don’t underestimate your impact!
When someone is new to a role, everything is a learning experience. Not only are they figuring out the job itself, but they’re meeting new people and are working out how to use the coffee machine in the break room without seeming silly.
So if you take the time and put in the effort required to provide training, even if it seems really simple to you, your new team-mate will appreciate it. It’ll take some weight off their shoulders, and they’ll get up to speed much quicker.
When you were brand new, wouldn’t you want someone like you to be your guide?
Want to design great learning?
Are you a Subject Matter Expert who needs a hand turning complicated processes into easy to apply learning? Maybe you lead a group of experts who are designing onboarding programmes for new hires which just aren’t landing?
We can help you out! Reach out to Gathered Minds today to turn your SMEs into champions of learning. We can work with you in-house to design this or run Train-The-Trainer courses to equip your people to do it themselves.
