Category Archives: Learning

Slowly or Quickly

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From the Ask Tom Mailbag.

In response to Wednesday’s post Slow Down to Go Fast.

Question
So, how do you slow down if corporate says you also need to keep the numbers up? They say we need to retrain all these people on the new system, but we catch hell when we don’t meet last year’s numbers for today. It seems like they’re asking the impossible. Do they know they’re asking the impossible, but just don’t care? Morale is really being destroyed because of the stress of needing to train and also keep productivity up. Most of the staff wants to quit now. How do we turn this mess around?

Response
Any change in your system will cause the numbers to drop temporarily. So it really doesn’t matter whether you slow down to train or push people into a new system without training. The numbers will still suffer. No amount of yelling, pushing, manipulation will drive the numbers up. The only thing that will drive competence is PRACTICE. Your staff can practice slowly on a system they do not understand. Or they can practice quickly in a training environment.

You choose.

You will get little understanding from your manager until the numbers improve. They can improve quickly through training, or they can improve slowly while your people beat their heads against the wall. -TF

Training Before, Coaching After

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Crystal was puzzled. I had thrown her for a loop. We had been talking about her training program for inbound phone operators. The training wasn’t working, but she was looking in the wrong place.

The skill was simple. Enter the data into the computer during the phone call, not after the call. They had the software in place, the training program was clear, with exercises, repetition and interaction.

The problem was after the training. Following the training, the operators were literally abandoned. They had been introduced to the skill, even performed the skill two or three times during the training, but afterwards, NOTHING. Only one day later, all the operators had abandoned the new process and were back to taking notes on paper during the call.

“Crystal, I want you to develop some practice sessions following the training. Create some scripts based on the ones used in training. Then have the operators practice, practice, practice.

“And you are going to have to take off your training hat and put on your coaching hat. Your training is only intended to get this process started. Before you let them go, you have to bring them to a level of competence. Competence comes through practice and coaching. Training comes before the behavior. Coaching comes after the behavior. That is where you will find traction.” -TF

Training vs. Coaching

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“Take a look at this training program,” said Crystal. “We have been over it a hundred times, tweaked it here and there, but quite frankly, it’s not working.”

“What happens when you do the training?” I asked.

“Everyone seems upbeat, like they understand. We even do classroom exercises, but it doesn’t seem to stick. Two weeks later, they are back to doing it the old way, with all kinds of excuses.”

“How much coaching do you do after the initial training?”

“Well, anyone who seems to be having trouble, we write them up and they go back to the next training.” Crystal was visibly upset as she described what happened. “Sooner, or later, they all get written up and so they all end up back in the training. We have had this software in place for eight months and they are still writing the orders on paper and putting the information into the computer later. Sometimes the paper gets lost or it takes them a day or two to catch up. We wanted real-time order entry, but we are nowhere close.”

“But there is no real coaching except for sending people back to the beginning?”

“Yes, and every time we go round, the push-back gets stronger. They seem to hate the training,” Crystal said, shaking her head.

“By golly, I think you have found your difficulty,” I replied.

“What do you mean?” Crystal was puzzled.

“I don’t think there is anything wrong with your training. We need to focus on the time following the training. Let’s spend some time looking at the behaviors that follow the training. I think that is where you will find your answers.” -TF

The Purpose Behind the Purpose

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“There is another benefit,” I continued. Bob and I had been talking about rotating his team members, having them take turns leading the weekly team meeting.

“This small responsibility tests their leadership skills in a safe environment. It builds the management skill of running a meeting. It prepares them for those occasions when you are traveling and unable to attend. But as they lead the meeting, what else does it do?”

“I am not sure what you mean?” Bob replied.

“At the same time you are training them to become better leaders; you are also training them to become better…?” I stopped. Bob was thinking hard, but it finally came to him.

“Once they are in the hot seat as the leader of the meeting, they get a better understanding of how they can be better participants in the meeting.”

“So, you are using these weekly meetings for two purposes. The first purpose is to communicate the important content of the meeting. The second purpose is to build better leaders and better participants. And that is what I expect out of you, as the manager.” -TF

Test Their Leadership

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“I called back into my office to see how the meeting went, and found out that, just because I was out of town, they decided not to have the meeting. There were important items on the agenda, but they cancelled the meeting.” Bob had just returned from three days on the West Coast.

“What if you never came back?” I asked.

“What do you mean, if I never came back?” Bob replied.

“What if you decided to move to Montana and manufacture dental floss? What would your team do without you? How would they have their meeting?”

“Well, I guess, they would have to pick someone to lead the meeting and carry on.”

“Look, this is a regular meeting, right? Happens every week? Agenda very similar from one week to the next? It’s an important meeting, but the structure doesn’t change much.”

“You are right,” confirmed Bob.

“Pick your next strongest person, tell them to prepare the agenda for next week. Tell them they are going to lead the next meeting.”

“But, I will be at the next meeting.”

“Exactly, but you will become a participant. If you want your meetings to occur while you are out of town, you have to start identifying the leadership while you are in town. Each week, pick a new person to lead. Publish a rotation schedule. You will still be there to prompt and assist, but you will begin to test their leadership in a safe environment.” -TF

Play Ball

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I was going through the archives this morning. You can do that, too by visiting the Management Skills Blog website. So far, we have more than 300 articles posted, indexed and categorized. You can search the postings by category or phrase to find exactly what you are looking for.

I noticed this comment by Trudy in response to a post about positive reinforcement.

In other words, plan organize and catch employees doing things right.

Trudy’s comment is so accurate, it is easy to miss the point. Catching people doing things right requires planning and organization. I don’t want to simply catch them as if it were an accident.

I want to catch them as if I am “playing catch.” I want to be at the ready, glove in hand, waiting, anticipating AND even if the ball is off target, make every effort to field the throw. Yes, I want to catch them doing things right. I have my uniform on, hands on my knees. I am poised to move right or left. As a manager, I am ready. Play ball. -TF

Stick Around and Watch

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“But then, as the manager, I have to stick around to see if they actually complete the task,” moaned Shirley. “Why can’t they just do it the way I showed them?”

“Let me get this straight,” I said. “If you tell them about the new procedure, show them the new procedure. Get them to try the new procedure. Then leave. How long will they continue to perform in the new way?”

Shirley shook her head. “60 seconds! That’s it. As soon as I leave, they go back to the way they did it before.”

“Shirley, you are focused on what you do before the new behavior. What could you do differently after the behavior to get a different result?”

“You mean, stick around and watch longer?” she said. It sounded like a question, but it was more of a statement.

“And if you stuck around longer, what else could you do to get a different result?”

“I guess I could correct them if they did it wrong.”

“And if they did it right?” I prompted.

“I could tell them they did it right?” Now, it was a question.

“Yes, and what else?” I asked.

“Ask them to do it again?” The picture began to come into focus for Shirley.

“Yes, ask to see it again. Smile. Ask other people to watch how well it was done. Smile again. Tell her you want her to practice and that you will be back in ten minutes to watch again.

“If you want someone to acquire a new behavior, telling and demonstrating only gets it started. If you want the behavior to be repeated, you have to design rapid fire frequent positive reinforcement after the behavior. Watching, smiling, paying attention, encouraging. What gets reinforced gets repeated.” -TF

Blue Shirts

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“But the game goes deeper.” Travis and I continued to discuss the colored t-shirt program on the loading dock.

“For this program to really be effective, we have to think upline. We have to get the supervisor involved as well. Think about the colored shirts. For a supervisor, what’s the goal?”

It didn’t take Travis long. “To get all of his guys into blue shirts. That’s five levels of certifications for the guys on the dock.”

“And what is life like for the supervisor who has an entire crew in blue shirts?” I asked.

“Life must be great. They are all experienced, cross trained, able to handle complicated truck loads and tie downs, without a lot of supervision.”

“Take it one step further,” I prompted.

“Now, the supervisor has to figure out a way to keep the crew together.”

“And, we call that retention.” -TF

The Buddy System

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“Oh, it’s more than just a simple game with colored t-shirts,” I said. Travis was just beginning to understand the depth of the game. This was a system designed to positively reinforce desired behavior.

“Each new person on the loading dock gets teamed up with a buddy. What color shirt do you have to have before you can be assigned a buddy?”

Travis was remembering the meeting a couple of weeks before. “Before you get a buddy, you have to earn the blue shirt with the black trim. And whenever your buddy gets forklift certified, you get a ball cap with a patch on it. For every guy you get into a green shirt, you get another patch. Five patches and you get a dinner for two at Outback. Oh, and your wife gets a dozen red roses.”

“So, tell me, Travis, how hard is it get these guys on the loading dock to volunteer to train the newbies?” Travis smiled and nodded. -TF

Big Fat Secret

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“I admit it. I am struggling. I feel like I am trying to ride two horses at the same time. My boss wants me to take on more responsibility, but I still have all this other work to do. He says I need to let go, but I don’t know who to get to help me.” Rachel was moving up, but needed to identify someone on her staff as an emerging manager to fill in behind.

“Rachel, you say you want this new responsibility?” I waited, though I knew her head would say yes. “Here is a big fat secret. You will never be able to move up in this organization until you have found someone to take over what you do.

“Everyone thinks you cannot move up until you have learned a new skill, but the real constraint is below. You cannot move up until you have identified a person to take over your current responsibilities. And once you find them, you have to train them and test them.

“One of your biggest responsibilities, as a manager, is to find and build a person as your replacement. And it doesn’t happen in a week. You have to be thinking two or three years to the future.” -TF