It may not be a training problem!

In my career as a performance consultant for the business units, many times I have been asked to motivate the teams or conduct team-building exercises so that the teams are more productive. What most of the managers fail to understand is that there could be some dynamics and the under currents which would be affecting the team’s performance. Training is not a quick fix solution which the managers need to understand, rather it’s an investment!

We as Performance Consultants are often challenged to achieve outcomes when businesses are hard pressed on project deadlines and are also expected to improve productivity.

Here is a recommendation for a Consultative Approach:

Ask ‘Why’

To get the context of your discussion with the manager, ask as many ‘Why’ questions as possible. This will get you to the root cause of the problem. Understand the impact of the problem on the current scenario. This helps you as a consultant to envision, what the outcome should look like, which will help you define- What is expected?

Hear Stories

As you ask questions, the manager may share his vision, instances, situations, rumors that he is hearing from his trusted advisors. This really will help you to understand the ideas and perceptions of the manager.

Identify the problem zone

Refer to the diagram below

Zone A – Motivation Problem – When someone is High on Knowledge, but low on Attitude.

Zone B – Resource Problem – When someone is High on Knowledge AND also High on Attitude.

Zone C – Selection Problem – When someone is Low on Knowledge AND also Low on Attitude.

Zone D – Training Problem – When someone is Low on Knowledge High on Attitude.

This means, when one has the passion to learn but lacks knowledge, only then it becomes a ‘Training Problem’.

Sign-off

When it’s concluded that it’s a training problem and all other problems would be resolved in collaboration with the HR Business Partners or the Talent Acquisition team, we proceed to sign off the Learning Objectives. Here we keep the focus on what can be achieved out of the expected outcome (feasibility). We may not be able to achieve all of it and hence we set the expectations with the manager. Some of the total outcome could be achieved immediately and some may be later.

Return on Expectations(ROE)

In trainings, a lot gets spoken about Return on Investment and in my experience it is really difficult to measure ROI every time. Hence a good option would be to set the success measure on Return on Expectations. If as a facilitator, if you were able to achieve the expected Learning Outcomes within the agreed timeframe, the training can be called as a Success.