5. According to Malcolm Knowles adult learning
theory:
Adults need to know why they are learning
something. Adults have a need to be self-
directed. They may bring work-related
experiences into the learning environment.
They enter into a learning experience with a
problem-centered approach to learning, what
is the issue or problem at hand and how can
we work together to fix it. Adults are also
motivated to learn by both intrinsic and
extrinsic motivators.
Adult Learning Theory
7. “When teachers and
students understand the
differences in their
teaching styles and
learning styles,
communication, and
therefore learning, is
enhanced..”
-Isabel Briggs Myers.
Understanding the different
personality types and learning
styles on your team.
8. A Teachable Point of View
Externalize your tacit knowledge
Draw lessons from your experience
Invest in your team; teach them new
ways to see the world
Balance: confidence and humility
Be an expert collaborator
9. “You won’t remember when you retire what you did in the first quarter
of [2013], or in the third. What you’ll remember is how many people
you developed, how many people you helped have a better career
because of your interest and dedication to their development. When
confused as to how you’re doing as a leader, find out how the people
you lead are doing. You’ll know the answer.”
-Larry Bossidy, former CEO of Honeywell and a former GE vice
chairman
The Ultimate Metric
11. Farrington, Jonathan (2008). How to Identify The Four Personality Types Resident In Every
Boardroom. Retrieved from http://ezinearticles.com/?How-To-Identify-The-Four-Personality-Types-Resident-
In-Every-Boardroom&id=361279
Brock, Susan A. (No date). Improve Your Sales Strategy with the Secrets of Personality Type.
Retrieved from http://www.personalitydesk.com/story/improve-your-sales-strategy-secrets-personality-type
Human Metrics Inc. (no date). (no author). Typology for Team Building. Retrieved March 2,
2012 from http://www.hrpersonality.com/home/Resources/JungTypologyforTeamBuilding.aspx
Noe, Raymond A. (2010). Employee training and development, 5th ed. McGraw-Hill Irwin New
York, NY.
Myers & Briggs Foundation. (2003). Type and Learning. Retrieved March 2, 2012 from
http://www.myersbriggs.org/type-use-for-everyday-life/type-and-learning/
Human Metrics Inc. (no date). (no author) Effectiveness at Workplace and Personality.
Retrieved March 2, 2012 from
http://www.hrpersonality.com/home/Products/AreasofAssessment/WorkplaceEffectiveness.aspx
Human Metrics Inc. (no date). (no author). Personality Types. Retrieved March 2, 2012 from
http://www.hrpersonality.com/home/Resources/PersonalityType.aspx
Myers & Briggs Foundation. (2003). MBTI Type at Work. Retrieved March 2, 2012 from
http://www.myersbriggs.org/type-use-for-everyday-life/mbti-type-at-work/
Myers & Briggs Foundation. (2003). Using type as a professional and training applications.
Retrieved March 2, 2012 from http://www.myersbriggs.org/using-type-as-a-professional/training-applications/
Dollar, Amanda M. (March 2012). Final Presentation. Maximum Impact: Corporate Training and
Development Programs of Tomorrow; Today. MGT 445.
Tichy, Noel M. & Cardwell, Nancy. (2004). The Cycle of Leadership: How Great Leaders Teach
Their Companies To Win. HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022.
References:
Editor's Notes
Setting the stage for successful development in today’s corporate world begins by utilizing the appropriate design process for your group. In order for your design to be effective you will need to understand the current competencies of the team, as well as, the expected outcome of the development process and be able to articulate these expectations to the group completely and accurately in order to ensure maximum retention of the learning objectives. Effective development in the corporate world involves teaching adults, which means that managers need to be mindful of the special characteristics involved in adult learning. This is accomplished through a process called andragogy or adult learning theory. Effective development should also take into consideration the generational needs of the team. You may have people from all walks of life on your team. As a manager it is important now more than ever before to be mindful of and appreciate the generational differences of your group. Ask yourself, how do you provide a coaching to a Boomer compared to someone from Generation Y, and don’t forget your Gen Xer. Are you cognizant of the special considerations your team is expecting from you as their leader? Now, generational differences aside…, how do you balance all of the different personalities on the team? Understanding personality difference will help you as a leader understand how to most effectively communicate with each member of your team. You will begin to uncover their preferred learning styles and how to help them progress to the next level quickly and continually.
The design process begins with a needs assessment, meaning what do your specialists’ “need” and what kind of development is necessary to address the area of improvement needed? Next, you will need to determine if the training is feasible? Is this form of development in the budget? Do you have the room, necessary understanding of the material to be covered and the tools needed to complete the training/development? Have you determined what is causing the current issue of not meeting expectations? Is it due to a lack of knowledge, skills, abilities, or motivation? Task analysis covers what needs to be included during the development process, whether it is information, skills, behaviors, etc…, that need to be improved or learned. Completing a needs assessment is important to stay within budget to complete the development as efficiently as possible and still meet learning objectives.
“In today’s global and [highly] competitive business environment, many companies are finding that it is difficult to determine whether employees have the capabilities needed for success (Noe, p127).” This is where the competency model comes in. Competency models give companies information to determine if their employees have the knowledge, skills, attitudes, values, behaviorisms, and personality characteristics needed to perform their job correctly. Competency models make sure employees understand what needs to be done and how the job is expected to get done; leaving out any miscommunication or lack of correctly setting expectations. Competencies are identified by making sure that the business strategy or objective is clearly outlined and that everyone on the team understands the part they play in order to achieve and maintain that strategy. As a manager it is your responsibility to determine how to help improve any deficiencies with regard to the competency model. Often times such improvement will include formal and informal training, workshops, coaching, guidance, and mentoring. Understanding the specific needs of your team comes from spending time observing their different styles and skill sets. You may have a team that includes some very knowledgeable people and perhaps some that appear to come up a little short in that arena. As a manager you need to be able to communicate with each individual and be mindful of their level of understanding and how to most effectively communicate and develop them. Don’t exercise your verbose vernacular when speaking with someone who struggles to construct complete sentences and using appropriate verbiage in every day conversations.
“[Andragogy or] adult learning theory was developed out of a need for a specific theory of how adults learn (Noe, p148).” The history of studying learning tells us that students undergoing learning were primarily children or young adults who were expected to remain passive and just basically sit down and absorb what they were expected to learn. With adults that is simply not the case. Adults bring much more into the learning environment, not just sitting idly by listening to what you have to say, but also sharing their input and specific work experiences. As managers, it is important to recognize and understand that “adults need to know why they are learning something. Adults have a need to be self-directed. Also, expect your adult learners to contribute their personal work experiences with the group. They bring many valuable work-related experiences into the learning environment and should be encouraged to share. They enter into a learning experience with a problem-centered approach to learning, what is the issue or problem at hand and how can we work together to fix it. Adults are also motivated to learn by both extrinsic and intrinsic motivators (Noe, p148).”
In order to be able to effectively develop every team member managers should be aware that each generation can be characterized by demonstrating certain preferences and behaviors that can influence how they learn. Millennials refer to people born after 1980 and are considered optimistic, willing to work and learn, are technologically literate, and appreciate diversity. Millennials also prefer learning in teams and working together in groups, usually requiring a lot of direction and feedback. Generation X refers to people born from 1961-1980. They need feedback and flexibility and do not like to be micromanaged. Gen Xers have experienced change all their life and genuinely value work life balance. Boomers are those that were born between 1945-1960 and are generally competitive, hard working, and want to be treated fairly. Boomers respond well to interactive learning environments such as role playing in formal and informal learning environments and open question and answer segments during any learning event or meeting. Boomers also enjoy group activities that incorporate well organized training materials in an easy to read format. Gen Xers are self paced learners and respond best to such environments that allow them to learn at their own pace. Gen Xers respond well to web-based training, videos, MP3 files, audio CD’s, PowerPoint presentations, and any other media that they can get their hands on. This allows them to learn, review, and refer back to when needed. Gen Xers are also very motivated learners who value training as a way to invest in themselves and see any learning environment as a way to increase their overall employability.
“The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is the most popular psychological test for employee development. As many as 2 million people take the MBTI in the [US] each year (Noe, p355).” “The MBTI is based on the work of psychologist Carl Jung, who believed that differences in individuals’ behavior resulted from people’s preferences in decision making, interpersonal communication, and information gathering (Noe, p355).” The MBTI basically tells us how we can effectively incorporate learning styles and personality styles to maximize learning in the workplace. This is helpful information for managers to be mindful of when creating development programs in order to maximize retention of the information being delivered to the team. Most one hour training sessions are broken down into 3-20 minute segments encompassing different learning media, which generally speaking, will appeal to most personality types and learning styles. These different modules should include a lecture and PowerPoint section to accommodate individuals that learn best by hearing and seeing. An interactive learning session, which includes role playing, open question and answer sessions, and group activities for those that learn by doing. As well as, web-based training which promotes learning for those in the group that may be very tech savvy, hands on, and self-paced learners.
“A teachable point of view is a cohesive set of ideas and concepts that a person is able to articulate clearly to others. The essence of leading is not commanding, but teaching. It is opening people’s eyes and minds. It is teaching them new ways to see the world and pointing them to new goals (Tichy, p74).” One of the most daunting challenges facing managers today is in finding the way to externalize and share tacit knowledge. Tacit knowledge is the information in your head, it’s how you know how to do your job. Have you ever completed a task for someone else instead of showing them how, because it seemed to complex or difficult to explain in terms that would be easy enough for the listener to understand? If you answered yes to that question, then you have personally experienced a challenge in communicating your tacit knowledge. Struggling to find the right words to describe, explain, or share your knowledge with someone else is exceedingly common among managers at all levels. Working to develop and fine tune this skill is the sign of a leader with a teachable point of view. As managers we are wise to draw on lessons from our personal experiences to help employees and teams see possibilities from a fresh perspective. This can be accomplished by storytelling, providing examples, and asking other members of the team to engage and share their personal stories with others in the group. Invest in your team. An example that can be useful in role play learning is through the Socratic Coaching method. Essentially, we are helping the people we work with come up with alternatives, new creative solutions, fresh ideas, and different view points by helping them come to the conclusions on their own through a series of questioning techniques. We never just tell them or give them the answer to the question. Utilizing the Socratic Coaching method is at the heart of demonstrating a teachable point of view by helping our teams further develop their critical thinking skills. It is important to demonstrate confidence when dealing with your team, at the same time be mindful to maintain your humility in order to achieve balance. In maintaining balance you will remain open to hearing and being influenced by the ideas of others. If ones leadership scale is out of balance and that person is overly confident they will be closed off to new ideas resulting in a rigid and inflexible view point, which does not benefit anyone and actually erodes progress. By the same token, if one is overly humble and not confident then they will be perceived as week, indecisive, and laissez faire, which equally…, does not benefit anyone and will stifle or erode progress as well. Find and maintain your balance with confidence and humility. Be an expert collaborator, if you think in terms of “I’ve got a lot to contribute and I know I’m going to, but you’ve got a lot to contribute too”, then you are an open minded collaborator and will set your team up for success. In collaborating with groups it is important to engage everyone in the group to prevent disengagement and side conversations among the team. Remember, as a manager you will definitely be teaching your team, but you will benefit from remaining teachable as well. Pay attention and listen for new ideas, glean as much as you can from the more tenured and experienced management team. Spend time investing in yourself: read books, attend a seminar, write down your goals, and keep a personal journal to document your progress.
