Training employees? Onboarding a new hire?
Need your team to get up to speed fast on new regulations, procedures, protocol or product features? Are you losing money and time because those instructions you gave to your staff just did not sink in? How we learn does not change just because we are grown up and working in industry. How we learn is how we learn from birth. Consider some of the strategies below when delivering new information to your employees.
We learn through all of the intelligence styles, but we have certain learning preferences that are stronger than others. Encourage your staff to choose strategies that support their strongest learning preference. If possible, use a variety of approaches when delivering critical information to your team or have alternate options available. For example, you might have information in print for the verbal linguistic staff member, add visual images where possible for the visual learner and provide a short video as another option. Interpersonal and hands-on kinesthetic learners will learn “on the job” by shadowing another employee. Read on for more ideas. Feel free to email me if you have suggestions or questions.
For Verbal/Linguistic Learners
These learners learn by saying, hearing and seeing words. They can easily memorize names, dates, places and trivia. To help verbal/linguistic learners:
- Use descriptive language
- Have them study that procedure manual by reading, writing, telling stories, creating related wordplay and connecting the material with jokes and riddles
- Create crossword puzzles for practice at www.puzzlemaker.com
For Logical/Mathematical Learners
These learners are adept at categorizing, classifying and working with abstract patterns and relationships. They work well with reasoning, numbers, abstractions, logic, problem-solving and moving from the concrete to the abstract.
- Compare and contrast ideas
- Create a timeline or use time management apps or linear outlines available online.
- Classify concepts/objects/materials. Use online mapping software or tablet apps to facilitate categorization and pairing content.
- Read or design maps
- Use a Venn diagram to dissect the information and enhance and retain opposing information. For example, creating a Venn diagram to illustrate the differences between two competing products would be effective.
- Teach using technology
For Bodily/Kinesthetic Learners
The brain’s motor cortex, which controls bodily motion, is the key to the intelligence of bodily/kinesthetic learners. These learners process knowledge through bodily sensations and need to touch, move and interact with space.
- Create hands-on training opportunities
- Re-enact what was just learned or role-play the interaction or task.
- Job shadow, however, do more than watch, do the actual tasks. Watching someone do the task may not be enough.
For Visual/Spatial Learners
Visual/spatial learners rely on their sense of sight and the ability to visualize an object. They create mental images and learn by drawing, building and designing. Encourage the use of color in their work.
Make a visual organizer or memory model of the material being learned
- Graph the results of a survey or a course of study
- Create mini-posters and post them on the office wall.
- Create collages grouping similar items. For example, visually depict regulations or new procedures and group them in separate collages.
- Draw maps
- Color-code the process
For Musical/Rhythmic Learners
Musical/rhythmic learners recognize tonal patterns. For optimal learning, suggest that they hum or sing the information they want to grasp or have them move their bodies while they study. This strategy will probably be the most resisted idea on this list. However, it is probably the most likely to increase retention.
- Create “raps” or write new lyrics to a song so that it explains…
- Make up sounds for different operations or processes. Use music to enhance the learning
For Interpersonal Learners
Person-to-person relationships and communication are necessary for interpersonal learners. They study and work best with others.
- Review material/concepts/books orally through team sharing or collaboration.
- Discuss/debate controversial issues
- Find relationships between objects, cultures and situations
- Role-play a conversation before having that critical dialogue.
- Solve complex problems in a group
- Mentor the employee
For Intrapersonal Learners
Almost the exact opposite of interpersonal learners, intrapersonal learners thrive when working alone. Self-paced instruction and individualized projects work best with these team members. Suggest that intrapersonal learners keep a daily journal, as their thoughts are directed inward. They have a great degree of self-understanding and they rely deeply on their instincts.
- Keep a journal to demonstrate learning
- Analyze the human factors involved in the process or job.
For Naturalist Learners
Naturalist learners observe and understand the organized patterns in the natural world. Provide them with visualization activities and hands-on activities that are based on nature. Bring the outdoors into their learning environment whenever possible. Study in ways that call on the naturalist learner’s abilities to measure, map and chart observations of plants and animals.
- Sort and classify content in relation to the natural world
- Encourage learning in natural surroundings
- Categorize facts about…
In today’s economy, companies just don’t have the time or money to waste on getting everyone on the job where they need to be to positively impact the bottom line. So little attention is paid to how our employees learn and how that impacts our training methods. For example, new hires are often using webinars to learn regulatory information. They watch the webinar and check off the box after taking a short quiz based on what they watched. One month later, how much do they really remember? If they remember nothing, how is that affecting your bottom line?