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Now, it’s time for training and development to get LEAN. And when
I say it’s time, I mean today. Our
June
issue started talking
about this, but the latest economic numbers make this more important than ever.
Okay, But How?
The first step in implementing LEAN is to radically remove waste from the
system. And what’s the most wasteful part of training and development?
Classroom training.
I believe you can cut out 78% of your classroom training. Now, before you
hit the “delete” button, let me tell you why.
The University of Washington’s Center for Workforce Development
did a study and found that 78% of what somebody needed to know to do their job
successfully they learned from the person next to them. They didn’t get
it from a procedure or a class. They learned ‘informally’.
Think about your own experience. When you have a question that you know is
answered in the manual, do you go to the manual first? Or do you ask the
co-worker in the next cube?
People nearly always prefer to learn directly from others. We’ve
found there are seven reasons for this: here are three:
- Speed - It’s quicker to ask someone than to log-in,
navigate Sharepoint and read through a document to find the right answer.
- Reliability - We ask people who’ve been right in the
past and who have experience with our situation. Who wrote the procedure? We
don’t know and don’t trust it.
- Learning Style - We find people who teach us the way we
like to learn. Let’s be honest, there are some people that you would never
ask for help, right? They talk too much. They go too fast. We naturally create
networks of people who make learning easy for us.
So, if employees prefer to learn from their co-workers, and their co-workers
have the knowledge and experience, then you really don’t need all those
formal, resource-intensive, multi-day classes that cost an arm and a leg and actually
deliver poor results (see our August
issue to read about that).
Investment in a good structured
mentoring program will create a force of
competent internal teachers who will help accomplish your training goals and stay
within your new budget constraints.
Skeptical? Believe me, so were the first plant managers at Toyota when their
LEAN experts said they could cut inventory by 95%. Now look at them.
Don’t let your head
trash keep you from embracing exciting new knowledge
transfer ideas.
And, remember, this is just the beginning. LEAN Learning offers many different
ways to do more by removing waste. A lot more. I’ll be sharing those ideas
with you in the coming issues of the Stampede, in my blog,
The Round-Up,
and in my upcoming Lunch & Learns and keynotes around the country. Join me in
the conversation. And spread the word that “LEAN is coming to Training!”
Let’s ride!
Can’t wait for the rest? Contact me today.
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