What are the best ways to teach your team new skills?

This can often be a trickier thing to accomplish than initially seems. While a skills gap analysis is a best practice L&D method covering significant assessment needs, it can take much work. So if you are stretched for resources, a great way to assess your items needs is to put forward some high-level ideas for goals/solutions and have them pick them apart. It is easier to build and refine something than to create net new. So you may get better and faster insight from your team by giving them something tangible to work with.

Start by creating an excel spreadsheet of all your team members. Write different columns names for their key strength and weaknesses. With team collaboration, prepare this list and observe the lack in skills with respect to each individual. Accordingly, you can start training sessions on those skills. This will help all and you can adjust as per their preferences, levels and expectations.

One of the ways to help with capability & knowledge building can be achieved by strategically assessing the skills of the team and hiring new team members accordingly. This helps promote on the job learning, which can be done in a more casual, familiar setting that is less stressful for the employees than attending a training in large group where some employees might feel intimidated. For example, bringing in a data scientist into a team that needs improvement on data analytics skills doesn’t only increase the capability of the team due to that hire, but also helps build the overall capability of the team if that learning culture is supported and embraced by the manager/leader.

Teaching new skills to the team is a good idea as they are ready to learn new things. But the condition is that you should be ready to answer the views and questions raised about the skills.It makes your team comfortable to take it forward. Be always ready to explain the way it suits your team. First and Last grow with the team will get you every fortune.Try to solve his doubts and be ready with all your support. Team Spirit

Assessing the team's existing knowledge Before introducing a new skill, evaluate the team's current level of understanding and expertise. This will help you tailor your teaching approach to their specific needs and build upon their existing knowledge.

Ace your domain is the tagline marked in the goal sheet for my team. For eg: - Talent acquisition team - list down main skills required like listening, communication, networking, interviewing, negotiation etc. - Check with learning and development whether it's planned in the schedule. - Organise online webinars or Ted talks or podcasts. - Ask the team to share feedback. - Reward the team member for upgrading skills.

Case studies from real-life scenarios are also a proven source of learning for industry practitioners. Many organizations use this medium to develop the ideal workforce for their organization.

Learning happens by doing, so experiential learning is the best teacher. That said, if you're going to provide your team with opportunities to stretch themselves for developmental purposes, ensure you're setting them up for success. Do you have clear goals? A clear timeline? Have you set them up with a stakeholder who can support? Do you have regular check-ins with them? That 70% is only truly a learning opportunity if it's set up in the right way. Otherwise, might just feel like extra work.

On-job training is the best practice, this helps in collaboration and sharing knowledge. This practice ensures that each member can positively compliment each other.

It's also important to seek feedback from those colleagues you are training/developing. Are your training resources engaging and relevant? Is the pace fine for the cohort (and what can you do if the cohort are developing at different paces)? Are your case studies or industry based insights adding value?

When giving feedback on a skill someone is developing, remember that this is something your team member has not yet become an expert in. Give feedback based on what's going well and then improvement you're seeing, calling out areas that need adjusting, but not just focusing on what's missing or not going well. Learning something new is an act of vulnerability, and people often need to see what's going well in order to feel motivated to keep going.

Instead of feedback, we must ask the team to share learning points in the form of presentation. By this we encourage them to develop public speaking and presentation skills.

People are so often not told they've done a good job. Look for small wins within the team and praise them for them. The team will quickly build up alot of self esteem and confidence in their abilities.

Assigning and challenging your team to learn in straightforward ways is a good idea. Link the learning to outcomes. So often, learning budgets and ad-hoc access learning options must be utilized more. Nudging your team members in a specific direction or encouraging them to engage actively in a particular course will help with continuous learning when it gets tough or initial interest wains.

While manager should definitely support their teams with continuous learning and challenge them, it is every person's responsibility to own their own learning journey. Don't wait for your manager to mention something if you want to learn new things - advocate for yourself and speak up about what you want and need.

The main hurdle to team learning is time constraints and work pressure. Individuals often prioritise work over personal growth. To foster team learning, promote a positive culture that encourages self-development. Allocate dedicated time each week for learning to empower your team to seek knowledge and actively grow professionally.

Join the team in all the activities when possible! Leading by example is key to show that regardless how big or small is the task or the skill its still relevant to all the team including yourself. This gives them the confidence to come to you when they have any challenges or meed to improve their own personal skills in the future! Ultimately it will creat a great collaborative environment at all levels!

Allowing team members to train one another when you notice that someone is especially proficient in a topic or skill can be such a great way to gain engagement and deepen understanding.