Your team is in crisis mode. How can you use functional training to improve communication?

It's important to note that you have to balance the tension between thoughtfulness and urgency. Yes. Absolutely assess the gaps. However, don't spend too much time in this phase. When you're in crisis you aren't going to do your best work, and it's not going to be perfect. That is okay. You need a small win to celebrate and improve morale. Take the easy steps first and think of functional training as a staircase of improvement rather than a slide.

Define objectives: Clearly outline what you want to achieve from the training. Understand audience needs: Analyze trainees' requirements and skills. Assess current skills and knowledge: Evaluate trainees' existing competencies. Identify constraints and challenges: Determine potential obstacles. Develop content and design: Create tailored training content and effective program design. Evaluate and monitor: Measure training effectiveness and adjust as needed.

Functional training is rooted in the physical therapy world; it's training for people to perform every day tasks. In the business world, functional training would set your team up to perform and thrive. With a team in crisis mode, the first step would be pause and clarify what the expectations are. From there, as a group it's important to identify the disconnects. The next step would be to create consensus on how to communicate, then reconfirm the larger goal. We'd conclude with defining specific action steps & timelines for each team member.

One thing I've found helpful is to design functional training with the audience in mind. For smaller groups, interactive workshops and group exercises can be very effective. Larger groups can be served well by self-paced learning like courses and webinars. The other thing to consider is what are the aims of the training? If people are learning to hone skills, then coaching or mentoring can be helpful. If people are aiming to gain basics, then there's less of a need for individualization.

Ideas are great, but functional training requires a longer-term investment. The aim of the training isn't to just drop knowledge and let the attendees use it or lose it; it's to reinforce the learning and get stronger with each use. With that in mind, designing the training so that it structurally reinforces the learning, and if necessary can adjust where there are misunderstandings allows for a complete experience.

Other things to consider in creating trainings - many people have different learning styles. Some people learn by doing, some learn by listening, some by writing. Great trainings will identify how to have an impact with all learning styles, or provide each participant with an opportunity to have their learning needs addressed.

Cross-Functional Collaboration: Integrate perspectives from different departments within the organization. Cross-functional training ensures a holistic understanding of communication needs during a crisis and promotes cohesive responses.