It's sensible and obvious – isn't it?
Paul Matthews
Learning & Development Expert. Strategist, Author & Speaker. Architect of the People Alchemy Learning Workflow Platform. Helping L&D Professionals Make a Difference.
If something is sensible and obvious to do, you would do it, wouldn't you?
Most people would say yes.
And yet so often in organisational training, not enough is said about why trainees should do things the new way.
If doing something new is not sensible and obvious to them, why would they bother doing it?
Notice it is about their perception of sensible and obvious, not yours, or a senior manager's.
You also need to tell the trainees why each piece, each task, is done the way it is. This will help prevent them from making mistakes that can happen if they are doing new things by rote, without the rationale. It will also help them suggest viable improvements that honour the rationale.
If you can't explain to them the reasoning behind why things are done a certain way so they really 'get it', perhaps you need to get it clear in your own mind. Don't just teach the actions... teach the thinking behind the actions.
Have a look at some of your current training courses and see how much 'why' they contain.
Is it enough to make learning transfer sensible and obvious?
My best wishes, Paul