Are You Teaching the "Why?"

Teaching, instructing, coaching, whatever word you want to use to describe passing on knowledge, the end result should be the same. Teaching to pass along knowledge is a more awesome responsibility than most believe. Telling someone how to do perform a specific task is not the same as teaching. In the field, Crew Leaders, Journeyman, and other crew members can teach how many tasks are to be completed, but that still isn't the same as teaching. Yes, the field instruction is an extremely valuable part of learning the craft, but the "why" must also be taught. And for the record.....

No, it is not! Yes, there are manuals and books to read which are associated with learning and Apprenticeships, but reading something aloud, which a student could read themselves is NOT training. It's called narrating (and it pisses me off when "Instructors" do it).

The training must be broken down to levels designed for the students you are teaching. I'm certain it would be difficult to teach calculus to a 5th grader who knows basic math. An employee who walked into class from the street needs more information than the employee in the class who has been working with crews for a few months or more. Also, if you can't break the subject down to the parts and explain them thoroughly, maybe you should not be teaching the subject. Telling a student, "We use handlines to lower tools and equipment into a manhole because that's how we do it." is not teaching. Yes, that is how we do it, but we use handlines for a number of specific reasons. One being, "We use a handline to lower tools and materials into a manhole to prevent from bending over and placing our back into awkward positions, which prevents injury." may be a better explanation. Now there's a "why". Yes, yes, I know the handline serves more than one purpose, just using an example. The second part on "why?" must tie in the safety tools and processes into the training. Preventing injury is part of the safety procedures being baked into the technical training. I began in this business at a time when Safety and Training did not work together. Safety would come to jobs and tell or threaten us to follow rules, and training would tell us that we were professionals who understand the risk better than Safety and that we did not need to follow certain rules. It made for an interesting dynamic. Yes, safety rules must be followed, the rules are designed to send people home at the end of the day in the same shape they arrived. We never want anyone to be injured or worse.

Take the time in class or field training to explain "why?" Giving an employee the "why?" should lead to safe and productive crews who perform quality work. A training class or program that brings the "why?" and explains how it affects many aspects of the job is nearly priceless.

The opinions expressed in this article are solely mine and do not represent the opinions of Quanta Services or any of its known affiliates.