Monday, May 19, 2008
They're probably in denial.
A company contracted for training to help their project team leaders get results more quickly. "The training was very good, but we haven't seen any results", they lamented. Why?
"Everyone in the training program felt that they didn't need to be there. They saw everyone else's deficiencies, not their own." Indeed, denial is at the root of many failed training initiatives. How do you avoid this pitfall? Follow these three simple steps:
- Ascertain their interest in the training
- Shake their world to show them that they're in denial
- Make attendance optional
Before engaging in any training program, determine whether the intended audience is interested in the training. If they're not interested, but the lack of results indicates they should be, you know they're in denial.
Shake them out of their denial. 360 degree feedback assessments are an excellent tool for this. The person may dispute one person's assessment of their performance; it's much more difficult to dismiss the assessments of your boss, subordinates and peers.
Another tool that has worked well in shaking people out of denial is Step 1 of the 7 Steps to Becoming INVALUABLE program - Contributory Negligence. The audience gets to see that they contribute to every problem they face. This approach opens their minds to the possibility that they are contributing to their team's lack of productivity.
Finally, don't make training mandatory. It's a waste of time, money and energy. Instead, offer the training to those who have recognized the need, then let their superior performance speak to the value of that training.
It's counter-intuitive, but one of the reasons training fails so often is that the people in the audience are in denial about their need for training. Avoid this costly mistake by assessing the level of denial, shaking the intended audience out of their denial, then making training optional.
If there are tips on dealing with denial you'd like to share with our readers, please post a comment or email me at
dale@furtwengler.com
2 Comments:
Hi Dale,
You make a wonderful point about making sure the partipants recognize the need for the training first..... To make any kind of lasting change, we first have to be committed to it. Do you offer specific services to help companies do this?
Best,
Julie
Thanks, Julie. Yes, I do. I help them craft the 360 degree feedback questions. Depending upon their needs, I also present either just Step 1 of the 7 Steps to Becoming INVALUABLE program or the whole program. Finally, I help leaders get true continuous improvement using a managment system outlined in my book, Making the EXCEPTIONAL Normal. If anyone would like more information on any aspect of these solutions, please call me at 314-707-3771.
Post a Comment
<< Home