Training Construction Employees – Part 5
This five-part series began with an overview of Training Construction Employees.
The next step concerned Letting Employees Get the Hang of It by hanging new information on established knowledge.
Part three gave information about Providing Foundational In-House Training.
In the fourth part, the emphasis was on Instilling Power Skills.
This fifth and final post about Training Construction Employees aims to share the concepts and strategies associated with microlearning. It is about creating a culture of incremental learning. The goal is to help employees absorb knowledge more efficiently and retain information longer.
Leverage Microlearning Strategy
The microlearning strategy simplifies a new, complicated, or difficult concept, idea, or skill into small, manageable units. The idea is to take something new or challenging and boil it down so it can be clarified, deciphered, disentangled, or streamlined.
The four-step strategy is straightforward; it involves:
Remain goal-oriented – determine what needs to be learned and what the outcome should be.
Learn new bite-sized information – taking one incremental step at a time.
Practice retention-building exercises – whether training muscles or mind repetition is part of the process.
Develop valuable habits – new information, skills, or concepts almost always require adjusting old habits or forming new ones.
The idea is that while microlearning may at first be company-directed, it is a skill that your employees can develop and use independently.
Leverage Microlearning by Category
There are three different categories in which microlearning can be put to use.
The Unknown. The first is tackling an entirely new idea, tool, or method.
The Incorrect. The second concern is when practical and desired ideas, skills, and behaviors become disheveled or entirely dislodged. (Think about undesirable or dangerous shortcuts.)
The Known. The third aspect concerning microlearning is leveling up, going from okay to good, from good to great, from great to exceptional.
Allowing time for practice and habit-forming exercises of proper methods gives your employees the benefit of solidifying new concepts into their regular routines. Through practice, employees learn the lesson at hand. At the same time, they are exposed to the idea of reinforcing, stabilizing, and growing their abilities through microlearning.
The first level mentioned above, The Unknown, is typically addressed through things like classes, workshops, or e-learning.
The training methods used in the second level, The Incorrect, might include one-on-one meetings, classes, group meetings, or other instructional strategies.
Leverage Microlearning of The Known
What we’re looking at here is from the third level mentioned above, The Known. In this case, we’re looking at an all-encompassing “known” – your company’s core values. Everyone who works for you knows your construction company’s core values, right?
Those values might include these types of words: safety, integrity, respect, quality, and innovation. They may also contain phrases like having a positive attitude, always maintaining clean jobsites, or prioritizing collaboration on solutions.
Using the power of microlearning allows your employees to move from simply rattling off the list of core values to internalizing them and acting upon them. This puts microlearning into practice in a simple yet practical way.
Leverage Microlearning Example
Start with the goal. Employee-led core value training. This means involving your employees in the in-depth identification of your construction company’s core values.
Determine the pace. How often will you meet for this core value training? Depending on the size and structure of your construction company, you may want to meet weekly or every other week. (Remember, you’re leveraging microlearning.)
Set employees up for success. Let everyone know what is ahead and what their part in it will be. Each employee will make a brief presentation concerning one of your construction company’s core values. At one meeting, one employee will discuss one core value.
Develop the format. Design a format your employees will use in their presentations. You might wish to follow this example.
Recite the core value being discussed.
Describe what the core value means.
Tell how the core value applies to you personally.
Explain how it can be implemented into one or more of the projects being worked on now.
Provide an example you’ve seen of the core value in action on one of your projects or in your office.
Lead by example. Choose one core value and, you know, go first.
Assign the next core value. Choose another core value and assign one of your employees to lead the next session.
Apply, rinse, repeat. If you think you’ll be done with these core value sessions in just a few weeks – after all, you only have five or so core values – think again. Over time, assigning different people to present different core values than they’ve reported on before adds even more depth and understanding. Plus, what about the new people who come on board? Each time a different person presents a core value, everyone gains more understanding.
Leverage Microlearning – 7 Core Value Training Tips
Add the core value training to your regular weekly meetings. As you can see, keeping this portion of your meeting short and sweet encapsulates the idea of microlearning.
Remind employees that part of developing leadership qualities means training to communicate well. What better place to practice that skill than in front of the people they know and work with regularly?
Allow your employees to use whatever tools they want or need in their presentations. Do they want to use a PowerPoint presentation? Would having a tool or other object to pass around make them feel less intimidated by the process? Think about it: would a dented hard hat be an excellent way to lead into the core value of “safety at all times”?
Purposefully mingle the presentation skill level of those who will be presenting. In other words, assign those with greater presentation skills at intervals. Mix in those with lesser presentation skills and who will step out of their comfort zone while presenting. Encourage everyone along the way.
Always strive to make this a fun portion of your meetings.
Depending on your team members, you may find asking for presentation volunteers works well, or you may need to make assignments.
Think about recording these presentations. Over time, glean them down. Add the best to your in-house library of training materials or onboarding sources.
Leverage Microlearning Conclusion
There is a reason this is the last post of the five-part series concerning Training Construction Employees. When you leverage microlearning, you have the means to tackle all that has been presented in the previous posts in this series. It is like the answer to the proverbial question, “How do you eat an elephant?” One bite at a time. Or one micro piece followed by another micro piece, followed by another.
In the first post of the series, we said, “It’s a fact that there is an industry-wide skills gap in construction. The workforce has shrunk, and skilled workers are harder to find. Therefore, it is incumbent on you to provide the proper training for your team.” After that, we began giving actionable information concerning training construction employees.
Take a deep breath; you’re not being asked to take it all in at once. Choose one topic from the series, look for the hook you can hang the new information on, and remember what we told you in the second post, “The most critical component influencing learning is what the learner already knows.” The concept of hooking new information to what is already known plays nicely into the microlearning arena.
In the middle of the series, the post was about providing foundational in-house training, and we said, “Develop a training schedule for the twelve months ahead. Consider this: When is the best time to put the roof on a building? Before it rains, of course! Training is never convenient, so take the bull by the horns, plan ahead, commit to specific dates, and stick with it.” Managing a training schedule requires you to leverage your microlearning skills.
Then, in the fourth post of the series, the focus was on instilling power skills. We compared it to “giving your team members the means to put many arrows in their quivers, thus giving them more opportunities to hit the mark.” By leveraging microlearning you can increase the number of arrows you put in your own quiver.
There you have it. Leverage Microlearning in your construction employees and yourself. Train with gusto. And add to your ability to Run With the Big Dogs!
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