Training Term

Success in continuous improvement relies on many factors—leadership, communication, and employee engagement, to name a few. None of the intangibles matter, though, if employees and leaders are not properly trained. In a nutshell, training is the act of passing usable skills from one person to another.

Instructors need two basic things in order to be effective trainers. First, they must have a little more knowledge than the people they are teaching. There is a misconception that a trainer must be an expert in a subject to be an effective trainer. Not true. If you wanted to train someone to make an omelet, you wouldn’t need to be a master chef. You would just need to know how to crack eggs and have a solid understanding of the recipe. Being an expert is necessary in some instances. But, when the training is targeted at learning a specific task, knowing just a little more than the trainee is usually sufficient.

This simple fact means that there is great promise for Lean organizations. Instead of always relying on highly experienced experts to pass on knowledge, companies can use their own leadership team to slowly, but surely, improve the abilities of their employees. There is, of course a need for those experts to train complicated or difficult tasks, or to help deal with difficult problems, but many activities don’t require that level of expertise. Creating kanban systems needs expert trainers; creating kanban cards needs a trainer who is well-versed in making kanban cards.

Leaders and professionals in most companies have a lot of knowledge about the fundamentals of Lean that could be taught to employees. That’s the second basic thing that a good trainer must have: an ability to communicate instruction in an effective way. Having the knowledge is not enough. Passing it on is the hard part.

Trainers have to be able to package it in a way so it can be understood, remembered, and most importantly, put to good use. Helping workers learn is much more difficult than most people think. Lack of that skill on a company-wide level is often the bottleneck that holds back Lean success. It is surprising how just a few untrained employees is all it takes to slow a company down on its Lean journey.

Training Methods

Training generally happens in one of four ways.

• Large group lectures. This is the “one person talks, many people listen” model of training and is frequently used for orientations. It is most effective when many people need knowledge quickly. The drawback of this method is that it is hard for an instructor to see how the students are doing, and there is often limited time to do practical exercises or ask questions.
• Small group or one-on-one mentoring. This is most common when a frontline leader trains new employees on a process, or a consultant trains a manager on how to do a job skill. It is generally an effective model, since a trainer can frequently see how the student is doing, plus the skill can often be used immediately in a real situation. The quality of the training, though, can vary. Not all leaders are good mentors. It is also a very inefficient method of training.
• Formal training program. This is the classroom approach. Groups tend to be smaller than in a lecture format, and instruction usually contains generous helpings of hands-on exercises and group participation. Instructors are often well-polished and can be very skilled at training the course. The downside is that the training is given at the time that the class is scheduled, not when it is needed.
• Just-in-time training. This is the training that is given right before a skill is needed. For example, few people ever get bungee-jumping training “just-in-case.” They receive instruction on the bridge right before they put their harness on and take the leap. In Lean, the most common training of this format is in a kaizen. The facilitator will generally spend the first day going over Lean principles and the specific methods that will be used during the upcoming week. The biggest downside is that skilled trainers are often not available exactly when needed.

Regardless of how it is taught, for training to be retained, it must be used. Do you remember your drivers’ education class? Probably only vaguely. You remember the lessons, though. You use them every day. The skills you were taught were reinforced by repetition and practice. On the other hand, do you remember how to determine the length of the unequal side of an isosceles triangle? Unless you use it every day for your job, you would probably have to look it up.

The point is to use the training early and often. After all, training is an investment. Both employees and companies should get something out of it.

Video vs. Live Training

Technology has made video an increasingly viable training option. There is a wealth of information available on YouTube and other video platforms, and new video training services are increasingly available.

NOTE: Continuous Improvement Central is our training service at https://academy.velaction.com/. While we always recommend a good, in-person instructor over video learning, that instructor is not always available or affordable. Our service is the next best thing.

Live training is generally better if you have a quality instructor. They can see if students are retaining information and give immediate feedback. They can also run hands-on exercises to reinforce points. The downside is that the quality of instruction can vary widely, and it is an inefficient way to train people. It can also be costly if you are hiring a trainer.

Video quality can be all over the map. Fortunately, with the way platforms work, you can see how well the material is rated. It lets you weed out the poor content. Video can be just videos or can be tied into other materials. They can be on a single subject or they can be part of a progressive program.

I recommend that you identify the videos you want your team to watch and put them into some sort of progressive program. It will make sure they have similar knowledge, will save them time, and will keep people from hearing competing opinions that can confuse your team.

Training, even with the best of intentions can be ineffective if it is not well-planned and well-executed. Pay attention to these common pitfalls.

• Avoid just going through the motions of training. Above all else, training should be done with a purpose. Leaders and employees alike should have an understanding of what the expectations will be after the training is completed. If training is done haphazardly, employees will feel like their time is wasted, and leaders will get frustrated that they are spending time and money and not getting good results. Before starting training, both boss and employee should be clear about how the effectiveness of training will be evaluated. This might be a test or it might be actually putting the training to use in a real situation.
• Use process improvement to eliminate waste in Lean training. Make sure that trainers are increasingly effective. Use instructor reviews or link their evaluations to the success of the students. Also, make sure that courses continually get refined, so the instructors and materials improve over time. That means better results with less time invested in training. It is surprising (and ironic) how often a company creates a training package about continuous improvement, and then uses it for years without any adjustments.
• Don’t skimp on training. Pinching pennies by getting bargain basement instructors or cutting classes short makes training less effective. This reduces employees’ desire to participate in future training and all but guarantees the status quo.

Training is the key to your advancement in a Lean company. You will constantly have more asked of you. The more prepared you are to handle those challenges, the better off you will be and the more that you can increase your job security.

What if you don’t want to advance? If you are happy where you are, every company with a continuous improvement culture has a goal, by definition, to do things better every day. You won’t be able to be a part of that without understanding how. Even if you don’t care about getting better, and if you are not worried about your boss getting mad, you might care about one thing: your coworkers.

Some of them will care about getting better. If you aren’t trained, you won’t be able to pull your weight. How do you think your friends at work will feel about you if they have to pick up the slack that is left over because you are not trained to do your job? Poor relationships are a surefire way to lower your job satisfaction.

Put a training plan in place. Think about the gap in skills that your team has, and what you think they need. Then fill that gap. Why? Apart from the benefit to your company, you will help your own career. As your team gets better at doing things, they will get better results and help you hit your targets quicker.

On top of that, better skills often translate into more free time for you. That means time to do the really big important projects that weren’t getting done due to the other tasks you had to do. With a trained team, you will be able to delegate more work.

Finally, focus your training effort on volunteers. Not just the ones who volunteer for classes, but the ones who show a tendency to volunteer for projects and harder assignments. They are the ones who will be most likely to put training to use.

Key Points

• Training is the transfer of useable skills. Just passing on knowledge doesn’t count.
• A good trainer doesn’t need to be an expert in a field. She just has to have a solid understanding of the process she is training. She does, however, need to be skilled at the techniques of training.
• Many training formats are available. Choose the one that best meets the needs of the student.

Next Steps

1. Identify a continuous improvement trainer for your team. The person needs two skill sets. The first is general training skills. The second is continuous improvement expertise. It is rare to find one person with both, but most teams can find a person with at least one of the skills.
2. Develop more trainers and add the missing skills in your existing trainers. This may mean immersion in hands-on Lean training, or it may mean a train the trainer program.
3. Start small with live training. Focus on easy subjects like Pareto charts or the 5 Whys.
4. Develop a training program. Add structure into how you will approach getting a team trained up on CI skills.

Velaction’s Lean Training System lets you put your training skills to use improving your team’s continuous improvement skills. It is a customizable program with a wide range of topics including Lean Leadership, Problem Solving, Lean 101, Standard Lean Tools, and more. Each module can be configured by selecting just the components (PowerPoint, Student Guide, Lego Exercise, Video, etc.) that you need to make the most effective use of your training time. Visit our webstore to learn more.