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Practice Makes
Perfect … Performance (that is)
Practice is essential to developing
competent and self-confident performers. After all, people
don't learn by listening; they learn by doing. But effective
practice is more than just doing something over and over again.
Here are five tips for maximizing the performance-improvement
potential of the practice exercises you incorporate in your
training programs.
1. Avoid generic practice
situations
Many off-the-shelf training programs focus on generic tasks
in generic situations. While this is not necessarily bad for
initial learning, if that's all the learning focuses on, then
you have a problem, because there aren't many generic workers
doing generic tasks in generic companies. If you're using
an off-the-shelf product, try to supplement it with specifics
that are relevant to your learners. Preferably, the program
should have supplementary practice integrated throughout rather
than added as a separate unit at the end.
2. Incorporate triggering
cues
People need to know more than just how to do something; they
also need to know when to do it. Therefore, it's important
to: a) document all of the environmental conditions that would
trigger a specific task, and b) ensure that learners practice
each new skill they are learning in a representative mix of
job situations generated by the appropriate triggering cues.
3. Make practice realistic
It doesn't matter how well learners have mastered a new skill
if they can't apply it back on the job. To help ensure that
training will produce measurable behavioral change, it's imperative
that practice exercises mirror the actual job environment
as closely as possible. For example, it's much more effective
to train sales associates to deal with difficult customers
by having them practice in a realistic role-play situation
than to have them check off an appropriate strategy from a
multiple-choice list.
4. Check to be sure learners
are practicing correctly
Learners may practice till they're blue in the face, but if
they're practicing the wrong way they could do more harm than
good. To ensure that learners practice as intended, it's important
to add "checkpoints" such as:
- Self-assessments of each practice
trial (for example, predetermined answers to practice problems)
- Timely feedback and guidance
(assuming, of course, that the people providing the feedback
are given their own guidance on what constitutes correct
practice)
5. Allocate at least 50% of
training time to practice
To make sure learners attain skill mastery and the self-confidence
to apply the skills on the job, it's vital to devote as much
training time as possible to practice. As a rule of thumb,
practice should comprise at least half of the time spent on
each module. This includes the time spent receiving feedback
and guidance for improving performance.
Excerpted from How to Make
Smart Decisions About Training: Save Money, Time, & Frustration
by Paul G. Whitmore, Ph.D., CEP Press, 2002. For more information
about this newly released book, including a free chapter excerpt,
go to How to Make Smart Decisions About Training
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