|
flevyblog
The Flevy Blog covers Business Strategies, Business Theories, & Business Stories.
|
Editor's Note: Take a look at our featured best practice, Complete Organization Design Toolkit (103-slide PowerPoint presentation). Recent McKinsey research surveyed a large set of global executives and suggests that many companies, these days, are in a nearly permanent state of organizational flux. A rise in efforts in Organizational Design is attributed to the accelerating pace of structural change generated by market [read more]
* * * *
When you think about pretty much any time you had to learn a new corporate framework, the first thing you see are probably dense diagrams full of arrows, boxes, and acronyms you’d never seen before. Most likely, somebody explained it all in a meeting, but do you know how to apply any of it to your work?
Probably not.
And that’s exactly the problem with a lot of frameworks. They’re absolutely terrific on paper, however… That’s about it.
When it comes to applying them, they’re way too abstract and too technical, and it’s hard to translate them into everyday work.
Luckily, it doesn’t have to be that way.
Why? Because there’s always ways to make complex tasks simpler!
Even the best elearning authoring tools are next to useless if they’re too difficult to understand. Sure, they might be extremely useful once you learn them, but if the learning curve is too steep, then you’re severely limiting your user base.
Because these frameworks are often stuffed with technical jargon – as if they were written by experts for experts – it makes them hard to understand for beginners.
Without explanations in plain English and without real-world examples/comparisons, the concepts often remain abstract and disconnected from the actual tasks.
Just imagine how much easier it would be to learn anything if you just had someone next to you who you could ask specific questions and instantly get answers.
This way, you’d probably be able to learn anything, right?
But if employees simply can’t learn these important tools, then they can’t be in line with company goals, they adopt new processes slowly (or they don’t do it at all), and you have repeated rounds of retraining that all cost time, money, and momentum.
The way you design training can make the difference between employees actually understanding it and not being able to apply it. If the content is complicated, it needs to be broken down into smaller, clearer parts that all build on each other. And if employees can engage with it and there’s a chance for active learning, they’ll learn even more.
Here’s how to structure training in a way that, even though it’s complex as a whole, it’s manageable instead of overwhelming.
Training needs to start with a clear picture of what employees need to be able to do by the end of the program. These goals should be specific and measurable.
For instance, you could say, “Accurately map a workflow from start to finish”, which is more actionable than “Understand the workflow process”.
Once you know which outcomes are important for you, it becomes so much easier to formulate the whole teaching process (teaching methods, examples, visuals, etc.).
Extra tip: If the content is clear/concise, fewer people will become overwhelmed with irrelevant details.
You can replace dense texts and long explanations with flowcharts, process maps, or timelines to make the information easier to follow. Visual models can show relationships between different parts of a framework and show how one step connects to the next.
If you add color coding and recognizable icons, that’ll improve memory recall even more and give employees quick visual cues they can remember and use after they’ve completed their training.
Theory is important, but you also need examples from real situations. Case studies, simulations, and role-play exercises help bridge the gap between abstract frameworks and everyday work.
Example: Instead of just explaining a management framework, why not turn it into a start-to-finish scenario of how an employee might/should use it to complete a project?
This type of context makes the framework much easier to remember because it becomes more relevant and relatable.
You can’t expect to teach an entire framework in one go and have it be a success. Not even super motivated employees will be able to learn it that way. Instead, break it down into smaller, logical segments to help everyone master each component before moving on to the next.
This’ll gradually layer complexity (like an onion), so employees can build a good base before they add something more challenging to it. Each module should build directly on the last, so it reinforces past lessons while also introducing new ideas at the same time.
Corporate frameworks are the backbone of how a company works, but unless the training is designed properly, nobody will be able to learn them well. And you can definitely forget about applying them.
Instead of something that’s overflowing in jargon and slides, why not have the materials be actually usable? Making a complicated framework simpler doesn’t take any of its power away.
Instead, it turns something that’s just dry theory into a practical tool that works in real life and that everyone will be able to apply.
You can download in-depth presentations on Bain PowerPoint and 100s of management topics from the FlevyPro Library. FlevyPro is trusted and utilized by 1000s of management consultants and corporate executives.
For even more best practices available on Flevy, have a look at our top 100 lists:
These best practices are of the same as those leveraged by top-tier management consulting firms, like McKinsey, BCG, Bain, and Accenture. Improve the growth and efficiency of your organization by utilizing these best practice frameworks, templates, and tools. Most were developed by seasoned executives and consultants with over 20+ years of experience.
