By: Kathlynn McConnell, CPLP, Director of Learning and Development for MCCU and President/Chief Refueling Officer for Lifestyle Consulting Services

Have you ever uttered any of the following about team members when you are trying to train them on a new process or product: “I must have told them 10 times how to do that, and they are still doing it wrong!”, “I don’t know why they just don’t get it!” , “they should know this by now!”  

To ensure actual transfer of learning is occurring, we need to perform a little C.P.R. – no, this does not involve pounding on anyone’s chest. This is an acronym for 3 crucial steps involved in learning. Implementing these 3 steps will not only save YOU time in training your team members, it will help your team get up to speed more quickly and accurately.

C- refers to content. I know – you have so much to share and they have so much to learn, yet taking the “firehose” approach can overwhelm learners. To make it easier for your learners to absorb and retain the information you have worked so hard to prepare for them, define what content they absolutely NEED TO KNOW and what content is NICE TO KNOW. Covering the “need to know” knowledge/tasks/procedures first ensures they have the foundational pieces without overwhelming their brain cells. Once they have grasped the “need-to-knows”, you can then sprinkle in the nice-to-know nuggets.

P – refers to practice. Deliver up to three elements of content, then stop to allow the learners to practice what they have learned so far. (Ex: pose a question and have the learners arrive at a solution on their own,or have them pair up to discuss the topic then teach back to their partner/larger group) Doing so will help uncover any gaps in comprehension and allow you to address these areas before you introduce more information.

R – refers torevisit. A mentor once told me, “never do for the learner what the learner can do for themselves.” A “review” is done by the facilitator and involves recapping the points discussed. A REVISIT is done by the learner and includes accountability. Here are a few revisit questions you can pose to your learners to ensure the learning is retained past the training room door:

• What are three ways you can use this information?
• How do you think applying what you learned will affect outcomes?
• Write one sentence explain a key concept you learned
• What are the top three learning points you gained today
• Write one question you still have about what you learned today

Designing your training with C.P.R. in mind will not only save YOU time in training your team members, it will help your team get up to speed more quickly and accurately.