Transcript of Ed Muzio's Team Development Video
Hi, I'm Ed Musio, CEO of Quip Harmonix, and I'm going to give you five ways to develop your team.
We all know professional development is important. If you're a manager, part of your job is making sure your employees get better and better at their jobs.
Now that's easy to say, but it's not always easy to do. Let's say this is one of your employees, and you just watched him give a presentation to some customers, and you watched in horror. He did a terrible job.
You know you have to help this employee get better at presentation skills, but what exactly are you supposed to do about that?
Fortunately, there's an answer. Robert Diltz defines five levels of learning that specify two things.
First, they specify the issue faced by a learner, and second, they specify the role that you can take to help the learner overcome that issue.
The first issue is the issue of the environment.
The environment is what's going on around the person. So let's say, for example, that this employee has a job that never lets him give presentations until he's in front of customers. That's not an environment that supports learning. In that case, your role is the role of a guide. You want to guide that person to environments where he can develop a skill.
Maybe you suggest Toastmasters, or maybe help him get some on-the-job training.
The second issue is the issue of behaviour. Behaviour is what the person actually does.
Maybe this employee spent the whole time in front of the screen, or made too many hand gestures. These are behaviours that need to be adjusted. In that case, your role is the role of a coach. You want to coach that person to behave in a different way.
The third level is the level of capability.
Capability is about what the person actually knows. Let's say, for example, you watch this person give this presentation, and he made several misstatements about your company's product line. That's because he doesn't know those facts. In that case, your job is to play the role of a teacher.
You need to teach him the facts he needs to know, so he gets better at his job.
The fourth level is the level of belief.
Belief is what the person thinks about the situation. So let's say you're talking to this employee about improving presentation skills, and he says to you, you know what? I believe presentation skills are hard. Most people aren't good at them. I'm not good at them, but that's pretty common.
Well, that's not exactly a belief that's going to lead to any improvement. In this case, your job is to play the role of a mentor. You want to say to the person, you know what? People do get better at presentation skills, and I'm willing to help you become one of those people.
Finally, at the deepest level, is the issue of identity.
Identity answers deep questions about who I am. So let's say, for example, you're talking to this employee about presentation skills, and he says, you know what? I'm a bad presenter. My mother was a bad presenter. I come from a long line of bad presenters. Well, that's not exactly going to get him anywhere.
In this case, this may be hard to change, but if you do change it, you're going to do it by playing the role of a sponsor. You basically have to say to the person, look, I'm willing to see you as different, as someone who's good at presentations and to keep seeing you that way until you see yourself that way.
Obviously, as we go down the model, the roles get more difficult for you to play. That's the downside.
The good news is, as we go down the model, the changes become deeper and more meaningful and more permanent. But the important point here to realise is that you don't want to have a mismatch.
If you're trying to teach somebody facts to do their job better, but they're in an environment where they can't ever use those facts, you're going to end up frustrated and you're not going to get anywhere. Or if you're trying to coach the person to behave differently, but they have a belief that what you're saying is never going to work, again, you're both going to be frustrated. So the next time you have an employee who needs to be developed, before you jump into action, take a few minutes and figure out what's going on. Figure out the issue. Is it the environment? Is it behaviour? Is it capability? Is it belief? Or is it identity? Let the issue drive the role you play, and you'll be a lot more likely to take action that will help the employee develop.
End of transcript.
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