Recently a strong wind turned one of our Bradford Pear trees into a pile of branches lying on the ground. I’ve spent considerable time over the last week using a chipper/shredder to turn that pile of branches into a much smaller pile of wood chips. It’s been great fun – let me tell you. But before I could have that fun, I had to get this machine running after sitting idle for about 3 years. To do that, I had to learn all about small engine carburetors. Why am I telling you all this? It’s because as I was cleaning that carburetor, I started thinking about learning styles.
There are three main learning styles common to both adults and children. They are:
Visual – those who like to be shown how to do something or like to read about it,
Auditory – those who like to be told how to do something and have it explained to them, and
Kinesthetic – those who like to be hands on and just figure it out for themselves.
What my carburetor time reinforced is that I am predominantly a kinesthetic learner. I love to take things apart and see how they work. If you give me a new software program I’ll start pointing and clicking until I figure it out. As my Dad says, “Instructions are for wimps.” But even after taking it apart, cleaning everything I could find, and putting it back together, the chipper didn’t work. I had to fall back on my secondary preference and find a YouTube video about carburetor cleaning. I found a perfect 2-minute video where I saw a small hole that had been so covered in gunk that I didn’t know it existed. After digging this hole out with a needle the chipper ran like a top.
Again you’re thinking, fascinating antidote, but what does it have to do with HR? The answer is in how you develop and deliver training programs. Among any group of trainees, you’ll likely find all three types of learners. If you want your training to be successful you need to provide opportunities for each attendee to use their preferred learning style. Some techniques can involve more than one style.
Many programs involve some sort of lecture (auditory) and can be enhanced with a good PowerPoint show (visual). (Note that I said a “good” PowerPoint show. Another day I’ll talk about how PowerPoint can be an enemy as well as a friend.)
Visual learners like to read about the subject, so make sure your class has a handout. An interactive one where participants can write notes and fill in blanks will also involve the kinesthetic learner.
Role plays and simulations are wonderful tools for all styles. Kinesthetic learners learn by doing. Visual Learners see the material demonstrated to them. Auditory learners hear what the material sounds like and they get to ask questions and talk about what they’ve learned.
The big lesson here is to make sure to incorporate different activities that feature different learning styles into your training. And, don’t be surprised that if you simply stand up in front of your team and give a lecture on how to use the new performance management form, that may of your manager’s wont’ get it.
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