Why do people do training? 7 reasons we have been told.

Why do people do training? What a great question to explore your teams motives as well as your own. Here are 7 reasons we have heard recently. Let's look at each one and what it says about the organization and what you might do to improve your training ROI.
"My boss told me too..." Let's start with this common comment. On a positive note, at least the manager is providing training opportunities. Sometimes these participants are there as part of a manager's communication plan on a new topic. We see training used to introduce new concepts and improvement philosophies regularly with the hopes that the trainer creates awareness and desire to move in a new direction. If you are using training as part of your communication plan for a new initiative, don't let it be the first exposure. Make sure the attendee knows why they are going and why it is important that they develop this new skill. "What is important to my boss is important to me." Don't put all of the responsibility on the instructor to create desire. If the manager shows the importance, then the trainer can feed that and create more knowledge per given training time.  Other times the manager is just checking a box and "sending people to training." If this is happening, you are wasting training money, training time, and credibility. Just stop it.
"It's in the budget so we have to do it" This is a variation of the checking the box issue above and leads to training waste. Create a training needs assessment and identify the gaps that are holding you back. From this, create a training plan to address those gaps. Don't put the kids in charge of the cookie jar... create a plan. That plan is the start of getting an ROI from your training budget.

"It is a company paid vacation" When I hear this one, I know someone is checking the box or spending a budget and the training falls into a category that might possibly be a morale booster but certainly not a learning event. Put a stop to it and create and execute from the training plan.
"Training is good for the team" This is only true if someone comes back and does something better. If they don't, it is bad for the team because they have to pick up the slack while the people are out on "training."
"Training is good for morale" There are many studies that show training is indeed good for morale. Some even show that it is better than a raise. But, all this hinges on application of the training. In the training environment the student will get excited about the new information they learn. But, if they return and nobody will listen to them as they share what they learned and nothing changes to allow them to use the training, then morale will surely plummet. You will want to create a plan for how they are going to use the training as a whole and the specific learning objectives when they return. Enable their success and check in on them so that you can remove roadblocks. 
"We have a learning culture" This one warms my heart. Many companies have created a kind of continuous learning culture where training is on-going and is a regular part of the person's work habit. The key thing here is still application. It is great that we are continuously learning, but if we don't do anything with it, then it has a short retention period and offers no return on investment. This creates a life long learner instead of a continuous "improver". You are creating that guy who is still in school and has seven degrees at 39 and has never worked a day in his life.
"I enjoy learning new things" What a great person to have on your team. Now let's figure out how we can use their passion for knowledge to share with others as they continue learning. Can you let them be the aggregator and then empower them to distribute that knowledge to your organization? Could they be an internal coach, mentor, or instructor who boils down the lessons, and makes them site relevant for application?
In the end, to make your training dollar most effective, check these six boxes:

• 1: Stop the nonsense
• 2: Gap analysis
• 3: Training plan
• 4: Application plan for each training event
• 5: Remove roadblocks to application 
• 6: Empower your enthusiastic learners to share

What would you add?
 

The Unsustainable Improvement Strategy: Three ways to ensure you fail.

Over more than ten years of consulting and training globally, I have watched a lot of companies spend an incredible amount of money to go after an organizational change in a very unsustainable way. Today's post will list three of the most frustrating and ineffective ways to make unsustainable change. Don't set out with failure as a goal or a likely destination.

Problem #1: Asking consultants to do it all for them. "But it easy to let the "experts" do it"
There are many consultants who will be more than willing to come in and do all of the heavy lifting. Consultants want as many billable hours as possible and taking it all on provides for their goal. Many of them do not drive sustainability, in fact, if it doesn't get sustained then they can come back again in a few years and sell more billable hours to right the ship. Now don't get me wrong, there may be times where you require a hired gun to knock out some elements because of resource constraints, however this should be used with caution and not applied to processes that require much organizational buy-in and change. We know organizational change is hard but it is no different than going to the gym... you can't let someone else lift the weight for you.

Problem #2: Not developing the solution from within. "Why would I develop it when I can just copy someone else?"
There is study after study that shows that the solution is most effective when it is developed from within. Without this ownership of the solution the organization struggles to implement and sustain. Are you suffering from the same issues the site that created the solution was? For example, a long distance runner does not use the same workout plan as a power lifter. Do you have the same culture? Are you at the same maturity, with the same performance gaps? You would not wear a tutu to a tractor pull just because somebody said you needed some clothes. So, don't put on someone else's solution just because it covers some of your important parts. In the end, a solution may share features or best practices but should be developed as part of a journey of self-discovery.

Problem #3: Not learning how to do it themselves. "Just give me the overview, I've got people for that"
If someone else develops it, and someone else implements it, then you don't get the education that is required to sustain it. The overview taught as the implementers are on the way out the door will be completely ineffective. During studies of how adults learn, it has been proven that retention of the material increases substantially when the content is directly applicable to the task at hand. If all of the heavy lifting has been done, then you as a learner have little reason to retain the content that is being delivered to you. Especially, if it is in the form of a 372 power point slide presentation that the guy in the front of the room is reading so he can go on to his next big gig. The best way is to ensure your organization is capable of sustaining the change is through a process where you learn best practices, apply those practices in your facility within the boundaries of processes you develop with the help of others in the organization. It is a bonus, if you can take that journey with a trusted adviser or coach that challenges the decisions you make but does not do it for you. Think of this as a personal trainer. They guide you down a path to success but they do not try to lift the weight for you.

In the end, we want to lift the weight for ourselves (organizational implementation), develop a work out plan that is based on our gaps and goals (facilitated self-discovery of the path and processes) , and work with a trainer to learn what to do and when to do it to get maximum results (learn by doing with coaching). If you implement with these three potential goals, then you will be one step closer to creating a sustainable habit and dodging an incredible improvement fail.

The What Is Series: What is Blended Learning?

Blended Learning is a phrase that we are starting to hear more and more about both in university and corporate training environments. Let us look at what it is. Wikipedia defines it here as combining both traditional face to face instructor led training and computer based e-learning in order to create opportunities for improved student data collection and customization of instruction and assessment. This allows the instructor to better cater to the individual students needs and desires.
We at Eruditio take it a step further and create an advanced form of blended learning using our Applied Learning Process where we combine multiple medias including:

• Face to face instruction
• Live action and computer animated video
• Interactive 3D environments
• Real world examples
• Traditional e-learning
• One on one virtual coaching
• Augmented reality 
• Gamification
• Project based learning

This lead to a superior student experience, higher material retention and a documented return on investment for the training efforts.  You can see a few testimonials from both students and corporate leaders here. They will share with you how this type of education has changed learning and culture in their facilities. Please reach out to me if you want to discuss how we might create packaged and custom Blended Learning for your site or company.

Five Things That Could Be Killing Your Training Efforts

Here are the five areas where I see huge mistakes made that kill even the best designed and delivered training programs.
The first huge mistake stems from a lack of supervisor understanding. We take the time to train the individuals but no one explains the concepts to the supervisor and managers. If he or she does not have an understanding of the content how can we expect them to ask the right questions or provide the right support? Take the time to either put them through the training or develop a short course to get them up to speed on what they need to know to make it effective.
The second big mistake is caused by “leaders” who don’t train because in their words “if I train them they will leave.” That means every day they stay they continue to do their job ineffectively or even worse continue to introduce additional failures due to ignorance.
The third big mistake is that the “leaders” do not create a learning environment where learning is expected and encouraged. The pace of change continues to increase and because of that we have to create continuous learning environments. If not the changes in technology will pass us by leaving us in the dust of our competitors.
The forth big mistake is the sites where they do not reinforce or refresh training on a regular basis. Some suggest that your job specific training needs to be refreshed at least every other year. I prefer a continuous process as referenced above but this still leaves us with something to think about. This can be done with single point lessons, elearning modules, and videos as well as tool box topics and traditional face to face review.
The fifth big mistake I see is the sites that just check the box on training without identifying required skill needs. They spend training dollars on the people who ask first not on the ones who need it the most. The sites don’t evaluate the skills needed and the levels of proficiency that exist. Without this step how would you know where to spend your training dollars?
Are any of these five things killing your training?

I Wish My Boss Were Here For This Training!

I hear the title quote "I wish my boss were here for this training" or "My boss needs to hear this" after almost ever training session we do. Sometimes it is a leadership or communication class other times it is reliability or manufacturing improvement sessions but the response is nearly the same every time.
I take this quote to  mean at least two things:

• first the student agrees with the content (which is nice) 
• second they wish their boss either did agree or was more supportive of the concepts put forth.

So what can we do as students to build support and understanding with our boss?
The perfect solution would be to of course have the boss join you in the training but this is not always possible.
The second best solution is to have the training provider deliver a condensed but powerful "executive workshop" before the general training. In this session the trainer would provide key elements, key benefits, critical risk to implementation of the concepts, and key questions to reinforce the training with the larger participant group among other things.
But, what if you can not make either one of these things happen? How can you up-skill your boss? Below are 3 ideas that you can play around with to help get your boss on board and supporting the training which will drive a larger return on the training dollars you are spending.
First, if you can't convey the training in terms that connect with the concerns of your manager then you have already lost. Ask yourself "if I were them what would keep me up at night?" Does the training session or concepts taught mitigate that concern or at the very least reduce the risk in that area? If so lets use those points to begin the conversation.
Second can you convey the key points of the training, building off of the managers concerns, in approximately 2 minutes (think elevator speech). Key here is do you know it well enough to confidently articulate it in their terms concisely enough to get their interest before they get distracted?
Third tell them what you need. Tell your boss what is required for the training to be successful. Don't just focus on the resources that you need. Tell your boss what you want to be held to task on or asked about regularly. This takes trust but, you know what you need to do to make the training successful in changing the behavior of the organization. You also know the parts that will be hard for you and where you might need a little extra motivation or help to keep things moving.
There are other tools like A3 charters and Single Point Lesson that can help as well but we can save those for another post or a conversation.
I hope this helps you to help "your boss to hear" during your next training session. Just remember you have to sell it with confidence and passion while meeting the bosses needs and reducing any potential career risk to them that might be associated with what you need them to support.

4 Simple Steps to Start Creating a Learning Culture in Your Organization

Is training a drudgery endured once or twice a year or is it a part of daily life enjoyed by all? Many companies and sites are missing the boat by not having a culture of continuous learning. One where new knowledge is constantly entering the "collective" and finding its way into use. If you can create this culture then you will keep your organization competitive while improving morale according to multiple recently studies.
Here are five easy ways to start your site on a pathway to lifelong education.
1. Trade publications offer a lot of great examples of other organizations success and best practices for no cost other than the time to read. If you are in the manufacturing and asset management world your site should be getting magazines like Plant Engineering, Plant Services, Solutions, Uptime, and others. It is not enough to just sign up for a free subscription. Set up magazine swaps and route around articles that you think are particularly relevant to the site. Have different people present a quick overview of one article per week in your morning meeting. Make the transfer of knowledge an important part of your traditional report out meetings.
2. Websites and blogs like ReliabilityNow.com can also supplement your magazine articles. If your organization is more comfortable with online resources than print you can increase your learning with tools like Twitter and LinkedIn as they serve up a lot of great content as well. Be aware however that forwarding a link in an email can sometimes lower the chances it will be consumed by your target audience. After all they did not just receive that email, it came with 38 others. Because of that you may want to share verbally as well as possibly print it in order to get the attention of your group. This really depends on the culture your site has developed.
3. Videos and YouTube are exploding with information, industry specific newscast, and how to videos. If you have not done so just take a look at this search on YouTube for Asset Management. These videos can be used to kick off meetings, they can be looped in break rooms or just sent as a link. There are also videos on demand like the ones we host here that can provide general awareness or a refresher of content right when you need it and when it matters to you most. 
4. Books are the last category and while very old school the classic book club approach can really help the organization grow by holding students accountable to read and then discuss with the group. The discussion really improves retention of the material and understanding. If you can tie the content to something that is happening in the facility, increasing the relevance, then it will be a slam dunk.
I have used all of these in organizations at one time or another and it is pretty exciting to see the organization brighten as it embraces lifelong learning.

Are You Forgetting Your Hard Earned Lessons? Could it cost you the war with your competitors?

This video shows what would have to be called a best practice in the world of archery, and for that matter war, that was forgotten and lost over time. Lars Andersen has rediscovered the technique through careful study and practice.  An archer with this skill set, as you will see, could devastate the competition and possibly change the outcome of both battles and wars. Take a look and then think about what practices your company has discovered through the years at the floor level and else where that have been lost due to turnover of employees, poor documentation, poor processes and lack of focus. With the departure of the baby boomer generation we are facing the equivalent of a mass exodus of skilled archers. Time is of the essence to capture their skills and knowledge and create training plans to leverage this knowledge to enlighten future employees. It would be great to capture it from the people but you might also need to go after it else where.
Key areas that might contain existing knowledge could be:

• Technical knowledge could be contained in your drawings, plans, purchasing records, maintenance craftsman's little black books and Computerized Maintenance Management System

• Operational process knowledge could be contained in log books, data historians, recipes, operators little black books

• Business processes knowledge might be found in those dusty manual up on the shelf in your office or old "as is and to be" documents scattered here and there on servers and shelves.

Once you have the knowledge it is useless if you can not find a way to transfer it. It would be like finding the picture of the archer and putting it in your desk drawer. The power is the conversion of history to application through training and communication.
You might choose to use e-learning, face to face training, video, coaching, simulations, project based application, and blended approaches that focus on the learning objectives that are taken away from your best practice documentation. We suggest you look at what you are doing today, what you would like to do different in the future and then determine what skills, knowledge and abilities that you need to communicate to facilitate the cultural change that you are looking for. Through this process you can keep the archers shooting fast and strait and win the war with the competition.

What is a flipped classroom?

The flipped classroom is a what is known in education as a pedagogical model in which the typical lecture and homework elements of a course are reversed. Short video lectures are viewed by students at home or work before the face to face class session, while in-class time is devoted to application exercises, projects work, or group discussions.
The video lecture or elearning is often seen as the key ingredient in the flipped approach.
These lectures being either created by the instructor and posted online or selected from an online repository like our Sustaining Skills Video Series.
The notion of a flipped classroom draws on such concepts as active learning, student engagement, hybrid course design, and of course podcasting. The value of a flipped class is in the repurposing of class time into a workshop where students can inquire about lecture content, test their skills in applying knowledge, and interact with one another in hands-on activities. During class sessions, instructors function as coaches or advisers, encouraging students
in individual inquiry and collaborative effort.
In our situation we have seen where it lowers student frustration associated with first time application of knowledge and improves the ability of the student to apply concepts into their "real world" and specific situation thanks to in session face to face dialogue with the coach/instructor. This tool is used in both our Applied Learning Curriculum and Inspired Blended Learning Maintenance and Reliability Core Skills offerings.

The Changing Face of Training: Education through Application

Whether it is quality, safety, leadership, asset management, or reliability training the expectations are changing. The days of training for training sake are quickly passing us by. As companies focus more on getting results and a return on investment from their training classes the industry leaders are not just using traditional face to face lecture based classes. To super-charge their education efforts they are combining multiple medias and delivery methods as well as raising the expectations for each students. Below are three areas you might consider making a part of your training efforts.
1. Mix it up: Do not just lecture. Use video, student teach back, e-learning (example here) and simulations (example here) to keep boredom from rearing its ugly head. If they are bored then the material retention will be very low but if they are engaged or even better yet teaching the material then retention will be substantially higher and so will the return on training. I have always said you do not know the material until you have taught it in front of a group of your peers.
2. Expect application: As part of the class set the expectation that the student has to go back and apply the core concepts to their area or plant. For example if they learn about risk analysis then we would expect them to submit a risk analysis template fully populated for the area they are focusing on.
3. Provide coaching and mentoring: If you are going to have the students submit the application of the concept then devote the resources to be there as coaches.  These coaches provide the students with single point lessons, corrections, and good feedback from someone who has been there and done it before.
With these three additions alone the return on your training dollar will be increased and you will be more able to make the changes you want within your organization. We have been able to document 10X returns by using this methodology within our education programs. I hope you can do the same. Feel free to reach out to me at shon@reliabilitynow.com if you would like to discuss it more.

Five Whys and Wishbone: Program and Training Sponsorship

Over the years I have seen many sponsors give great supporting speeches but I have also noted a few that failed miserably along the way. Lets learn from them. One in particular was the kick off of a new root cause analysis facilitators program in a facility with a history of " flavor of the month" programs and lack luster performance. The "leader" did not attend the workshop because he was "fully up to speed" but came in at the end to say how important this new initiative was to the facilities future. He opened his speech with how he had used "five whys and wishbone" to solve problems in the past and that it could be done with no additional resources so it was perfect for them. It went down hill from there. All I could think was "I guess you could use wishbones but how many turkeys would it take to get to the root causes." For those of you who have seen my root cause methodology you know we talk about five whys and fish bones as the simplest of tools that can be used to create a culture of root cause but certainty are not the tools of serious problem solvers like the reliability engineers this "sponsor" was speaking to. My point is if you want your initiative to have even half a chance of success then take some time to learn what they are about. Brush up on the details. Spend a few minutes with the instructor finding out what the key questions are that you need to ask to really lend you support to the program and drive results. Also take a few minutes to understand what the practitioners will need. 

Many leader spend the time and show their support by attending the full class and learning with their team but if this is not an option then many instructors offer executive half day overviews of the course that can be provided prior to the start of the full workshop. In these session they cover all of the basic requirements, key concepts, question that need to be asked to drive results, and key expectations the leader should have.

Happy Training 

Tool Box Talks: Not Just For Safety Anymore

Many companies have made great improvement in the area of safety in the last ten years but some have begun to plateau. They are looking for that little push to get to the next level.We know based on data that was released by Ron Moore in his book "Making Common Sense Common Practice" that safety has a strong correlation with reliability. So I would suggest that if you want to break through to a new level of safety performance then focus on your organization's reliability.

How? Treat reliability just like we have safety. Make it everyone's responsibility. Keep it in front of the organization.
Many of us already have a morning tool box meeting where we stand around the tool box and talk about the jobs and the safety aspects of the days work. If you add reliability topics to this discussion as well then this is one way you can  keep the topic in the forefront of everyone's mind. It does not need to be a lecture as we are looking for a short five minute topic. Now this alone will not step change your reliability performance but as part of a balanced diet of other improvement task it can begin to turn the tides on reliability and on safety.
So what does it look like? I have seen it done many ways. In some cases the supervisor covers a topic from a single point lesson or other communication tool or a member of the team researches and covers a topic with the group. Getting a team member involved is great because the individual learns through their research and through teaching while providing the information for others to learn from.
What should we talk about?
I have seen topics that covered task like how to operate the bearing heater for precision installs, or how to choose the correct bolt grade or Loctite type. But I have also seen quick job plan reviews and root cause analysis report outs. As you rotate through you will want to focus on why each topic is important to the individual and the overall improvement effort. The key is to, like safety, keep the organization focused on the goal and the prize.

What topics would you cover?
What other ideas have you used to keep reliability in the organizations eye?

68 Percent Infant Mortality: Not in my plant!

OK, may have seen the graphic that shows the six failure curves from the original Nolan and Heap study. This information was part of the foundation of what we know today as Reliability Centered Maintenance or RCM.
So if you are like many, you are struggling seeing how it could be possible that 68 percent of the failure modes in your site fall into the infant mortality curve. I would like to help you with a check list of things that you may be doing to drive infant mortality within your site.

• Do your crafts install bearings with a hammer and chisel?
• When your crafts do use a bearing heater do they like to use the ultra fast torch and rose bud method?
• Do your crafts open up your equipment just for a quick look while leaving the PdM tool cabinet closed?
• Is alignment tools an optional exercise?
• Do your crafts think that a v belt is tight when it sings like a banjo string?
• Do you filter your incoming oil for particles smaller then the drum bung hole?
• Do your crafts understand soft foot and know how to select the correct shims?
• Do your crafts know how to select the proper key stock?
• If your crafts believe that if a little grease is good then a lot has to be better.
• Do your purchasing groups check with maintenance and engineering before changing vendors, parts, or materials?
• Do you provide calibrated torque wrenches?
• Is training something that always gets cut when the budget gets tight?
• Do you have lubrication standards that cover type, amount, and interval?
• Do your operations folks have start up procedures?
• Does operations use them?
• And one of my personal favorites: Do your crafts remove filters so they will not clog?

Now I could go on but what I would like to do is hear from you all: What do you see that drives infant mortality as your predominate failure curve with in your facility?

Seven Rules for Free MRO Vendor Provided Training

Free or almost free training” Ah the holy training grail we have been looking for. Does it work? Sure if you spend the time up front to build it into your plan and have clear expectations for what it can and can not do. I suggest it not be used as your core craftman skills training, but it works great as a refresher courses. Chances are you company’s preferred vendors will provide training on anything from belt installation to lubrication practices. We also had some experience with smaller regional vendors such as nut and bolt suppliers. They can help with proper fastener application and torque as an example. The only drawback is that you must really pay attention to the material that the vendor wants to present to avoid too much sales propaganda. I have used many different vendors for this type of training and I have only had one that turned out to be there for a sales pitch. Using the seven rules below we caught this before wasting the craft’s time in the session. The seven keys to success with the vendors training includes the following:

1.  Try to have the vendor bring in their technical people and not just the sales guy.

2.  Make it clear that the maintenance staff is not the purchasing department and a whole lot of sales hype will be futile.

3.  Ask the vendor if he has done sessions like this before.

4.  Review agenda ahead of time and suggest topics of interest to your group.

5.  Always give the vendor a tour of the plant prior to the presentation so that he can speak to the types of equipment that you have and the problems you face.

6. Make sure you talk with the presenter ahead of time to make sure he has a certain level of charisma and presentation skills or bring pillows for the sleeping technicians.

7.  If you are worried about a vendor then have them do two sessions the same day and you and a few others attend the first session before committing a larger portion of the maintenance group to the second one.

            Free training can work to satisfy many of the basic training needs especially refreshers that are required to keep us competitive as long as just like any other part of your training program you put in the work up front.