Training

Abstract

Project managers must develop coaching skills to be successful in the project environment. In a global sense coaching skills include identification of needs, assessment of content and implementation of training intervention. This article explores the reality of how team members learn the skills needed to succeed and the responsibility incumbent on the project manager for training. The article continues with some adult learning concepts and special problems faced by project managers.

Introduction

The past fourteen years of my life have been spent in training others in a wide range of formats and on a wide range of topics. The training opportunities have been in public seminar settings and in house training programs as well as one-on-one coaching. I have had the opportunity to present programs to both public and private sector audiences. The most successful programs have several demonstrated characteristics that underscore the elements that make the training, in fact, any training successful. It would be my greatest wish that I could claim that the successful programs have been the result of my presentation ability and my outstanding program content. Unfortunately, such is not the case. In fact, rarely is that the case. The most successful training environments are characterized by a learning culture that is fostered by management at all levels. Environments where all participants engage in behavior that is open, sharing and committed to the success of all persons involved. This behavior needs to be modeled by management at all levels of an organization. Training programs provided in such environments spark enthusiastic responses and multiple ripples of impact on behavioral change and improved productivity. For the sake of this article, training will be used in its global and universal sense as “anything we do to enhance the skills and knowledge” of those team members who we are obligated to assist. Here the word training will include the concepts of coaching, mentoring, workshops, formal training courses, etc., etc.

The very nature of projects and project management forces enormous effort to be focused on developing employees, extending their knowledge base as well as their skill level in the areas they are being asked to perform. There is an archetype androcentric project manager whose instincts run counter to this line of thought. Their vision of team acquisition is to simply hire the most competent people that budget will allow and expect all project needs to be met by force of effort. Or worse yet, simply endure project failure and frustration with assigned team members who have less than the minimal knowledge and skill set needed to successfully accomplish the project. Today's project manager must be, along with many other attributes, an accomplished individual at providing for the training needs of the project team.

In this article we will explore the most common methods that team members use to learn new knowledge and skills. We will recognize the responsibility and obligation of the project manager to facilitate that learning, explore some concerns about adult learning and discuss some tips about how to better facilitate the learning environment in projects. Finally, we will discuss some of the special challenges that exist between managers and subordinates that impact the ability of any manager to provide effective coaching.

How Team Members Learn

An informal survey of participants in my classes reveals an interesting pattern of learning behavior in the project environment. Very few project team members cite coaching as the primary means of learning. Most participants, when asked how they learn about project management will respond that they read a book, attended a seminar, or simply absorbed the information from their work environments. “We now recognize that most learning occurs on the job rather than in isolated training sessions and that work itself is the primary vehicle for learning”. (Wright, 2003) Unfortunately, too often On the Job Training (OJT) is the term wrongly used for throwing a team member into the work environment with no guidance and then waiting and hoping to see if they emerge as capable, trained workers. OJT properly done, is a great way to train team members, but it needs structure and specific directed content to be successful. Coaching is a key component of OJT.

The most common and one of the most effective means of training individuals is through delegation. Delegation, requires coaching skills. But project managers, like supervisors and managers in every other discipline, are weak in delegation skills. Most managers mistakenly think that delegating is simply the act of handing a task to someone else and then letting them take care of it. Quality delegation is the act of progressively enhancing the skill set of team members in such a way as to allow them to be successful in the performance of the delegated task and to be successful in expanding their skills, knowledge and understanding.

There are many reasons why mangers do not delegate. The lists abound of excuses. I do not have time to delegate, if you want it done right, you have to do it yourself, I do not have the people to delegate to, etc., etc. Some of the excuses might have validity at times, but at some deep level I am convinced that most project managers are afraid to delegate. They are afraid to delegate for two reasons. Reason number one is that they are concerned about preserving their position as the project expert. “If this is implemented,……. I will loose something I value” (Sevenson, 2004) Reason number two is that they do not have the coaching/mentoring skills needed to make delegation a success. Project managers typically do not see themselves as needing to excel in the coaching arena in order to be a success as a project manager, yet that is a critical skill to wide scale success.

Yes, team members are forced to learn most of what they know about managing a project from unstructured, random and poorly thought out OJT.

Recognizing the Responsibility

If I am truly a capable project manager

The project manager's responsibility to share information and understanding cannot be stressed enough. “Leaders who act as coaches, stewards, servants, or partners, are seen as dramatically different form the leaders of old who used the power of their position and/or their persona to exert their influence.” (Ellinger, 2003) Our Project Management Professional (PMP®) designation has associated with it a code of conduct that makes training others an imperative.

Contribute to the project management knowledge base.

Most PMP®'s mistakenly think that this has to do exclusively with doing research or writing books, etc., etc. While those are worthy efforts to which we should all aspire, there is a more prevalent and pressing opportunity to contribute to the knowledge base simply by training others, elevating their skills and knowledge. Expanding the project management knowledge base beyond the PMP® designation holders to all project participants is an important obligation of our PMP® status. Many project participants are not concerned about having a PMP® certification. While they may not be concerned about having the designation, they are or at least should be concerned about having the knowledge and understanding of the repeatable processes needed to be successful in project management.

Enhance individual competence

Nowhere in the code of conduct does the above line become restricted to just enhancing the PMP®'s competence. Enhancing individual competence should and does apply to all of the team members involved in a project. Certainly, not everyone is interested in every aspect of the project, but the project manager should be constantly seeking opportunities to enhance the individual competence of all team members. A truly successful project finishes with the project team emerging as more capable, better trained, and enthusiastic about the project.

We need to enhance the intellectual capital of our organizations by providing training as a fundamental principal of our everyday work. The most likely training approach is through delegation and coaching. By failing to do so we may even be creating a drain on the intellectual capital of our organizations. “It is possible that dissatisfaction with training and development is and example of a trigger event that results in turnover.” (Bartlett, 2002)

“Coaching, training and developing employees are often considered to be the province of human resource or training departments.” (Elleninger, 2003) This is an unacceptable position to take in the project management area. If I am truly a capable project manager then I must use quality delegation as the primary tool of training. I must understand and focus effort on developing my personal skills in the delegation area.

Training Tips

Levels of Learners

Many times while we are training others we need to be cognizant of the generally accepted understanding of the levels of learners. In order to explore this topic we will need a formal definition of the word competency. The International Board of Standards for Training, Performance and Instruction (IBSTPI) defines competency as: An essential skill without which an individual is not a qualified practitioner. Thus we would define a competent individual as one whose skill and knowledge levels are sufficient to allow them to put that skill and knowledge to practical use. With that in mind, let us look at four levels of learners that might be a part of our project team.

The four levels are:

The first level of learner is the unconscious incompetent. It could be said of this learner that, “They do not know, what they do not know.” Example: Someone interested in becoming an airplane pilot has very little understanding of what all they will need to know to be a successful pilot. Ask the “man on the street” what knowledge areas would a pilot need to be proficient, in order to fly an airplane. The typical answer would be, “how to fly the airplane” or “weather” or some other simplistic response. This response is typical of the unconscious incompetent learner. They do not know, what they do not know. Obviously, if you asked an existing pilot what all was needed the list would be much more detailed and include some areas that the unconscious incompetent learner was not even aware of.

The second level of learner is the conscious incompetent learner. That is to say that while they are still “not yet competent” to perform a task, they have become aware of what all they need to know in order to be competent. In our pilot example the flight student in ground school is becoming aware of all that they need to know and understand to be a pilot. They most likely have not yet mastered the material but they are aware of the knowledge areas that need to be understood.

The third level of learner is the conscious competent learner. At this point the learner has the knowledge and ability to deal with likely problems and becomes a practitioner in the knowledge area. In the example of our student pilot, this is the point where the instructor pilot allows the student to fly the aircraft without the instructor on board. In fact the transition to conscious competent is what the instructor is evaluating in order to allow the student to fly the aircraft unassisted.

The final level of learner is the unconscious competent learner. At this level the practitioner's ability has become habit built and instinctive in nature. The learner is no longer needing to consciously identify the action to be taken; the learner simply responds instinctively to the situation. Again our pilot situation: The unconscious competent learner as a pilot is now able to multitask because some of the tasks are being handled by instinct.

If we think about it, we can identify these steps that each of us took as we acquired our automobile drivers license.

Now, how can this information assist us in helping adults learn? We need to realize that a level 4 learner is not likely to be a good trainer, coach, or mentor for a level 1 learner. The level 4 learner has progressed too far to be able to relate to the level 1 learner's lack of knowledge. Many of us have possibly experienced this when we have asked a level 4 technical person for assistance with a software problem. Their explanation to us makes it sound like we are really lacking in ability because we do not understand that which they instinctively know. They may solve our immediate problem but they leave us as confused as ever about how to do what ever it was that we wanted to accomplish.

The best trainer for a level 1 learner may just be a level 2 learner. In fact, we may find great value in moving a level 1 learner through several progressive levels of training.

Many project managers may find great difficulty in delegating the training responsibility, but delegating to the appropriate level may be in the best interest of the team member being trained.

Training Adults

Training literature abounds with lists of what makes training different for as we transition from teaching young people to teaching adults. “Fortunately, most Training & Development professionals have knowledge of adult learning principles and how to make use of them.” (Carlile, 2002. p. 35) Unfortunately, project managers have not typically studied the information available on adult training concepts. That was not their area of expertise as they sought to become project managers. But now that information could become critical to their success. While not all items on all lists apply totally to the project management environment, a review of a few of those principals could help the project manager be more successful in effecting training for team members.

Adults assess new information in light of their own experience.

By the time individuals reach full adulthood, they have a very large experiential database available to assess new information's true value relevant to themselves. That database continues to grow and become more solidified and imbedded with each passing day. Sometimes the database becomes so imbedded as to cause the adult learner to intellectually reject new information that is not consistent with their experience.

Relevant Training Tip

Analogous examples (storytelling) help adults learn. While they may not have the experiential database to accept a new piece of information themselves, they will frequently accept new information when understood via the story or analogy. “Storytelling is a great way to get people to enable people to imagine the new information. Storytelling, together with the charts, graphs, and slides, gives a complete picture.” (Sevenson, 2004, p 28) It is important not to confuse this application of storytelling with long-winded non-relevant rambling by an obnoxious “story teller”. This application of storytelling is the effective use of short analogous examples from real life experience to help the adult learner connect to the information being presented.

Adult learners gain insight through two-way communication.

Interaction between the learner and the facilitator is a critical success factor in training adults. Unlike standard pedagogy where students accept information from a presumed knowledgeable source with no questions asked, adults need to interact for clarification. Young students will many times simply accept information with out question as something they need to know, whether or not they ever use the information. Much more than young students, adult participants do not simply memorize information; they need to understand each piece as it is revealed.

Relevant Training Tip

We are not able to “teach” adults, we must learn to facilitate adult learning by interacting with adults. In a classroom environment, the more a facilitator engages the adult learners in interactive participative learning the higher the success rate. On a personal one-on-one basis the adult learner directly interacting with the information as it is presented is a path to higher success for the session. Creating activities to illustrate points facilitates adult learners’ two-way communication. “Activities are the substance of learning and remembering”. (Whitmore, 2004, p 10)

Adults learn when they see direct application of information.

Young students will learn something because they were told to learn it. This is not so with adults. Adults need to see direct implications for their environment in order to learn. Most adults will simply not absorb information that has no practical immediate application. Young people rarely say, “That is good in theory but it does not apply well to the real world.” This is an adult reaction to information that is presented when they do not see immediate direct application of the information.

Relevant Training Tip

While providing any kind of training, we need to seek to constantly tie the information back to “real world” actions and experience. Those actions and experiences are typically conveyed in story telling type scenarios. The stories ground the new information in our real world.

Adult learning culminates in an action plan.

The plan may or may not be written, but the plan exists. It is essentially an answer to the question, “What will I do differently as a result of this information?” Unfortunately, all to often the adult learner's action plan is simply to store that information for later use. Without immediate application via a proactive action plan, the information is not likely to be remembered, much less applied.

Relevant Training Tip

We need to assist adults in identifying an action plan for the information being presented. In one form or another we need to constantly be asking the adult learner, “How will this information affect what you are now doing?”

Adult learning improves with less formal and more personal type training.

Motivation levels improve with adults who feel they are involved in a facilitated discussion about some relevant information rather than being the object of a lecture.

Relevant Training Tip

While being careful not to confuse less formal with unprofessional, we need to make the learning environments for adults positive, upbeat and enthusiastic experiences. The facilitator sets the stage and atmosphere for the exchange of the information. Cheerful and enthusiastic can be viewed by some participants as humorous. This is not a bad thing as little humor can go a long way toward helping the adult learner feel comfortable and relaxed.

Coaching Problems for Project Managers

When dealing with coaching issues we must keep in mind our choices. With weak team members we can do only three things. We can fire them. However, this many times is not an option for project managers. That leaves us with only two things we can do. We can tolerate them. Unfortunately, this is often the case and a unhealthy option at that. Tolerating weak team members can be fatal to projects. It may be the primary reason why so many projects fail to meet schedule and cost baselines. The third choice is to elevate the team member. Elevating team members implies that we will provide training in one of its many forms to enhance their ability to contribute to the project. As identified earlier in this paper, the form of training used most often is and should be coaching. Not necessarily directly by the project manager, but certainly identified and facilitated by the project manager.

Coaching team members, for the project manager has some specific problems that may dramatically impact the value of the coaching experience. For many reasons, a project manager might need to delegate a coaching situation to someone more qualified or better able to provide a positive coaching experience for the team member, possibly a level 2 or level 3 learner. While you might be able to delegate the actual coaching, you cannot delegate the project manager's responsibility to provide adequate training for the team member.

A very high degree of mutual trust must exist between the project manager and team member before any successful attempt at coaching can be accomplished. Few project managers acknowledge the importance of the “trust” factor in the relationships that they build with team members. Open discussions, high grade communications, follow up and willingness to utilize documentation need to be a part of every day behavior in order to create a high degree of trust. Any action or behavior that contradicts previous understanding threatens the trust level that team members have with a project manager; be that on the job or off. “All supervisors and managers are agents of the organization 24 hours a day.” (Jones, 2002, page 94)

A special problem exists if the project manager, acting as a coach, is also the appraiser of the performance of the team member being coached, which obviously is the case. Now a special level of trust must be present to allow the team member to speak freely and openly about the concerns that surround the topic being discussed. For this very reason, the project manager might not be the best person to coach a team member. Finding other team members who have coaching skills might be the best way to provide assistance.

Another problem exists when the performance of the person being coached directly affects the performance of the person providing the coaching. Our vested interests in a positive outcome for ourselves may override common sense and patience with the person that we are coaching. (Jones, 2002, page 90)

And finally a there may be a special challenge when the coach is a level 4 learner and the person being coached is a level 1 learner.

Conclusions

As project managers, our responsibility and obligation to provide direction and guidance to team members is beyond doubt in the project environment. In larger sub-contracted type projects the direction and guidance may be exclusively the domain of the information needed to manage the processes of the project. In the more common small project team environment, guidance and direction may very well be in the form of specific training and or coaching needed to elevate team members’ understanding and ability to perform the specific tasks required of them as well as the information needed to manage the processes of the project. We may not be the best source of the actual informational content, but we cannot abdicate the responsibility we have to elevate our team members and provide them with effective training. That training may take many forms, but the vast majority of training is and will be the actual work experience, which will engage us as coaches or will engage us as the people responsible for finding an appropriate coach to suit the situation.

Project managers must develop skills in coaching. Such skills and knowledge are as necessary as any other aspect of the project management process. We stress planning in great detail in all project environments. Planning is part of preparing to have a successful project. And we all must be willing to plan. Being prepared to provide training in any of its many forms is also a part of preparing to have a successful project. “It is not enough to want to win, you have to want to prepare to win.” (Townsend, 2002) We need to “want” to provide quality training and make a commitment to doing so.