Tip #1 The big fat training folder doesn’t work
If you have created a training manual for your staff well done! That’s way better than nothing!
But there are some problems with that big fat training folder.
Firstly its not easily accessible. If your staff member is out and about with your family member and they forget how to do something like fold up their wheel chair and they don’t have the training folder with them, then they won’t be able to access the instructions.
Secondly it’s a pain to have to print out and make multiple copies. It can get out of date and you’ll need to write up new instructions print them out and hand them out. There’s always one person you miss too and then you’ve got yourself in a muddle when some folders are not the latest version.
Then there’s the coffee stains, ripped pages and bent ring binders that wont close properly. Ahhhhh! So training manuals are difficult to keep in good condition.
Put your training online – that will eliminate all of these issues.
Tip # 2 Adults come with experience and preconceived ideas.
Teaching adults is different to teaching children because adults come with experience and preconceived ideas.
Sometimes adult mindsets can be quite rigid. You’ll need to let them know why you do things the way you do and be able and explain why a particular belief about something isn’t going to be helpful.
Sometimes support workers will come with strong beliefs about keeping your family member safe at all costs, treating them like a child even if they are an adult and not providing your family member opportunities to learn because they don’t think they can learn it are common beliefs. You’ll need to challenge them!
Tip #3 adults like to control their own learning
Adults like to be able to access learning materials that are relevant to their own work quickly and easily. So avoid providing big pages of text. Chunk it up into small and easy to find short 5 minute snippets.
Tip # 4 Adults like to learn in different ways – not just by text
Adults love to learn through other mediums too such as video, diagrams, demonstrations, practicing doing the task and discussions with their colleagues.
Tip #5 Adults like to assess their own learning
Help them to understand what good performance looks like so they can assess themselves against this. Ask them to identify what they did well and not so well and what they might do differently next time rather than just telling them they did it wrong and showing them how to do it.
Get step by step guidance on training your staff in my Train Your Team Project
In the Recruit Your Team Project I will help you to get all of that good stuff out of your head and all those files on your computer spread all over the place into an organised learning platform for your staff.
