Adult Learning & Team Training
Kathleen Ruby, PhD, Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine
You have been asked to develop a team training program. Do not panic! Learn a few well-known teaching tenets and training will no longer seem outside your comfort zone.
First, understand that team training, from communication skills to new medical procedures, is a proven way to positively develop the workplace. A recent meta-analysis that sought to establish the efficacy of team training found a relationship exists between improvements in team effectiveness, task-based skills, and team work skills,1 all important components of successful veterinary teams.
Where to start? Begin by drawing on expertise in the education realm. Empirically tested education models provide useful road maps to make training development easier. Many models exist, with no consensus on which is best, but these 2 models can be easily integrated into any training plan.
Amended from Kolb and Fry, 19754
Adult Learning Model
Most educators agree that teaching adult learners should encompass certain principles.2
Training should be immediately useful: Teach team members information or techniques they can apply as soon as they complete the instruction. Provide examples of where the new principles can be used immediately.
Relevancy matters: Ensure team members see that the concepts or techniques they are learning add value or significance to their jobs. For instance, share a personal story about how the learning has impacted job performance.
Make training welcoming: Stuffy conference rooms are the bane of good training. Make sure the training environment is comfortable and the materials accessible. Bring in electric fans to control room temperature. Hang up colorful posters of the topic. Have food and drinks available.
Be engaging: Stretch the teaching experience by trying novel training approaches. No one likes sitting through dry lectures. Experiment with active learning methods such as role playing, small group discussions, and hands-on techniques. (See Resources for Adult Educators, under References.)
Ensure respect: Ensure team members feel safe and empowered. Start training on a positive note by sharing a practice code of conduct that the team should use as a guide. Set the understanding that everyone has something to add.
These elements are the scaffolding to any topic to be shared with the team. Use them as a springboard to create a successful training experience.
Training the Team
Successful training should be:
Immediately useful
Relevant
Welcoming
Engaging
Respectful
Active Learning Model
Many educators promote the use of active learning, an instructional method that engages participants in the learning process that has proven to increase both training success and student engagement.3 The active learning model challenges instructors to create training opportunities that not only tell participants how something works but also encourages them to interact with the problem itself and then reflect on their own outcomes.
Helium Stick Experiential Exercise5
Helium Stick is a rich team-building exercise. The stick can be a thin dowel rod (the thinner the better).
The training leader organizes the team into groups of at least 6 and lines them up so 2 teams face each other. The leader then takes the rod, holds it horizontally at chest height, and asks the team members to rest it on their index finger and lower it to the ground as a team.
The stick must remain in constant contact of each team member’s index finger.
It can only rest on the finger; no grasping or holding.
Everyone must start standing up.
This exercise will illustrate team and individual communication, teamwork, leadership, and patience. The debriefing discussion allows everyone to explore how well these issues worked or did not work for their team. Team members then should explore how the same elements work or do not work in practice situations.
In active learning training, the lesson is not so much the task but rather the trainee’s behavior while accomplishing the task. Team members engage in an activity and learn not just from the doing but from reflecting back on what they saw and felt during the exercise. This self-referential step allows trainees to correct nonproductive behaviors.
The active learning process is illustrated in the model by psychologists Kolb and Fry,4 which shows trainers how to structure their training for maximum impact.
Theory of Experiential Learning
EXPERIENCING
The model indicates that an experience such as role playing, a hands-on demonstration, or a team-building exercise should first engage students in a shared encounter. The trainees do the task at hand to the best of their ability, either together or individually.
In the next phase, participants step back after completing their activity and reflect on what they did, saw, and felt, which may include observations about their teammates’ behavior as well as their own; for example, I sensed Marty was getting more and more frustrated by her tone of voice. That made me anxious. (Note that safety and respect, 2 of the adult learning principles, must guide this reflection phase, the purpose of which is to allow people to analyze and acknowledge the behaviors that contributed to success of the task and those that did not.) Feedback from the instructor at this point is helpful.
Next, students decide together or individually, depending on the exercise, how they want to move forward, given what they learned during the reflection phase. In the Helium Stick exercise, team members discuss what got in the way of successfully lowering the stick to the ground and commit to the application of strategies that emerged during the reflection discussion.
Lastly, the team attempts the same exercise, in this case the Helium Stick, and carefully executes the newly decided-upon strategies. Most often, this results in the successful completion of the task. The instructor then validates the team members’ accomplishment and reiterates all the different actions that resulted in the success, as well as the lessons learned. These lessons can then be applied to daily practice life.
_Amended from Kolb and Fry, 1975_4
Conclusion
Stepping into the training role may seem daunting, but applying these simple adult learning principles and integrating the active learning model to guide the lesson plan will provide a strong foundation.
Now, give it a try!