Episode 008 · Performance support
Training’s over. Now they’re stuck.
Plan for the moment after training when someone needs help. Make guides findable, keep them current, and learn what happens back at work.
The idea
Think about what happens on day three.
Someone finishes training, goes back to work, and cannot remember the one detail they need right now. The completion checkmark is still there. The useful help may be much harder to find.
Getting a video setup working is a reminder that hearing an explanation and using it in a real room are different experiences. Work is like that too. The first real request can look different from the example, and people need somewhere useful to go.
Take it into your work
Three things to consider.
- Make help easy to find.
A short guide or a person to ask can be more useful than searching through a forty-minute course.
- Keep guidance current.
Give someone responsibility for updating instructions when the process or system changes.
- Ask what happened at work.
A normal follow-up conversation can reveal a missed example or a problem in the process itself.
Try this
Check the support available after your next launch.
First
Pick one likely moment of confusion. Find out where someone would go for help while doing the work.
Then
Ask a few people how the new process went. Use their examples to improve the training, support, or process.
Take the thinking further.
Read the related perspectiveKeep going
More conversations about learning for real work.
Find a useful question, a practical example, or an idea for your next project.