Cutting the Apron Strings:
Growing Independent Learners
What activities and follow-up can be done after training to maximize _the learning?
The learning process doesnÕt end just because the training event has been completed. These activities can help keep learning going on, identify additional training needs, strengthen independent learning skills, and fine-tune the training program.
1.Use commitment statements: Commitment statements serve as a reminder of what the learners meant to do with the new skills. A managerÕs reminder letter will reinforce what the manager now needs to do to reinforce the learning and make the employeeÕs time in training pay off.
2.Use e-mail to follow up and to send surveys: Electronic mail is a good way to keep in touch with past graduates informally. Use it to find out what they are doing with the software, get job-related examples and files, and identify areas of the course that need to be reinforced.
3.Investigate whether learners are applying the skills: Get out of the classroom and talk to managers and learners. Find out which skills are being applied, which ones are not, and what training can do about it.
4.Conduct follow-up interviews with managers: Within a month after class, follow up with managers to determine whether training has addressed the job needs and what other needs could be met. Discuss your investigation results with the learners and ask how training can be enhanced or reinforced.
5.Arrange for past graduates to become mentors: Use past graduates as mentors to new learners. This provides added support for learners and recognition for graduates.
6.Track Help Desk calls: Track Help Desk calls for the first two weeks after class and note patterns in topics or callers. If Help Desk data or surveys indicate that people are not using a skill or are having problems with it, that needs to be addressed in the training course. You need to determine if there are better ways to teach the skill. Is a reference card needed? Are procedural changes needed?
7.Use network messages, newsletter articles, or Lunch & Learn: After the class is over, use newsletter articles, network sign-in messages, and bulletin boards as opportunities to reinforce new skills or address problem areas. Send recent class members a list via e-mail of the Top 10 Questions and Answers This Week. Determine what materials or topics need to be enhanced or added in the training class to eliminate the most common Help Desk calls. Hold mini-sessions in a Lunch & Learn format, and run 20-minute infomercials or presentations on new software features, as a way to introduce software upgrades.
8.Make enhancements to curriculum and course content: Use the feedback gathered through the evaluations, surveys, interviews, and Help Desk call tracking to make revisions and additions to the courses. Courses that are static will not continue to meet evolving job needs.
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