training Archives • NYC Executive Coaching

Creating training programs for “soft skills, “such as interpersonal and communication skills, leadership, teamwork, or emotional intelligence, versus “technical areas,” such as finance and budgeting, coding, machine operations, engineering design, or data analytics, often requires different approaches due to the nature of the skillsets involved.

Here are items to consider:

• Training Approach:

– Soft Skills: Often more discussion-based and interactive, utilizing role-playing, group activities, and reflective exercises.

– Technical Skills: Usually more structured, involving hands-on training, demonstrations, and practical exercises.

• AssessmentMethods:

– Soft Skills: Assessment can be somewhat more subjective, often based on observations, self-assessments, and feedback from others.

– Technical Skills: Assessment is objective, based on tests, practical tasks, correct answers and approaches, or quantifiable results.

• Training Content:

– Soft Skills: Content is often scenario-based, focusing on real-life situations and problem-solving.

– Technical Skills: Content is usually more factually or procedurally based, focusing on step-by-step processes and technical details.

• Learning Curve:

– Soft Skills: Progress may be gradual and less tangible, as these skills typically develop over time through practice and real-world experience.

– Technical Skills: Progress often seems more linear and observable, with clear milestones as new technical competencies are acquired.

Note: for either set of skill areas, expect the trainee’s performance level to regress before it advances. Typically, there is a gestation time before new skills, abilities, and attitudes are fully adopted and happen on autopilot.

• Instructor’s Role:

– Soft Skills: Instructors often act as facilitators, guiding discussions and encouraging self-reflection.

– Technical Skills: Instructors are likelier to be experts who impart specific knowledge and demonstrate techniques.

• Learning Environment:

– Soft Skills: Training often happens in a collaborative environment, encouraging open discussion and sharing of experiences.

– Technical Skills: Training may occur within more controlled environments, like laboratories, cubicles, or specific training areas with the necessary equipment.

• Adaptability and Customization:

– Soft Skills: Adapting the training to different groups is often more manageable since the general principles get applied across various contexts.

– Technical Skills: Training might need more customization to be relevant, especially if it’s specific to certain tools, technologies, approaches, business processes, or industry standards.

• Continuous Learning:

– Soft Skills: These skill areas often require a commitment to providing and accepting ongoing development before becoming honed and improved throughout one’s career.

– Technical Skills: While continuous learning is essential, the subject often revolves around updating or expanding existing technical knowledge to remain relevant.

• Impact Measurement:

– Soft Skills: For managers and leaders training their team members, measuring the impact can be challenging. It often requires them to commit to long-term observation and feedback mechanisms.

– Technical Skills: The impact is more straightforward to measure through immediate application and appropriate performance metrics or KPIs.

In summary, while both types of training are essential for professional development, their strategies, execution, and assessment methods differ considerably due to their inherent differences. Design it accordingly.

From my associate Grant Tate.

The pandemic threw all our neat organization designs up in the air. Now, at the beginning of 2023, leaders are trying to figure out the new structures to get work done. Leaders are experimenting with remote, office, hybrid, agile, matrix and other new schemes. Whatever the new form, we can never return to the good old days—the culture and organizational structures we had before 2020. A new day has arrived.

And there is turmoil in the workplace. The so-called “great resignation” saw many workers leaving their jobs, some going to other more lucrative or satisfying jobs, and many completely dropping out of the workforce.

As a result of these forces and other factors, a new cohort has been thrown into leadership or management roles. Many of these new entrants have little or no training or experience in leadership or management.

So, while new entrants lack training and development, other, more experienced leaders find themselves managing new structures, employees with new attitudes toward work, and technologies advancing at warp speed.

What does this mean for training and development?

We need a fresh look at the way we train leaders.

For the new (often young) new managers, we need to develop basic leadership skills and do it rapidly. That means an accelerated, skill-based leadership program that gives them what they need to effectively lead and manage their team and help them avoid hurtful or costly mistakes, especially in dealing with the people on their team. Practice and feedback should be important components of the program. After this fast-paced program, the new entrants will need an active coach to continue the skill-building process.

The already experienced leaders will need to reset and rethink their approaches and skills to adopt the techniques required in the new environment. This will require new mindsets and an openness to learn new techniques and methods. Existing leaders may have fallen behind in applying technology, performance management, feedback, and employee development.

All leaders will need to understand the basics of human psychology. That has not changed. But applying good human relations principles to new challenges means leaders must adapt those principles to new team-based, agile organizations that are adapting to rapidly changing economic and market environments.

Get on board. The train is already in motion.