Experienced trainers use a variety of training aids throughout their training programs. These include models, simulations, diagrams, mnemonics, reminder cards, templates, and so on. All of these are designed to assist trainees in the learning process. However, learning does not finish at the conclusion of the training program. In fact, for some training programs, work quality and efficiency will actually worsen immediately after the training. This is normal as employees stumble in their first applications of the newly learned skills.
Unfortunately, at this point, many managers give up and either overtly or covertly discourage further employee practice and experimentation. By providing and encouraging the use of job aids, you can help ease the anxiety felt by employees and get them up and running more quickly. Many training aids that are used during training are ideal for replication in the work environment. Think of these job aids as a way of extending the training room into the workplace.
Implementing job aids is especially useful when the task is complex, performed infrequently, carries high risk or uses an extensive or changing knowledge base. On the other hand, do not implement an on-the-job aid if the employee is required to perform the task automatically, without conscious deliberation or assistance.
Below, I have categorized ten types of training aid that you can usefully export from your training program. I have also included examples from previous programs that I have conducted or have seen others use successfully. If you see a job aid that you feel could be useful and it is not currently used in your training program, then make it so. You could even turn the creation of the job aid into a learning experience itself. At a suitable juncture in your program (following a theory session, for example), lead participants into an exercise in which they create the aid that they will use in their own workplaces.
Checklists
Description:
A checklist is a form comprising of a list of items that are checked off one at a time. Its purpose is to ensure that all items on the list are accounted for, usually as a prelude to some other activity. For skills training, they can be used primarily as a memory jogger.
Examples:
items to be completed before an application form is accepted
parts to be collected before items are sent to the assembly line
qualities to be inspected before product is dispatched to the customer
Reminder Cards
Description:
As with checklists, reminder cards are used primarily as a memory prompt. They are usually pocket-sized for easy transportability and often laminated to give durability. Unlike checklists, they cannot be modified by the user. You can use these cards as prompts during skill rehearsal sessions. They are also well suited to providing lasting ongoing assistance to trainees beyond the program.
Examples:
summarizing steps in conducting a performance appraisal
listing keyboard shortcuts for a software program
illustrating steps in administering a vaccination
Procedures and Process Maps
Description:
Procedures and process maps are documents that an organization uses to convey to people why actions are performed, who is responsible for performing them and how they are to be performed. Procedures are predominantly in text format, whereas process maps rely primarily on diagrams to graphically represent the flow of activities.
Examples:
creating a purchase order
inducting a new employee
adding an inventory item
Mnemonics
Description:
A mnemonic is any kind of visual, verbal or literary device used to help people remember. Mnemonics can be images, rhymes or acronyms and are commonly used in helping people learn. The mnemonics used as a teaching device during the training sessions can be of lasting benefit to employees back on the job. Some mnemonics have been known to be used by employees many years after their initial training. You can also reinforce these helpers in the workplace by building them into the other job aids mentioned, such as procedures, reminder cards and diagrams.
Examples:
knuckles representing number
Tags: Aids, Anxiety, Conclusion, Deliberation, Efficiency, Exercise, Extending, High Risk, into, Job Aids, Juncture, Knowledge Base, Learning Experience, Participants, Reminder Cards, Replication, Room, Simulations, structure, Theory Session, Training, Training Aids, Work Environment, Work Quality, Workplace, Workplaces
