Budgeting season that is. When you could just have learners use phones to record videos to send to their respective manager, why bring in Rehearsal? This sounds so simple, but it is inefficient and ineffective. Structure is a valuable aspect of effective skills development. A structure for skills development assignments organized by topic or subject facilitates purposeful learning. The simple idea of having conversation threads for a particular topic preserved and available for reference and easy access should a learner or mentor need to revisit a topic adds tremendous value.
Another case for a structured platform to guide skills development is progress measurement. With defined criteria both learners and mentors can utilize, progress and performance measurement are clear. If you don’t measure or don’t know what to measure, how can you be sure you’re making progress? A well-implemented criteria combined with the preserved conversation threads mentioned above clearly highlight progress as well as problem areas in need of more attention.
Often overlooked is the importance of visibility. Now this doesn’t mean visibility of learner activity by their mentors, we are talking about a more broad view for others in the organization. The best example is highlighting or uncovering coach-the-coach opportunities. If the only visibility exists between learners and mentors, how do you ensure those mentors are doing their best? Are they providing high quality coaching though feedback or are they simply directing? If the need to develop coaching, mentoring, or leadership skills exists, we may never see it. This missed opportunity ends up cascading throughout the organization, ultimately limiting performance.
Lastly, scaling skills development is impossible without the structure built into Rehearsal. Imagine receiving individual video submissions from a dozen individuals via text. How would you realistically track who has made a submission versus those who have not? Have you provided feedback to everyone? Which learners need to submit additional attempts? Can you quickly and effectively evaluate each submission against criteria and clearly articulate that feedback to them? What if they each have different levels of experience or are developing different skills? Trying to manage this quickly becomes a nightmare.
Don’t create a nightmare, budget to bring structure into your soft skills development initiatives.
