"Effective Training Strategies: A
Comprehensive Guide To Maximizing Learning in
Organizations"
by James R. Davis & Adelaide B. Davis
***
As members of AQP we recognize and celebrate the
use of teamwork within the organization, however we
probably overlook the values and importance of these
team training activities. The bottom line is that
learning has an incredible new importance in the
workplace through the use of teamwork. As Peter
Senge, the noted author of “The Fifth
Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning
Organization” implies in his writing,
“One-fourth the organization learns as the
individuals within it learn.”
Authors Davis and Davis, using qualitative
interviewing, researching over 60 organizations
(business, government and not-for-profit), plus
drawing from the enormous body of written work on
various kinds of learning, compiled this compendium
that organizations have for learning. From this they
promise that the reader “... will be better at
facilitating learning if you learn more about
learning and then practice what you know.” They
emphasize that training needs to be reconceptualized
and given new status as a central activity of the
learning organization.
The authors draw on their experiences as
educators, their broad-based conversations with
trainers and a synthesis of the latest research from
diverse fields such as psychology, sociology,
philosophy and communications, to describe seven
powerful training strategies—each providing an
easy-to-understand framework for thinking about a
particular kind of learning. The strategies
are:
• Behavior
learning—for step-by-step skill
acquisition.
•
Cognitive learning—for presentation-based
information processing.
•
Inquiring learning—using critical-,
creative- and dialogical-thinking
techniques.
•
Mental models for learning— using
problem-solving and decision-making
processes.
•
Group dynamics (collaborative
learning)—for group-based
thinking.
•
Virtual reality learning—using
role-playing, scenarios, games and
simulations.
•
Holistic learning—using experiential and
action-based techniques.
I think that facilitators of teams and those that
strive for excellence within their organization will
appreciate this book. The value of a discussion
around each strategy will help readers apply the
theories described to their organization.
Favorite quote: “Most important, to
maximize learning in organizations is to engage in
careful planning and then use theory-based training
strategies to reach established goals.”
Favorite chart: To assist in choosing the most
appropriate strategy the authors include a systematic
overview of each strategy and a matrix that matches
the organization’s needs and philosophy to
desired learning outcomes.
“Effective Training Strategies: A
Comprehensive Guide to Maximizing Learning in
Organizations” (1998) By, James R. Davis &
Adelaide B. Davis. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.,
San Francisco, CA. ISBN1-57675-037-X.
Reviewed by Robert Finkelmeier, academic
director, Office of New Ventures, Regis University,
Denver, Colo.
May
2001Homepage
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