Teaching Your Team to Think
Teaching Your Team to Think By Jim Paluch

Training Challenge

All around the country, on the same day of the week, at the same time of day, successful, progressive garden centers are gathering their entire teams together to train. The topic that everyone is training on this particular day is “Identifying and Greeting the Different Styles of Customers.” The session begins with one of the team members standing and reading the company mission statement, followed by the introduction of another team member chosen to lead this training session because they were one of the best at greeting customers. The session is conducted from a well-thought-out and prepared agenda and facilitator’s guide that was printed off the Internet, allowing the instructor to give a personal touch to the topic and making it interesting and fun for the entire group participates. The session concludes approximately one half hour later with another volunteer offering an inspirational quote from Cal Ripken and next week’s trainer and topic being introduced. To even tax your imagination a little further, this happens each week — 52 weeks each year!

The above scenario may be hard to imagine, but the reality is that it is already taking place in the landscape industry and has recently been introduced to the garden center industry through the Massachusetts Nursery and Landscape Association (See “Action Zone” on page 56).

Two and a half years ago, my firm, JP Horizons Inc., conducted an experiment with 14 of our best clients. They were landscape companies ranging from $500,000 to over $12 million in annual sales and all with a mix of services and types of employees. With their input, we created a 52-week calendar with a variety of training topics, ranging from technical to interpersonal skills, and challenged them to see who could train for 52 weeks straight.

With the help of the Internet, there was opportunity for constant communication between the companies and weekly updates on who was training and how they were doing it. The results? Thirteen of the original 14 companies trained for 52 straight weeks, with most of the original group still training — 135 straight weeks. Today, hundreds of landscape companies are training thousands of employees across the company with the systematic and effective techniques of the Training Challenge.

Teaching Your Team To Think

Probe behind the scenes of any successful company, and an atmosphere of learning will be part of the corporate culture. These successful companies have committed to doing far more than just throwing information at half-interested people and then complaining a week later that nobody cares about anything and that training does not work. These successful companies are teaching people to think!

Critical thinking goes beyond just learning a skill. It helps individuals process information received from all available sources and apply that knowledge to gain a desired outcome.

Are you wondering how all of this keeps your crew from over-watering or a new salesperson from driving away a customer? Does the concept of educating employees on how to use information make sense to you? Would you like to know how to integrate the elements of critical thinking into your educational programs? The first step is to do what I have done in this paragraph . . . ask questions!

When information can be blended with well-thought-out questions that draw all the participants into the thought process, then critical thinking is taking place. The instant a question is asked, our onboard computer goes to work and starts the critical thinking process. When questions become a planned and implemented part of training, then people are being taught to think!

Can You Change?

Over the years, we have discovered several mistakes that well-meaning companies make. Mistakes like staring at videos, reading or memorizing facts, training with no clear purpose and just not having fun always lead to short-term success and long-term frustration with training.

If any of the items in the above list describe your training efforts, you now have to ask yourself whether or not you can change. The Training Challenge has been a success because the participating companies have been able to systematically change their approach to training. This is evident in the training reports coming in each week. We often see statements like, “This was a fun session that everyone gave great input on,” “We had a hands-on experience that allowed people to see exactly what happens if . . . ” These companies have discovered what educational researchers have been telling us for a number of years: “For learning to take place, training must be fun, interactive, results-oriented, timely and have a purpose or goal in mind.” Consider using this statement as you evaluate your present approach to training. If you should be fortunate enough to attend a regional Training Jam, contrast the Training Challenge approach to your present approach and ask how a process like ours can make a difference in your company.



Jim Paluch

Jim Paluch is a popular author, speaker and coach for businesses across the country. His firm, JP Horizons Inc. has developed the processes that support the Training Challenge and has made training a positive experience for every company participating. His degree in landscape architecture and passion for the green industry has had a tremendous impact on hundreds of landscape firms, nurseries and garden centers. To find out more about the Training Challenge, E-mail [email protected], call (877) JPH JAMS or visit www.jphorizons.com.