mrprocedure

Today we look at the last learning style.

4. The Reflective Learner

The Reflective Learner is someone who processes information in a different manner than the others. Reflective Learners may mimic Pensive Learners in many ways, but there is one key difference. For the Reflective Learner to understand (and ultimately perform) the task, they must see the task in the context of a larger picture. The “picture” may relate to the significance of a task or to the benefits (particularly long-term) to the learner.

Reflective Learners often come off as slow, perhaps even stupid. Their learning curves can be somewhat slow, and may take more effort to get them over the hump in terms of understanding. But invariably they are worth the effort, because once they understand, they really understand, the why as well as the what. Once convinced the task matters, they will perform very well. In time, they will also likely become your best on-the-job trainers.

Procedures and the Reflective Learner: the procedure can be an excellent device to “rope in” the Reflective Learner. One critical thing a good written procedure does is it puts boundaries around what the trainee is expected to learn. Secondly, the procedure can include notes on the significance of a task, and provide some background on the task and/or equipment.

The key to including notes for the Reflective Learner is not placing them in the activity descriptions (the step-by-step instructions). Not that the Reflective Learner won’t appreciate it, but it will impede understanding by the other three learning styles.

Two learning styles down, two to go.

3. The Passive Learner

The term “Passive” may seem to imply “lazy” or “uninvolved,” but that is not what a Passive Learner is by any means. A Passive Learner is one who learns primarily by watching. They can watch another perform a task, or watch a video of the person performing the task, and they will substantially “get it.” They capture information through their eyes. It is likely that in our information age, we will encounter increasing proportions of Passive Learners.

Of the learning styles, Passive Learners gain the most by demonstration. Show them how it’s done, and they will be repeating the actions correctly in short order. That is, if the demonstration was correct. Needless to say, if the demonstration is incorrect, they will quickly learn (and attempt to employ) incorrect methods.

Procedures and the Passive Learner: on the surface, it may seem that procedures will be of little use to a Passive Learner. That is not true. Procedures can be structured to aid the Passive Learner’s quick learning of a task, and if they can be, they should be!

The most useful procedure features for the Passive Learner are photographs and diagrams. Pictures that supplement (not replace) the word descriptions will help the Passive Learner connect words to concepts.

There is a second option for a Passive Learner. When asking a Passive Learner to read a procedure (and training should always include reading a procedure), have the learner take a copy of the procedure to  the equipment location (assuming the procedure describes a piece of equipment) and have him or her read the procedure there. In that manner, they a get a 3-D view of the equipment and its operation.

In Part 1, we discussed the first of the four learning styles, the Active Learner. Today we will explore the second learning style.

2. The Pensive Learner*

The Pensiver Learner is the one who can read the book or read the document and substantially get it. They learn by study. In fact, this type of learning style is the most successful in a college setting because college is primarily taught in a pensive manner. Engineers are often Pensive Learners, because to be successful in engineering you have to be able to understand and apply formulas that aren’t something you can hold in your hand and examine.

For a Pensive Learner, it is essential that any information presented pertaining to the task or activity be accurate. While this is necessary for all learning styles, the Pensive Learner will have the most difficulty re-learning something if they were taught it wrong the first time.

Procedures and the Pensive Learner: of the four learning styles, written procedures may benefit the Pensive Learner more than they benefit the other three. That is because the Pensive Learner will gain the greatest understanding from reading the procedure.

The key to an effective procedure for the Pensive Learner is accuracy. The procedure must describe all aspects of the task as correctly as possible. The second key is being concise. When describing components, and especially when describing task steps, be brief and to-the-point. The third key is to be complete. Do not leave out any pertinent details, or else the hands-on portion of the training will lead to as many questions as answers.

* The term “Pensive” may seem a little “out there,” but I chose the term so that the ending of this learning style would align with the ending of the other three learning styles (it led to a point I made when discussing learning styles while presenting my training skills course. The word pensive means thoughtful, so in essence I am discussing a “thinking” learner. And, despite my love of horse racing, choosing the term had nothing to with Pensive being the name of the winner of the 1944 Kentucky Derby.

People learn by different means. That is not likely a mystery to most people, but if our training efforts are going to reach our audience (those performing the processes essential to our organizations’ success), we must ensure our training processes connect with our learners.

In this series of posts, we will look at the learning styles one by one. Then we will look at training strategies to reach these learners, and focus on how procedures can be structured to reach people of different learning styles.

1. The Active Learner

The active learner likes to learn by doing. Their mindset is “give me the parts* and let me figure it out.” Active learners are best equipped for work that involves activity. In a manufacturing setting, the active learner is likely to reach a level of competence faster than most, but (unless preventative steps are taken) will also likely produce the most scrap in the learning process. Unless an organization is willing to accept scrap as a cost of training (and most organizations are not), learning by doing is not an acceptable route to training.

While the active learner cannot simply be told to go experiment and learn, training in an activity can be tailored in a way that meets the active learner’s style. The key is to, as much as possible, break the training of tasks into smaller segments. This will allow the active learner to receive information (through discussion or demonstration) and be able to put the information into practice before they become distracted by a relentless stream of information.

Procedures and active learners: admittedly, a written procedure is going to be less useful to an active learner than it will be to the other three learning styles. That being said, we still must insist on the active learner reading the procedure. Again, the procedure reading can be broken into smaller segments. We can tell the active learner to focus on the descriptions of the activities within the procedure.

We can also have the active learner describe back to the trainer the activity steps from the procedure, while performing the step. This will go a long way toward reinforcing the correct performance of a task, when the active learner can put words to their actions. It will also allow the trainer to compare verbal description to procedure description for conformance, and compare verbal description to actual task step performed. This will allow the trainer to check for understanding before committing resources to the trainee.

* in this discussion, I have used the example of someone learning an assembly or manufacturing task, thus the phrase “give me the parts.” An active learner, given a software program to learn, may take a similar path: “just let me play with the features until I figure out what they do!”  Just don’t permit them to “play” with critical files.

In the previous three posts, we discussed the use of color, photographs and diagrams. One last device to add attractiveness to a procedure combines color and graphics. This is what I term a “highlight box.”

A highlight box takes a particular point of a procedure (in my experience, this is nearly always an important safety or quality-related note) and puts it in a bound box (a text box formed in Microsoft Word, with a border and colored interior.

When a highlight box is used, it is intended to perform the same function as any paragraph in the procedure. That is, the reader would read the information in the highlight box in the order it is presented. The highlight box is used to make the information stand out, not to make the information optional reading.

A highlight box is not a sidebar to the procedure; it is an integral part of the procedure. Structurally, that means the box will extend the width of the page, as would any other paragraph in the procedure.

Color, bold and italic conventions used in the procedure are used in the same manner in a highlight box. This allows the reader to treat colored or italic words or phrases exactly as he or she would anyplace else in the procedure.

Note: the enhancements discussed in this series of posts is described in more detail in Section 8 of my course, Writing Operating Procedures. If you have not requested a free .pdf version of the course, write me at mrprocedure@gmail.com, and I will get it right to you!

To conclude this discussion, I would be remiss if I did not talk about the mechanics of writing. Things such as grammar, spelling and punctuation, and using transitional devices to connect paragraphs are critical to making a readable procedure. If any of these are lacking, all of the devices talked about in this series will not compensate for the lack of professionalism in the writing itself. Any issue that impedes the employee reading the procedure makes it less effective. All the “bells and whistles” in the world will not rescue a poorly written procedure.

Best of luck to you in your procedure development. Please contact me with any questions or issues that are preventing you from being the best procedure writer possible. And, of course, I am always looking to my readers for ideas for the next series of posts.

Write me at mrprocedure@gmail.com. Thanks!

In the last post, we discussed the effective use of photos, as well as the pitfalls created by mis-using or over-using photos. But sometimes photographs are not the best vehicles to graphically represent a piece of equipment.

Let me share an example from my previous work. In one organization, I had to write an operating procedure on a system used to prevent runaway reactions (called “exotherms”) in mixers. The nature of the system (several pieces of equipment in four different locations) made it impossible to show in one photograph. But to effectively enhance the verbal description of the system’s intent, the system needed to be captured in one visual. To solve the problem, I created a single diagram showing the relationships between pieces of the system. (This was supplemented by photos of individual components as well as the word description.)

A diagram can be as effective a photograph in “speaking 1,000 words.” In many cases, one diagram can clarify a description of systems or equipment in ways a photograph or series of photographs cannot.

In addition to the ability to capture multiple pieces of equipment in a single image (as described above), diagrams can provide the following advantages:

1. A diagram can provide an unhindered view of what you are intending to describe.

In many cases, a photograph of equipment will be cluttered by all of the objects that fall into the camera’s field of view. A diagram can effectively illustrate the components of interest while removing the clutter. In many cases, this will provide greater clarity than highlighting components within a photo (as described in Part 3).

2. A diagram can illustrate components that are not visible under normal machine operating conditions. In many cases a prospective operator needs to understand how components within a machine function, even though the components cannot be viewed during operation or training.

3. A diagram facilitates an easier view of process flow. In cases where product flows from point to point through equipment components, an uncluttered diagram of components allows arrows and other marks indicating flow to be included with minimal appearance of clutter.

These are four advantages that can be gained from the use of diagrams. There are possibly others that you can identify.

Diagrams can be created using Power Point shapes (actually, the same shapes are available in Word). They can also be hand-drawn and scanned for inclusion in a document. The two methods can be combined: hand-draw and scan a diagram, insert it into the document, and then add flow lines and markers, labels of components (using text boxes in Word) to the scanned image.

As with any device, diagrams can be mis-used and hinder communication in the procedure. Over-use of diagrams can have the same effect as over-use of photos or color (see Part 3).

Two suggestions related to the use of diagrams:

1. If a photograph will serve the same effect as a diagram, use a photograph (it takes less time to create).

2. Do not use blueprints or engineering drawings unless there is no alternative. The problem with engineering drawings is that they are designed to communicate specifications, assembly and/or purchasing instructions, etc. As a result, they contain a lot of information that is not relevant to the training. Any information not relevant to the learning process is an obstacle to the learning process. (Also, engineering drawing scale is usually too small to effectively illustrate a component or system when converted to a standard procedure page.)

In the next part of this, we will discuss enhancements to words beyond mere color.

I  am pleased to report that when I published Part 1 of this series, the good folks at Word Press congratulated me on reaching the 50-post plateau in my blogging career. It applauded me for “reaching my goal.” I do not ever remember setting a goal. I only endeavor to discuss instructional communication and encourage writers, trainers and managers in their efforts to maximize the quality of their organizations’ performance.

Okay, you aren’t here to read me prattle on about my blogging achievement, so let me get back to discussing attractive procedures.

Photographs are another wonderful enhancement to procedures, for the obvious reasons. And with the technology we have today, inserting photos into a document has never been easier. It was a mere 15 years ago when I had to do the following to insert a photo (black and white, of course) into a procedure:

1. Pull out the SLR camera (loaded with black and white film) and take the required pictures.

2. Take the completed film roll to the developer (how wonderful to be able to drop the film off at 11:00 a.m., go get lunch and return for my prints at 1:00 p.m!).

3. Using the best copier in the house, print an enlarged version of the photo.

4. Cut the photo out and place it into its required location in the procedure (hitting “enter” as many times as necessary to create the white space in the procedure).

5. Create a separate document that includes the caption and any labels I wish to apply to the picture.

6. Tape the picture, labels and caption to the procedure page, in the white space created in step 4).

7. Insert the page into its place in the procedure.

Give thanks that it is so much simpler today, with pictures taken digitally and inserted directly into the electronic version of the document. And in color!

Photographs in a procedure can enhance the descriptions and make the procedure more effective. Photographs can also disrupt a procedure and serve the opposite purpose. It all depends on how they are used.

Some key rules on the use of photographs:

1. Photographs should always supplement, never replace, the word descriptions in a procedure. I am sure you have heard it said, “a picture speaks 1,000 words.” If true, the odds that the picture speaks the same 1,000 words to two different people are astronomical. As the writer, I must control the context in which the procedure is interpreted (I need to control the 1,000 words being spoken by the picture.)

2. Every photograph should have an instructional value.  For example, if I write a procedure on operating a mixer, placing a picture of the mixer near the beginning of the procedure and captioning it, “This is the mixer,” I may have simply wasted space. Now in some cases, a photo of the mixer to differentiate it from other mixers may have value. You are the writer; it’s your call.

3. Use photographs for appropriate subjects. By this, I mean that photographs are two-dimensional. As a result, the best objects displayed in photographs are also two-dimensional. Control panels and software screens, for example, are excellent subjects for photographs (or screen captures in the latter case). In many cases, a three-dimensional object displayed in a two-dimensional photo can confuse the reader. And photographs are rarely helpful when describing step-by-step activities. Photos have the disadvantage of being stationary. If you desire to show a step-by-step procedure, create a video.

4. Make sure the reader knows why the photo is there. This is accomplished in two ways:

4a. The most obvious is the caption that accompanies the photo. The caption should not just identify a component or control, but to some degree reiterate the information on the component or control within the text of the procedure. (A caption should never include information that is not within the procedure text, though it need not include the entire description found in the procedure text.)

4b. When a picture of a machine component is taken, in nearly every case there are other objects competing for the reader’s attention in the photo. In some cases, these can be reduced or eliminated by cropping the picture. But cropping tends to remove the context of the component (i.e., where it is in relation to other components or controls). The use of arrows, boxes, circles or labels allows the writer to highlight the particular feature being highlighted in the photo. In some cases, an inset photo (providing an up-close look at a component) can be included with the main photo, so that both a contextual view and a detail (close-up) view can be provided side-by-side.

5. Too many photographs can severely impact the procedure’s effectiveness. For one, too many photos add length (pages) to a procedure, making the procedure longer and appear more foreboding to the reader. Too many photos disrupt the flow of the writing. I have seen procedures where three lines of a procedure were followed by a large photograph, followed by two more lines, another photograph, etc. In some cases, it was difficult to see that a line of procedure existed between the photos.

Photographs can be a great benefit to the procedure reader. They can enhance the words and increase understanding. The key is to use pictures only in a manner that supports the written description of the equipment or process.

In some cases, photographs may not be the best means to illustrate equipment. In Part 4, we will discuss the use of diagrams to support equipment descriptions.

It was in 2000, working for an aerospace materials company, when it dawned on me that there was no need to stick to black and white when developing an operating procedure.

The main drawback at the time was the relative cost of printing a color page (the accounting folks said it worked out to 40 cents a page, vs. 3 cents for black and white). That did not faze me (sorry, accountants), but what gave me pause was that, once I produce one procedure in color, I will never be able to produce one in black and white again.

My pause was only momentary, as I plunged into the particular procedure (I do not remember the topic) and colorized some of the headings, rendered the photographs in color, and submitted the finished product to my boss. The color experiment was a success, certainly with the operators who were tasked with reading the procedure.

When compared with the previous black and white procedures, the color procedures were definitely more attractive, and quickly became the new standard for the organization.

Color is a wonderful thing, but color for color’s sake won’t make a procedure more effective. I am not sure I grasped this early on, as my inclusion of color started out as an experiment. But I realized, and ultimately standardized, the use of color as a guide to highlight specific types of information in the procedure.

Color type allows the procedure writer to make certain words or phrases stand out. In the black and white world, the only means to make words stand out were to use italics, bold type or underlines.

Color type, alone or in combination with italics, bold face or underlining, increases the number of options available to highlight information. A couple of examples:

1. The procedures I write introduce a number of words to the reader/learner. Instead of having a section of “definitions” of terms isolated from the process descriptions, I would highlight the term in blue italic letters the first time it appeared. For the reader, it signaled a key word that is defined in the paragraph (and a signal to me to ensure the term is defined).

2. Safety and quality are essential to the success of any manufacturing process or equipment operation. If a description or instruction is integral to safety or quality, it would get the color treatment. A quality-related statement is printed in red letters. A safety-related statement is printed in red, bold, italic letters.

In other uses, color is used in section headings to set apart the section. It is also used to highlight the presence of a step-by-step procedure (activity description).

The effectiveness of using color in a procedure is enhanced when the color (or color plus letter style) used means the same thing every time it appears. The specific colors used are secondary to the colors indicating a specific type of word or phrase is occurring. A style guide should be developed to serve as a template for procedure development, especially if multiple persons are charged with writing the procedures. I will offer a color style guide I use to anyone who requests it (email address below).

Caution: the effectiveness can be diminished if color is over-used. Even with my color scheme, over 95 percent of the words are rendered in plain black text.

(Note:  color can be further enhanced by use of stylized text boxes. This will be discussed in Part 5 of the series.)

Also, if you did not request your copy of my procedure writing course-in-development, I am sorry to tell you the price doubled as of August 1. However, since the course was free before August 1, the price increase should not preclude any of you from obtaining your own copy.

Make all requests to me at mrprocedure@gmail.com. You can also contact me through LinkedIn (I will accept all connect requests generated by these blog posts).

In Part 3, I discuss the use of photographs in operating procedures.

Thank you, Tim James (Mr. Procedure)

In previous posts, I have discussed that operating procedures must be formatted and developed in a way that lets them achieve their mission. In my reckoning over the years, the principal — in fact, only — reason for a procedure to exist is to facilitate learning proper job performance.

Whether your procedure development is designed for training or for some other intent, the procedure will only achieve its purpose if it is read. To that end, I will devote the next several chapters of my blog to developing procedures that, for lack of a better word, are attractive. That is, their look invites the learner (or teacher) to read through the procedure.

The state of standard word processing software (Microsoft Word) is such that adding elements beyond words is so easy even a fifty-something writer such as I can make a dazzling procedure, newsletter, Christmas card, etc., and have it actually look (somewhat) professional.

In this series, we will discuss the manner in which procedures can be enhanced by:

• color type
• photographs
• graphics
• other objects

This discussion will not focus on the mechanics of the software (I won’t discuss how to format a text box to hug the left edge of the page and have the words wrap around to the right). It will focus on how enhancements can be used most effectively, and how to avoid pitfalls through misuse or overuse of the devices described above. As such, this discussion should also be useful to those who have moved beyond Word and are using one or more of the “authoring” software packages available. I am very much a novice with authoring, but look forward to learning more and mastering the tools because they promise amazing flexibility.

In Part 2, we will discuss the use of color.

To wrap up this discussion, we will look at the dynamic of Step 1 of the Seven Steps. I am telling the trainee at the outset of training to read the procedure. Once the procedure is read, the trainee and I will meet and discuss the next steps.

The secret of Step 1 (I don’t tell the trainees this) is that this step benefits the trainer every bit as much as it benefits the trainee. The trainee is learning the basics (what components are called, how they work, what individual activities must be learned to master the task, etc.)…while the trainer is able to perform other tasks.

In most productive environments, the people who are best able to train are also those who best perform. If I can reduce the time the trainer spends training, the more value-adding I receive from his or her time. By having the trainee read the procedure (and having a procedure that is structured to aid learning), the trainee will come to the remaining steps much more prepared to learn. They will (should) know what components are called, what activities are performed at each stage of the task, and how to tell if the process is performing (or not performing). And–if the trainee is not reading the procedures as directed–I have a problem with an employee that training will not correct. Better to find that out early on than after a major mistake occurs.

So, for the trainer, time is saved by having the trainee read the procedure. The trainer will further save time because, for him or her, the procedure is an outline of the hands-on training that needs to be performed. The trainer can enter the training activity with all of the necessary information in-hand. No more will those “oops I forgot to tell you” moments occur!

The procedure, structured and used correctly, is vital to streamline and maximize the efficiency of the training process. Everyone knows what is expected and what success looks like.

The bottom line: recognize what procedures exist for, and set yourself up through procedure development to succeed in training!

This concludes this series of posts. I thank all of you for taking the time to read these. I am very gratified at the response (to the posts and to my offer of the procedure writing course). And, since my reads are now safely in double-digits each day, I would love to field comments, questions, and of course issues and problems related to instructional communication you would like to see addressed in these posts. Comment directly here, or email me at mrprocedure@gmail.com.

Tim James, Mr. Procedure