I’m still on the “Know – Show – Do – Review” kick. This is because most of you are bringing in new hires this month. It’s very important to have a simple tool to train them. Painting is a manual skill. Therefore, the training should include manual demonstration and exercises. People learn in many ways. If we just tell our employees what and how to do something (e.g. go paint that widow), they may not do it correctly, because they haven’t seen it or tried it. Developing a training culture takes time and it must include active participation from your crew leaders. Below is a simple four-step process that you should consider reviewing with your crew leaders.

Example: Window Prep

Phase

Process

Example

Crew Leader explains the process to new hire

Crew Leader: “ before painting, we scrape all loose paint, sand all areas of the window, prime bare wood areas and caulk where the window trim meets walls and gaps in the wood trim.

“Be careful not to scratch the glass”.

Crew Leader demonstrates the process to hire

Crew Leader: “ Let me show you how it’s done. Do you see these areas where there is lose paint? (trainee should nod yes), scrape those off until the areas around it are no longer loose, watch me …..”

“ Now let me show you how we sand, prime, and caulk – watch closely ….”

The new hire is asked to do the task

Crew Leader: “ I’m going off do start the other side of the house. I would like you to work on this next window and replicate the process that I showed you. Use this one as a model. I’ll be back -in about 40 minutes to review your work. Do you have any questions?”

Trainee collects necessary tools and starts…..

The Crew Leader reviews the new hire’s work and provides feedback

Crew Leader: “ Well, how did you make out?” (give the trainee time to respond).

Crew Leader: “It looks pretty good. However, I see a few scratch marks in the window. This is a problem. Let me show you again how to avoid doing that

Know – Show – Do – Review, a Field Training Example

Take the Next Step for Your Business