1. Prove to others their significance.
Show them how what they do each day affects coworkers, customers and the success of the company. Help them see the linkage between cause and effect; what they do and the impact their actions create.
2. Give reasons for growth.
Sell those you lead on the benefits of professional development. Make sure they see what they’ll gain both personally and professionally from increasing their skills and knowledge.
3. Tell, show and watch.
Don’t just tell others what to do: show them and then watch them as they attempt what you’ve demonstrated. Verbal feedback is one way to know if they understand, but observation is the best way to determine if they’ve learned the behavior.
4. Explain the what, why and how.
How-to is the ability to get something done. Knowing why is needs to be done provides the motivation. People are more likely to do what they’re asked when you’ve made the time to explain the significance of the task.
5. Provide practice time.
Performance likely increases with the time allotted to improving it. If nobody has time to read, think, reflect upon and apply their skills, is it reasonable to expect them to get better? Give your team 15-30 minutes each day to work at getting better, whether that is reading a relevant article or book or role-playing human interactions that apply to their work.
