human performance

Training for Procedures

Training for Procedures

Remember the last time you bought a piece of furniture or a kid’s toy that had ‘some assembly required’ printed on the box? As we all know too well, after the box opens, that ‘some assembly’ is a blatant lie! I always rummage through the boxes to get the instructions and start identifying parts (a procedure of sorts) due to my numerous mistakes with assembly. The instructions that come with products that we buy are procedures. We usually don’t think of them that way but they provide us guidance for operating or assembling a widget and that’s what we use procedures for in the workplace. From these similarities, we can translate our personal experiences and lessons-learned at home into the procedures that we use in the workplace. These experiences, and errors, from home are very relatable to the first time use of a good procedure in the workplace.