HOW TO TEACH BY NOT TEACHING

You can become an outstanding on-the-job instructor without employing any of the formal methods we usually associate with the traditional classroom teacher. All supervisors are models, and to a surprising extent your employees will adjust their behavior to the model you set. They will learn a great deal from you without your knowing it. But they also need specific help from you, and you want to provide this help in your own style without being labeled a “teacher.” Instead of saying to a new employee, “Let me teach you how to do this,” it might be better to say, “Let's figure out how you can do this quickly, comfortably, and correctly.” Instead of saying to a regular employee, “Let me teach you to do it right the first time,” it might be better to say, “Let me show you how I do this, and then you can figure out the best way for you to do it.” It is one thing to be an effective classroom teacher; it is something else to be an effective on-the-job instructor.