Early on I tried forcing our team to take training. That didn’t work well. I’m effectively telling them “you’re not good enough”.
I’ve tried giving an unlimited budget and asking them to tell me what training they want. That doesn’t work well neither. They’re being asked to say what they’re not good at.
Overcoming defensiveness is a big challenge to improving someone’s skills and thus sense of competence.
A better approach combines two questions:
- Where do you want to go?
- What skills, resources, and knowledge do you need to get there?
These two questions work well in many contexts. It lets the individual identify where they need to go in the future. It lets you check your goals are aligned.
Then it lets them highlight what they think they need to get there.
An easier way to drive deep engagement is to get each person pursuing a roadmap they’ve helped to design. Works as well in your team as it does in your community.