8 Reasons Why Planning Team Training in Advance Will Save You Time & Make Your Life Easier

Jump into the (Training) Matrix now!

Monday Morning Manager Series #44

Whether your team is huge or just a few people, they must do their job well.

And to do that, there is some degree of training involved.

But who in the team gets what training?

Design a training matrix to plan team training in advance rather than reinvent the wheel every time a team member asks for training.

It will save you time, conserve your decision-making capacity and avoid conflict.

But what the heck is a training matrix?

It’s a fancy way of saying you have a list of job titles matched with a list of training. In a matrix.

Set it up, review it once a year, and you’re done.

I’ve helped leaders & managers do this for years, and it works.

Here are eight reasons why:

Eight reasons why a training matrix will make your life easier:

1. Your team member gets the training to match their job description

If your team member’s job description says they must be a First Aider, Fire Warden, or know a particular system. In that case, they need the appropriate training.

Easy peasy.

You have a list, they go on the training, and when they are due for a refresher, they go again.

2. You can ensure the training matches H&S, industry & legislative requirements

As mentioned above, if there are legislative or industry certifications or training requirements for a role, you’ll have them all in one place.

Record what training is mandatory for each role and avoid wasting time looking it up whenever someone asks to go on a course.

If something goes seriously wrong, the first thing checked is whether your team member has had the appropriate training — A training matrix ensures that everyone is.

3. No arguments about who gets what

If specific training goes with a role, there are no arguments about who gets what.

Your people either get the training, or they don’t.

Knowing which role gets what training avoids conflict within the team. As long as you stick to it there is no chance of your team thinking you are playing favourites.

4. You can diarize refreshers and renewals

Regarding refreshers, most safety courses have a two-year refresher period.

Other certifications & licenses may also have a renewal period.

You can easily diarize these, even if you don’t have a Learning Management System.

If you know who needs to stay certificated in what, it’s much easier to keep track.

5. Onboarding a new team member is straightforward

When you get a new team member, it’s clear what training they need.

You can transpose the information from the training matrix into a training plan without thinking about it.

All you need to do next is ensure your newbie attends the training.

6. If you get a new manager, you can explain why each role needs the training they receive

Once you’ve done the groundwork, record why each team member is getting the necessary training.

Is it because it’s in their job description, an audit requirement, or a client specification?

Legislation or an industry requirement?

If you get a new boss or CEO and they question the time and money spent on training your team, you have a list of reasons why who gets what training.

7. You are audit ready

If you are in an industry that is regularly audited, every time you have an audit department training will be scrutinized.

A training matrix is a tool that will help you get audit ready. If you keep all your mandatory training current, you’ll sail through the audit.

8. If it’s a done deal, you can delegate

Once you’ve worked out which role gets what, you can delegate organizing the training to one of your team members.

Use the task as a development opportunity, and make sure you go through the whole process thoroughly to start with.

Once you’ve delegated organizing the training, check-up every couple of months to ensure the training is taking place.

Summary

Setting up a system of who needs what development in your team will save you a lot of time, and it’s well worth the effort.

TL;DR

A team training matrix will:

• Make sure your team has the correct training to match what their position description says they should have
• Ensure your training matches legislative, H&S & industry requirements
• Rule out arguments about who gets what training
• Make it easy to diarize refreshers & renewals
• Make onboarding newbies much easier
• Make it easy to explain to a new manager or the senior team why each role needs the training it gets
• Ensure you are audit-ready if you stick to the plan
• You can delegate organizing team training to an ambitious team member as a stretch project

I’ve done this for four decades. Any questions, let me know in the comments.

Thanks for reading & have a great day :-)

Click here, to Grab Your Free Team Training Template (shown in the article below) and get a free Weekly Dose of Leadership Inspiration straight to your inbox!