Creating Help Desk Superstars by Tailoring Learning Systems

Although there are many learning styles, my experience with developing people over the last 25 years reveals that three styles predominate. These three are not mutually exclusive; certain employees may rely on a combination of two or perhaps all three. Nonetheless, staying attuned to each employee’s style or styles will help focus your coaching.

First, there’s analyzing. Paul S. is an analyzer. He understands a task by taking it apart, examining its elements, and reconstructing it piece by piece. Because every single component of a task is important in his eyes, he craves information. He needs to absorb all there is to know about a subject before he can begin to feel comfortable with it. If he doesn’t feel he has enough information, he will dig and push until he gets it. He will read the assigned reading. He will attend the required classes. He will take good notes. He will study. And he will still want more.

The best way to teach an analyzer is to give him ample time in the classroom. Role-play with him. Do postmortem exercises with him. Break his performance down into its component parts so he can carefully build it back up. Always allow him time to prepare. The analyzer hates mistakes. A commonly held view is that mistakes fuel learning, but for the analyzer, this just isn’t true. In fact, the reason he prepares so diligently is to minimize the possibility of mistakes. So don’t expect to teach him much by throwing him into a new situation and telling him to wing it. As expected, I’ve found that this style conflicts in a help desk environment where ‘in-call’ training is prevalent or the norm.

The opposite is true for the second dominant learning style, doing. While the most powerful learning moments for the analyzer occur prior to the performance, the doer’s most powerful moments occur during the performance. Trial and error are integral to this learning process.

Jeffrey L. is a doer. He learns the most while he’s in the act of figuring things out for himself. For him, preparation is a dry, uninspiring activity. So rather than role-play with someone like Jeffrey, pick a specific task within his role that is simple but real, give him a brief overview of the outcomes you want, and get out of his way. Then gradually increase the degree of each task’s complexity until he has mastered every aspect of his role. He may make a few mistakes along the way, but for the doer, mistakes are the raw material for learning. Where ‘in-call’ training is the status quo for new hires, the doer is willing and able to pick up calls on his first day. Having a support system that fosters success for the doer ensures a win-win for both him and the clients he helps.

Finally, there’s watching. Watchers won’t learn much through role-playing. They won’t learn by doing, either. Since most formal training programs incorporate both of these elements, watchers are often viewed as rather poor students. That may be true, but they aren’t necessarily poor learners.

Watchers can learn a great deal when they are given the chance to see the total performance. Studying the individual parts of a task is about as meaningful for them as studying the individual pixels of a digital photograph. What’s important for this type of learner is the content of each pixel, its position relative to all the others. Watchers are only able to see this when they view the complete picture.

If you’re trying to teach a watcher, by far the most effective technique is to get him out of the classroom. Take him away from the manuals, and make him ride shotgun with one of your most experienced performers. Your phone system in the help center may have an option that allows one agent to listen to another and if you are using a remote desktop tool that software may allow sharing of support sessions between clients.

To ensure that everyone on your team contributes at their highest possible level, you as the leader must recognize and adjust for unique learning needs. Meeting the needs of your new hires may require tweaking the environment but your success as a manager will depend entirely on your ability to do this.