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Bring out the Best in Your Problem Solvers

learning styles team building Mar 09, 2022

Is there someone on your team who harbors impatience when it comes to meetings? You schedule a planning day or a training day and they are less than enthusiastic about it. It’s probably not about you or the plans. It could be about their learning style. These are people who are motivated by taking action and doing something. The words “planning” or “team building” or “training” could feel to them like a time waster that will only slow them down. Unless … it’s relevant to what they need to do in the day-to-day. 

You might have one of these learners on your team and you're trying to figure out the best way you can help them grow and develop the skills they need to flourish in their role.

That’s at the root of what we are answering in this blog series on Bring Out the Best in Your Team. People are surprisingly different and if you try a one-size-fits all development plan it will succeed for some and flop for others. 

Problem solvers benefit from an individualized development plan so they can customize learning to the relevant situations they face every day. They are hands-on learners who want to get busy learning what they need to know to solve the problem and move on. If there wasn’t a problem to solve then learning wouldn’t be relevant or necessary. And for this learner everything (including learning) is seen through the lens of finding solutions.

Sometimes their learning looks a whole lot more like doing, because for problem solvers the two are nearly one in the same. So, let’s get busy ideating what can bring out the best in your problem solvers.

How they Learn

  • On-the-job training experiences
  • Sequential, logical learning process
  • Asking clarifying questions about how things work and why

How They Involve Others

  • Comfortable learning on their own
  • May appreciate watching how others do it
  • Enjoy engaging others in results-oriented discussions

What Action Do They Take 

  • Apply what they learn to solve a problem
  • Offer advice and share details of what they now know
  • Show others how to do it 

What You Can Do As A Leader

Problem solvers learn by doing. As a leader, you can help them focus their daily activities or projects to align with their learning goals. And, because they learn by doing, they may not realize they learned something in the process. Help them pause to notice, celebrate and share what they learned. Download the Learning Styles Assessment and get the rest of the blogs on each style delivered to your inbox!

If you are looking for a more customized approach to leading your problem solvers, schedule a 27 minute strategy session and let’s talk about problems you need to solve for developing your people. 

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