Page 294 - The extraordinary leader

The Importance of Follow-Through • 271

that greater knowledge had been gained in a relatively permanent way and
that behavior and skills would improve. Ultimately, we hope for there to be
some tangible return on the organization’s investment.
It is extremely clear, however, that if we want any of these higher order
changes to occur, we must pay greater attention to the follow-on process.

THE POWER OF PHASE 3

An effective Phase 3 process provides an enormous benefit to an organiza-
tion because it enhances the degree to which any learning is put into prac-
tice; thus, it leverages the investment made in Phase 2 learning events. To
improve Phase 3, a new environment must be created that provides periodic
reminders to participants about the learned behavior and encourages that
behavior’s use.
Effective Phase 3 efforts are characterized by implementations in which

● Any desired new behaviors are made specific
● Participants make clear, public commitments to complete a task by a
certain time
● Participants know that there will be a consistent mechanism that holds
them accountable
● Participants are regularly reminded to plan for the next phase of
implementation
● Obstacles are anticipated, plans are put in place to overcome those
obstacles, and “vaccinations” are prepared to prevent backsliding or
having individuals’ efforts gradually diluted
● Good measurement tools are available to let managers and
administrators of the learning process monitor the progress of the
individual and group.

Specify new behaviors. A frequent complaint about many learning or
development processes is that participants aren’t clear about what they are to
do when they return to work. They’ve acquired new information; they’ve
rehearsed new skills; they may have altered some attitudes. A decided fuzzi-
ness still exists, however, about what’s specifically being asked of them on the
job. Thus, one key to effective Phase 3 follow-up is a high degree of specificity
about what’s expected of participants.