GROUP INSTRUCTION
As a supervisor, you may be invited to make a presentation to other supervisors and your superiors. You can prepare for the event by making one or more group presentations to your own employees. Follow the same basic steps you use in individual instruction. That is, prepare the group (audience), present the new material (knowledge), gain involvement through questions, and summarize (follow through) by repeating the goal of the meeting.
As you follow these basic principles, you might also consider the following:
The more visual aids (keeping them simple) you prepare in advance, the more confidence you will have in your presentation and the more effective you will be.
Generally speaking, lecturing is the least effective teaching method, so strive for as much group interaction as possible.
Cover your subject carefully by outlining your instructions from start to finish.
Training never stops. As long as you must cope with an ever-increasing number of changes, you must accumulate new knowledge and pass on what you have learned to those who work for you. Everyone, including your superiors, finds it stressful to keep up with changes both in the environment in general and within the organization in particular. You will need to train yourself to deal with the impact of change, which means you will need to learn new ways to perform responsibilities. The greater the changes, the more you must learn; the more you learn, the more time you must spend instructing others and preparing them for change.
Changes manifest themselves in different ways: new procedures, new techniques, new generations of computers, new skills, and new ways of dealing with problems. As changes occur, you should occasionally search for new ideas and procedures to put into your own personal “knowledge bag.” You should continue to educate yourself through both self-instruction and formal course programs. When you learn something that will improve the productivity of your department, you should pass it on, using the four-step method, to your staff.
Use your knowledge power wisely.