Variability is a key enemy of quality. In training, it shows up in a lot of places especially in these situations:
- Multiple classroom instructors
- Joint calls with other salespeople
- Hands on training with a supervisor
- Buddying up with other call center agents
In addition, there is often variation depending upon when you were trained and sometimes where. The class of 2008 often gets something different than the class of 2009.
You can see the effects of this variation in different levels of performance, different job practices and different levels of knowledge.
So how do you drive out variation? It’s really the same as any other quality improvement project. You need to treat learning as a process not as a series of events and then look at what causes variation and look for quick hit ideas on how to drive it out. Working on it as an ongoing quality improvement project works well.
