How to Be Ready, Army-style
If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that you have to be ready for just about anything. Many challenges that your organization faces are impossible to foresee; still, staying ready and adaptive is what will give you an edge over your competition.
The Army has been living that reality for 245 years. Our mandate is to “fight and win the nation’s wars,” along with providing defense support to civil authorities as National Guard and Reserve elements. Operations always come with a dose of the unexpected.
Soldiers are obsessed with being ready for it all.
Army leaders turn that obsession into training activities. And four principles guide them as they plan and conduct training. Those same four principles can help you get your teams ready for the next set of challenges that are sure to come.
Train as you fight
Every organization, even brand new firms, have personnel with experience in their field of expertise. Use that experience to train everyone.
When you are delivering real-world goods and services it’s important to give your team professional development, even when you think you don’t have time to train. Make it practical.
In the Army, “a commander’s actions and activities for training communicate a clear message to the unit that training and the mission is a priority” (ADP 7-0).
If you lead members of your organization, make professional development a priority by organizing training. Then, make those training opportunities as practical as possible by relating them to real-world projects or objectives. Professional development can always have a practical exercise component.
Train to standard
Training should also meet basic standards that you can build on to achieve a level of mastery.
According to Army doctrine, “task mastery means Soldiers and units can perform a task to standard repeatedly under increasingly challenging, stressful, and varying conditions.”
If that doesn’t describe your organization’s needs, then you’ve been away for a while.
In the Army, standards are clear and measurable for nearly every type of activity. In your organization, you can make professional development more meaningful with standards. Consider asking your team to evaluate the applicability of the training in a systematic way. If those evaluations don’t meet a clear, agreed-upon standard, then you will be armed with some information to find the next training opportunity.
Train to sustain
Increasing and sustaining performance is the entire point of training. Army leaders use the “band of excellence” concept to plan training.
External evaluations (EXEVALs) help Soldiers assess their capabilities. But make no mistake, assessment is not training. Instead, training is planned as a result of findings from assessments and evaluations.
Your organization likely already has well-developed assessment tools. Maybe you call them Objectives and Key Results, or Key Performance Metrics.
If your performance falls below a standard, then training is in order. As a team leader, you should monitor your training regimen to ensure that training does not fall outside that band of excellence.
Train to maintain
“Maintenance includes maintaining personnel, equipment, and systems over extended periods,” according to ADP 7–0.
Your organization no doubt relies on physical tools or software to accomplish its objectives. Maintaining those tools is easier if organization members train in their proper use.
Moreover, “maintenance training is designed to keep equipment in the fight and ensures Soldiers are expert in its use” (ADP 7–0).
To maximize your tools and human resources, plan training that helps the two converge.
Your organization will continue to see challenges. Training leads to better operations, but operations only exist in the present. To be prepared for future operations — the ones you don’t yet know about — implement a robust training plan. Army style.
