Effective Shadowing Process , continued
Reworking the shadowing process:
If we rework the shadowing process to enhance its value as a teaching/learning process, then shadowing can become a thought partnership that can be customized to accommodate the readiness of the student and the needs of the enterprise.
A considered, deliberate approach can create learning at the individual level while fostering a culture of inquiry in the business. One process can simultaneously create learning opportunities for:
- Individuals
- The individual/coach dyad
- The action or project team
- Group learning that can be disseminated to either appropriate process improvement owners or the wider organization as a whole
The reworked shadowing process:
In the shadowing process suggested here, collaboration is built in at many levels. For one thing, the student’s current level of experience should determine the level of involvement in the learning assignment.
Additionally, we can break the work done into three discrete phases: the pre-event preparation, the learning event itself, and the post event analysis. This experience/level of involvement interplay can be thought of as a matrix, depicted in figure 1.
Fig.1 The Shadowing Process
| Student Levels |
Pre-event |
In the Event |
Post-Event |
| Novice |
Contributes as able |
Quiet observation |
Contributes as able |
| Experienced |
Active participant |
Active participant |
Active participant |
| Accomplished |
Takes lead role |
Takes lead role |
Takes lead role |
A mentor should be assigned to the student. The mentor’s role is to help the student get the most possible learning out of the experience. It is most effective if this person is either the one who is responsible for the area or project to which the student is assigned, or a senior manager.
The student and mentor then collaborate to ensure that the student’s participation in the three facets of the learning event is dictated by the learning opportunity, the complexity of the tasks and the readiness of the student to absorb the lessons. In this way:
- The learner is involved to the level of his/her capability
- Partnering to create successful learning is expected, but the onus for learning is on the student
- Certification of learning is a joint effort where teachers are expected to showcase the growth (new competence) now owned by the student.
- It is expected that everyone can teach anyone and everyone is expected to learn.