Identifying knowledge gaps

Submitted by coleen.yan@edd… on Wed, 08/24/2022 - 13:17
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To become a high-performing team capable of critical and creative thinking, you must consider questions you can ask to identify the gaps in skill and knowledge within your team, both collectively and individually. This will help you devise a plan to address gaps and increase skills and knowledge.

The best way to achieve this is to develop questions to help determine the level of knowledge and identify potential gaps. You must identify the gaps to help gain the best from your team and avoid putting them in situations where they may feel intimidated or incapable. You should consider asking the following questions when learning to identify knowledge gaps.

Developing questions for individuals and teams

When developing these questions, be sure to use appropriate language and communication techniques. You do not want to appear as though you are interrogating the team but instead finding out where their skills and knowledge are at.

The following are some examples of questions you may wish to ask individuals and teams to identify knowledge gaps.

Questions for individuals

When addressing the gaps for individuals, consider the following questions.

  • Can the staff member follow complaint procedures according to organisational processes and timelines?
  • Can the staff member identify issues or inefficiencies in their work processes?
  • Can the staff member suggest how to improve their work?
  • Can the staff member communicate important information clearly and succinctly?
  • Can the staff member provide a summary of important insights and implications for future work on the spot without preparation?
  • Can the staff member work autonomously and work out how to answer questions?

Questions for teams

Consider the following questions when addressing the gaps for a team.

  • Can the team work together to implement processes or procedures impacting multiple individuals?
  • Can the team identify issues in their work processes and come together to identify and discuss suggestions for improving them?
  • Can the team identify when to solve issues within the team and when to escalate them to management for support?
  • Can the team work together to collect and present important information clearly and succinctly?
  • Can the team consider multiple options to address an issue and fairly and logically determine the best way forward?
  • Can the team share information to better understand the overall process and its impact on it?

Questions using Bloom’s Taxonomy

Bloom’s Taxonomy provides a vast range of skills individuals need to become critical thinkers. The following table outlines each of the six stages of Bloom’s Taxonomy. It also highlights the questions you should ask to determine whether individuals and the team possess the skill or if there is a gap.

Level of Bloom’s Taxonomy  Questions to ask 
The following are common questions to ask to identify gaps
Example
The following are examples of using the questions in context.
*Note: these basic examples and context will look different depending on what you are asking the individual to do. 
Gap(s) Identified
The following are examples of the common gaps you may find according to each level
 
Knowledge
  • Who?
  • Where?
  • When?
  • How?
  • Describe?
  • What is?
  • Who is the manager responsible for projects?
  • Where would you locate the policy and procedure for project managers?
  • When is this project due?
  • Unable to identify the relevant personnel 
  • Unable to locate policies and procedures
  • Unable to identify the due date of a project 
Comprehension
  • What is the purpose of this?
  • What is the main idea?
  • What is the difference between this and that?
  • Re-tell. in your own words.
  • What differences exist between them?
  • Can you write a brief outline of that?
  • What is the purpose of policies and procedures?
  • What is the difference between a policy and a procedure?
  • Unable to describe the purpose of policies and procedures.
  • Unable to identify the differences between a policy and a procedure
Application
  • How is this an example of that?
  • How is this related to that?
  • Why is this significant?
  • Could this have happened if?
  • How is Bloom’s Taxonomy an example of a critical thinking model?
  • How are critical and creative thinking related?
  • Unable to describe the example.
  • Unable to explain how the concepts are linked 
Analysis
  • What are the parts or features of this?
  • Classify, according to…
  • Outline/diagram/web/map
  • What evidence do you have for this?
  • How does this compare with that?
  • How would the other stakeholders see this?
  • What are the seven features of Bloom’s Taxonomy?
  • What evidence did you collect to document the benefits of applying Bloom’s Taxonomy to critical thinking?
  • Unable to identify the features 
  • Unable to state the evidence used to support thinking 
Synthesis
  • What would you predict based on this information?
  • What ideas can you add to this?
  • How would you design a new system?
  • What solutions would you suggest for these issues?
  • What would happen if you combined these two solutions?
  • How would you design a training program for the new recruits?
  • What ideas can you add to our existing staff training program for improvements? 
  • Unable to come up with ideas from scratch 
  • Unable to make contributions to existing programs. 
Evaluation
  • What do you think about this?
  • Do you agree with that?
  • What is the most important tak-eaway from this?
  • How would you prioritise these according to the collected data?
  • How would you decide this?
  • Upon what criteria would you assess this on?
  • Based on our meeting, what are the most critical factors highlighted?
  • Why do you agree/disagree we should have more professional development in critical and creative thinking? 
  • Unable to highlight key points, take-aways 
  • Unable to agree with justification.
A group of people working together

Facilitate relevant learning opportunities for others

Learning opportunities allow leaders to grow. Good leaders will take the time to address knowledge gaps by providing feedback and learning opportunities. Such opportunities require the careful planning of a program. These programs will vary from workplace to workplace; however, the aim is to ensure there are opportunities for the team to learn and grow.

As a leader, you must consider how you plan to facilitate these opportunities, especially if you lead sessions. The following are some key aspects you may wish to factor in when you are developing a training session or program for learning opportunities.

  • An overview outlining what it is you will be facilitating, for example, the use of Bloom’s Taxonomy for critical thinking
  • An introduction that covers:
    • the purpose- why are you facilitating this program or training session
    • how the learning will take place, for example, in groups, one on one sessions, online, face-to-face workshops
    • how it aims to incorporate, support, and encourage critical and creative thinking.
  • Details including:
    • Dates, when the session will be held or a program launched
    • The tasks that need to be completed
      • Who is completing specific tasks
      • When they are completing them.
  • Opportunities for monitoring and capturing feedback
    • Repercussions of feedback and actioning said repercussions for future improvement.
  • Finally, any additional resources that are required. For example, you may wish to use the company’s policy and procedure for critical thinking, or you have found an external source to refer to.

When presenting, you must consider the following:

  • Language
    • Use formal and appropriate language
    • Avoid too much jargon
    • Be mindful of humour and sarcasm
    • Body language
  • Dynamic of the team
    • Who are you presenting to
    • What are their existing skill levels
    • What will they get out of the training
  • Experience
    • Your own experience is essential when facilitating; if there is an area you are not entirely confident in, you may wish to outsource rather than attempt to present it when you are not entirely confident.
    • The experience of the team
      • How long have they been with the company
      • How long have they been in the industry
      • Educational background
    • Resources to facilitate learning
      • If conducting a formal training session, what teaching aids will you use? For example, PowerPoint, handouts, and infographics.
      • Will you need a sign interpreter or translator?
      • Where will you be presenting, online, in a board room, and so on

The following table illustrates the various types of formal and informal learning opportunities that can be implemented to address knowledge gaps.

Formal learning opportunities  Program description Informal learning opportunities Program description
Workshops/ Training session Organise a training session within the workplace. This can be a face-to-face or online workshop facilitated by an appointed staff member. The staff member facilitating the training should have a repertoire of skills and knowledge to train the staff successfully.
 
In the moment feedback  Provide immediate feedback on a task that is being worked on. Identify what has been accomplished and provide guidance on improvements.
 
Professional development  Organise for external personnel to facilitate a professional development session based on the skills that need improving on, for example, critical and creative thinking techniques and how to implement them 
Sessions can be within the workplace, at a venue, or online via a webinar. 
At the end of the session, the team will receive a certificate of participation.
Mentoring
 
  • Through one-on-one sessions
  • Group sessions 
  • Online/ distance
Allocate time to sit with the employee or a group of employees to mentor areas of improvement. This can be facilitated online if working remotely or face-to-face in hybrid work environments.
    Role rotations   Change the team dynamics and pair up individuals with strengths in one area with those who may need more development. Many people learn from each other, and changing teams is a great way to foster this and nurture professional rapport.
 

Monitor the success of program

Once you have implemented a training session or program, you will need to monitor its success. This can be achieved by circulating a survey or feedback form after the session or program. Monitoring success is an ongoing process that should be carried out about a month after the session, then again in six months and again at twelve. Frequency is crucial when determining the success of any programs that are being facilitated because it provides accuracy on whether or not it worked to address the gap.

Articulate the key features with your team

It is important to regularly remind your team of critical and creative thinking concepts. To ensure they are maximising their skills and reaching their full potential.

This can be articulated to a team of leaders, managers, and employees to ensure the skills are not missed, critical thinking is still taking place and the concepts are being addressed.

Let us look at some processes you can implement to address the three creative and critical thinking concepts.

Analysis

  1. Articulate the task before they begin to check for understanding.
  2. Encourage them to break a task into sub-tasks and review each sub-task as they go.
  3. Show them examples of quality work and how their work may differ.
  4. Ask them to consider what could be done better and what can be done next.

Synthesis

  1. Provide opportunities to do low-risk work in this space.
  2. Ask questions like ‘if you could only share one insight, what would it be?
  3. When they share updates, ask them to share in a concise way first.
  4. Have a team member wrap up an internal, low-stake team meeting with the key points.

Evaluation

  1. Before answering their questions, ask them what they think.
  2. When making recommendations, ask them to propose two to three in the order they would recommend.
  3. Ask them to convey the logic behind their recommendations visually (for example, in a flowchart).
Knowledge Check

Answer the following three (3) questions. Click the arrows to navigate between the tasks.

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