Developing Yourself & Others
Learning Styles
Someone with a Visual learning style has a preference for seen or observed things, including
pictures, diagrams, demonstrations, displays, handouts, films, flip-chart, etc. These people will use
phrases such as ‘show me’, ‘let’s have a look at that’ and will be best able to perform a new task
after reading the instructions or watching someone else do it first. These are the people who will
work from lists and written directions and instructions.
Someone with an Auditory learning style has a preference for the
transfer of information through listening: to the spoken word, of self
or others, of sounds and noises. These people will use phrases such as
‘tell me’, ‘let’s talk it over’ and will be best able to perform a new task
after listening to instructions from an expert. These are the people
who are happy being given spoken instructions over the telephone,
and can remember all the words to songs that they hear!
Someone with a Kinaesthetic learning style has a preference for
physical experience – touching, feeling, holding, doing, and practical
hands-on experiences. These people will use phrases such as ‘let me try’, ‘how do you feel?’ and
will be best able to perform a new task by going ahead and trying it out, learning as they go. These
are the people who like to experiment, hands-on, and never look at the instructions first!
Kolb’s Learning Theory
David Kolb, (1984). Experiential Learning:
Experience as the source of learning and development.
Honey & Munford built on David Kolb’s model and said that there were 4 similar Learning Styles:
• Activist
• Reflector
• Theorist
• Pragmatist.
Developing Yourself & Others – Learning Styles October 2014
There is a strong similarity between the Honey and Mumford styles/stages and the corresponding Kolb
Learning Styles:
H&M Kolb
Activist = Accommodating
Reflector = Diverging
Theorist = Assimilating
Pragmatist = Converging
Barriers to Learning
• Time – do you have time to undertake your planned development?
• Resources – do you have the necessary resources available to achieve your planned
development? This can range from finance, qualified training staff to actual equipment
• Support – you must ensure that your team and managers are able to provide the required
support that you/they will need to achieve their development
• Training – is there- in house training available to support the planned development?
• Facilities – do you have the access to the facilities required e.g. computers, learning materials?
Learning Development Options
• Training courses and programmes
• Coaching
• Mentoring
• Distance learning, using workbooks, possibly with tutor support, or through computer based
learning programmes accessible online
• Work based projects
• Work shadowing
• Deputising
• On the Job Training (OJT)
• Feedback from colleagues and Managers
• E-learning using computer-based training
• Planned or guided reading.
Individual Development Plan (IDP)
• An Individual Development Plan (IDP) is a tool that helps facilitate employee development. It’s a
two-way commitment between an employee and their line manager on what they are going to
do to grow
• IDPs are often used as a way to drive leadership development. Organizations like them because
they are visible, tangible evidence that leadership development is taking place
• They can be monitored and tracked as a measure of progress, used as a way to drive
accountability for development and, most importantly, if they are well written and taken
seriously, they really do work.