Management predictability is important in several different areas. The first of which is in the management training itself. You may have heard that it’s good to have structure in trainings but not been entirely sure why. The brain responds very well to having predictability present. It needs to know what happening, what’s coming up and it needs to know that it’s safe.

What is really going on when we’re looking on predictability? As any good management training will tell you, we’re looking at our ability to make our brain safe and secure and to ensure there are no threats present. If the brain believes that there are threats present then it goes crazy and it doesn’t like it at all and goes into protection mode. This is great if there is a potential for a big growling bear to jump out and devour you during management training. If that’s not likely then you probably won’t want to have the participants in a state of increase threat alert for very much of the management training. That’s the reason why we want to have predictability in trainings.

What are some other ways that we can do this? The obvious ways are things like having syntax and having people know what is coming up next. Having people know what they are expected to do. There’s a balance here which is why it’s important to know the other components of how the brain works because putting people in a good stress situation can be very beneficial to an individual.

For example, after the break they are asked to do a presentation as a part of their management training. This will keep them into a stage of stress and depending on the individual if it could be beneficial for them and drive them and get them to come back very focused and very raring to go in getting results. It may also have a negative effect to other person if they feel completely out of control, they may feel overwhelmed and then they certainly won’t be focused or productive.

Understanding the whole picture of what’s going on with the brain is important but also knowing the individuals that are going to be present can be very beneficial in the situation. So the most basic example of predictability to reduce the threat response would be to have a syntax and let people know ahead of time what’s coming up in the management training.

Outside of management training, so when you’ve got managers that are trained, predictability is also important. Giving your team an idea of what’s coming in their role in the organization that you’re working on can help people be in a productive state. If people think that things are unpredictable or there’s an element of chaos around what’s happening for them it’s very difficult for them to focus and stay on track of what they need to do because their brain is basically telling them to be distracted and to be looking out for what danger there may be up ahead.

A lack of predictability for the brain signals danger and people respond in a protective way. If you’re minimizing that then you’re actually enabling people to stay on track and to be more productive.

That’s why predictability has a place in management training and it’s very important to make sure that you’re putting things in place that enable the brain to relax and focus it’s energy on what it’s meant to be doing.