Learning & Education
On-the-Job Learning Log: Learn It Once, Then Do It Alone
Beginner | 1 whiteboard page · Task board: 4 columns (5 parent tasks, 14 subtasks)
Beginner: No technical terms. Just answer the whiteboard's questions, following the examples, and it takes shape.
The On-the-Job Learning Log is a template for first-year employees learning a job from a senior colleague, turning what you are taught into your own written steps you can follow alone next time. The whiteboard carries a three-month target and the rules for being taught, a mind map that takes stock of what you do not understand yet, a three-line question format with the right time to ask, a YWT retrospective in three columns (what you did, what you learned, what to do next), and a frequency-versus-cost matrix for deciding what to learn first. The task board runs four columns, from want to learn through been taught and tried solo to can explain, and starts with five parent tasks - write down the gaps, shape your questions, write your own steps, try it solo, make it teachable - plus their 14 subtasks, all not started. Asking about the same steps for the third time stops being a worry, and in six months the work you were taught is in a shape you can hand to the next new hire.
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On-the-Job Learning Log
How to use: Write down the gaps → Ask in three lines → Write up the steps the same day → Run it without the notes
1. How You Will Learn (what you want to do alone in three months)
- Your three-month target e.g. Run a quote end to end, from drafting to sending, without opening the notes.
- Rules for being taught 1. Search for five minutes before you ask 2. Shape the question with the format in section 3 before you speak up 3. Write it up the same day using the items in section 5
- Where you are stuck now - Half the in-house acronyms mean nothing to you - You cannot decide who to ask - You have asked about the same steps three times
2. Stocktake of What You Do Not Get (terms, steps, background, judgment)
- What you
do not get
- Terms So many acronyms
- Steps What order, what first
- Tools Where the form is
- Background Why this order
- Judgment Who to ask when stuck
- Exceptions When it is a rush job
3. Question Format (ask in these three lines)
- Goal: confirm the invoice cut-off date
- Already checked: chapter 3 of the notes and a chat search
- Stuck on: whether the cut-off is month end or the 20th
4. When to Ask (check how your team does it first)
- Batch anything non-urgent for 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.
- If you have been stuck for ten minutes, stop and ask
- Never break in while they are with a visitor or on a call
5. What Every Record Needs
- The date you were taught, and who taught you
- Numbered steps 1 to 6, rewritten in your own words
- The forks that catch people out (exceptions, cut-offs, approvers)
6. Reflection for the Day (YWT)
Y (what you did)
- Walked through one quote with a senior
- Watched the invoice data being sent
W (what you learned)
- The cut-off is the 20th, not month end
- Approval has two steps: manager, then director
T (what to do next)
- Tomorrow, do one quote solo with no notes
- Add the 20th cut-off to chapter 3 of the notes
7. What to Learn First (how often you use it vs. how badly a mistake hurts)
Vertical axis: How badly a mistake hurts / Horizontal axis: How often you use it
- Lean on the notes Rare, but expensive when it goes wrong. Do not trust memory - follow the written steps and double-check. e.g. sending the invoice data on the 20th.
- Learn this first Daily, and a mistake is hard to undo. Get to where you can run it alone by the end of this week. e.g. registering customer and billing names.
- Leave it for later Low frequency, low impact. Plan to look it up when it comes up, and just note where it lives.
- Just do the reps Daily, but easy to undo. Try it yourself before you ask, and let repetition do the work. e.g. filling in the daily report.
Task board contents
Want to learn 19 items
Write down the gaps
Hold it all in your head and you will forget to ask. Write it down the moment you lose the thread, so you can ask in one go.
Note gaps instantly
Jot one line on the word that stopped you and what you were doing. Tidy it up later.
List 10 key terms
Pick ten in-house acronyms, system names, and document names, and add them as branches in section 2.
Sort gaps by type
Sort what stopped you into the branches in section 2 - terms, steps, tools, background, judgment, exceptions. A different type means a different person to ask.
Shape your questions
A clear question gets an answer first time. Make three lines your default - goal, what you already checked, where you are stuck.
Use the 3-line form
Rewrite the question in three lines using the format in section 3. In that shape a senior can answer in a minute.
Agree on when to ask
Ask your senior whether the team prefers batched or as-they-come questions, and write the agreed times into section 4.
Search 5 min first
Give the written steps and a chat search five minutes. If nothing turns up, ask, and say what you already checked.
Write your own steps
Half of what you heard is gone by tomorrow. Turn it into numbered steps in your own words, so the second time you can just read them.
Write it up same day
On the day you are taught, rewrite it as numbered steps 1 to 6 and move the card to the been taught column.
Flag tricky forks
Mark every point that needs a call - handling exceptions, cut-off dates, who approves - and add one line on why it is unclear.
Have a senior check
Take three minutes of a senior colleague's time to read your steps, and fix the missing assumptions and the wrong order.
Try solo, fill gaps
Being able to read it is not the same as knowing it. Close the notes, run it end to end, and fill in wherever you stopped.
Run it from memory
Close the notes, run it from start to finish, and move the card to the tried solo column. Log the time and the reason wherever you stopped.
Add what tripped you
Add the cause of each stop to your written steps and date the update. You are done when the same spot no longer stops you.
Count repeat asks
Each week, count how often you asked again about something you had already been told. Three or more means your steps need rewriting.
Make it teachable
You only own it once you can explain it. Aim for a state you could hand over in six months.
Explain it in 3 min
Walk a senior or a peer through the steps in three minutes. If you get through without stalling, move the card to the can explain column.
Finish the glossary
Add your own plain-language definition to every term you listed, and get it onto one page next year's new hires can read as is.
