Understanding team training needs (activity)

Ongoing, with regular check-ins | Leader-led, with team participation | Moderate effort

Use this activity to:

• understand your team’s confidence with AI
• explore what staff are already trying;
• identify where staff need the most support.

Start with simple conversations before building a clear picture of readiness over time.

This activity supports our guidance to understand your team’s training needs.

For more activities that support training, consider building team capability.

Understanding training needs helps you support your staff in ways that are fair, practical and relevant to their work. It makes existing gaps visible early, before confidence drops or unsafe habits form.

As roles and tools change, this helps you decide where training, guidance or extra support will make the biggest difference.

Work through each stage to build a clear picture of team readiness over time.

Start with low-pressure conversations. Then use more structured ways to assess needs and track progress.

Stage 1: Get started

In this first stage, focus on understanding your team’s current confidence and early support needs.

Run a short check‑in with your team. Ask a manager or an identified AI champion (someone who helps others explore and use AI safely) to share their own experience, uncertainties or questions first. This shows everyone is still learning.

Ask your team open-ended questions to: 

• understand how confident staff feel using AI in their day‑to‑day work 
• surface where staff are already experimenting with AI, formally or informally 
• identify areas where uncertainty, risk, or hesitation still exists. 

You can also open the conversation by asking whether anyone has found something useful, surprising or challenging while using AI.

This helps make readiness visible without adding pressure.

Stage 2: Build momentum

This stage focuses on turning early insights into clear learning priorities and support plans.

Start by looking at the different roles in your team and what each one needs to use AI well in practice. Focus on the level and type of support needed, rather than starting with tools or training courses.

This may include:

• practical know‑how for specific tasks
• a better understanding of how AI works
• clearer guidance on safe and appropriate use.

Setting these expectations is a leadership responsibility. Individuals should be supported rather than expected to define their capability requirements. 

Next, work with your team to understand how best to deliver the support they need. Use a short pulse survey, workshop prompt or team discussion to explore:

• which tasks or workflows need the most support
• which learning formats work best for your team
• where quick reference tools or examples would help
• which roles may need deeper or more ongoing support
• when managers or AI champions can be more involved.

This helps move from early readiness signals to focused learning priorities that can be acted on.

Stage 3: Create results that last

Track how confidence, skills and understanding change over time. Use the same approach each time.

This helps you decide:

• when to introduce new tools
• where to invest in training
• when to slow down and provide more support.

A practical way to track this could include:

• using the same questions each time
• keeping a shared record of themes
• tracking insights that shape future training and peer support
• review readiness assessments before introducing new tools or processes.