Job Shadowing and its Types

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Job Shadowing and its Types

Job Shadowing (JS) is a unique kind of on-the-job training in which employees of one area of an organization are given the opportunity to work alongside another individual, usually in a different area of that organization.
JS is where an individual from one area of the organisation has the opportunity to work alongside and gain experience of the role of another individual, and gain an insight into that particular work area. It can also be used to provide an individual within a department the opportunity to work alongside more experienced colleagues so they can learn and develop within their current role.
The visiting staff member can be called the "Shadow" and the person that agrees to be shadowed can be called the "Host". In this approach, the visitor literally accompanies the Host like a shadow, thus this naming.

Types of Job Shadowing

There are three ways in which Job Shadowing can happen:

1. OBSERVING: The Shadow observes the day to day work of the Host. Therefore, he follows him in meetings, observe customer dealings, etc. This will give the Shadow a practical insight of the job roles of the Host in typical workdays.
2. BRIEFING: Not everything the Host is doing (or not) can be observed. There are some things that happen on autopilot. To make the Shadow understand such things, including nitty gritty details of the role, the Host can offer a regular briefing to the Shadow.
3. HANDS-ON: What better ways to learn something than by doing it? The Host can (periodically) delegate some of his tasks to the Shadow as an extension of the observation. By repeating and doing what the Host did in front of him, the Shadow gets an in-depth experience of how it feels to play the roles of the Host while being closely observed by the Host.

JS is often used as a part of an organization's Job Rotation program. While job rotation was primarily introduced so that conveyor belt workers would tire less quickly, JS is unique in its own right, because the primary objective of JS is to provide a means for career exploration for employees in different domains. Any further info? Do you have experience to shadow or being shadowed?
Source: Job Shadowing Guidelines by University of Bristol

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		4 Jaap de Jonge Editor, Netherlands
	Applications of Job Shadowing I've had no personal experiences with Job Shadowing (JS), but I wish I had! Looking closely how a more senior, more experienced person is performing a job or a particular activity, is probably the fastest way to learn something. It's what all children are doing in their early years! Organizations can actually apply JS for several, overlapping reasons: Training for a New Job: A new hire, or a person planning to take up a different role in the same organization is allowed to shadow the Host (current incumbent) for a period (hours, days, a week) to get a good idea of his or her new role. This will help the Shadow to understand the particulars of the job without the commitment of the responsibility. Also it allows the Shadow to become more confident, aware, and better prepared to take up the role. For the organization, such job training reduces the chances of failure, and reduces the time required for the individual to be fully productive. Developing and Transferring Expertise: JS is all about transferring knowledge and expertise from one individual to another. It can support knowledge management and ensure that expertise and knowledge are not lost. Career Development: There could be multiple options available for a particular individual (e.g., a high potential) to grow in an organization. JS can help to get a better sense of options available and the required competencies for these job options. An employee may shadow senior employees in various positions or functions to appreciate and get a better idea of what it takes to build a career there. Leadership Development: Many organizations use JS as a leadership development instrument. Young leaders are given opportunities to shadow senior leaders and learn from them in a practical way. JS complements classroom learning and aspiring leaders get to experience first hand what it takes to be a leader.

		4 Anonymous
	Work Shadowing Job Shadowing is also called: "Work Shadowing". Shadowing differs from internships and work placements as it usually only lasts a couple of days, is generally informal and unpaid. The purpose of shadowing is to achieve an insight rather than to gain hands-on, practical experience.

		3 Anonymous
	Benefits of Job Shadowing for the Host - Network with colleagues from different areas - Share your experience with others - Learn from your visitor/guest - The opportunity to view and reflect on your own area of work supported by the "fresh eyed" view of the visitor/guest - Develop your coaching/mentoring skills. Source: Job Shadowing Guidelines, Manchester Metropolitan University.

		2 Anonymous
	Benefits of Job Shadowing for the Shadow (Visitors Guest) - Understand how other departments work - Learn from the experiences of colleagues - Understand and appreciate how other roles support the organisation - Understand and appreciate other needs and priorities outside of your established work role - The opportunity to discuss your role and its needs and priorities with others - Understand why things work the way they do. Source: Job Shadowing Guidelines, Manchester Metropolitan University.

		2 Anonymous
	Benefits of Job Shadowing for the Organization - Improve communication across departments, faculties and sites and encourage continuous improvement. - Facilitate the breaking down of internal barriers across the organisation. - Share best practices - Allow for self development of the employees (Shadows + Hosts). Source: Job Shadowing Guidelines, Manchester Metropolitan University.

		2 Anonymous
	Practical Job Shadowing Tips for Hosts - When is the best time for a guest to get a good overview of the role? - What do I need to inform the guest of prior to the shadowing? - Do I need to let anyone else know that the shadowing is taking place? - What does the visitor/guest hope to get from the process? - What do I need to know about them? - Do I need to complete any health & safety requirements prior to the visit? - Do they have any additional support requirements that I need to be aware of? Source: Job Shadowing Guidelines, Manchester Metropolitan University.

		2 Anonymous
	Practical Job Shadowing Tips for Shadows (Visitors, Guests) - What do I want to know about the job? - What questions do I want to ask? - What do you want to know about the team department? - Are there any specific tasks or elements of the job you would like...

		2 Anonymous
	Coming Out of the Shadow Job shadowing as a concept reads interesting. It would definitely give protection for the learner to observe, experiment, and upskill under the shade of the expert. But, as the term shadow indicates, ...

		4 David Wilson Manager, Canada
	Team Integration - Knowledge Sharing The previous posts provide some great information. We used to promote team sharing to increase the integration of different teams. In addition, we used job shadowing to develop succession plans and ...

		2 Ashok GANESAN Analyst, Austria
	Shadowing for Tacit Knowledge Transfer Shadowing is a powerful technique to enable effective tacit (non-codifiable) knowledge transfer. It is important to remember that it is an expensive option for the organization and therefore, careful ...

		1 Maurice Hogarth Consultant, United Kingdom
	Usages of Job Shadowing for Personal and Organisational Performance Enhancement Job Shadowing has been used in my experience: To enable individuals to have a practical experience of the work done by individuals in other teams and departments whose work is interdependent with...