Watching an experienced colleague work can look deceptively simple. They open a file, check a few fields and make a decision. The important part may be the judgement between those visible actions.
Agree one learning question
Before the session, identify what you want to understand and what the colleague can reasonably show. Respect confidentiality and the organisation’s access rules; observing a task does not automatically authorise you to inspect every record.
A useful question might be: “How do you decide which requests need clarification?” That gives the session a focus beyond memorising screen movements.
Ask about a pause
At an appropriate moment, ask what the colleague was checking before the next step. Let them finish time-sensitive work first. A delayed question is better than an interruption that causes a mistake.
Record decision cues in your own words and ask whether you understood them correctly. Do not present a personal note as the organisation’s official procedure.
Choose the next practice step
Afterwards, identify one suitable task to attempt with the agreed supervision. Also list situations in which you should ask for help.
Use feedback on work in progress when trying the task. The goal is to learn how to reason through the work, not merely reproduce the sequence you happened to observe once.