A Trust Relationship: It Doesn’t Have to Be “Exhaust”ing
I have a 10-year-old car. It’s a great car – a silver Honda CRV with over 125,000 miles that’s whisked our family on many vacations, transported the kids to and from school, and conveyed me to many a work meeting. I take good care of my car, having it serviced (at the dealer!) whenever it prompts me for service. Then one day, a low rumble from the car’s exhaust startled me.
My dealer told me it would be well over $1000 to replace the muffler and pipe. Again, I love my car. But I couldn’t see spending that amount on it. So, I went to Lou, an exhaust specialist. Lou looked around and identified the problem – a hole in the exhaust pipe. He could repair the pipe for $80. Lou advised me NOT to replace the rest of the still-excellent pipe, and told me the muffler was fine. It would take 20 minutes to fix.
Wow. I probably would have been willing to pay $500, and would have been happy to have saved at least that much. Now I’m sharing the name of the exhaust specialist with my friends and family. What did Lou do that was so great (besides the obvious huge dollar savings)?
I could pretty clearly see a process Lou followed, one I’ve been spending some time with recently. It’s called the Trust Process, from The Trusted Advisor by David Maister, Charles Green, and Robert Galford. Here are the key steps in the trust process, and how I saw them played out:
- Engage – Lou was highly recommended and rated, so I felt he would be a good person to have take a look at my car. Once I met Lou, he helped me feel confident by letting me know he would figure out what the problem was.
- Listen – After listening to my car complaint, Lou put my car on the lift and took a look while I checked my email in the waiting area.
- Frame the Issue – Then he brought me under my car (cool!) and showed my exactly what was going on. I saw the hole, understood how he could repair it, and agreed to the $80 fix. He also told me what I didn’t need to do (replace the whole pipe or the muffler).
- Envision an Outcome – Lou said yes, that this fix would eliminate the noise, and that there would be no adverse impact.
- Commit – I agreed to the work. And, 20 minutes later it was done. My car sounds less “exhaust”ed now.
While this scenario is a bit simplistic, we can probably all apply it to many work situations we encounter. Here is one example from EnVision’s work:
- Engage – In a regular conversation with Barry, a client, about an ongoing project, I realized he might have a need for mentoring, a service we offer. Since we have a strong relationship, I was able to probe and ask more about the situation. This conversation got him engaged and interested in discussing this further.
- Listen – I listened to Barry’s situation, concerns, and needs, asking additional questions to gather more information. This helped him feel he was being heard, and allowed him to clarify his situation.
- Frame the Issue – I recapped what I was hearing about the cause of the challenge Barry shared and explained our mentoring process, asking if that seemed like a useful and appropriate solution, and what concerns Barry had about it. I shared a couple of cases where mentoring has helped other clients in similar situations. This helped Barry to know that I really could help him.
- Envision an Outcome – I continued with the cases, explaining how they turned out and followed with what the outcome could be for Barry’s situation. Now, Barry could see a possible outcome that would be beneficial to him. I suggested we try out mentoring on a small scale, as part of the work we were already doing.
- Commit – Barry agreed to have us provide the limited mentoring services to get his team through immediate deliverables.
Building trust, and a reputation as a trusted advisor, is a key to long-term, productive relationships. What are some ways you already use these steps to build trust with your key stakeholders and partners? What is one step in the trust process you plan to work on enhancing this month?
From Ambiguity to Clarity in Three Easy Steps
As instructional designers, we often confront ambiguity when we take on a new project, especially when working with a stakeholder who has already created, the process, tool, or content. It can be overwhelming to achieve clarity – to get our arms around the purpose of the proposed change, impact on performers and the organization, which tools are in place to support the change, and sometimes even to understand the processes and content well enough to work our “magic.”
Of course, ambiguity can be experienced in many areas, not just instructional design. For example, there’s often confusion in learning a new skill or job, assuming management of a group or project, or even starting a new hobby, like the genealogy research I just got involved with.
So, you want to know how to get from ambiguity to clarity in three easy steps? First…
…Well, really did you think it was that easy? This is a skill that, like so many others, takes a lot of practice, some solid fortitude, and trust in the process. I can’t deliver three easy steps to you, but I can offer three considerations to help you through. Let’s start with….
1. Trust the Process
It can be hard to “let go” and allow the process to work for us. But work for us it will. If left to its own devices, the brain will devise strategies to clarify its thoughts, and one of these main strategies is creating categories.
A team of researchers led by the Ruhm University Bochum found that people create and place information in different categories to make sense of the world. “Thinking in categories or pigeonholing helps our brain in bringing order into a constantly changing world and it reduces the information load,” wrote the researchers.
So, allow yourself time for clarity to emerge– sleep on it, meditate, do some yoga, or go for a run or walk – and your brain will take over. You might experience a number of “aha” moments – feel the satisfaction as these occur!
2. Ask questions
Particularly in situations where we are not the expert, we can’t expect that we’ll just know information or what’s in the head of our stakeholder. After doing our preliminary research, the only way to get solid information is by asking for it. Common questions for use in many situations (training or otherwise) are:
- What is the goal of this effort? What do you hope will change?
- Why is that important to you? To the organization?
- Who will be impacted by this? How? What happens if they don’t get on board with the changes?
- Is there a glossary or list of abbreviations, acronyms, and definitions (…so I can get up to speed on the subject quickly)?
- What is the current/proposed process or workflow?
- What do you mean by [fill in the blank]?
That last question is intended to prevent you from making assumptions. The stakeholder might speak as though you should know everything she knows, but that’s unrealistic and sometimes you need to just ask. Sometimes I find this question actually causes the stakeholder to rethink her own assumptions.
3. Draw it out
Create your own picture of how you understand the situation. This could be a flowchart, diagram, or other image; high-level project plan; or a draft course outline. In doing this, you’ll identify areas for which you need more information, areas you thought were clear to you but are still ambiguous, and things you believe are accurate.
Then review this picture or plan with your stakeholder, who can fill in the blanks, clarify ambiguities, and confirm or correct what’s left. She might even identify points you totally missed, or facts that she took for granted and didn’t think to mention to you.
So, while those three techniques are not necessarily “easy,” I hope they will help. The important thing is to realize that many new projects will have ambiguities. If everything were so clear and obvious, life would be so much easier. And probably a lot less interesting.
Warming Up with an Icebreaker
Would an experienced runner set off from a marathon starting line without warming up? No! A world class athlete takes time to prepare for a race, and often goes through the paces of a regime created by her running coach. She may run a short distance, then hold 30-second stretches. Her coach knows these energizing moves will get her muscles, and mind, prepared to run 26.2 miles.
Similarly, a trainer or facilitator (the “running coach”) starts a training session with an energizer or icebreaker, an opening activity designed to limber up the learners’ “mental muscles” and help them prepare to learn.
What are some effective ways to motivate learners? EnVision team members share their favorite icebreakers below.
For Ginny Maglio, who delivers leadership curricula to EnVision’s clients, it’s all about sparking learner interest. One of Maglio’s favorite icebreakers involves none other than – LEGO® blocks. “Participants build something related to the course content,” Maglio says. “For example, in a program on how to build successful teams, participants are asked to build something that depicts their organization’s mission….short, simple engaging activities can be used very successfully to initiate learner interest.” When learners feel energetic, they’re also engaged in the course.
Irene Stern Frielich, EnVision’s president, “breaks the ice” for learners in a different way. During learner introductions, she asks participants to share a fun thing they did over the weekend. This recollection, and the positive social vibes from sharing it, get learners in the frame of mind to think and process.
Scientific research supports this tactic. In the article How Emotions Influence Learning and Memory Processes in the Brain, Dr. Shlomo Wagner found that “Different emotions cause the brain to work differently, in terms of cognitive processes such as learning and memory.” In his study, Dr. Wagner discovered that pleasant social encounters between rats caused the rodents to build memories, whereas negative emotions did not. It makes sense that when people, too, recall happy times, it puts them in a good mindset for learning.
Paula Spizziri, an instructional designer with EnVision, ensures she starts a module with an icebreaker that takes a page from the playbook of the running coach. Spizziri asks the learners to engage in a brief spurt of physical activity, since exercise stimulates the brain. Or, she may prompt the learners in an exercise in which they take turns completing the sentence “I’m late because…” with a movie plot. The other learners then try to guess each film, and both actions spark the learners’ thinking.
It’s clear that icebreakers that target both learners’ emotions and energy work. According to an article by Michael Higley on elearningindustry.com, “Appropriately framing a lesson with an icebreaker activity is a useful technique in establishing context in which new learning will take place,” Higley writes. “The initial experiences students have with any course establish the tone for future tasks.” So, a course’s eventual success can be traced, in part, to an icebreaker’s efficacy — just like stretching sets the stage for a great race.
Three Ways to Mess Up a Client Relationship
Bea Smart, an instructional designer, started working recently with Joe King, a compliance director, about potential training needs. She’s excited about the opportunity to partner with the Compliance Department and wants to impress her new internal client.
Bea starts off with a training needs analysis by completing several employee interviews, an activity that had never been conducted in the Compliance Department.
The interviews strongly suggest that changes other than training are needed to meet business goals, including clearly written standard operating procedures. However, Bea’s focus is instructional design, and she’s not sure Joe would agree with the recommendations that arise from the interviews, so she doesn’t share the interview data or her conclusions with him.
After agreeing on learning objectives and an elearning modality for a course Joe would like developed, Bea agrees to deliver the draft 1 storyboard to Joe in five days. Though she needs input from several stakeholders and believes a complete storyboard will probably take closer to ten days to create, she wants to get this project done ahead of schedule, establish clout with the Compliance Department, and hopefully get more work from Joe’s team later.
After two weeks go by, Bea has not received the feedback she needs to finish the draft 1 storyboard. Joe, under pressure from his manager, is ready to send out the PowerPoint slides he created for a recent presentation on the topic, and use that as “training.” Bea asks Joe to hold off and immediately gets in touch with her colleagues, works a few late nights, and manages to finish the storyboard after three more days.
The following day, Bea meets with Joe to discuss his feedback on the storyboard. Joe has made many content changes and Bea believes they no longer address the approved learning objectives. His changes also impact effective learning techniques and result in more of a “page turner” course – a course that is a reading exercise with no learner engagement. Bea remembers the friction over the missed storyboard deadline, though, and decides to keep quiet, figuring Joe knows best. And even if he doesn’t, she doesn’t want to create more friction.
The training module finally pilots, then launches. Three months later, analysis finds that 70% of learners don’t complete the course. In addition, there is no improvement in business performance and the same errors continue to be made. Where did Bea go wrong in working with her client, and what skills did she miss?
- Being Transparent. When Bea performed her needs assessment, she uncovered information via interviews and drew conclusions she didn’t share with Joe. She was concerned he’d disagree, potentially imperiling their relationship.But by sharing this information, and offering her expert judgment—which is, after all, likely what Joe expects—she could have helped Joe realize that SOPs needed updating in order to support successful training outcomes.
- Setting Expectations. Bea wanted to impress Joe by offering a fast, even unrealistic, turnaround time. It would have been wiser, though, to give the standard ten days a storyboard like this usually takes Bea—and then delight the client if it is completed sooner.In addition, Bea was expecting information from the stakeholders, but had she (or Joe) communicated requirements to them? And if so and they were late, she should check in with them and alert Joe immediately. Joe can then decide on the best way to proceed.
- Communicating Fully and Clearly. Bea doesn’t push back or inquire about Joe’s significant changes. While he may have very good reasons for changing his mind (perhaps a recent internal audit turned up some significant new issues), making unstated assumptions is never a good option! Asking questions to understand Joe’s reasoning—and then offering her own professional judgment—would help clarify assumptions and result in an appropriate learning solution.
Partnering with clients—internal or external—can be a delicate balancing act. It is only natural to try to keep the client happy to further your professional relationship. Yet, if you’re withholding information, offering unrealistic expectations, or communicating incompletely, the relationship will flounder. Be transparent, set expectations, and communicate fully and clearly, to help your client relationships—whether internal or external—flourish.
Drink Up the Learning, Bar by Bar
Looking for a fun night out? You could head off to your favorite neighborhood dive – or, er, brew pub – and grab a burger and a couple of beers. You’d see the same regulars and the familiar, weathered interior of the pub. And you’d enjoy the comforting routine…though in the back of your mind, you may be a bit bored.
But if you want to remember the night? Try a pub crawl. You’d meet up with a group of friends. Together, you’d go from bar to bar – the Irish pub, the “townie” spot, the hipster place you’ve been hearing about – and spend a bit of time in each, trying different craft beers and meeting new “regulars.” You’d spend less time in each bar than you would have at your neighborhood haunt, but you’d have a full night. At the end, you’d likely reminisce about the experience and what you found unique about each pub.
People often choose a pub crawl for a special occasion – it’s more fun than camping out in one bar. Why?
You get a new bar visit – or “snippet” experience – each time you change venues. At one bar, you’ll kick back to some acoustic live music; at another, sample a small batch house brew; and at a third, stand crammed shoulder-to-shoulder with your fellow bar patrons, making sure your feet don’t stick to the beer-covered floor.
Each of these pub stops offers something different that will stand out in your memory, much more than two hours at your favorite dive, as comforting as that may be. By choosing and changing up your environment, each snippet experience becomes more special — and memorable.
How does this relate to learning? If you follow the formula of learning followed by a quiz and repeat until you’re done, your learners’ eyes will start to glaze over – and they won’t even be tipsy. Create a well-planned blend of short, tightly-focused elearning lessons, videos, games, and quizzes supported by in-person classroom modules and targeted action learning assignments to practice skills on the job? That’s a “pub crawl” your learners can get on board with.
A learning experience comprised of short snippets is also known as microlearning. Microlearning succeeds, in part, because learners are able to seek out specific, focused content when they need it. “Microlearning…enables learners to access information in a variety of formats that fits their learning style. When employees seek out content, it helps them better retain what they have learned and stokes their appetite to learn more.”(Fox, Amy. (2016). Microlearning for Effective Performance. TD Magazine)
Whether you’re creating learning solutions or pub crawling, don’t schedule too many snippets or “stops” – it could prove tricky for the participants to remember the experience. Choose a pub that offers brews your friends like — maybe a wide variety on tap, for example (or a game for a learning activity). And you may want to plan out which local watering holes to avoid – maybe your best friend doesn’t get along with the regulars, or your learners don’t respond well to games. Plan thoughtfully!
So, the lesson is, whether pub crawling or creating a learning solution, mix it up with appropriate, small bursts of new material and offer choices to the learners. You’ll make effective use of their time — and create a memorable experience.
SME Syndrome: Symptoms and Prevention Tips
Are you – or is someone you work closely with – a SME (subject matter expert)? Instructional designers often require a SME’s knowledge and input to develop training. And it can be a challenge to obtain the key content (and only the key content).
First, let’s introduce a typical SME, Simone. Simone is the director of compliance for the organization and comes to this role with 13 years’ experience. She is well-regarded in the organization and is often the go-to person when difficult compliance questions arise. Over the years, the compliance team has put into place a series of standard operating procedures, tools, and best practices that help the organization stay in compliance so they can continue selling their products. Simone was instrumental in creating these documents and approaches, and really loves her work. She loves it so much she tries to share her knowledge with any willing (or not so willing!) listener.
Are you working with a SME, and feeling the pain, wondering how such a fabulous compliance director can also be such a challenge to work with? Let’s explore the symptoms you might experience, and provide some prevention strategies.
Bleeding content: Too much material
Simone’s slides – for management presentations and for training – are filled with text and there are few images or diagrams. Her slides include a lot of details that are important to Simone. Much of this content, however, isn’t applicable to the target audience. When she meets with the instructional designer or presents to a group, she reads off the slides and adds even more details – whether or not they apply. After all, she loves her content! Everyone should want to know all she knows.
Unclear diagnosis: Missing content and next steps
Often there are disconnects. It’s not clear how Simone got from point A to point B. And sometimes it’s not clear to the listeners what they need to be able to do with the information. Are they responsible for completing the tasks? For ensuring the tasks have been completed? In what situations? How often? What is the impact of not doing it or not doing it correctly? Simone means very well, but she takes the content and connections for granted. She already knows how it all ties together and she’s been working with it for years so she assumes everyone else understands the connections, too.
Constant emergencies and “setbacks”: Lacks time to support the instructional designer
Simone is, of course, a very busy person. She didn’t plan to spend hours answering questions the instructional designer is posing to her. She doesn’t have time to review a design document, a storyboard, and an elearning course or instructor notes, slides, and handouts for a classroom course. Sometimes she misses meetings, comes poorly prepared, or even misses deadlines you agreed upon.
There are many prevention options, usually a combination of which are most effective. Here are three of my favorites.
Control the content: Stay focused on the goal and how the learner needs to perform
Typically, I start with a needs analysis looking at the business goals and performance required to achieve those goals. The learning objectives, then, are focused on supporting the required performance and I obtain stakeholder agreement on these objectives.
Having laid the groundwork, I can keep these goals and objectives front and center. When Simone asks me to add more content or explains content she already provided me, I’ll ask questions like:
- Is this critical information needed for the learner to be able to [insert learning objective here]?
- Or is the information “nice to have”? If so, I suggest we eliminate it so the learner isn’t overloaded with non-critical information.
- Or is the information really helpful but not critical? Then, I might suggest we include it as an optional “tip” or in a resource list.
Another set of follow-up questions I like is: If you were the target learner, what would you need to be able to do with this information? Why is that so important? What if I don’t know/do that?
I might end up sounding like a broken record, but I’ll keep asking these same questions. Eventually Simone will catch on and start self-editing.
Create a logical, connected sequence: Simplify content and make it accessible
When I am handed an existing slideshow the SME would like to use, and I see it is filled with lots of words, one approach I use is to diagram what the words mean. For example, if I am developing training about a process, I show it in a simplified flowchart and break it down (using more flowcharting) throughout the course. This both helps anchor learners in where they are in the process and helps them see interrelationships.
I also like to use scenarios, with visual representations of the characters and what they are doing. Telling a story via the scenario helps learners feel immersed in the learning. You can do this as an alternative to blocks of classroom lecture or pages of text in an elearning course.
I always check in with Simone to confirm the diagram or scenarios convey the key points accurately. After doing this for a bit, eventually Simone will hopefully appreciate how I’m bringing her content to life and the value I provide as an instructional designer.
Set expectations early and often
Have you ever brought your car in for service and they tell you it will take 3 hours and cost no more than $300? Then, six hours later – no car yet and they decided it will be $1500? Of course a good repair shop will set expectations with you up front and update you so there are no last-minute surprises.
Imagine Simone’s situation. She needs to know how much of her time will be needed and when so she can plan appropriately. If you underestimate or don’t offer any indication, she can’t easily ensure she’ll have the time needed. So, I like to let the SME know early on how much time is needed and when the “heavy” weeks will be. Then, as the project morphs and the timelines change, I keep her updated and check in on her ability to meet the new deadlines before setting them in stone.
Another helpful tip is to plan meetings in advance. Having a weekly or biweekly meeting on the calendar for check-ins and working time is a way to guarantee a minimum of time together. Simone will appreciate having an agenda in advance and an action item list after the meeting. If you don’t need a meeting, you can always cancel. I never hear complaints about a canceled meeting. And remain flexible so the SME stays engaged.
Finally, acknowledge your SME is very busy and may have true emergencies to tend to. When I know that might be an ongoing concern, I ask Simone to provide an alternate SME and ensure that Simone will have opportunities to review materials. This can protect her time and help keep the project moving along.
So, what’s the prognosis for SME syndrome? If you implement your prevention plan from the start – staying organized and communicating openly with the SME – you greatly increase your ability to develop a training program that meets the needs of the learner and the organization.
The Blue Lagoon: Using Multiple Senses to Improve Learning
In our last blog post we saw how immersive, sensory events can help us remember experiences, using the example of my trip to the Blue Lagoon spa. We don’t need to visit a spa to help learners remember, though…we can create immersive experiences to enhance our instructional design. Here are two examples of physically immersive activities from our library.
The Human Flowchart
Training people in a specific process often involves use of a flowchart, but review of this tool in a classroom can be a dull exercise. We can bring the training to life—and make it more effective—with a “human flowchart.”
We used immersion in this way when we designed a class for a medical device company on FDA complaint handling regulations. The client developed a process to meet the FDA requirements and created a flowchart with a series of 20 steps to be executed by seven distinct roles.
EnVision immersed the learners in the training using movement. We broke up the learners into seven groups, each representing a different role and gave each group signs, listing their part in the complaint handling process.
Getting up from their desks, the learners then needed to move into a flowchart according to their part in the complaint process. Once everyone was in the right spot, the instructor started in the role of a customer calling in a complaint. Each group then shared what action they planned to take and what information would move on to the next group. The movement and interaction with others kept the learners involved in the entire process of complaint handling. Back at work, they should be more likely to recall the details of their role’s steps based on the physical locations of each learner.
Building Widgets
For another client, this one a global pharma organization, we designed a course for new managers. One of the learning objectives was for learners “to be able to describe how managers’ actions impact the engagement of their team members.” To achieve this, we created an activity in which “managers” set and communicated performance objectives around building widgets, in this case paper origami cranes, with “employees” who were to make them. During different rounds, managers could give no feedback or some feedback and coaching. Debrief followed with a focus on the value of feedback and coaching to engage employees.
Picture a classroom filled with learners eagerly (or not so eagerly without coaching!) folding paper cranes to achieve their goals. The feel of the crinkled paper, the sound of their managers coaching them (or the dead air when they didn’t!)…these involved the senses and helped learners become fully immersed in the activity. The experience became more than “knowledge,” but an experience to remember and be able to describe concretely.
Creating Your Own Activities to Engage the Senses
Some of the best learning activities allow the learners to immerse in the learning activity, much as tourists immerse in the spa baths at the Blue Lagoon.
So, for your next course, try finding a way to immerse learners even more deeply in the learning by involving multiple senses. It can be a lot of fun to create activities like these, and it requires imagination, creativity, and lots of planning. Want your own activity to engage the senses? Schedule a call for a free 1-hour consultation on how to make that happen.
Soaking in an Icelandic Spa: How Senses and Memory Intersect
This summer, my husband and I traveled to Iceland. Among other wonders of nature, we visited the Blue Lagoon, a spa formed 40 years ago during the creation of a geothermal power plant. Today, people come from all over to bathe in the warm, soothing water.
There are a surprising number of things to do at the Blue Lagoon. You can laze underneath a man-made waterfall, order a drink from the bar, or even enjoy a massage in the water. We wandered across the bridges over the pool and explored the area. We even used the silica clay as a mud mask to soften our skin and further the sense of relaxation.
Even with all the amenities, I was spellbound first and foremost by the setting. The water, turned a beautiful blue-green by naturally occurring algae, had a temperature of 100 degrees Fahrenheit – about 45 degrees warmer than the air. This contrast between water and air made the warm pools feel even more comfortable and welcoming.
With nearly 20 hours of sunlight in July, it didn’t feel strange to be soaking outside at nearly any time of day. In the daylight, I was able to appreciate the setting clearly. Lava fields topped with moss surround the pool. When I closed my eyes, I heard the gentle cascade of the waterfall. With everything I felt, saw and heard, the Blue Lagoon was an immersion for the senses.
Research shows that these strong sensory impressions could help me remember my visit: a specific sight or sound can bring back a particular memory, and there’s a very good reason for it. “The same part of our brain that’s in charge of processing our senses is also responsible, at least in part, for storing emotional memories,” writes Rachel Reittner on livescience.com.
This storage receptacle is known as the sensory cortex. Benedetto Sachetti, a researcher in Italy, conducted an experiment with rats in which he trained the rodents to associate a specific sound with an electric shock. The rats would freeze upon hearing the sound, but after the scientists created lesions on the rats’ sensory auditory cortexes, they froze less frequently. This suggested the rats correlated the sound with the electric shock, and could no longer do so after their lesions (Sacco & Sachetti (2010). Role of Secondary Sensory Cortices in Emotional Memory Storage. Science, 329 (5992), pp. 649-656.)
The practice of mindfulness can include focusing one’s attention on the senses, and there is evidentiary support that it, too, helps memory. In another experiment led by Michael Mrazek, a graduate student at UC Santa Barbara, undergraduates were directed to take a class in either mindfulness or nutrition for two weeks. “The students in the mindfulness group were taught how to pay attention to their sensory processes, like tasting food and breathing,” writes Alice G. Walton in an article describing the experiment.
The students’ recall was tested both by working memory tests and a verbal GRE (graduate admissions) exercise. After one week of instruction, the mindfulness group improved more than the nutrition group in both assessments.
The takeaway? The senses have a big role in memory retention. If possible, try to incorporate a strong sensory component into your instructional design. Oh, and the trip to the Blue Lagoon was amazing….just ask me in 10 years. I’ll remember.
For case studies see our post on Using Multiple Senses to Improve Learning.
Looking for Gold: Vaulting through Evaluation Challenges
We’re all enjoying the Rio Olympics right now, and witnessing incredible athletic feats. Some sports achievements are very easy to measure. Take track and field, for example. In a race, the runner who crosses the finish line first wins. In soccer or water polo, the team that scores the most points wins the game.
In other Olympic sports, however, the winner may not be so nearly clear-cut. In gymnastics, an athlete prepares a program to the best of her (or his) ability. The judges score her on many elements, and the highest score among the athletes determines the winner. The gymnast will not know immediately following her program whether or not she won, as her competitors follow her.
Similarly, instructional designers don’t face an immediate, clear-cut path to knowing if their training “stuck” — and if the learners are able to apply what they’ve learned to their jobs. However, with evaluations, instructional designers can learn a great deal about their training programs’ success.
The Kirkpatrick evaluation levels assess learner reaction (level 1), learning (level 2), application of skills to the job (level 3), and business results (level 4). Challenges may arise with executing each evaluation level. Let’s look at a few of the challenges in levels 1-3 and see how instructional designers might mitigate them.
Measuring learner reaction, level 1, can be done by a course evaluation form, show of learners’ hands, verbal check-ins, or via a “dashboard” that measures the pace of the course and learner energy levels. The trainer notes learner reactions during the course and can use these to amend the course both “on the fly” and after. Clients may, however, read too much into level 1 results and want to change the learning solution without further assessment. It is important to explain to clients exactly what level 1 assessments measure — solely learner reaction — and to use other evaluation tools as well.
Level 2 evaluations, or measurements of learning, frequently take the form of final written tests or simulations. However, writing assessment questions can often be a challenge in itself. If the questions are too difficult for learners to understand, this could impact the validity of the test. Similarly, it can be hard to write appropriate “distractor” questions that are not obviously incorrect. After all, some people pass a learning assessment with flying colors — without ever taking the class or having done the job for which they are training.
The other issue for instructional designers is that there is not necessarily a direct correlation between level 2 “test” success and on-the-job achievement. Extensive knowledge may not lead to professional efficacy. To test for skills, ask assessment questions that explore the best way to execute certain job tasks or make on-the-job decisions, rather than questions seeking rote knowledge.
Level 3 evaluations measure application of skills to the job, often via learner or manager surveys, interviews with learners or managers, or on-the-job observation. An important consideration when measuring at level 3 is to ensure appropriate resources and tools — coaching, performance support, etc. — are in place to reinforce learning and support behavioral change.
The “success case method” created by Robert Brinkerhoff also may reveal successful on-the-job behavioral changes. With this method, stakeholders interview a sample of learners — typically high performers — to determine which factors have made them successful — and then corroborate this success with independent evidence. Because the strong learners share which influences contributed to their success, their interview responses can yield clues to help the less successful learners.
The success/case method can be very effective, giving stakeholders qualitative feedback beyond data, says Paula Spizziri, an EnVision consultant. “Sometimes you don’t know what’s behind the curtain…this gives you that,” she said. However, an organization using the success/case method needs to allocate time and resources for the interviews and independent data collection.
While all evaluation methods have some challenges, many of these hurdles can be mitigated. Because learning success, like that of a gymnastics program, may not be immediate, the evaluation process strengthens your training program.
Performing a Symphony — of Learning & Development
I happen to be a big music lover, and enjoy both listening and performing as a flutist in the Sharon Concert Band. At last week’s band rehearsal our conductor, Steve, was doing his usual great job of keeping us on tempo, signaling when each section needs to come in, and gesturing to show we should play more piano (Steve often needs to remind us to play more softly). As I was playing, it occurred to me that a symphonic performance resembles the process of training.
In both, people assume distinct roles to accomplish the goal — whether it be performing the piece or executing the training program. And both require a specific process, anchored by practice, to reach those goals.
A symphony (or other musical piece) begins in the mind of a composer, who creates the music to be played. After learning the piece of music, the conductor rehearses the musicians in preparation of performing the symphony.
An instructional designer, similar to a composer, authors the learning solution. A trainer (“conductor”) then takes over, using the leader’s guide (music “score”) and teaches the learners (“musicians”) the material they need to know. A trainer may use visual aids or workbooks to guide the learner, just like a conductor uses a baton to lead musicians and keep the beat.
A symphony may feature a few soloists throughout the piece. A soloist shines in an orchestral performance, much like an active participant stands out in the classroom. A section leader in each instrument group organizes the section, much like a facilitator may help “conduct” a breakout group in classroom instruction.
While musicians and learners “rehearse” all together, each “musician” must put in individual practice time to learn the material. During a learning session, the trainer may break the learners into groups, where each group can work on a directed activity and then share the results with the entire classroom. Likewise, a conductor rehearses one group of musicians at a time, such as the flutes, to work on a specific part. Afterward, the entire orchestra can play together.
A successful symphonic performance depends both on the musicians rehearsing together (as in classroom instruction) and each player practicing (or learning) on his or her own. Facilitation by an experienced conductor, or trainer, brings out the best in the musicians or learners. Each person has his or her “part” to play, and each role must be “performed” to the best of the performer’s abilities to achieve a winning final product.
Polishing Your Gems – And Showing the Value of Your Training Efforts
Have you ever gone on a treasure hunt, or maybe seen one in the movies? The seeker searches for a treasure chest—usually attending to challenges along the way. Imagine large rolling rocks and a few poison darts, all difficult to control! Eventually the seeker locates the elusive treasure chest, but not all its contents are gleaming. There is some culling to do, and some polishing, before being ready to present the gems to the funders of the treasure hunt.
Back in the real world, learning & development professionals are given a mission to add value to the business, often through a request for “training.” On the L&D professionals’ “treasure search” they often attend to challenges along the way. Imagine the multiple competing priorities, regulatory controls, and insufficient resources that can impact successful learning.
Once the treasure is “found” (the learners have learned something!), what culling and polishing needs to be done so you can clearly see your treasure, before you present your findings to the funders and other stakeholders in your organization? Sometimes it can be challenging to find those precious gems and polish them so we can see how they glitter!
Earlier this month, I presented a workshop at the regional ATD conference. The topic, Polishing Your Gems, focused on creating an evaluation plan for a learning solution. Joined by client Matt Matosic from the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC), we worked through a case study summarizing BPHC’s course on Hospital-Based Patient Decontamination and discussed options for evaluating its success. Participants then had an opportunity to begin developing their own evaluation plans, using an Evaluation and Measurement Planning Checklist we provided.
But where to start? Here are the core questions we suggested in our workshop to help folks determine which treasures to seek, as they begin their own evaluation planning.
Business issues questions
- Why is this training (or other intervention) being requested?
- What is driving the request or identification of this issue?
- How will solving this problem support the organization’s “business” goals?
- What do you need to be able to show as an outcome of your efforts?
- Who will see the results? (Consider: L&D management, business line management, senior management, learners themselves, instructional designer, instructor, funders, and other stakeholders)
- What will each stakeholder do with the information?
You might recognize that many of these questions get at Kirkpatrick’s level 4 (business impact).
Job performance questions
- What changes in job performance are needed to support meeting the business goals?
- What changes in job performance can reasonably be addressed via a learning solution?
- What workplace supports (such as managers, mentors, or peers; job aids or other performance support tools; periodic updates or web meetings) are realistically available to support the change in job performance?
These questions relate to Kirkpatrick’s level 3 (behavior change on the job).
Polishing away
Answers to these questions will help you define the learning objectives, set up workplace support systems to ensure learning continues and is reinforced on the job, and develop evaluation tools at all the Kirkpatrick levels.
For more information on our Evaluation and Measurement Planning Checklist, contact solutions@envision-performance.com.
Heating Things Up: Pilots Provide Useful Feedback
Practicing a classroom course polishes and improves it. Typically, practice comes with a pilot, during which instructional designers and trainers iron out classroom kinks.
Two pilots (an abbreviated pre-pilot and a full pilot) were employed in a class entitled Operationalizing Emergency Plans: Incident Command in Action, on which EnVision consulted for a public agency. The example shows how a pilot helps the design process when it works well.
This four-hour, immersive simulation was designed for nurses, administrators, and emergency medical technicians in healthcare environments such as long-term care facilities, hospitals, community health centers, and public health commissions. During the simulation, the learners make decisions to help their organization transition from day-to-day operations to a true-to-life emergency situation; a fictitious, extreme heat wave hits the area with no relief at night, producing health and medical complications for the learners to handle.
The learners are divided into teams of various medical and healthcare agencies seated at separate tables, with each learner playing a specific Incident Command System role. The scenario begins three days before the heat wave hits and progresses from the early stages to mid- and late-stages when serious repercussions occur, including power loss, a medical surge, and mass fatalities. The simulation ends with action reporting and improvement planning.
In the class, each team determines which actions to take. EnVision’s client utilized facilitators from different community agencies to help shape discussion at each table. In addition, each table had “injects” sporadically arrive with information that could impact each table’s decisions.
“During the class, the learners explore what it takes for organizations to be ‘operationally ready’ for emergencies, and to experience the Incident Command System in action,” explained Marilyn Kobus, an EnVision team member who worked on the project. Kobus supported the client subject matter expert/course designer-developer by offering design consultation, providing project management services, and contributing to the course instructor guide.
Following the pilot, the learners shared positive feedback. First and foremost, they felt more prepared for a large-scale emergency. The immersive nature of the class enabled the learners to envision what professionals in the different job roles might actually be thinking during an emergency. One learner called the class “a complete revelation.”
In addition, the learners liked the choice of a heat wave as a learning scenario versus a more typical New England event, like a blizzard. Their main challenge was playing “catch-up” following the fast-paced first module.
The instructional designers and trainers learned also, especially in the pre-pilot. Delivered to students in the Public Health Program at Tufts University School of Medicine, the pre-pilot uncovered necessary changes in the course timing, content, and organization of materials. The team also decided to add pre-work for the pilot session.
From the design team’s perspective, the pilot largely hit the bull’s eye. The team planned for minor changes for the actual course, such as having a participant assume the role of team scribe and modifying the pre-work.
Kobus was pleased with the pilot’s success, and believed the design team’s focus on gathering input from community stakeholders to create the scenario played a big role in it. “I have not seen a pilot with so many moving parts run as smoothly as this one did. Despite the fact that there were multiple players, detailed scenarios for the simulation, and unique “injects”…despite that complexity, I thought it was an outstanding pilot. Learners were fully engaged from the start with high energy, and said they gained great skills and information to take back to the job.”
Team Learning Opens Minds — and Office Doors
Too often, we go through our workdays head down, nose to the grindstone, and office door shut (or cubicle door metaphorically so). A coworker may need help with something, but we get lost in a deadline, meeting prep, client appointment and are oblivious. Perhaps once in a while, we stop to touch base with our colleagues. Yet in this electronic age, so much of our networking gets done online, rather than face-to-face. And our coworker still has her question that never gets answered.
At EnVision, we value teamwork, communication, and the figurative open office doors very highly. The “EnVisioning our Future” (EOF) sessions we offer are natural extensions of this philosophy.
Twice each year, we hold a day-long EOF for the EnVision team. The subject matter runs the gamut from a new business book’s theory to examples of elearning . Our most recent EOF focused on software application tips and shortcuts. The day always provides a great opportunity to learn from and help each other.
At our “Sharing Application Tips” EOF, several EnVision members presented all kinds of software tips — from embedding objects in a PowerPoint slide to assessing our document’s reading level — all designed to help each of us be more productive and efficient. As each team member presented her software tips, those tips were enthusiastically appreciated by the team.
”Sometimes, the simplest things make a huge difference in the way we work,” said Ginny Maglio, an EnVision team member. “The EOF professional development day validates that we never stop learning and can always learn from each other.”
At this EOF, as with past sessions, our team members realized three benefits beyond the subject matter knowledge they acquired. Team sessions, like our EOF days, can empower your team members to:
1. Help each other while also gaining knowledge in another area. In our recent EOF, one team member demonstrated how to create an info graphic using PowerPoint, while another showed us how to create a table of contents in Word.
2. Learn about—and from—other team members’ projects. Because we each work independently or in small teams, we may not know about other team members’ projects and competencies. The EOF sessions introduce team members to each other’s skills and capabilities, and also show participants how different parts of the organization work to achieve clients’ objectives.
3. Grow relationships with each other. Networking, sharing ideas, and just plain “kicking back” with your coworkers facilitates bonding, making you more comfortable in your role and more likely to approach a coworker with a question. And who knows? You may make a new friend out of it, too.
So, in the rush to meet deadlines, don’t forget to hold regular learning sessions. This results in not only a better-informed team, but also a collaborative, harmonious one.
Ride the Wave of Change – and Navigate Successfully
Change is hard and causes unease, anxiety, and at times, frustration. Every parent who has dropped a child off at kindergarten (or college) knows this!
While change can be overwhelming or even scary, it is often necessary. Professional change brings its own set of challenges. How can you best navigate change at work?
EnVision needed to adapt when we were required to move our SharePoint site over to a new hosting company. We were notified by the “old” hosting company via e-mail and given less than a month to move over our files, as our original service would then be discontinued.
I was a bit taken aback after learning of the tight timetable. After taking a few deep breaths, I notified Tom, our IT guy, and Danielle, our technical/administrative whiz. I couldn’t do this without them.
Tom managed the functionality of the server – back-up and hosting. Danielle’s responsibilities, which required about 8-10 hours of work, included revising the new site’s look to mimic the old SharePoint; setting up appropriate user access for each team member; creating usernames and passwords; and providing crackerjack technical support.
Danielle met some challenges initially. “I went in thinking it’s going to be exactly like the old SharePoint….It is a little bit different,” explained Danielle. “It wasn’t as intuitive.”
The new service provider didn’t offer a support document or user guide. Plus, Danielle discovered that when she added folders, there was no way to return her to the main SharePoint page, so she got creative and built a workaround by adding a “home” link.
The end users (EnVision team members) encountered obstacles, too. Some of the functionality worked best with a particular browser; one team member had difficulty logging in; another had trouble opening and saving documents. Thanks to Danielle and her support, these issues resolved pretty quickly.
Lessons learned from this SharePoint experience can be applied to any change. While initially I felt a bit overwhelmed, I dug into the new software and eventually figured it out.
Three things that helped me were:
1. Planning extra time into my schedule to adjust to the new software and minimize impact to our own clients.
2. Asking for help when needed. I was fortunate to have Danielle and Tom to turn to, and relied on them. Having Danielle as my capable “point person” to train my team was a huge benefit. I will remember to choose my “point person” carefully for all future changes; it can make the difference between implementation success and failure.
3. Keeping a positive attitude. Knowing that my team and I would eventually figure out the new SharePoint helped me through the change.
I’m happy to say we successfully moved our files and team over to the new SharePoint. Weeks later, it seems like we’ve always used this service provider…and we like the new site even better than the old. Time to embrace the next change!
Helping Learners to Digest – even Savor – Your eLearning
When you eat at a restaurant, the food arrives in a specific order. First, there’s the bread (for those who still eat carbs!). Next, you may get a first course, a salad or soup.
Then the waiter brings the main course, the heart of the meal. This takes longer to eat than the bread or first course, but is usually the most satisfying part of the meal. It’s also the most vital part – if you don’t eat the main course, you could be hungry when you leave the restaurant.
Finally, you can order dessert and coffee. Of course, dessert isn’t necessary – it’s “nice to have.”
But what if all of your courses were served at the same time? You wouldn’t know which food to start eating, or where to focus your attention. You’d have dessert at the start of the meal, whether or not you wanted it. And, you’d probably feel overwhelmed and irritated, and might lose interest in the main course.
The same principle holds true for elearning. If you are given too much material simultaneously, your mind will be overloaded, just like your stomach would be with too much food at once.
Here are some pointers to reducing cognitive overload in your elearning:
- Create a course that reads logically. People read top to bottom, left to right. So avoid having information begin on the right-hand side. This prevents your learners from having to work too hard and get frustrated.
- Use white space liberally. Placing paragraphs and graphics too close together creates a disorganized appearance and will only confuse the learner. Instead, break up one screen into two or more screens.
- Add color wisely. In an elearningindustry.com post, Christopher Pappas advises using just two or three colors per course or module; otherwise, the course may appear disorganized. When adding color, don’t forget that some learners may be color blind, and find another way to provide visual contrast. You can even find online applications that analyze color contrast.
- Be smart about animation. There are a lot of great tech tricks out there, but just because you can do something doesn’t mean that you should. Any formatting tool should support the learning objectives and/or learning styles; when in doubt, take it out!
- Focus on the need-to-know; trim the nice-to-know material. Research backs this up: Studies have shown that extra details can actually detract from learning. If you must incorporate the optional information, put it in a clickable “tips” box on the applicable screen or in a course resource list.
- Use audio rather than text to explain graphics. This allows the learner to focus visually on the graphic while taking in the description aurally, which maximizes learning. Of course, text should always be an option for sight impaired learners.
Implement these tips, and they will help your learners to be satisfied by – and not overwhelmed by – your elearning solution. And, they might even look forward to returning for another “meal” sometime!
Re-envisioning the Meeting, Part 2 – Meet, Close, and Follow-up
In part 1 of Re-envisioning the Meeting, we looked at how to prepare for and open a meeting. Now let’s look at facilitation, meeting conclusion, and post-meeting activities.
Facilitate Actively
The facilitator must consciously strive to keep participants on task to achieve the meeting’s goals. If you’re talking about an upcoming training launch, for example, don’t spend time generating ideas for your next team development day. Participants may have tangents that they would like to explore, due to their job role or specific interest. It is the facilitator’s job to keep them focused. Using a “parking lot” can capture important topics for discussion at a later time.
While attendees may take their own notes, the meeting facilitator should as well (or assign someone to take notes), so everyone can refer back to them later. As action items are assigned during the meeting, write down each assignment, responsible party, and due date. Similarly, for key decisions that are made, document the decision and date. For recurring team meetings, you can build on these lists and check off assignments as they are completed.
Close Graciously
Summarize key points and assignments at the end of the meeting. For recurring meetings, remind attendees when the next meeting will be. And of course, thank everyone before you adjourn. Showing your appreciation for everyone’s time and participation helps motivate them to continue contributing in future meetings.
Follow Up Promptly
After the meeting, be sure to e-mail the attendees and other interested parties the meeting notes, or at least any major decisions that came from the meeting. Include the action items that need to be completed and their due dates.
Although not done often enough, it is definitely wise to ask for participant feedback to help the next meeting run even smoother. One idea: Pose a statement or two, such as “This meeting met my needs” or “I know what is expected of me prior to our next team meeting.” Ask attendees to write their level of agreement with the statement, on a scale of 1-5 where 1 is strongly disagree and 5 is highly agree, and hand in their responses. If you see a trend, you can follow up with the group to learn how to improve the meeting next time. Another idea: Ask an open-ended question, such as: “What worked really well in today’s meeting you’d like to continue?” or “What is one thing we should do differently in future meetings?”
Follow these tips, and your meeting will not only be more meaningful, but can result in greater productivity, too!
Re-envisioning the Meeting, Part 1
“Wow…what a GREAT, productive meeting!”
When was the last time you heard someone say that? Hopefully the other day …. or has it been a while?
Meetings have, sometimes fairly, earned the reputation of being timewasters at best, scheduled
snooze-fests at worst. Too often, employees suffer through meetings until they are released from captivity, free to resume “real work” again.
Yet, meetings are actually “the laboratories of real, measureable teamwork,” according to an article by Kristine Kern of The Table Group (Inc.com). They can in fact be very productive, if planned and run well.
At EnVision, we offer a proprietary and customizable course called “Making Meetings Meaningful.” The cornerstone of the course is that a meeting’s success is not only determined by what occurs during the meeting, but also what happens both before and after. To conduct an effective meeting that really furthers participants’ work, you should:
Prepare Thoughtfully
Before you gather people together, know the objective for your meeting. What do you want to achieve? Be sure to only invite those people who will be interested in and/or impacted by the meeting’s content. If certain people don’t need to actually participate in the meeting, feel free to give them a pass and instead update them afterward.
Plan an agenda to keep the meeting focused and avoid tangents. And, estimate the time it will take to discuss each topic and share your timetable, so attendees know that the meeting, no matter how beneficial, won’t go on forever.
Start Strongly
From the beginning, set the tone that the meeting will be efficiently run. First, begin on time. If someone arrives late, acknowledge him and continue with the planned agenda. Backtracking will only frustrate those who came on time.
Share the meeting’s objective and agenda with the group so they know what to focus on. And, if needed, set ground rules for the meeting. If your company is one that claims meetings as “smartphone free” zones, remind everyone to turn the sound off their phones and put them away.
Designate a “time keeper” as a back-up for ensuring that the meeting ends on time.
An organized start will set your meeting off on the right foot.
Next time: We’ll cover meeting facilitation, meeting close, and follow-up.
Short Can be More Than Just Sweet!
What do stained glass windows, intricate marble carvings, and richly symbolic murals have in common?
Give up?
They are all easily seen from just one spot in the Library of Congress.
Why do I mention this?
I recently visited Washington, DC and toured the Library of Congress. If you haven’t been to the Library, I highly recommend it. It is jam-packed with, well, books. But also with all manner of media. And the art and architecture! The building was built to safely house books, but it also shows off art and architecture created by over 40 American artists.
Our tour guide spent much of our hour together describing just a portion of the art and architecture we were seeing in a relatively small part of this edifice. There were masterpieces filling every square inch of wall, ceiling, floor, pillar, and even staircase. Each item’s artist, creative origin, and beauty could have merited an hour on its own. After five minutes I was on mental overload!
I can tell you the feelings I am left with after visiting the Library: awe, pride, and patriotism. But I don’t think I can tell you who the artists were or the significance of each piece of art. Maybe that was the idea — that the most important take-away was my overall impression, not the myriad of artistic details.
Well, I do remember the Library is supposedly going to acquire all Tweets. And that Jefferson’s library burnt down and they are trying to re-acquire all missing volumes so they can recreate it. But the experience reminded me that less, so much of the time, is more. So, I’m making this post really short. Just trying to make one point.
Here it is: Keep your training focused. Lots of content doesn’t necessarily translate to effective learning.
I might need a reminder myself the time next I write a post, but here’s to giving it a try!
How Many “Two by Fours” Does Your Curriculum Use?
By Kathy Harvey-Ellis
For my day job, I work in marketing, for EnVision and another company. After this winter, however, I also feel like I work in home improvement – of our own home. I am my own general contractor. From the repair of a supporting beam in our garage, to minor water damage in our house, to our nascent attempts to renovate our long-suffering kitchen, the projects have taken center stage in my life.
I call contractors. I talk with them, and I make notes. I hire people. They bring materials, and begin to work. While I know generally what they will do, I don’t always know their project plan or understand specifically how it will address what I need done. After they leave, I carefully examine the finished work, trying to evaluate its success without knowing exactly what I’m looking for. Have they consulted the most knowledgeable people on their staff? Have they used quality materials? Really, I’m just hoping for the best.
If only I had a construction plan, a blueprint. Then, I would know what they are preparing to do, and if their plans match what I need done.
For a successful “construction job” or learning solution, instructional designers need a curriculum blueprint, too. Their blueprint, a design document, guides the team to a solution leading to improved performance.
The curriculum blueprint will tell the reader the Who, What, and When of the learning plan. Let’s start with Who.
Who
My garage repair project involves a project manager, structural engineer, construction foreman, and construction workers, each with specific and different responsibilities. Similarly, the curriculum plan describes who has responsibilities in creating and executing the learning design, and what exactly their tasks are. These people include the instructional designer, subject matter expert (SME), project manager, reviewer, and more.
Early on, the document also describes the “homeowner” or target audience– the learners. What are their roles within the company, and what is their experience level? Which factors motivate them to perform well, and which approaches to learning do they prefer? This information helps lead the design team to choose certain modalities and activities to “construct” the curriculum.
What
Like a construction project’s scope of work, the “what” portion of the curriculum blueprint tells the team all of the work that needs to be done to ensure the learners are taught effectively.
The blueprint document addresses the blend of learning modalities that the curriculum includes, whether those be elearning or classroom training (in-person or virtual), on-the-job training or hands-on lab time. The evaluation strategy may be described here as well.
Once the learning blend is established, the blueprint will incorporate the curriculum development, including a list of the physical deliverables generated. Slides, instructor notes, and learning manuals all fall under this category.
While these components are critical pieces of information in the blueprint, the bulk of the document is an outline of the curriculum’s modules, comprising the topics, delivery modalities, and learning activities that support the learning objectives.
When
The outline includes estimated learner time for each topic, allowing the team to plan for delivery of the training. The blueprint also spells out the order of the modules and any prerequisites.
The curriculum blueprint provides an organization with a logical framework to construct a learning solution. Similar to how a construction company supplies a scope of work and builds a structure, such as a garage, the curriculum blueprint designs and frames a training program. “A curriculum blueprint provides a clear overview of what will be included in the training, how the training will flow, and in what manner the training will be delivered,” explained Irene Stern Frielich, EnVision’s President. “Having a roadmap helps guide the developer, though she may decide to make a different design decision as new options arise during the development phase.”
The Pick of the Crop
Have you ever gone berry picking? Usually, you fill a container and pay by its size. Those juicy berries look so appealing you want to fit as many as possible into the container, right? Would you squish them in to get more? Or would you select the ripest berries to ensure excellent quality and highest satisfaction?
So, what happens if you try to pack too much content into your learning event? While perhaps not as messy as overstuffing berries, it’s not a pretty sight either. As training professionals, we are often caught between (a) advocating for the appropriate amount of time needed to result in effective learning and (b) the time that management is willing to make available for training. This often happens because organizations are running pretty lean, and missing employees for a few hours or days can impact production or the customer experience. Sometimes there is the added opportunity cost of billable time or direct cost for overnights that result in hotel and meal expenses. If effective learning requires six hours but the training “container” only holds two hours, how can we reconcile this? Do we stuff more in or pick the best, given the size of the container?
Here are three ways that instructional designers can address time constraints while helping to ensure the learners are prepared to do their jobs effectively.
#1. Have an honest conversation with stakeholders and share with them how people learn best.
Reinforce that learners need to be exposed to various methods for taking in information and they consolidate their knowledge by practicing skills in activities such as role plays, re-enactments, diagram creation, or troubleshooting. Part of the process is to receive feedback along the way and debrief at the end. This process cannot be rushed.
#2. If it is absolutely necessary to shorten the training prioritize the learning objectives and design training that focuses on supporting the most important behavior changes at work. We recommend the resulting lessons be ones that will help the learners perform the most frequent tasks that are most critical and could result in greatest risk if done incorrectly.
If, let’s say, only two hours are allocated for what would normally be a six-hour course, the instructional designer should work with the stakeholders to determine the highest-priority skills for the learners to perform effectively. This applies for any training, including performance management, compliance, and product sales and service.
#3. Keep in mind that learning can be maximized, and time away from work minimized, with the right design and blend of learning modalities.
Creating a blended learning approach, rather than relying solely on traditional classroom training, for example, can help streamline the learning process. It also lowers time away from work since travel time may be reduced and, often, the overall course “seat time” can be trimmed down.
We recommend that training include ways for the learners to immediately apply skills learned in class on the job. One such method is a practice known as “action learning.” This provides a structured way for the learner to solve a real-work problem on the job, then reflect on his or her learnings.
For a course on process management, EnVision recently incorporated an action learning approach, which proved helpful to the learners. “Action learning was very valuable, because we went from theory to practice,” said one learner. “The time for reflection and processing between sessions was valuable,” said another.
Increasingly, companies rely on training tools that can be accessed “on demand” to incorporate training into the workday. “On-demand training, such as virtual reference guides and ‘bite-sized’ training modules, can give you the ability to offer immediate and effective training to employees when they need it the most.” (elearningindustry.com).
Try using the above approaches to align with your stakeholders and focus your training, given the resources or “berry containers” you have. Throughout the process, keep in mind the learning objectives vital to improving employee performance. And help your learners enjoy fewer, but more satisfying, berries!