How My Housecleaner Demonstrated that We Can’t Deliver the Same Amount of Training Content in Less Time Have you ever hired a housecleaner? I am lucky enough to have one, and I’ve been very pleased with her work for many years now. I was recently thinking about how I got started with her when a client [...]
While our consultants at EnVision often work independently, we enjoy brainstorming together and sharing knowledge to achieve the best project outcome. For one recent engagement, we were asked by our client to create a series of templated tools for use in building out custom leadership training courses. Since this project required both big-picture thinking and [...]
As a Learning & Development partner, do you have a “seat at the table”? This is a question we were asking and struggling with [ahem, ahem] decades ago, when I was coming up as an L&D manager. It’s as pertinent a question as ever. After all, if we don’t have that proverbial seat, how can [...]
I recently purchased a new coffee maker. I’d be embarrassed to describe my old one, so I'll not go there. The new one isn’t high-end, but it does have a lot of features that work well for my husband’s and my varied preferences: it brews different strength coffees and various size cups and pots, and [...]
If you have ever gone apple picking, have you had the following experience, as I have? You start to fill your basket with beautiful red apples, then suddenly, too suddenly, your basket is overflowing? When working with a subject matter expert (SME), instructional designers are often handed an overflowing basket of “apples,” the core content, [...]
By Kris Normandin, guest blogger Have you ever felt stuck? At some point in our lives, we all have. The larger question is, how do you get “unstuck?” This is what we set out to answer at Velocity Quest for Women. We provide a series of virtual, real-time programs for women who want to increase [...]
Last month, Sheree Galpert, an Applied Improv practitioner and trainer, shared fundamentals of improvisation in EnVision’s blog. Sheree introduced three principles of improvisation: Be in the moment Use “Yes, and” Make your partner look good Sheree illustrated how instructional designers can leverage these techniques to be more effective in their work. After reading Sheree’s post, [...]
By Sheree Galpert, guest blogger “Begin with the end in mind.” That’s one of the key habits laid out by Stephen R. Covey in his best-selling book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. For instructional designers and trainers, that’s kind of a no-brainer: You have to know what you want your learners to get [...]
Have you ever taken a learning assessment—aka test—that was frustratingly difficult or fabulously easy? Did you get distracted taking the test, wondering, “What were they thinking?” as you tried to regurgitate trite facts or parse out a complex question and series of responses? Early in my consulting career, I was asked to review a learning [...]
In our final activity, groups shared one action they will try for each of the pie slices. In April, I enjoyed facilitating a virtual event for the Hawkeye (Iowa) Chapter of ATD. The topic was titled “Supporting SMEs—with Pizza” and trust me, pizza always gets folks’ attention! We started out voting on our favorite-looking pie [...]
Ginny Maglio and I just completed our third round of EnVisioning Virtually: Creating Engaging Courses in the Virtual Environment this month. During the five-session Zoom series we share tons of tips, guide the participants during demo activities as they try out new approaches, and get to try out some different techniques ourselves. This past year, [...]
It’s cool when you can see an application of the work you do when you are the consumer (or, as it were, the learner). Here’s my story. In preparing for my trip to Germany last year, I decided to learn a little German. I like to be able to use some basic phrases when visiting [...]
Perhaps our current distancing restrictions are just the gentle nudge—or powerful push—we needed to leap daringly into a virtual world that many have been part of for a long while. Collectively, we are learning how to make the most of our virtual tools, and I believe that in doing so we are positioning ourselves to [...]
We recently took an amazing vacation, which included a couple of days in Bruges. Bruges is a UNESCO world heritage site because of its original medieval architecture throughout the city. During our first day in the center of Bruges, we were a bit overwhelmed. There was so much activity — horses with their carriages and [...]
Back in the spring, you buried your seeds in the soil. With the spring rain falling and the sunshine warming the earth, small seedlings began to poke their heads out of the ground. You intend to care for these small plants so they will flourish. But what would happen if you planted the seeds and [...]
I'm willing to bet at least some of my readers love gardening, especially this time of year when the emergence of warm sunshine, sweet-smelling blossoms, and busy bees fill hopes for our gardens! Or, if you don’t garden, perhaps you have someone to help you with the yardwork and maintenance. But what happens when you [...]
Have you been in a situation where you’ve engaged a Subject Matter Expert (SME) from your organization to develop a training program? It can make a lot of sense to do that – she will have the content knowledge and experience to pass along to others, and she will be thrilled to share it—it’s her [...]
Last week, I went to the doctor for my routine exam – something I do every year. While I don’t find the experience unpleasant, it can be kind of a pain. I need to take time from my busy schedule to attend the appointment and any follow-up care that results. Sometimes I wonder, why do [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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