Connie's blog

I recently heard someone say that most people turn to Google when they need to know how to do something.  An obvious statement, but it made me realize what a challenge this is for our training design.  Can we make access to our training that easy for our learners? 

Imagine what it could mean to our learners: no resistance to training, absolute just-in-time training, immediate performance support.  Great image!

The results for our organizations are huge: constant learning, reduced performance errors, remarkably improved efficiency, and many other positive measurable improvements. 

How exciting!

There are three levels of training:

• Remember
• Use
• Integrate. 

This post describes 1) training to remember aka knowledge-based training.

The first level is to have learners learn and remember facts, rules, procedures, and concepts.

Facts are facts—State capitals, favorite authors, company values, formulas for calculations.  Everyone knows many facts and can recall them.

Rules are unvarying steps for solving a problem—How to give an injection, how to disarm your home alarm, how to log-in to your network.  We can easily remember the rules that we follow repeatedly.

Procedures are steps that vary from one case to the other for completing a process—Steps (and options) for installing software on your home computer, steps for planning a dinner party, directions (and alternate directions) to the bank.  We can easily remember the procedures for a variety of processes we do everyday at home, at work, and in between. 

Concepts are characteristics that define a thing or class of things—What determines if an animal is a cat, what characteristics do entrepreneurs exhibit, what determines if it's an emergency.  It's not difficult to list the characteristics of the key concepts in our lives.

In my next post, I'll talk about the second level—learning to use.

As I look back on 2010 and at the new requests we're getting this year, I see a trend toward "extreme blended-learning."  I've made this term up because I'm seeing the first glimmering of learning that leans on a variety of media -- especially social media and just-in-time learning.  Large chunks of training are still delivered in the classroom or through WBT.  Reinforcement of training, training transfer, and self-paced training are going on all the time through both e-learning and m-learning. Most of the time, it isn't thought of as training at all.  It's using the tools at hand to look stuff up.

For example, over the holidays I couldn't find my recipe for microwave peanut brittle.  I found one through Google that worked great (e-learning).  I also used Google to learn what types of bike racks are available, how to put the rack on the car, and the bike on the rack.  I use my iPhone apps to find addresses and phone numbers (m-learning).  I read you can calculate your blood alcohol level with an app.  I learn through blogs and online discussions.  I'll bet you can think of several examples of your own.  We are finally moving into a just-in-time learning society.

I was on the panel at the 20th anniversary celebration of our Kansas City chapter of the International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI) this past week. One of the discussion questions asked us to compare our client requests from 20 years ago to requests we get today.

I hadn’t thought about it before, but there has been a major shift in our initial conversations with clients.

Twenty years ago, clients would ask us to create classroom materials for a certain topic or to write user documentation for a software system. In most cases, we had nothing to start from. We captured content from interviews, observation, looking at programming documents, and playing with software.

When we asked the client, “How will you know this project is successful?” most would give us blank stares. They knew they wanted training or documentation—but they didn’t know why.

Today, clients understand the “why.” They recognize that improving worker performance pumps up the bottom line and that their intellectual property gives them a competitive edge. Now, instead of asking us to start from scratch, they ask us to update existing materials (to improve worker performance) or to move paper-based materials to the web (to generate additional income).

Additionally, our clients today are very comfortable talking about both instructional objectives and business objectives. They know exactly how they want their costs to decrease and their income to increase.

It’s great to know that one of our industry’s long-held goals—for our clients to recognize how our industry brings value to their businesses—has finally been achieved.
 

Your organization is unique. It follows that the tools you use to hire employees should be unique also. A key piece in your hiring process is the job description. A well thought-out job description answers these questions:

• What does this person need to do?
• How does this job increase the value of our organization?
• How does this job support the mission, values, and goals of our business?
• How does this job description help job seekers determine whether they are a good match for the job and our organization?

The job description confirms the value of the job function in your organization. It also forms the foundation of your hiring process. Use the job description to screen resumes, form your interview questions, rate job applicants, and substantiate your selection.

IP can generally be categorized into four types:

• Patents are filed to protect inventions, equipment, or devices (e.g., motion picture projector, Mason jar, WD-40, and the zipper). Your organization may hold patents on equipment you use in your work or on devices you sell. 
• We’re all very familiar with trademarks. Trademarks protect words, phrases, symbols, or designs, such as Nike, Apple, GE, and Coca Cola. Your company may have trademarks on your organization name and on your products. 
• Copyrights protect original work. Copyright is automatic and without cost, from the time the subject matter is first written down, painted or drawn, filmed or taped. Software, videos, and publications are examples of copyrighted work.
• Unprotected information is the know-how that walks out the door at the end of each day. It’s in your head and in the heads of your fellow workers.

Creative Courseware can capture your unprotected information and enhance its value by turning it into training materials, documentation, white papers—whatever will maximize its value to you.