Far too often we learn that our customers have unclear expectations on a training initiative. This makes it harder to design training programs but also much harder for the participant to understand and develop the right set of skills.
What do you expect to come out of a training program? What do your key-stakeholders expect? When you guide your organizations to elaborate on the expectations on a training program you, your training and your participants will be more successful.
The basis of many successful theories and models consists of knowing where you’re going. It is also Kirkpatrick Foundational Principle #1 – “The end is the beginning”.
To be in line with performance management and lean thinking, every activity that doesn’t add value to your business is a waste. Consider how your training initiative will support a high level goal of your organization. In what way does your program contribute to your organizations abilities to reach the goal?
Designing training with the end in mind will make your training programs as efficient and cost-effective as possible.
To know your destination is to know your direction. To know what needs to be accomplished puts the right questions in place. Your target break-down, could consist of answering the following questions: How does my target group affect the outcome of this goal? In what situations? What is success? What is best-practice? What are the critical behaviors that we need to address? How will I address and train the desired behaviors in the program?
Find out and clarify the applications of your training program. Prompt for and direct the desired behaviors in these applications. Who will be able to follow-up on progress and application? Normally it is the closest supervisor or manager and they need to know what to look for and what to encourage. Help your participants be better where it counts and help your organization to support and encourage the application of the desired behaviors. Design for application, design for success.