Effective training and checking the effectiveness of the training

“The four or five best Learning models or the most relevant instructional design method to refer”

You may have heard or read the above statement many a times. It is true and it worked at many places, but it is also true that it didn't at many others. So, how do we know if there is even a method that can bring the best out of your learning content?

It was a time when ILT was the best, then entered CBT and later mobile learning. We all started doing experiments as well. Micro-learning, video snippets, blended and so on. The latest and trending are Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality and even the use of Robotics simulation. The definition of learning and development is changing rapidly and it will continue to upgrade and update as we progress. The change is due to the change in our thought process and blend of our audience. It’s our nature to get bored by doing things over and over again. The training that we create can be awesome in look and feel, navigation, engagement and interactivity but effective.

This doesn’t mean that our training is not effective; it may mean that measuring the effectiveness has always been a tough nut to crack. I have always aligned my learning to ADDIE or the legacy ID model. Not because I don’t like the other models, but I strongly believe and it is my personal opinion that all other models are an extension of ADDIE.

The learning content creation process if not but revolves within this cycle.

To make sure the content is effective I follow this. I call this, The Flower. :)

This method is a bit rigorous but I can assure you that once the beta version of your learning is done using this customization, you will not have a review comment from client. Only if there is a new change request/s which were never in the scope of work.

Steps I follow;

1.     Analysis of content ----> Evaluate your analysis

2.     Design your content ---->   Analysis of design ------>  Evaluate

3.     Develop your content ---->  Review (sandbox etc) -----> Evaluate

This is where you see your content from the eyes of client, customers, developer and tester

4.    Implement ---->   Test on already developed medium (Web, LMS, Mobile, Offline ) ---->   Evaluate

5.    Evaluate ---->  Analysis of entire project --->   Understand flaws, pros and cons --->  Change if required

All the above steps under ADDIE for me are always project specific. That is why I use the term Deploy after ADDIE. Deploy is when my project becomes visible to clients. After Deploy comes the most important part, Measuring Effectiveness. 

Effectiveness check begins where training ends.

How do you measure effectiveness?

Even before you measure effectiveness, make sure you gather the feedback on your training the moment training is done. Preferred is the use of MoSCoW. This method will help you understand –

·        What must have in your training?

·        What could have in your training?

·        What should have in your training?

·        What should not (Won’t) have in your training?

This may help you in your TNA going forward. If your feedback questions are around this, then you will have better survey results on your training content, UI, look and feel, interactions and other key functionalities. This will help your prioritize on what should you focus on, when you are developing a content. As an Instructional Designer, you will be in a better position when you write instructions or design a wire frame for your next project.

Measuring effectiveness can be a process and not just a survey. As mentioned, a survey or happy sheets can help you understand how users felt about the course. If you want to take a deep dive into it, you may want to try Blooms Taxonomy. We also want to observe closely two important aspects of training – Attention Span and Retention Time.

Attention span varies among users and is dependent on content as well. You may assume that an interactive content can be more engaging than a video to certain users and vice-versa. This is purely dependent on your user profile and Learning styles.

(Auditory, Visual and Kinesthetic).

Retention time on the other hand can be as low as till the end of a slide. Believe it or not, there are many users who attend the training, just because they had to. These users are the most difficult ones. They may not want to attend training because they think;

·        I know it all

·        Training is just a waste of time

·        Not relevant to my profile

·        It’s not interesting ever

Handling users of this nature is always difficult. Hence, you know that training effectiveness will always go down the drain. You may get a good feedback on content design but how about learning?

This is where supervisors, managers and team lead should work closely with Learning and Development professionals. Once a user receives training and enters a project or production environment, it’s the duty of the supervisor to monitor the employees behavior and his/her work closely. Yes, it is difficult to monitor each and every employee when you are in a big team. Use divide and monitor techniques or have mentor-mentee concept.

We can never be a learning organization where all of us do not sync together. Supervisor can monitor and provide progress report to L&D team. L&D team in a meantime can design another program called “Retention Check” where they can randomly select users and put them on test. Peer to peer learning, random quizzes over email or asking a user to write the steps he/she follows after 3 months of training completion may give good data for analysis. And this is where you come to the start of the cycle –ADDIE.

There are many ways in IT and non-IT environment where you may monitor or measure the effectiveness of training. All you need to do is accept the change and have courage to try new things. Run a Root Cause on why and how these mistakes are committed before pushing an employee in a training hall.

Please remember, a driver’s license post driving test can be a proof of training achievement, but his actual test will be on road.

A driver with 10+ years of experience involved in an accident, may not be due to lack of training or training provided to him/her is not EFFECTIVE.

Mistakes will happen, but do not commit same mistakes. A driver frequently involved in accidents will definitely need a

re-training. 

Thank you for taking your time in reading this article. I am always ready to learn and improve. If you do not agree or have another opinion, please put on comments.