How to Write Performance-Driven Learning Objectives

?I’ve been in training-related roles for around 20 years, but I wasn't formally trained in it. I didn't go to school for it.?

I fell into the field when I volunteered to learn more about adult learning in my first job out of college.??

In some of my first roles, I can remember trying to write learning objectives and not being super confident yet. I'd literally pull up Bloom's Taxonomy Verbs to reference as I wrote my objectives.??

As I continued to learn more and get more experience, I can remember suddenly being offended by the verb "understand."?

If you've been in L&D for a while, you know what I'm talking about. It was all we could talk about in L&D. You can't measure what someone understands.??

Thankfully, as I've continued to learn and gotten even more experience over the years, I've gained confidence in writing learning objectives.

A 4-Step Approach to Writing Learning Objectives

On episode 124 of the podcast, I want to share my 4-step process to write better learning objectives.

?What do I mean by better???

This is not a lesson on making them SMART (specific, measurable, actionable, relevant, and timely) though that is important.?

This is about the actual process I go through when writing objectives. This thought process is what gets me to action-oriented, performance-related objectives that drive behavior change.

Here's how I do it:

1?? Start with the end behavior.

What action do you need learners to take? (e.g., giving feedback, asking for donations, creating a lesson plan)

2?? Outline the process.

What steps will help them achieve that action? Think of it like a roadmap—how will they get there?

3?? Identify key learning points.

What do they need to know or practice to perform each step well?

4?? Shape objectives around real performance.

If the objective doesn’t directly help learners take action in their job, it doesn’t belong in your training.

Check out episode 124 of Learning For Good to learn more.

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Additional Resources Just for You

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