How to Develop Effective Training Programs: A Guide for Organizations

Defining Learning Objectives

Task:

What is the training expected to accomplish? What are the organization's goals and expectations for this program? What are the learning objectives? As you've learned throughout this book, keeping a focus on the destination helps you determine the best way to get there.

What do participants need to learn? Do they need to learn or improve skills, acquire knowledge, and/or change attitudes? Different methods work best for different types of learning. Think about whether what they need to learn requires interaction or whether it lends itself to self-paced instruction. A team-building or interpersonal communication skills need a program in which people can interact; one that helps people learn how to prepare a budget could more easily be delivered in a self-paced format than in a workshop; and on-the-job training might be the best way to help a retail clerk learn how to ring up sales.

How many people need to be trained, and what are their responsibilities? It would seem logical that the larger the target audience, the more likely it is that the organization will receive a good return on its investment, because the per-person cost of training will go down. But it's also worthwhile to invest in a small group of valuable top performers by providing training that increases their ability to contribute to the organization's success and makes it more likely that they will stay. For that group, even a more expensive per-person delivery method is likely to pay off.

How often will the program be repeated? How likely is it to change? General skills training programs on topics such as delegating, business writing, or running meetings might be repeated over and over for years with few changes, while training on the features of new products or procedures that are subject to change might be delivered to only a limited number of people for a limited period of time. It's probably not worthwhile to spend a great deal of money on a delivery method for a program with limited use and a limited life span, or on programs with content that is subject to frequent change.

What's the urgency? When does training have to be completed? You may often be asked to put together programs to meet immediate, urgent needs. Be realistic about the kinds of delivery methods you can use when the development time is limited. Otherwise, you might find yourself turning out a half-finished, poorly thought-out program that meets no one's needs, least of all the learners.’ Except for on-the-job training and study groups, which have limited uses, workshops are usually the default in those situations, partly because they do not depend on technology and specialized expertise.

What resources are available for this program? The delivery method you select will always depend to some degree on the resources budget, expertise, equipment, facilities, technology you have available. Again, be realistic. There is no sense planning a sophisticated e-learning program if you have a severely limited budget and no in-house expertise.

Where are the learners? How easily can people be brought together for training? If there isn't enough time or money to bring people together in one location, the target audience might be large enough to warrant sending a trainer around to different groups. Otherwise, you'll need to consider other options, such as a web-based workshop or e-learning supplemented by telephone and/or e-mail discussions.

What are the stakeholders’ preferences? Often, the key stakeholders decision-makers, the learners’ managers, or perhaps the learners themselves express a preference for one form of training over another. To gain as much support for the program as possible, you need to take those preferences seriously. But you also need to speak up if you strongly believe that the preferred delivery method is unlikely to meet the need as well as another and be prepared to justify your recommendation.