If you can identify the companies from the slogans mentioned above, then those are marketing dollars well spent. Companies spend significant amounts of money to sell or promote their products to the marketplace in hopes of separating themselves from the pack. So you’re wondering, how does this tie to the world of training?  Well, we must also sell and promote training to the rest of our organization so they see our value and, more importantly, keep us around.

In our course, Marketing Your Training Internally, we emphasize the importance of knowing your product, understanding the market, using promotional techniques and building relationships within your organization. One of the promotional techniques we discuss (out of a whopping 85!) is developing a “Tagline” or “Slogan” for your department.

Tag lines are essentially free marketing. The idea is to come up with a catchy phrase that defines the training department or its philosophy and place this one-line message on the bottom of emails, memos and brochures. This technique also helps to continuously present a consistent training message to your audience.

According to brand coach, Ted Matthews, “It doesn’t matter whether you’re selling soda pop, a company or a city. It has to be rooted in what really makes you different.” Of course, it’s not always easy to come up with a catchy tagline or slogan. I bet the slogans mentioned above didn’t just happen overnight. So get your people together from the training department and spend some time brainstorming ideas. Think about the nature of your services and how you hope to be viewed by your clients and/or customers.

Interestingly enough, for this year’s Canada Day celebration in the Great White North (Canada was formed on July 1, 1867); Ottawa, our nation’s capital, reportedly spent $100,000 to come up with a new catchphrase to promote it to the rest of Canada and increase tourism there. The winner was “Canadian.  Just like you.” (Glad they chose that one instead of “Frostbitten.  Just like you.” Apparently, Ottawa is in the top 10 coldest capital cities in the world!) The message behind the slogan is to come and experience the pride and history of our capital city, and have a feeling of belonging. Let’s not worry about our differences or diversity because here, we’re all the same. Sounds nice, don’t you think?

Now, I leave it with you to come up with a clever and catchy tagline for your department that will set you apart from the rest. Remember, you deserve a break today and just do it!

Marsha

I am sure many of you have heard this parable or variations of it. Let’s put this parable in the context of project management and focus on the lessons learned. Project management is the process of acquiring, organizing, and coordinating personnel and material resources in order to ensure that a deliverable is completed on time, within budget, and in accordance to specifications. Emphasized in this parable are five key areas of Project Management—things the farmer really did not pay attention to. Below are several questions/considerations to help manage these areas.

Determine what is wanted from your time.

“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there” (Alice in Wonderland).

This should be determined at the very beginning of any project. Your client/sponsor may have the answers to all of your questions, and if not, it will give you an opportunity to define the answers yourself.

• What is the deliverable desired by client (e.g. instructor-led course, web-based tutorial, etc.)?
• Who will be the end user (target audience) and what do they need to be able to do?
• What is your scope of authority (i.e. can you make decisions or do you need to check in with the sponsor)?

Identify political issues that you may face.

“You cannot antagonize and influence at the same time” (John Knox).

By identifying any political issues, you can determine how easy or hard it will be for you to get the needed resources. Additionally, it will help you position your project to achieve maximum support.

• Is this program high profile?
• What are the other mandates within the organization?
• How many people/units/departments will be impacted?

Put time in where it counts most.

“Time is the most valuable thing that a man can spend” (Diogenes Laertius).

Before you finish your project plan, there are a few major areas that you have to consider to ensure success.

• What are the priorities of your client (i.e. time, budget, quality)?
• How much time do you have until the deadline?
• Can you focus on the critical design tasks?

Plan carefully, on paper, how you will use your time.

“For every minute spent in organizing, an hour is earned” (Anon).

This is probably not the only project you are working on and you probably don’t have all the time you need. Putting your plan in writing will help with the updates to your client/sponsor, managing your time and the time of the project team, and identifying areas where additional support is needed.

• What are the constraints?
• Have you prioritized this project among the other projects you are working on?
• What are the imposed deadlines?
• Do you have enough/the right resources?
• What will by your milestones?
• Have you put the schedule on paper (i.e. chart the schedule)?

Delegate well.

“It takes a wise man to discover a wise man” (Diogenes Laertius).

Sometimes we have to perform every role. Other times we can get the project completed with the help of other people. Regardless of the situation, identifying the key players is critical to the project’s success.

• Have you identified staffing requirements and resources?
• Do you need additional staff?
• Does the potential project team have the skill necessary to do the task(s)?
• Are they available to do the task(s)?
• Do you need to request additional staff/resources?
• Should you outsource some or all of the tasks?

By addressing the questions above, and remembering that communication and documentation are important to project management, you will be able to manage the project—not have the project manage you. A project is complete when it starts working for you, rather than you working for it. Project management for Trainers can help you with this and more.

Martha

What does all this mean to the training industry? Well, first of all I do not want to be a sour grape, but training has taken one of the biggest “hits” during this recession. I have heard analysts say that training expenditures were cut as much as 20-30% in organizations in 2008 and 2009. Training is also the last area to pick up again, once an economy starts to recover.

OK, OK – sour grapes – but let’s focus now on making some sweet wine instead.

Here are four suggestions all training organizations should take during 2010 and beyond:

Always focus on proving value to your organization by impacting the bottom-line.

Concentrate on offering training courses that address performance gaps caused by a lack of knowledge and skill. Better yet, try to act more like a performance consultant by solving non-training problems, rather than being just a program peddler. Few care about the number of training hours taken, or how full your classes are. What they do care about is increased performance.

Market your department, and all your efforts.

Don’t take for granted that your organization is aware of the fantastic things you did and are doing. Marketing is all about MBWA. Management By Walking Around means being visible in your organization. Meetings, newsletters, blogs, or any type of media are all ways that you can bring your department to the forefront of your company.

Ask questions.

For example, if training is being requested, ask, “What will success look like, and how will we measure it?” Want to build stronger working relationships? Ask, “How do you view the training department, and how can we better meet your needs?”

Stay current with technology, to see how you can use it effectively to provide a learning culture in your organization.

Do not use a certain technique just because it is the current fad, but use techniques that will save your organization time and money, while also enhancing job performance. To keep updated on technology, we have a wonderful resource that is part of My Langevin. Just sign into your My Langevin account, click on the My Resources tab, scroll down, click on the e-Learning link, and explore!

So, how did I do? Is it a richer sweeter tasting wine now? I hope so. Just remember these four key points no matter how good or bad the economy is to help your department and training thrive in your organization.

Ron

At Langevin, we teach a 3-day workshop called Evaluation of Training where we lay out a user-friendly plan of attack to conduct all four levels of evaluation. I find that most trainers are surprised at how easy it is to measure the effectiveness of their programs, once they understand what I refer to as “PDA”! And, by the way, this PDA doesn’t mean “personal digital assistant” or “public display of affection!”

PDA is an acronym that represents three major phases of the evaluation process. Let’s take a closer look:

P is for Planning

Recently I saw a quote by HRD Blogger Patti Phillips that read, “Plan your work, work your plan.” In the evaluation process, the more time you spend in the planning phase, the simpler the execution. The planning phase, if done correctly, will make the rest of the process less daunting. In my opinion, the planning phase offers the most potential for improvement in the entire evaluation process. When planning an evaluation remember to:

• Determine the purpose of the evaluation (revise an existing course or secure more funding?).
• Determine expected and baseline performance.
• Determine the timing of the evaluation.

D is for Design

Design instruments, that is. In the evaluation process, “Instrument” is another word for data collection method. We teach a total of 27 instruments for all four levels in our Evaluation of Training workshop. Once you’ve determined the levels at which your training program will be evaluated, the instruments can be identified. Instruments can be traditional or not-so-traditional in nature. A few examples of evaluation instruments include: surveys, observations, focus groups, and tests/work samples.

A is for Analyze

Once the instruments have been designed and implemented, the analysis begins. Without proper analysis, it’s tough to explain the results. I refer to this phase as “the heart of evaluation.” This is the phase where you analyze tangible and intangible data and calculate an ROI if applicable. What you do, and when you do, it are dependent on the purpose of the evaluation, the type of data, time to analyze, cost, your corporate culture, and practicality.

PDA is an abbreviated version of the evaluation process we teach in our 3-day Evaluation of Training workshop. Hopefully this brief synopsis is enough to get you thinking about it. Evaluation is a must if you want to know whether or not your training programs are successful!

I’d love to hear how you are using measurement & evaluation in your organization.

Melissa

4:31

What do the surveys (aka smiley sheets, happy sheets, level 1 evaluations) really mean in the world of training – to the participants, the course leader, and the course leader’s supervisor?

The end-of-course survey is an important document, used by almost all training departments, but it isn’t scientific evidence of the effectiveness of the event. It is essentially a customer satisfaction survey – often filled out at the end of a long training session where the main concern of the learner is to get out of the room. The survey may ask about the learners’ reaction to the course leader, content, and/or facilities. While it is commonly done in hard copy at, or near the end of, the training session, some organizations are moving to an e-solution through their LMS or a third party solution such as Zoomerang.com or surveymonkey.com. Organizations (Langevin included) often quantify the results down to the hundredths of a percent. However, what’s being quantified is someone’s opinion which, by its nature, must be very subjective.

What does it mean to the participants?

For most, it’s just a chance to say “well done!” Most people are receptive to training either as time away from the workplace with pay or as something that genuinely makes their lives easier somehow. They appreciate the efforts of the instructor. Of course, by the same token, if any participants have some residual resistance to the training, it is a chance to voice that resistance. In either case, the overall scores of the evaluation tend to reflect those feelings (the “halo effect”). For example, if the learners like the content, they like the way the course leader conducted the course. If they didn’t like the content, the course leader may take a hit. Additionally, the end of course survey really does give the person who feels strongly about something – one way or another – an opportunity to be heard.

What does it mean for the course leader?

I call it a chance to polish the diamond. Most course leaders’ skills are solid. So, what the end-of-course survey provides is a way to make their skills even better. This is not to say that when the course leader considers the suggestions made on the evaluation sheet, he or she should blindly incorporate everything said on the sheet. Sometimes the suggestions involve things that are a characteristic of the design of the training or of a classroom constraint. For example, a participant may complain about “too much practice,” yet if the design of the training is highly interactive and a high degree of proficiency is required as they leave the room, there needs to be a lot of practice in the training. However, some suggestions provide an easy way to improve. For example, one of my learners commented that he couldn’t tell if I had good eye contact or not as the light reflected off the lenses of my glasses. I found that I could do fine without the glasses. Today, I don’t wear them in the classroom – Polishing the diamond!

Here’s a tip for instructors. Many instructors enter the training field because they are high performers – on the job and in the classroom. As such, they hold themselves to a very high standard. That’s great, but when adverse comments are made on an end-of-course survey, there is a tendency to take those comments personally. It is especially a problem when the instructor is exhausted physically and psychologically – like immediately after finishing a class. A suggestion given to me by one of my early Langevin coaches was to put off reviewing the end of course surveys for a couple of days. It’s a lot easier to be objective with a little “distance” from the training.

What does it mean for the supervisor?

One tool a course leader supervisor has for instructor development is the end-of-course survey. An occasional critical comment by a participant may mean little. People come into the classroom with the baggage of the day. If they are having a bad day outside of the classroom, the end-of-course survey may just as easily reflect that day as what occurred in the classroom. While critical comments should be followed up on with both the instructor and, as a customer service issue, with the learner, they are seldom a make-or-break issue for the course leader. What the supervisor looks for is trends.  When overall ratings drop over a period of time or when a number of learners make the same comment, there is a problem with the facility, or the training design, and/or the delivery.

The end-of-course survey is one instrument to gauge the success of training. Important? You bet. Especially in this economy, listening to the voice of the customer is a key to survival. While there are other ways to see how effective the training is, the end of course survey is the most common way of listening to the voice of the customer, your learners.

Paul

Many clients have experienced high levels of frustration as the needs analysis information they collect from their Chinese associates yields inconclusive or misleading assessments. Others report that the dynamics they foster in the American classrooms go completely wrong in Singapore. And the Level 1 evaluations they receive in India indicate a high level of satisfaction which does not translate into the day-to-day behaviors or operations.

Because my family roots sprang from such a myriad of cultures it was always made clear to me that, “when it Rome…” A significant mistake American businesses have made in the past (and often continue to make) is to approach international business opportunities with a “business as usual” mindset and strategy, wondering later why their business deals fell through.

As we set up to design and subsequently deliver training abroad, we must keep in mind that, beyond the standard ADDIE (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation & Evaluation) processes, we are responsible for adapting that training according to the cultural composition of the audience in that country. What we often accept as evidence or fact in the United States will be seriously questioned and probed for further research elsewhere. The practice exercise that everyone has a great time doing in North America might be frowned upon or create an atmosphere of intimidation in Asia. The mere order in which we unveil the training session or conduct an icebreaker may not produce the group dynamics we regularly achieve with an American audience when tried in Indonesia or in certain parts of Europe.

For example; in most of our Langevin courses, the first hour is dedicated to providing a course overview, conducting introductions, and establishing group dynamics. We invite the participants to introduce themselves either individually or at their table groups or as a large group in a “cocktail party” fashion. After this has taken place, we (the Langevin course leader) introduce ourselves providing a general background of our careers and maybe share some of our leisure time hobbies. The order of this process would portray the instructor as culturally insensitive to an Indonesian audience who would expect the instructor to introduce him/herself prior to anything else being done.

But how do we make certain that we are doing the right thing? While there are various resources available for professionals to breach the cultural gaps that exist between countries and their people, very often the ones most commonly tapped into are tourism and travel guides from our local bookstores. Even though these offer a good general idea of what to expect concerning food, time constraints, visa requirements, health, weather, and climate, they offer very little information about business etiquette.

A few years ago, and prompted by the fact that my biggest passion in life is to travel the world and know many different cultures, I found what I consider the MUST HAVE for international business etiquette. I am certain there are other fantastic resources also available, but based on the limited amount of time I have to do research, this one particular book is organized in a fashion that works best for me. Terri Morrison and Wayne A. Conaway authored Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands. This book is a reliable resource to conducting business in over 60 countries. I never travel internationally, even if I’m only doing so for pleasure, without bringing this book. It offers reliable information, in a concise format, about the various aspects that may influence any given business endeavor in other cultures.

Of course, in addition to tapping into resources like this one, it is imperative that we partner with the training associates in our international locations to find out more directly any details that must be considered when designing or preparing lesson plans and learning modules for their learners. They can provide specific information about the learning preferences, styles, and challenges of that audience so that we have a higher rate of success and of assimilation.

As many of you work with global organizations, you have a wealth of knowledge to share about what has and has not worked for you when it comes to making training stick in other countries. I invite you to write and share with our readers your strategies; ideas, and findings so that we may all continue to better understand how our differences are a great catalyst to finding common ground. I look forward to your input.

José

However, there is also value in the instructor development which may occur because of those spot checks – and that raises a few questions that I will attempt to answer.

How do you identify that there is an opportunity for improved performance (see, isn’t that better than saying there’s a problem that needs to be fixed?) and how do you develop that performance?

The identification of an opportunity for improved performance is sometimes quite easy. Studies show that virtually every training organization will conduct some kind of Level 1 survey at the end of a training session. These surveys typically ask about the content and how the content is presented. These end-of-course surveys are a great way to identify trends or isolated problems that may be occurring with a trainer.

• Using these surveys you can watch for trends. If a trainer’s average scores are dropping over a period of weeks, it is most likely is an indicator of decreased performance. Not always, of course. The content and the target audience can certainly also affect the perception of how the trainer performed. This is referred to as the halo effect. If the content rocked, the perception of the trainer does better. If the content is poor, or if the learner group is resistant, the trainer’s scores may be lower.
• As far as isolated incidents go, if a trainer is written up by a student on an evaluation for an inappropriate comment or process, it could be an indicator of a need for intervention. A situation like this, or something similar, would indicate a need to have an immediate chat with the instructor. However, we must always keep in mind that there are two sides to every story. Sometimes students (and trainers) just have a bad day.

Of course, there are many other ways to uncover a need for classroom observation. One of the things I like to do is hang around the break room when the students are on break. This subtle eavesdropping often offers more accurate evaluation of the instructor’s performance than the end-of-course surveys. And, there may even be the occasional situation where an instructor comes to you with a performance problem. Although, in our “excellence-as-expected-baseline” world, that doesn’t happen too often!

Any of these circumstances could signal the need for a classroom observation. If you make these occasional “drop-ins” a regular event, then your appearance in the classroom will not be stressful or distracting for the instructor and you will have a useful and natural work sample on which to base your observations of the instructor’s performance.

Make the private debrief a routine part of these classroom observation sessions, and try to schedule the debrief as soon as possible after the class. Make sure you start by identifying several of the strong points you observed. Then, mention one or two specific classroom behaviors to improve upon but make sure you have suggestions on how to improve those areas. And finally, close with a strong point.

Of course, your job is not done until the paperwork is finished. Be sure to make note of your observations so that you will know what to look for during your next “drop-in.”

As a training manager, one of the indicators of your success is the performance of your instructors in the classroom. Periodic spot checks are a great way of polishing that performance.

Paul

This is a great time to take action. As I examine the message on a card from my deck of inspirational thoughts, I find it fits perfectly with where I’m going with this blog. “Take action on your ideas. We can have many great ideas, but without action upon that idea, there will be no manifestation, no results, and no reward.” Not only is this great wisdom, but it is also practical advice as our training departments prepare and plan for the year ahead of us. Let’s take a look at three areas where we can apply such “timely” advice.

Our Organization

This is the time to examine how our organizations are executing their strategic plans. Have any major changes been made to the existing strategies and goals? How is our training department linked to such objectives and synergies and how can we support them or help the different departments succeed at achieving them? The current economic panorama demands that companies assess their operations in order to meet their goals and target numbers for the New Year with a more detailed eye than ever before. We, as training professionals, have the responsibility to follow suit and provide a supporting strategy that shows we are in alignment with the bigger picture

It is likely that some of the organizational priorities for last year have shifted in some way or another. This automatically means we need to be tuned in to those changes or developments so that we may provide the training (knowledge and skill) support that the company requires. It is also a key time of the year to conduct a performance analysis of the company’s core processes in order to provide any possible suggestions for improvement or validation of efficiency.

Ourselves

Another important task to consider within our training departments is to carefully assess how our own current level of competencies, talents, and skills are in measure up to those that will be required to satisfactorily support the overall organizational strategy. When was the last time we took a workshop to “sharpen the saw” as Stephen Covey recommends in his highly acclaimed book? The same way we provide courses, job aids, and performance tools to our companies’ employees so they are equipped with the competencies needed to do their jobs and reach targets, we too need to keep our skill set at top speed.  Do you need to brush up on your instructional design skills, or establish a company-wide training advisory board? Maybe you have been given the responsibility of converting a number of your courses into an e-learning strategy. Do you have what it takes to make it happen?

I always find it interesting how quick we are to assess the needs of our companies at the start of the year, or how soon after the first week in January everyone comes up with very important projects for us to work on, yet we tend to forget we need to maintain momentum and keep our skills up-to-date with the demands of the industry. I am often on an airplane and it is always fun to realize that the safety message from the airline always and forever reminds us, “in the case of a sudden change in cabin pressure…put YOUR mask on first before you help others with their masks.” Are we truly and fully making sure our mask is on right? What are we doing to stay on top of our game?

Others

We maintain a broad and big-picture mindset as we move forward and set new objectives and strategies for the year – and paying attention to what other people and companies are doing is helpful. Why reinvent the wheel? If there are models of success out there, let’s find out how they may be applicable to our needs and the needs of the corporations we support. The January-February issue of Harvard Business Review focuses on ways to transform our businesses to meet today’s challenges and demands.

So, as you get set to start this New Year, remember to ask yourself some key questions: What is the focus for your company for the New Year? How are you going to support it? Is your skill-set up-to-date? When was the last time you “sharpened your saw?”

What ideas do you have to help your team gear up for 2010? And, I prompt you to share with our readers your breakthrough ideas for the beginning of the year for the benefit of us all. What suggestions do you have or what advice can you offer about what you have tried but not seen results from so that others have a better chance to succeed. I look forward to hearing from you.

José

Another January, another new year, another decade, all of which means only one thing: It’s time to make a new years’ resolution. Yay!

We’re all too familiar with January, a time for a new start for many people where the goal becomes getting healthier and maybe even losing a few unwanted pounds gained during the holiday season. Health clubs, gyms, and YMCA’s look forward to January each year because new memberships spike in response to everyone’s longing to achieve their goals. Unfortunately, come March or earlier, at the first scent of warmer weather, going to the gym becomes as stale as those holiday cookies buried in the cupboard.

Well, do not get discouraged because I have a better alternative this January, and it is all about gaining – and I do not mean weight! You see, having been with Langevin for over 10 years, I can easily say that I have never had one class where there was someone who  did not struggle with gaining management support and buy-in for their training. So, as we start this New Year, I have some simple, yet effective, steps you can take to help you gain management support and buy-in for your training programs – and they are guaranteed not to go stale on you in a few months!

1. Be visible in your organization.

People do not tend to work freely with, or support, people they don’t know. Additionally, if you are not visible, then you are easy to forget. Attend key management meetings, go to the company picnic, pop your head into the VP’s informal birthday party for a small slice of cake (but remember our new years’ resolution!) Make a weekly plan of key activities you will attend, so that you are visible to the organization and making connections with your colleagues.

2. Always maintain a positive attitude and a smile.

People will also not tend to work freely with someone who is grumpy.

3. Train yourself, and your staff on how to conduct ROI’s and Level 3 and 4 evaluations.

If you really want management support and buy-in, you must show the WIIFM (What’s in it for me) or benefit to the company of how your training impacts the bottom-line. Remember this powerful phrase: If you cannot measure it, then you should not train it. Use metrics in your training. Unsure of how to do this?  The good news is that we offer several programs to help you over this hurdle. Now we are ready for the final step.

4. Add to that weekly plan by allotting some time to spend with other departments.

You can have lunch with management, job shadow, or even try doing a task for someone else here or there. I suggest doing these activities because, not only will they continue to give you visibility; they will provide you with the skills that you need to speak the language of each department and the organization. Becoming a strategic partner, where you help solve job performance problems, rather than a program peddler, will create management support and buy-in for your training.

Our mission at Langevin is to provide trainers with the skills, knowledge, and materials you need to succeed in your careers – powerful tools that can help you gain ground with management for your training programs this New Year.

Happy New Year!!!

Ron

A Tweet

Hi Joe, “I’m eating some “killer” cheesecake at the new XYZ restaurant that just opened on Main Street.  The food’s delish, you’ve gotta try it!”

Ralph

Welcome to the world of social networking! What exactly is social networking? Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. – these are all internet-based tools used to communicate with people. They have become the standard means of sharing our lives – the joys, the sorrows, the funny times, as well as the ordinary occurrences of life – with others.

But we’re trainers, so the question we need to ask ourselves is, “How can we use social networking to enhance our training?”

Research shows that as much as 80% of job learning occurs informally. While the traditional classroom will never fade away, we need to think of how we can blend other devices that will meet the needs of a new, and yes, younger workforce.

Let’s look at three examples of how social networking can be used before and after training:

1. Send an email, with a discussion board, to a group of learners before a class, asking them what their main goal(s) is for the class. This information can be invaluable for both the designer and the facilitator when it comes to customizing the program to meet the needs of the learners. This will also motivate the class in advance.
2. Create an internal corporate LinkedIn account for those who took a training program. The participants can share best practices and discuss how they are using what they learned in class back on the job.
3. With the rapid retirement of the baby-boomer generation impacting corporations, it is critical to tap into the expertise of tenured employees before they retire. To avoid this “brain drain” set up a company-wide Facebook account where employees can share experience and best work practices. Create a topic a week and provide incentives for people to contribute. Creating a learning organization where people share valuable knowledge and experience, must become part of a company’s culture.

See how easy, yet powerful, these examples are? Try some social networking yourself – and share your experiences with the rest of us. As Mikey, from the Life cereals TV commercials would say, “Try it, you’ll like it.”

Ooops, gotta go, I feel another tweet coming on…

Ralph