Learning to Design: Course Design Made Easy with Sarah Wilson
Are you interested in instructional design? Instructional designers have never been in such great demand. Whether you've been asked to create some training at work, or to whip up a presentation, or even to create some kind of elearning, you're in the right place. Have you ever felt like creating great learning content is a bit tricky or maybe just out of reach? Do you ever wonder about how you can make your learning designs more interesting and effective? Do you know how to really connect with learners? In this podcast, Sarah is going to break things down and show you that it's not as complicated as it might seem. Sarah has been a professional instructional designer in the public and private sectors for people of all ages for more than 20 years and she's also got the formal education to back it up! She is here to guide you every step of the way on your learning to design journey. With each episode, she'll provide some handy notes and tools to assist you. Instructional design is a fantastic way to impact everyone in school, the workplace, or just about anywhere people need to get things done.
Got a question or topic you're curious about? Email Sarah at sarahw@learningtodesign.com.
Learning to Design: Course Design Made Easy with Sarah Wilson
Rethinking Training, and Get The FREE Training Needs Report Generator
Are you an aspiring or experienced instructional designer who is looking for support or inspiration for your instructional design? You're in the right place.
If you have specific topics that you would like me to cover on an upcoming episode, send me a message at sarahw@learningtodesign.com!
Check out my learning portfolio here.
In an effort to help decision makers invest wisely in employee development, Sarah's crafted an enlightening conversation, and provided a FREE interactive tool and editable training needs report template to determine if training is indeed the right solution. Within five minutes, you can carry out a preliminary training needs analysis, grounded in instructional design research.
Often, training is seen as the ultimate fix-it solution but we're here to shed light on the reality. Factors such as skill deficits, motivational issues, environmental dimensions, scarce resources, role ambiguity, and mismatched roles - they all play a significant role in an employee's performance. And guess what? They all call for different solutions. So, let's replace the misconception with clarity. We're here to provide practical tips on identifying performance gaps, observing on-the-job behaviors, and even leveraging past performance records. So gear up, it's time to think beyond the training box and make informed decisions about the interventions your team truly needs. Get ready for a paradigm shift!
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Hi, today we're going to be talking about when training is or isn't the answer. This has happened to me so many times. People come to me and they're like Sarah, we need training. We have this problem. We need it to be an hour, we need it to be e-learning, we need it to be a seminar, and the thing is is that they've already decided what they need and how long it needs to be and what format it needs to be in, but they don't actually know what they want it to contain. And the problem here is that they don't know what they don't know. And it's my role as an instructional designer and learning guide to help them understand that this will happen to you.
Sarah:If this hasn't happened to you yet, you will have the experience of someone coming to you and saying hey, we heard you're the learning person around here. We'd like to have you join our team and help us develop some learning. We need training and we need it to be XYZ and you're thinking. Well, I'm not so sure about that, but it can be kind of intimidating to say that to people. It's sometimes easier to do if you have some kind of a tool to back it up or some kind of rationale or logical explanation in your back pocket. And that's where I'm really excited today, because I'm offering for free an interactive tool that you can use. You can walk through it with the person asking for the training or hey, maybe it's you, that's not sure if you need training or not. It's an interactive tool that walks you through a series of questions and then instructs you what and when to write something down. You can then use that to generate a report. But I've done one better than that, because I've also included a free template that you can use with Canva. So, whether you're a free or paid member, you can use the tool and walk through it at the same time completing the activities as you go. And I'm not kidding you, within five minutes you will be able to generate a mini preliminary training needs analysis.
Sarah:Now, this is by no means comprehensive, but what it is is grounded in instructional design research, so it will instantly let you communicate to whoever's requesting the training what they might actually need instead, or maybe they do need training after all. Anyway, I'm really excited about it because I know it's going to be helpful for you and, as a big bonus, it's totally editable, so you can put your own logo in there. You can put your own headers, footers, you can do whatever you want with it. It's a guide for decision makers. Is training the answer?
Sarah:Often, what will happen is people just say, yeah, we need training. So why do they do this? Why would somebody do this? Well, firstly, it's familiar. It's simple and familiar. Many organizations already have things like standard operating procedures and work instructions and they just look at training as the way to get to what they need. It's well known, it's straightforward, it's simple and recognized, but it's not always, or even often, the most effective solution.
Sarah:Sometimes initiating a training program lets people feel like they're taking measurable steps to address a problem. It can provide them a sense of progress, a sense of completing something, even if the root cause isn't being addressed, and then you know what gets blamed when it doesn't work. Another one here could be a prevailing assumption that knowledge or skill deficiency is the reason behind any kind of performance gap. That can be true, but often there's other things that can be causing performance gaps and we're going to get to those. Culturally, there can be an embedded culture or philosophy about improvement and development that centers around training. Often training becomes the first port of call for any performance or skill related issues, whether it's the right call or not. A lack of analysis, so they haven't really gone through and looked at what the issue is. Without that kind of analysis framework in place, this step often gets skipped and we jump to training as the solution instead of stepping back for a minute and examining what the actual issue is.
Sarah:Sometimes there's external pressure to create training, whether it be regulatory bodies or industry standards, or it can be. Competitors in the industry seem to be investing a lot in training and we feel like we need to follow suit. Another reason could be that training is a huge perk or benefit and employees love that. Who doesn't love that? Who doesn't love benefits? Because they love that benefit so much, they might think, well, hey, that's what I need, I need to take advantage of this benefit that I might have at work.
Sarah:Sometimes a positive history with training will mean that people think, hey, training worked last time, it was really awesome, really successful can make people biased towards making that decision again. Another reason could be that they're avoiding addressing a deep-rooted systemic or cultural issue. It's easier to go to training than to try to solve something like that. Sometimes there's budget allocations, funds assigned specifically for training and we feel like we have to use those up or lose them, whether it's the right use of those funds or not. And lastly, market availability. There are so many training solutions available, from workshops to e-learning solutions. This can sway decision-making. Sometimes. The most convenient solution is the one that people opt for, even if it's not the right one. So we need to understand that. These things, these 11 reasons I just gave you those are all some really common reasons why people jump to training without determining if that's what they actually need.
Sarah:First, before we jump to training, we really need to understand the nature of the problem. Why is the training being asked for in the first place? One term that's really important here is skill deficit. A skill deficit is when someone lacks the skill or ability to perform a particular task or function to the standard that's expected or required of them. This could be because they haven't learned the skill, or they have an outdated skill set, or maybe they actually knew how to do it but they forgotten how to do it. Maybe they were on a leave and they came back. Whatever, there's all kinds of reasons for that. Skill deficits are indicated in things like frequent mistakes in executing tasks or taking longer to accomplish a task compared to others, or a consistent inability to meet predefined quality standards. In this case, direct training, mentorship programs, on-the-job training these are all ways to address genuine skill deficits.
Sarah:There could be a motivational issue happening. Maybe someone already has the skills they need to do the job, but they're not motivated or they have a poor attitude towards performing that skill. This could be because they're not satisfied in general with their job. They have a lack of incentive to perform the skill. There's personal things going on in their lives or even a misalignment of values between the culture and the corporation and themselves. Another factor is environmental in general, whether it's an unsupportive work environment frequently being disrupted, unhealthy or toxic work culture. It doesn't matter how much training you have. If you're in an unsupportive work environment, you're just not going to be working your best. More suitable solutions here could be leadership interventions, organizational development initiatives, team building or even bringing in external consultants to assess an overhaul the existing work culture. That's going to go a lot further than ineffective training.
Sarah:Another common problem is the absence of necessary resources or tools. So we're not talking about skills. If I don't have the right computer to do the job, I just can't do the job. So investing in the required tools or technology, conducting needs assessments, reallocating budgets to prioritize resources these are the kinds of solutions that will solve that problem. Sometimes people have personal problems, so any kind of factors outside of work health, family all of these things can influence an employee's performance. Training focused on job-related skills is not going to help with personal problems. It might even add to an employee's stress. Actually, we need to help support them with employee assistance programs, counseling services, leaves of absence, anything like that, flexible work arrangements, all of these kinds of things.
Sarah:Maybe the person themselves is unclear about their role or job responsibilities or expectations. This is called role ambiguity. Even if they possess the necessary skills, they're not sure how or when to apply them. In this situation, it would be more suitable to give a clear job description or provide regular performance reviews or one-on-one discussions about expectations, more structured onboarding processes all of these things Any way that you can clarify that role for the employee. That's actually going to do a lot more for that employee than any kind of training. Sometimes there's a mismatch between the job role and the employee themselves. They might be placed in a role that doesn't align with their natural abilities, strengths or interests. Continuous training can lead to short-term improvements, but it's not likely to result in long-term job satisfaction or even optimal performance. It would be more suitable to reevaluate the employee's role, maybe do some job rotations, consider transferring or even career counseling to help align roles with individual strengths and inclinations.
Sarah:Now, as far as assessing the need for training, there are a number of things we can do here. First one is identifying performance gaps. So what is a performance gap? Well, that's the difference between the current performance level and the desired or expected performance level. Understanding where these gaps exist can highlight areas where training might help. For example, if a sales team isn't meeting targets, is the gap because of a lack of knowledge about the product or poor sales techniques? Or you know, dot dot dot? Performance gaps can be identified through regular performance reviews, assessments and benchmarking against industry standards.
Sarah:Another thing we can do is observe on-the-job behaviors, watching employees as they perform their roles, noting behaviors that might indicate a lack of knowledge, skills or confidence. Really observing can provide insights into the real-world application of skills and knowledge, highlighting areas where training might be beneficial. This can be done with job shadowing, workplace audits, supervisory observations. All of these methods can be used to gather data on employee behavior during work tasks. This doesn't have to be stressful, but it does give us a well-rounded picture of an employee's strengths and weaknesses. For example, a manager might highlight a strategic gap, while peers might point out a collaboration challenge. Another thing we can do is look to past performance records. So, historically, let's take a look at how this employee used to do with identifying trends, improvements or areas of consistent challenges. These past records and historical data can offer insights into long-term strengths and weaknesses. This can help us tailor training to individual needs. If an employee is consistently struggled with a particular aspect of their role, targeted training just might be the answer.
Sarah:Another thing we can do is leverage technology or digital tools. This interactive tool I was talking about. This is something you can use to provide a cursory look at whether training is the answer or not. I'm really excited to talk to you about that now. The reason I made this tool in the first place is because I couldn't really find anything like it out there. I found that there's a lack of resources out there of any quality that I could actually use. Either they were not very well designed, or they were heavily branded in a way that I couldn't use them, or they were just not very appropriate. So I decided to make a tool myself, and this tool, I'm telling you, it's generic enough that anyone can use it. It's editable, so you can use it and put your own logos, headers, footers, extra information, whatever you like. There's a limit with that free Canva account and it's also based on sound instructional design methodology.
Sarah:So how does it work? What is it? Well, basically, it guides you through some questions and answers and as you go, it will instruct you to write that down. Write this down. And if you're not ready for training, what does that mean? That means, if you haven't done the thinking that needs to happen, or the person asking you for training has not done that thinking yet, you're not ready to ask for training. It takes work from both sides. It is not up to the instructional designer to determine everything on their own. It's a joint collaboration. You are there as a support person for them.
Sarah:Think of it like this If you were an architect and somebody came to you and they said I need you to design my house, okay, great. What kind of house do you need? I don't know. You figure it out Well. That doesn't work so well. I mean, how many people are in your family? Are you gonna live in it year round? Do you live in a houseboat? Do you live in a condominium? Do you need a separate lot? Are you in the city? Are you in the country? Do you have pets? Do you have a car? I mean, come on, there's so many things that you'd need to know before you design a house. Right, that would just be absolutely unreasonable to expect an architect to design a house for you to live in if they knew absolutely nothing about your requirements. So, yeah, there is some work that needs to be done upfront on both sides, and you can help them. That's where your expertise comes in and that's where this tool can help you. It will walk you through all that and what you end up with is a report that you can send them that outlines what they need.
Sarah:So it might say training is not recommended. It might say training is recommended. What it does is it gets you to take the problem in the broadest sense and it narrows it down and it goes through asking why and how, until you get to a potential reason for the issue and a potential solution. And if it's training, awesome. If it's not awesome, because you're not wasting your time or their time, designing something that's bound to fail. It's vitally important to accurately determine when training is the answer, because it's not always the answer. Sometimes you need a little backup, you need a little help, you need something to make it easier for you to assert that, and that's where this tool is going to help you. This will allow you to approach performance issues with a holistic perspective, considering all possible factors. Instructional designers in the workplace, especially, are also organizational development specialists. There is a huge crossover there, and you have so much value to provide your workplace or your clients with this knowledge.
Sarah:Training is a powerful tool, but it's not always the right answer. Misdiagnosing the root cause of performance issues and defaulting to training can lead to wasted resources and missed opportunities for real improvement. Wasted resources include financial costs, demotivated employees ugh when they have to do training that they're like why am I here? This does not mean anything to me. This is not resonating with me. That's going to demotivate people right now and also, even worse, it's not gonna resolve any of the underlying issues that are causing the problem. So, with this tool, you can use it as an objective lens to cut through some assumptions and identify the actual needs.
Sarah:Here's what I want you to do Get the interactive tool and try it out. It's totally free. I made it for you. I am so excited to hear about how it's working for you. Or if it's not working for you, I would love to hear why or why not. I live for that stuff.
Sarah:If this podcast is resonating with you at all or it helped you rethink an approach you might have had to training, please tell other people about it. Please share it. Please tell me about it, help spread the word and let's make sure more organizations are benefiting from making more informed instructional design choices. Don't forget also that sharing, liking or commenting on this podcast is a free way for you to support it and for me to continue to be able to support you and your instructional design journey by providing you with tools, tips, resources and tricks that I've learned along the way to help you and your instructional design journey. Thank you so much for listening today. It really means a lot to me. The support that I've had already has just been absolutely wonderful and it's really inspiring and motivating me to continue. Check out my online portfolio in the show notes if you'd like to see a sample of my work and come back listen again. This has been Sarah, and I've really enjoyed sharing this with you today. Until next time.
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