So, you are looking for the best way to train your people. You started to write a learning strategy. You identified the business need, put together some performance objectives, and listed the people you want to train.
Now what?
In this post, I’m going to show you the 5 things you to do after you write performance objectives to get your train(ing) in motion.
Part of a Process
Quick note: This post is part of the larger Learning Strategy Checklist. Part 1 is Do these five things to write a learning strategy now. Start there if you haven’t written performance objectives yet or identified your target audience.
The Instructional Design Process
To make a course or a program of courses, good instructional designers follow a linear yet iterative approach. Phase one includes developing a learning strategy, which is the focus of this three-part series of posts.
Phase 1: Discover & Prepare
- analyze the training need, create a learning strategy, map the content
Phase 2: Design & Author
- design how the training will be effective in addressing the performance objectives, write a script, create a prototype
Phase 3: Review & Iterate
- ask for feedback on prototypes, edit, improve, repeat
Phase 4: Deploy & Evaluate
- distribute to a focus group, review & iterate, deploy to the full learning audience, measure success
Develop a training recommendation
At this stage, you draft the direction of the program, state the level of requirement, and explain how it fits into the overall training plan for the individuals.
Structure:
[state the recommended direction for the course/program in a few sentences]
[state the level of requirement – mandatory/by when/self-directed – evaluated by whom]
[explain how the course/program will account for the 70-20-10 model (article): It holds that individuals obtain 70 percent of their knowledge from job-related experiences, 20 percent from interactions with others, and 10 percent from formal educational events.]
Outline the content
To create an outline, list the type and quantity of the deliverables. Be sure to identify how and when each deliverable will be consumed. This should be high-level. Do not start writing the content at this stage. Instead, give the “table of contents” or “menu” view of the course or program.
Let’s say you are making a 6-module online course. The course also includes a quick reference guide and an assessment that takes place outside of the online course. List these types of deliverables in your content outline exactly where they fit into the learning path.
Structure:
[Title of course/program]
[Module #] – [Name of module] (list as many modules as needed)
[Quick reference guide]
[In-person assessment name]
Estimate the training time
The time it takes to complete training includes seat time taking online courses, performance assessments, and the time “off-work” to complete the learning experiences. This is commonly given in one number like “30 minutes”. Beware of this as a creator of training! Just because it takes your learning 30 minutes to complete an online course, you need to plan for the lost time on the job. This is critical data for your C-suite to understand.
Try using the workload estimator to determine how long your training course or the program will take to complete. The estimator is focused on higher education; however, there are helpful tools to aid you in estimating the amount of reading material (elearning or books), hours of video, assessments, live meetings, and other assignments.
Structure:
[Time in minutes, hours, days, weeks, months]
[Estimate of time required off-work or removed from regular duties will be needed]
Build a development plan
Describe how you plan to “develop”(make) the content. This section of your learning strategy should explain the specific components and techniques you will use in your program or course. The end result should be to engage your audience’s attention to increase retention and application. What does that mean? Well, to make “good” training you need to use a development process that is repeatable and rooted in instructional design. Use the structure below.
Structure:
We recommend an [name of approach] approach to content development utilizing the existing content, interviews with subject matter experts, and our instructional designers. The iterative process moves quickly; therefore, we suggest developing the content in [authoring tool]. As the training framework evolves toward best-in-class, [tool] will enable any member of the training team to quickly update content without the need for a programmer or developer.
Construct actionable and measurable learning objectives
The learning objectives should be written similarly to your performance objectives. Use Bloom’s Taxonomy to create actionable and measurable objectives. The learning objective should provide an action related to the knowledge, skill, and/or behavior related to the content the learner is about to encounter. A performance objective is very similar except it pointedly references the work outcome for the individual and/or the company.
Structure:
Once they have completed the [program/course], the learner will be able to:
-
- [bloom verb] + [how success will be measured] + [when]
Helpful Links
The Best Video for Learning Guide to Make Training Videos
How to Edit Learning Video: The Ultimate Checklist
Video Editing Workflow: How to Do it Properly
Guide To Writing Effective Performance Objectives
How to Write Performance Objectives
An Introduction to Bloom’s Taxonomy for Instructional Designers
Using Bloom’s Taxonomy to Write Effective Learning Objectives: The ABCD Approach
Using Bloom’s Taxonomy to Write Effective Learning Objectives
Creating Learner Personas for Learning Success
How to Create a Course Outline for Your Online Training
Conclusion
Writing a learning strategy takes time, but it is the best way to guarantee evergreen training. It can take several days or weeks to complete. If you use a template and follow this checklist you can reduce the planning time. Now I want to hear from you! How are you going to use this checklist? What do you need more help with that is not covered in this guide?
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