[InfoGraphic] Avoiding 3 Common Training Pitfalls
Whether it’s a lack of clarity on the part of senior executives or a lack of resources to execute accordingly there are a countless reasons training projects fail. However there are 3 pitfalls which almost always guarantee a spectacularly bad outcome: (1) No clear target, (2) poor project management, and (3) anonymous trainees. When failure is NOT an option, consider the following ideas for dodging the pitfalls and paving a path to success. [Infographic]
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Trina Rimmer is a learning and communications consultant with twelve years experience designing, developing, and delivering smart, engaging training solutions. When her training skills aren’t being tested by her children, you’ll find her helping others to develop their own design muscles. Contact Trina at trina@rimmer.net.
5 Responses
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simon_elearning says:
July 28, 2010 at 1:48 pm
IME, it’s seems easy for clients and certain developers to oversee these kinds of pitfalls. I’m beginning to lose count of the number of elearning leads I speak with who want to produce an elearning course simply for the sake of it. The end result is often a project that is simply a “conversion” of existing materials, i.e. devoid of measurable objectives, devoid of decent PM, and almost certainly devoid of any consideration for understanding one’s audience. A growing trend, maybe?
Trina Rimmer says:
July 28, 2010 at 7:11 pm
Hi Simon,
I think your observation does, indeed, point to a trend. I’ve found that many clients I’ve worked with in recent years have been so focused on “conversion” of existing materials to online training that the project’s only success measurement is the number of course completions. While hitting those kinds of targets is a measurement of training activity, it’s definitely not a measurement of performance. When the winds of corporate change shift again, eventually hitting completion targets isn’t enough.
I think of it in terms of an evolutionary process for some organizations adopting new technology for learning. In the beginning you have the adoption of online training as a means to cut costs, streamline delivery, and gather more data (a pitch which has prompted far too many companies to prematurely jump into an LMS, in my opinion). Then there’s the urgency to “convert” everything to online. Then, eventually, there’s the realization that the behavior still hasn’t changed – only the delivery medium. Through tenacity and political savvy, hopefully people like us survive the beatings long enough to help our organizations see beyond this failure and take the next step – where elearning is part of a strategic mix of learning & performance solutions, given all the necessary definition, resources, and audience consideration required to meaningfully realize success.
In short, it seems to me that a lot of organizations have to realize failure (or at least the absence of change) before they can even envision change, and thus what success looks like.
Glad you enjoyed the post and were inspired to comment. It’s great to engage in this kind of critical-thinking and dialog with others in the field. I really appreciate your ideas!
Regards,
-Trina
simon_elearning says:
August 1, 2010 at 5:23 am
Hi Trina
I think you’ve hit the nail on the head with two comments in particular:
1) “the project’s only success measurement is the number of course completions” This is certainly indicative of my experience of working on public sector projects in the UK. Elearning seems to be an ‘excuse’ for organisations that struggle to hit mandatory/compliance targets (and are often fined as a result) via classroom training. So they begin making the switch to elearning and suddenly the training world is a brighter place because of all those ‘completions.’
2) “Then, eventually, there’s the realization that the behavior still hasn’t changed” Absolutely. And this is where you (or at least I) have to be kind of diplomatic in the way we bring up this topic. It’s almost as if hitting a certain number of ‘completions’ is enough, and that the concept of behavioural change is inconsequential. This can be frustrating in terms of creating case studies, because IMO, two important goals for any elearning project are i) what has improved across the workforce/division/dept/team as a result of this course, and ii) how has the organisation benefited? The answer to the former gets overlooked simply so they can provide “Well, we hit our compliance targets this year” to the latter.
It’ll change … eventually …
Regards
Simon
Trina Rimmer says:
August 1, 2010 at 6:10 pm
Ahhh…diplomacy. That’s what it really boils down to, isn’t it? Because what we’re talking about isn’t just technology change (ILT to online); it’s idea change. That’s a much messier problem! So many of us are successful in making the surface changes (i.e. migrating to online training) but very few of us are prepared for how difficult it may be to identify, influence, or even measure the underlying behavior changes that drive business performance. Of course having diplomacy in your back pocket comes in awfully handy for those conversations.
I’ve enjoyed your insights on this topic, Simon. Thanks again for reading and commenting. I hope to continue to entangle you in the dialog on this topic and others with future posts.
Happy reading!
~Trina
