Coaching Wants Evaluation Guidelines – eLearning Trade
A detailed approach
The discovery phase begins with a team meeting in which we validate the project scope and examine the details of the project framework. The project team consists of technical experts and learning strategists. The aim of this first meeting is to discuss learning objectives, skill levels and possible delivery methods. The training needs analysis should take you through a number of steps regardless of the project. However, depending on your project, you can use all or some of the following types of analysis. Remember, to be successful here you should never skip this step and keep it as flexible as possible.
1. Organizational analysis
If your project involves a complete overhaul of a training program, developing a new program that affects the entire organization and different audiences, you may need an organizational analysis.
Here we validate the business requirements and any other requirements required for the training. Of course, regardless of the type of project and speed, you can start working with a lot of familiar elements.
The kind of questions you should answer here are:
- What is the business problem that the organization is trying to solve?
- What are the specific goals of the organization for this program?
- Why do we think this business problem requires an educational program?
- What experiences has the organization made with regard to training and further education?
2. Target group / person analysis
Here you analyze your audience or the multiple target groups and identify all the specific needs that each audience has. In this step, you also ask the question of potential trainers or subject matter experts who may be involved in the process.
In this analysis we answer questions like the following:
- Who is the target audience (s) for this program?
- How high is the audience’s level of knowledge on the respective topic?
- What is the audience’s learning style?
- What experiences have these target groups had with such programs?
- Who can we identify as champions for each audience?
- What are the goals for each audience?
3. Work analysis / task analysis
This type of analysis describes the job itself and the requirements that are necessary for error-free task fulfillment. This analysis goes into the details of the main roles and skill levels required for this program. Relevance is important to the success of a training program. This step therefore helps ensure that the training is relevant to the work of each audience. Here you should interview subject matter experts and master (high-performing) employees. You should also interview the responsible supervisors and managers to find out what is important to them. You need to understand all of the details that employees must know and follow to complete the job or task.
Some of the questions to ask here are:
- What job is this content aimed at?
- What are the steps?
- How often is the work done?
- What do employees need to know in order to perform the task?
- What training courses are there already?
- Does the job description correspond to the task analysis?
- Did the analysis miss any steps that are included in the actual job description?
- Can the process of the identified tasks be trained?
- Do the training requirements include changes to policies or procedures, equipment, or machines?
Once you have these answers, organize the identified tasks, develop a sequence of tasks, and observe the staff performing those tasks. Update the order if necessary and document the affected documents, processes, etc.
4. Performance analysis
This analysis is important in determining the expectations and metrics that can be used to gauge the success of the program.
The questions to be asked here are:
- How does this program improve performance?
- What specific improvement are you looking for in each audience?
- Is the training alone enough to meet performance expectations?
- How will we measure the change in performance?
- What types of ratings are required for this performance change?
- What are the performance pain points?
5. Content analysis
This is the essence of the analysis. At this point, you need to collect and review all of the existing content such as documents, laws, and procedures that are used in the job. You should conduct this analysis together with the subject matter experts and ensure that the content of the training does not contradict any aspect of the work requirements.
Make sure you ask:
- What specific knowledge or information is used for this job / task?
- Where does the information come from? Can you find it in manuals, textbooks, guides, etc.?
- What are the learning objectives of the training?
At this point you can start your design document. An essential part of this analysis is the determination of the level of competency that the learner must achieve after the training.
The three skill levels are:
- awareness
The learner needs to know that something exists or is happening (e.g. there will be another maintenance routine from the next quarter). - application
Your learners need to be able to do something in a certain way after completing the training. (e.g. they need to know how to plan the maintenance routine using the work order software). - championship
Your learners are expected to know how to do the task at a level that will enable them to teach someone else how to do the task (e.g., your learners will assist other people in using the work order software to do the planning the maintenance routine).
When deciding what level of mastery is required, you can define your course goals:
- Is training the right solution to achieve any goal? If not, why not? What is the appropriate approach?
- Is there all the content to achieve each learning objective? If not, how are we going to collect it?
- Who will be the chief specialist?
- Who will be the main critic?
- Who will be the main approver?
6. Cost-benefit analysis
Ultimately, training courses cost money to develop and deliver, and companies love to make money. It is your responsibility to be ready to demonstrate the return on investment (ROI) from training. This is where you should identify all of the metrics and performance indicators needed to determine ROI. The cost of training should not only include development and deployment, but also assessment, metrics reporting, and possible refresher. Effective, successful learning programs result in a higher return on value than the initial investment in creating, managing, and updating the training.
Learn obsidian
Obsidian creates custom, interactive learning programs that engage learners, accelerate skill development, and increase overall business performance. We are a team of professional learners with a passion for creating effective learning experiences.
