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© 1998 - 2005 Pete Blair
Latest Revision - September 29, 2005
This site has suggestions on designing, developing, implementing, and maintaining technical, job-task training programs to improve human performance in the industrial workplace.
New!!
Latest addition to the Technical Training Tips web site!!
A very brief but powerful course/tool that addresses estimating design and development effort for E-Learning courses.
The best part -- it's free!!
To start the course click here. (Please be patient, it may take 15 to 30 seconds to download.)
Although many view employee training as a necessary evil and expense that must be tolerated, a well designed training program pays for itself and increases the bottom line. Such a program teaches new employees to "do it right the first time," thus minimizing down time, equipment damage, and personal injury while maximizing productivity and profits. A training program as recommended in this web site ensures consistency of training and provides a means to objectively measure employee performance as training progresses. And, the best news is that a quality job-task-training program doesn't have to cost an arm and leg to design, develop, implement, and maintain!
There are several good models for developing training and this site does
not attempt to introduce a new model or endorse any particular model here.
It does, however, offer suggestions relating to the three essential and critical
areas of any model:
Types of courses, or course delivery systems, most often associated with job-task training include:
This site has four categories of Tips:
To view the tips in sequence, simply scroll down or use the Table of Contents to go directly to the category of your choice. Suggestion: Don't skip "General Tips."
I am in business to provide help to businesses in their job-task training design and development endeavors. I invite you to click on "Services Offered" on the left side of your screen.
You are welcome to adopt, modify, or ignore the tips you find at this site, depending upon the particular demands of your business. Please do not republish them, they are protected by copyright.
End of Site Overview
Tip 1: Make sure that the problem you are trying to solve is, in fact ,a training issue.
Some situations, such as new employee training, new equipment, or new procedures, obviously have "training implications." Other situations may or may not be a training issue. Developing training to solve a non-training problem is obviously a great waste of resources. While it would seem that no one in his or her right mind would ever do such a thing, that is not the case. Each year many businesses will skip the "needs analysis" step and plunge straight into training development to solve a problem that is, in reality, not a training problem. For information an a Needs Analysis course we released in October 2004, Click Here.
The term Task comes into play in at least two separate types of analysis, Job Analysis and Task Analysis.
Simply stated, a job analysis is determining and listing all of the tasks performed by workers in the process of performing the job for which they were hired. A task analysis done for training purposes examines each task to establish:
An accurate and complete task analysis is, in my estimation, the key to effective and efficient training. Weaknesses in the task analysis can result in wasted time, wasted money, and poor worker performance. Task analysis is not the place to cut corners! Training programs that fail, usually have roots in erroneous or "fuzzily-worded" tasks and performance standards and are thus inaccurate.
Tons of paper have been devoted to task analysis methodologies and , and I won’t try to duplicate those writings here. I would suggest, however that the general areas of responsibilities (duties) for a job be defined first and the tasks comprising each duty be developed next.
Probably the quickest and most accurate way to do a job and task analysis is to assemble a group of workers who are currently performing the job and collect their collective knowledge concerning job tasks. This type of an approach has several names: focus group approach, table-top approach, and nominal group approach. The approach is based on three widely accepted principles:
We have a computer based course, called Nominal Group Job Task Analysis that teaches the method and comes complete with a printable job aid to use during the process. The course will take about four hours to complete and costs $19.00 US. For more infromation on this course Click Here
Make sure the task analysis document is formatted neatly and have it reviewed by the appropriate people to make sure that there are no disagreements before you start developing any sort of training package, job aids, procedure manuals or anything else that is based on that task analysis. Being near the end of a training development process and having someone say "...but you forgot so and so!" can turn a good day into a nightmare!
Documenting a Job and Task Analysis for review can be done with any word processor. However, you might want to consider using a specialized tool we have developed specifically for this purpose called the Task Analysis Toolkit. The Task Analysis Toolkit not only provides reports used to review the Task Analysis information, it also can be used to develop training objectives, testing stategies, and content delivery strategies thus providing the foundation of course design documents for individual courses.
The Task Analysis Toolkit can be downloaded and evaluated, free of charge, for 30 days. The download file is an EXE file that installs the Task Analysis Toolkit on your machine. The application uses data bases (originally created with Microsoft Access) to store and manipulate your data. You do not need to have Microsoft Access on your machine.
The Task Analysis Toolkit is installed in a directory called C:\TATK. It has a twelve-page user guide (C:\TATK\USERINFO.DOC) that I recommend reading before using the tool. The user information document in conjunction with a short, preloaded task analysis comprise a course for using the tool. The goal behind the design of the tool was to create a tool that complements the Nominal Group Job Task Analysis course and assists in designing the most efficient and effective technical training possible. It could very likely make your job a lot easier.
The Task Analysis Toolkit can be downloaded from Task Analysis Toolkit Download (0.98 Meg).
After the task analysis is complete and all of the stakeholders are satisfied
with it, the next step is to start defining the objectives for the training.
The term "objectives" is used in different ways. To some, the
word implies statements of what a "course" intends to accomplish or what
an instructor intends to accomplish in a training event. In some cases,
it is used to describe the nature of the training event itself. An
example would be "Objective: Discuss so-and-so."
To others, the word objective, when used in the context of training, means
"the things that the learner will be able to do at the conclusion of the
training event." Having objectives also implies that those objectives
will be tested as a part of the training event. For the remainder
of these tips, the term objective is strictly defined in this last context.
One of the ways to start defining objectives is to copy the "primary parts"
of the Task Statements from your Task Analysis into a new area of a document
and call them "Objectives." In this context, the term "primary parts"
includes the Task Statement, the Standards of Performance, and Conditions.
The next step comes close to a "do two things at once" situation. For each task, decide how you are going to measure the objective within the training event, and then modify the verb in the task statement to match the testing strategy.
In some cases, the original task or sub task is such that the only way to test if a person knows how to do it is to have them actually do it while being monitored by a subject matter expert. In this situation, the objective statement and the task statement must remain the same and the training that addresses this event must either be a hands-on laboratory-type of course or structured on-job-training.
For other objectives, you might decide to modify the verb in the objective to match a training delivery method such as print-based self-study, lecture, or computer/web based training. Again, develop your testing strategy at the same time you develop the objectives. It is quite embarrassing (and sometimes costly) to have everyone sign off on objectives and then find that one or more simply cannot be tested as written.
Add objectives as necessary, but in all cases, be absolutely sure that
each new objective links back directly or indirectly to a job task or subtask.
If you come up with an objective that seems to be absolutely imperative
but does not directly support a task or sub task, it usually means one of
two things:
For each objective, define and document three strategies:
Be absolutely sure that all three strategies are congruent with the respective objective. The verb used in the objective statement should be the same or synonymous with the verb used in both your testing strategy and your practice strategy. And, the content delivery strategy should be congruent with and support the objective, as well as the test and its practice strategies.
Where applicable, assign each objective to a specific course to be developed. In some cases, you will be working with material that involves but a single course. In this situation, skip this step. However, if the situation is such that it is better to address some subjects in one course, such as a web based course, and others in another such as Structured OJT, then assign the objectives as necessary. You may find that while the objectives and their proposed training sequence viewed as an entire group looks good, holes may appear after you separate them into different courses. If this happens, it usually means that you need to add a few objectives to bridge those holes. For more info on course-delivery selection, see Tip 4.
Review all of the objectives for the duty and task to make sure that they are complete and adequate and then review those same objectives after sorting them by their respective courses. If everything appears to be complete, submit the material for review by subject matter experts and stakeholders. When approved, continue with development.
In the real world, time stops for no man and that applies to reviews as well. As a rule, business imposed deadlines will not permit waiting for completed design reviews before starting development. The better and more thorough job you do in the creation of your design document the less likely reviewers are going to make design change demands.
Design documents can be created with any word processor, but they can also
be perhaps more easily created using the Task Analysis Toolkit described
in Tip 3 .
Tip 4: Don't be too quick to select course delivery
mode.
Don't jump to the decision on course delivery medium until you have complete
and accurate definitions of three things:
For instance, if the worker must be able to operate a certain piece of equipment, then structured OJT or lecture/lab would be reasonable delivery systems, at least for the final part, of the worker's training. Lecture by itself, print-based, or computer based training would fall far short. In short, select the delivery medium that permits adequate testing of the performance you expect of the learner at the conclusion of the course or training module. For many job-tasks the only way to determine if the worker can actually perform the tasks in the job setting is to observe the performance, on the job. For that reason, structured OJT becomes a logical choice for at least part, if not all, of the worker's training. For knowledge level skills that support task performance, pre-requisite training delivered by lecture, lecture/lab, print-based self-study, or CBT may, in some circumstances, be practicable. In other circumstances, it may be more prudent for workers to gain the required knowledge, at the job-work-place while actually learning to perform the task. This is addressed further in the tip on Task Analysis.
Tip 5: Document the Audience Analysis and make it a part
of the training design documentation.
When doing an audience analysis, concentrate on the characteristics of the new-hire for the job, but don't completely ignore the workers who are currently performing the job. In many cases, job processes are simplified over the years and the incoming skill requirements for new-hire change accordingly. Failure to look closely at the current new-hire audience can result in a program that works well when tested on existing workers but falls flat on its face with new-hires.
To conduct the audience analysis for a new-employee training program start by examining the skills or experiences mandated by the human resource department for the job. However, investigate carefully to ensure that what is documented as hiring practices, and actual hiring practices are the same. In some cases, documented hiring criteria simply cannot be met due to a tight labor market. Design training programs based on actuality and not on good intentions!
In many businesses, hiring practices seem to have a habit of changing over the years. And those changes can show up in training programs by lengthening the time required for a new worker to complete training. If, after a few years, the time required for new learners to become productive seems to lengthen, check the audience characteristics at that time against the audience analysis you originally documented to make sure that the original audience assumptions are still valid. If the audience changes, training will have to revised or altered accordingly.
Tip 6: Be specific when defining prerequisite skills and
knowledge.
In many programs, prerequisite skills and knowledge are defined in such ambiguous terms or at such a high level that the prerequisite training developed (or purchased) is far more than is needed or prudent. Personal experience: after closely examining one prerequisite knowledge course that resulted from such ambiguity, one training manager exclaimed, "my goodness, we should be developing maintenance people, not brain surgeons!"
Ask the question, over and over, must this knowledge be gained before "hands-on" or can it be incorporated with hands-on learning. Where possible, lean heavily toward incorporating knowledge with hands on. In many cases, knowledge courses must be scheduled administered so far ahead of hands-on training that content is forgotten by the time it's applied. Although my purpose here is not to reinvent nor dwell on learning theories, keep in mind that knowledge is retained when it is applied. If you learn a set of facts today but do not use those facts for a month or even a week, from now, they probably forgotten by the time you need them!
Tip 7: Document course maintenance plans early in the design
process.
In most businesses, continual process improvement is pre-requisite to being in business tomorrow! Process improvement means that tasks, as well as task performance standards, must also change. These changes arbitrarily dictate corresponding changes to training.
A company's operating procedures, their training program, and the way they actually do things must be absolutely congruent or the training program has no credibility in the eyes of employees and trainees. In companies where absolute congruence is not maintained, training is considered a joke (and a rather expensive one at that) by most employees!
The following items are among the things that I recommend addressing when
developing plans for training-program maintenance. While not a complete list
of things you may wish to consider, it serves as a good starting point.
Tip 8: Make decisions, in the design phase, concerning
document control.
If your company's operating procedures are controlled documents, the company will have to decide if trainee/trainer guides should be controlled documentation and how to implement and maintain control on these documents.
Tip 9: Plan, in the design phase, how to track training
and certification.
This tracking system must be able to accommodate "update" training when production processes change. For companies that use standard operating procedures that are regularly revised, the tracking system must be able to tie task training to specific revision levels of operating procedures.
Tip 10: Plan how to handle training and/or certification
of existing skilled workers.
Develop a strategy for how to handle employees who have been around for some time and are already performing the job. Do you "grandfather" all existing employees? Or do you force them to be re-trained? Or do you require them to pass a task evaluation? The question of how to handle existing employees must be addressed early on to avoid serious personnel and attitude problems in your new training program. A word of caution: Beware, you can't bypass this one and it can be a barrel of snakes!
Tip 11: Continually monitor training quality.
Establish and maintain a system of collecting data including trainee reaction, training times required, training efficiency, and training consistency monitor the training effort and detect any slippage in training quality. The longer the program is in place the more this becomes an important issue. Left unmonitored, I can just about guarantee quality slippage.
Tip 1: Make sure that the problem you are trying to solve
is, in fact ,a training issue.
Tip 2: Make sure the Task Analysis
is complete and accurate.
Tip 3: Make sure that objectives
developed for training are congruent with tasks identified in the Task
Analysis.
Tip 4: Don't be too quick to
select course delivery mode.
Tip 5: Document the Audience
Analysis and make it a part of the training design documentation.
Tip 6: Be specific when defining
prerequisite skills and knowledge.
Tip 7: Document course maintenance
plans early in the design process.
Tip 8: Make decisions, in the
design phase, concerning document control.
Tip 9: Plan how to track training
and certification.
Tip 10: Plan how to handle
training and/or certification of existing skilled workers.
Tip 11: Continually monitor
training quality.
End of General Tips
Note: All General Tips (1-9) apply to lecture and self-paced courses.
Tip 12: Explain the relevance of each course segment, at the beginning of the segment.
Explain how the information in this section is necessary to perform the task or tasks for which the learner is going to be held accountable. In the job-task training arena, this is probably the most effective way to satisfy Gagne's first condition of learning, Gain attention. Studies indicate that when the relevance of information is known prior to exposure to that information, retention is higher.
For instance, a properly worded objective in a self-study, CBT, or even a lecture course might read something like "Match a column of words commonly associated with the framus to their respective definitions."
An example of an improperly worded objective statement is "this lesson will
teach you the definitions of the words associated with a framus." Unfortunately
this type of wording is all too often used when writing objectives. Statements
worded like this may be the goal that the designer had when the material
was written but from a learner's viewpoint, it is simply not an objective.
Let learners know exactly what they will be expected to do at the end of the segment or training session. This enables learners to start preparing to meet that objective from the beginning of the segment.
Tip 15: Maintain congruence between objectives and
job-tasks.
When defining the objectives for any course, ask yourself, is this objective parallel to job requirements, and does it really support worker performance on the job? For instance, let's suppose a learner is being trained to operate and maintain a machine we'll call a "framus." When the framus breaks or does something wrong, the worker is supposed to follow a written procedure to isolate the failing electrical circuit card and then replace the entire card. An objective (with supporting content) that requires the learner to identify the number of circuit chips on each circuit card my be a great exercise in trivia but is not congruent with the job that person is expected to do at the job-site. Nor does the objective contribute to the performance of job-tasks in any way. Failure to maintain congruence between job-tasks and training objectives invites the design and development of long courses that often fall short in producing required results.
Tip 16: Maintain congruence among content, learner
interactions, and objectives
Make sure that the content of learning events, practice interventions, tests and objectives are all congruent. Developing content, practice interactions, or test questions that dwell on identifying the types of circuit chips on a circuit card when that information is not necessary to meet the stated objective is a waste of time, both from a design and development viewpoint, and also from a learner's viewpoint.
Tip 17: Restrict content to that required to meet objectives
and perform job-tasks.
It seems to be a natural phenomenon that many (maybe most) courses seem to have lots of information in them that is really not needed to support the objectives and tasks. If you don’t need it, I'd suggest taking it out.
Sometimes (many times?) designers or developers are pressured to "Put this in - they need it!" If you find yourself in an argument with a subject matter expert (or anyone else) about whether or not you should take something out, be careful. Don't be too eager to win the argument. Ask the person, who insists that the information be included, what would happen if learners were not given that information. What would they not be able to do that they should, or what would they do that they should not? If the answer to both parts of that question is "nothing," then the content should go. Any other answer to that question may lead you to a redefinition of a task or a performance standard for some task that really should have been there all along, and the content stays. Notice verb in the question is "do;" it is not "know." That's not an accident on my part. Keep your focus on performance.
Tip 18: Don't mix and match terms
In other words don't call a device a framus on one page (screen, slide, or transparency) and a dealybop on the next - unless you specifically tell the learner that dealybop is another name for framus - or something like that. Very often in business environments there are many terms used to describe the same object or action. Interspersing new or different terms without properly introducing them degrades the training and gives some learners bad headaches. (It also, justifiably, wreaks havoc with "happy face" evaluation sheets!)
Tip 19: Integrate Job Aids and other support tools into
the training.
Job aids and support tools including documentation and electronic performance support systems are put in place for several reasons. Among the reasons is to reduce the time spent on training someone to perform certain tasks. It's somewhat surprising that many training designers seem to shy away from incorporating those job aids in applicable training and "hand those job aids out at the end of the class (or course)." Most of the time the excuse is "but I want then to really understand it." OK, think that through - maybe you have a point in your particular circumstance. Maybe they do need more detail. (I'd suggest you review the tip on restricting content.) But before you declare total victory on this one, keep in mind a couple of points. Some job aids, while being simply great, are not intuitive as to exactly how and when to use them. When those job aids are not included in the training, they can go unused thus eliminating the savings and efficiencies that justified their development. Don't fail to integrate teaching job aids or performance-support-tools and provide practice in using them.
Tip 12: Explain the relevance
of each course segment, at the beginning of the segment.
Tip 13: Always state (or write)
objectives in the terms that the learner will be measured in the training
environment.
Tip 14: Disclose the respective
objective(s) at the beginning segments (preferably immediately following
the explanation of relevance).
Tip 15: Maintain congruence
between objectives and job-tasks.
Tip 16: Maintain congruence
among content, learner interactions, and objectives
Tip 17: Restrict content to
that required to meet objectives and perform job-tasks.
Tip 18: Don't mix and match
terms
Tip 19: Integrate Job Aids
and other support tools into the training.
End of Tips for Lecture and Self-Paced Courses
Note: All General Tips (1-10) as well as the Tips for Lecture and Self-Paced Courses (10-18) apply to CBT courses.
Tip 20: Strive for stand-alone content, screen by screen.
Try to design screen content to avoid having to use several screens to present text on a single concept or thought. Many developers write material for screen presentation just as they would for printed material. While the writing effort, in this case is the same, the reading effort is altogether different.
In books, readers can easily scan previously read text on the page and even flip backwards several pages without a major break in concentration. With CBT screens, this becomes, for lack of more descriptive terms, a real pain in the neck! Although providing an easy means for "backing up" is essential to any CBT course, writing large amounts of text that spread the content of a single subject over many screens is simply not a good idea. Reading screen text (especially large amounts of it) is more difficult, for some people, than reading printed material, especially for those who wear bifocals. Minimize it where you can.
A good example of what not to do is this particular web site. I've presented many ideas, or tips, on this site and they are all in text. If you have tried to back up to review an idea or tip and then tried to get back to your original place, you probably have some idea of what I'm talking about. Where your course-media needs include sizable amounts of text, consider printed matter as supplementary material for the course.
Tip 21: Design course navigation so that it is as intuitive
as you can make it.
Keep this in mind -- each time learners must think about what they have to do next to move ahead in the course, they break concentration with content. Make navigation and the structure of the course as transparent as possible to the learner. For instance, such cues as "click NEXT to continue" are great if you have a button labeled NEXT. That same cue is questionable if your "next button" has only a right-pointing arrow.
An example of what-not-to-do is a silent screen where the designer want to reveal points one at a time and chooses to do so with automatically timed changes. There is absolutely no way to know the reading speed of the learner. Here the learner is, midway on the first point and you pop on the second point and distract attention. But that's not enough - the learner is midway through the second point and here comes the third or maybe the forth point popping on. Or even worse, situations that prompt learner's to say to themselves, "this thing is as slow as molasses in January!"
Automatically timed screen changes can disrupt concentration. Don't do it. Give the learner control over screen changes and presentation rate.
For example telling learners such things as "Click Next to continue" is great. But how about the situation where the next screen is the first screen of test? In this situation, directions such as "Click Next to continue to the section test" at least prepares the learner for what will happen next. Having surprises when taking CBT courses can result in learner anxiety. Anxiety is no friend of concentration. Consider potential learner anxiety with respect to the course itself and design to reduce that type of anxiety as much as possible. (Zero is a good and reasonable goal!)
Much has been written about using colors in CBT and I won't even attempt
to cover all of that material here, there is simply too much. Just be sure
to devote sufficient attention to color choices when designing content for
CBT or WBT.
Tip 25: When applicable, display the screen's relative
location in the learning event so the learner has an idea of "how much more
before I'm finished with this section?"
Usually in either a CBT or WBT environment, learners may, at any time, look
for answers to questions such as "can I finish this assignment or lesson
before lunch?" In cases, where learners know they are one or two screens
from the end of a learning event, they may decide to complete the lesson
before lunch. If, on the other hand, they know they have been on the
lesson for a half an hour and are only half-way through the learning event,
they may decide to sign off the course and pick up where they left off -
after lunch. Unless you provide some guidance as to where learners
are within the learning event, decisions of this sort are essentially made
by a flip of the coin and may not be in the best interest of either the learner
or the learning event. I believe that continually having to make coin-flip
decisions can produce stress which is no friend of learning.
Not having a restart built into learning events mean that learners must
essentially "start over" when the learning event is interrupted regardless
of the cause of that interruption. While lost time is an obvious result,
there also can be a degradation of attitude and thus a secondary a loss in
learning.
Tip 27: Don't let the aesthetics of screen design compete
with the message of the learning event.
A fancy border and background may look great at a distance but make text
harder to read and small pictures more difficult to see. Don't let a zeal
to produce Rembrandts get in the way of good instructional material. If
you must rely on "bells and whistles" to maintain interest in your course,
it could be a sign that there are severe problems with the course itself.
Certainly, on the other hand, the lack of attention to screen aesthetics
can very well impede learning.
Tip 28: Be cautious of humor.
Most humor is regional in nature. Keep in mind that what plays well in one
region may be completely offensive in another. There is a fine line between
humor and sarcasm. One elicits a smile, the other - anger. In most cases,
we can detect the difference because of the body language, facial expression,
or vocal inflection of the communicator. In a CBT environment, these
distinguishing characteristics are usually not available. As a result, a
comment intended as humor can be interpreted as sarcasm resulting in a combative
attitude that can get in the way of learning. Most folks do not do all that
well at learning when they're upset or angry. Don't let your course get between
your learner and the content!
Tip 29: Provide easy access to a glossary throughout the
learning event where applicable.
Will your CBT learning event introduce terms that may be new or have new
definitions to all or part of your audience? If so, consider using hyperlinks
to so that learners can display definitions of new terms when necessary.
In cases where it is reasonable to expect a term to be new to your entire
audience, define and explain the term when you first use it. However, in
cases where terms are new only to part of your audience, consider using a
hyperlink that pops up a definition only when the term is clicked.
Tip 30: Consider DazzlerMax as an authoring
system.
If you have the opportunity to select an authoring system, consider using
DazzlerMax 5. It's powerful, it's easy to use, and you can download it for
a 30 day free trial from
http://www.dazzler.net. Material
produced with DazzlerMax may be packaged for distribution via CD, the Internet,
or a company intranet. All materials produced with DazzlerMax may
be distributed royalty free. For a brief demo of the kinds of things
that DazzlerMax can do,
click
here. (Please be patient, it may take 15 to 30 seconds to download.)
If you decide to take a look at DazzlerMax, be sure to also download the Quick Start training program. Quick Start is designed to show you enough about the program so you can make a purchase decision. If you live in North America, DazzlerMax Advanced Training is normally included for those who elect to purchase DazzlerMax.
Summary of Tips for CBT
(Click to review entire tip.)
Tip 20: Strive for stand-alone
content, screen by screen.
Tip 21: Design course navigation
so that it is as intuitive as you can make it.
Tip 22: Where possible, avoid
automatically timed screen changes, unless those changes are timed to follow
an audio script.
Tip 23: Provide clues so that
he learner will have some idea of what will happen when they do
something.
Tip 24: Select screen and text
colors for a reason, and use those colors consistently throughout the
course.
Tip 25: Display the screen's
relative location in the learning event
Tip 26: Provide "resume"
function
Tip 27: Don't let screen design
compete with learning
Tip 28: Be cautious of
humor
Tip 29: Provide easy access
to a glossary throughout the learning event where applicable
Tip 30: Consider DazzlerMax
as an authoring system.
End of Tips for CBT
Note: All General Tips (1-11) apply to Structured OJT.
Tip 31: Consider using structured OJT as the keystone of any job-task-training program,
While certainly not a universal cure-all, one of the most cost-effective ways to provide job-task training for new employees is through structured on-job-training (structured OJT).
For many industrial jobs, a well designed, implemented, and maintained structured OJT program is the most efficient and effective way to train new employees. Examples are jobs where employees perform repeatable tasks and include the jobs of manufacturing and packaging operators, food handlers, and many, many others.
As defined in this web site, and simply stated, structured OJT is on-job-training where an "already experienced and successful employee" uses a company-standardized-checklist of tasks and performance criteria to train and certify new employees. Be aware that in this web site, the term "certification" refers to an in-house, company certification, and not an industry wide certification.
The usual alternative to structured OJT is sometimes referred to as "Follow-Joe Training." In essence, "Follow-Joe Training" consists of a new employee simply being told to "Follow Joe and learn to do what he does." The next employee may be assigned to Joe, or maybe Sam, Susie, or who knows. Without structure, there is zero assurance that training will be consistent, effective, efficient, or even adequate.
With structured OJT, on the other hand, any experienced employee given minimal "trainer training" can train new employees. In a well-implemented and monitored structured OJT program, all new employees receive consistent, effective, and efficient training regardless of the trainer assigned to them.
Tip 32: Document structured OJT implementation plans in
the design phase.
A well thought out and developed plan, poorly executed, is practically worthless! This is especially true with training programs. You will probably find that your plans associated with implementation and maintenance will dictate how you handle some of the details in the design of the training material itself.
After the trainee and trainer guides, along with the signoff sheet have been developed, the next step is to implement the program and actually use it to certify new employees.
In well-implemented programs, several areas must be addressed. Each organization must decide how they will handle the individual areas. While the tips that follow may not be complete, it represents some of the major items that must be addressed. Organizations implementing a structured OJT program must decide other areas that must be addressed and prioritize the resulting list.
The decision must be made at some point (the earlier in the design phase, the better) about whether the people who train new employees at their work station should be production workers who normally do or have done that job, or people assigned to the training function. This is not an easy decision. There are pros and cons for either decision.
On one side, people formally trained and educated for the roll of trainer usually do a better that average in communicating. In addition, many production workers simply don't want to be bothered with having to train new folks. Production management is often unwilling or reluctant to authorize any loss of the skilled workers productivity due to that worker having to train a new-hire. (Don't let anybody kid anybody. There will be a loss of efficiency for production workers during the time they are training a new-hire. Face it, and deal with it; don't try to sell structured OJT as a painless cure-all.) In may cases, production workers are faced with the reality that there are no particular rewards, only grief, for training someone else. (In all too many cases, having training responsibilities in addition to normal production responsibilities is more of a punishment than anything else. This is an extremely bad situation, and certainly does not have to be true. Most companies who use expert workers as trainers in a successful structured OJT program provide extra compensation or rewards for training responsibilities.)
So far I've painted the case for structured OJT trainers to be members of a training department. Well, that's not a complete rose-bed either. In many jobs, the only way to stay proficient and keep up with changes is to perform that job every day. And besides, the skills required to teach some to do something in a job-setting on a one-on-one basis does not call for normally accepted instructor-like skills. This clearly tips the scales toward having expert production workers conduct structured OJT.
I recommend that structured OJT be conducted by expert production workers who are adequately prepared to do so.
Tip 34: Develop simple, but complete trainee and trainer
guides.
To keep things simple, trainer and trainee guides should be, for the most part, identical. They should both list all of the tasks addressed by the structured OJT program. Each "task" should normally includes the following four items:
Repeat these four items for each job-task addressed by the training program and include them in both the trainer and trainee guides. Providing this information to trainees helps them set performance goals, early on, and continually answers for them the question, "What do you expect of me?"
An additional item I recommend including for each task in the trainer guide is a statement, or paragraph, listing areas to cover, or stress, when teaching the task. This is also a good place for any other task-related suggestions you might want to add. Corresponding items can also be placed in the trainee's guide to help them concentrate on the same salient points as the trainer.
Tip 35: Develop task sign-off sheets to record achievement
for each trainee.
Don't underestimate how long it will take to do this, it takes longer than you might think.
As part of a structured OJT program, someone must design and develop the Task sign-off record. The task sign-off record provides a place for the trainer to date and sign-off each task when the trainee is observed performing the task, without assistance, while meeting all of the performance standards listed for the task. Task sign-off records may be integrated in either the trainee or trainer guide, or they may be on a separate sheet that simply lists the task statements and refers to the expanded task list in the trainer and trainee guides. Another option is to make each task, including its sign-off, a separate document.
Companies may also elect to have a second person evaluate trainees before sign-off is complete. Or, perhaps the procedure might include an additional review by management. Another option is to have sign-off records designed such that a separate sign-off record is used each time a trainee goes for "evaluation." Unsuccessful attempts will result in a recorded "failure" with the reason, or reasons, for failure listed by the evaluator. The exact design of the sign-off records as well as the nature of the sign-off process itself should be given extremely careful consideration to eliminate exposures to favoritism, discrimination, unfair treatment, or false claims there of.
The evaluation process must, as well as the entire training process, be a manageable situation for the company, and that's one of the places where the difficulty comes into play. Deciding exactly who is going to sign the signoff sheets should be an extremely well researched and discussed decision. Should it be one person for each task? Two for each task? Should management sign off each task?
Every one of these possibilities could be the right choice for the right company. Here are a couple of things to consider when making these decisions:
The more the trainee is "tested," the more cumbersome the entire training process becomes. If left unchecked, skilled production workers, along with first line supervision can spend all their time evaluating new employees and production can plummet.
On the other hand, without "checks on the checker" a business is inviting eventual erosion of training quality. As one crusty, executive-level manager who I knew once said, "People do what you inspect, not what you expect!" That may be an overly cynical way to feel, but the older I get, the more I feel that way myself. You do what you think is best.
People must be selected and adequately trained to perform the role of trainer. This means that tasks associated with the role of trainer, along with standards of performance for that role, must also be identified and documented. There are several companies offering training for non-trainers on how to train other people.
Assuming you go outside your organization for help in training your trainers to train, they will probably be given some sort of completion certificate and maybe even a certification. However, that certification, although applying to the program they attended, may not address all of the things your company expects of its trainers. Consider establishing your own in-house, trainer certification program.
Tip 38: Consider requiring your trainers to be
company-certified in the job they are teaching.
How to do this for the first wave of trainers will present some interesting situations that must be wrestled with and solved before trainer selection. Will Trainers certify each other? Will management do this? Regardless of who does it, I recommend that someone evaluate the job-task performance of prospective trainers and use the same criteria for certifying them that will eventually be used to certify new employees. Trainers should have a completed sign-off record in their training files before they ever attempt to train and certify others.
Tip 39: Consider assigning three areas of responsibility
to structured OJT trainers.
As a trainer, a worker should be expected to perform three primary functions
if the training program is to be an ongoing success.
One note about the trainer's responsibility for keeping the training materials
up to date: This aspect of a trainer's responsibility must be monitored and
enforced. There will be a temptation for trainers to add "their own" improvements
to the training process. In each case, one of two conditions exists. Either
the "improvement" is not really an improvement and no one should be doing
it, or it is a true improvement and all trainers should be doing it. The
only way to ensure and maintain consistency in training is to have all trainers
accept their responsibility for keeping the training materials up to date.
Perhaps an award or recognition system for training program improvements
might help in this area.
This issue must be addressed, head-on, by management and resolved.
Arguably, trainers and the design of the training program itself are the first and second most important aspects of any structured OJT program. When workers assigned the role of trainer do not diligently fulfill that roll, the training program falls apart at the seams. There are many reasons that any worker, even one assigned "trainer" duties, might not perform as expected and desired. Among these reasons are:
Tip 31: Consider using structured
OJT as the keystone of any job-task-training program.
Tip 32: Document structured
OJT implementation plans in the design phase.
Tip 33: Decide if structured
OJT trainers are going to be expert production workers first and trainers
second, or if, conversely, they should be trainers first and expert production
workers second.
Tip 34: Develop simple, but
complete, trainee and trainer guides.
Tip 35: Develop task sign-off
sheets to record achievement for each trainee.
Tip 36: Identify the tasks
and performance standards for the roll of OJT trainer for your
organization.
Tip 37: Consider requiring
workers selected as trainers to demonstrate that they can perform the tasks
associated with the roll of trainer and be company-certified as
trainers.
Tip 38: Consider requiring
your trainers to be company-certified in the job they are teaching.
Tip 39: Consider assigning
three areas of responsibility to structured OJT trainers.
Tip 40: Plan how to compensate
workers who are given additional responsibilities of training and
evaluation.
End of Tips for Structured OJT
Conversion of conventional, instructor-led training to computer or web based training. .
Depending upon the nature of the instructional objectives of your current training program, I can convert your training programs to computer or SCORM-compliant web based training. The cost for conversion will vary greatly depending upon how much of your existing material I can use verses how much I will need to develop.
In many cases, all or at least part of technical training programs can be converted to an electronic format (CBT or WBT), resulting in a more efficient use of resourses and employee time.
Please contact me for more information and pricing for your particular conversion project.
Assistance and Guidance in Task Analysis .
As you may have noticed, I offer two products that address the subject of Task Analysis. I believe that an accurate and well documented task analysis is a minimum starting point for just about any and all efficient and effective technical training. However, the first time or so of actually doing a task analysis can be an intimidating experience. I can leverage your efforts by working with you as a mentor or consultant during the process.
Please contact me for more information and pricing for your particular Task Analysis project.
Design and development assistance for CBT, WBT, or other programs authored in DazzlerMax.
If you are already a North American user of DazzlerMax, you already know that I wrote the training to support the product. Because of my experience with DazzlerMax, I may be able to save considerable design/development time by being an "on -demand" member of your course design/development team - without having to be on-site. In many cases, "renting" me for a few hours can save days and weeks of false starts and frustration. To see a demonstration of what DazzlerMax can do, click here. (Please be patient, it may take 15 to 30 seconds to download.)
If your need is for training that generates revenue, such as training to support a software product or continuing education units, I am willing to discuss design and development of training either on a conventional contract or for a share of the revenue.
Email me if you would like to explore this subject further (click Email Us on the left side of your screen).
If you would like more information on DazzlerMax, see
http://www.dazzler.net.
Instructional Editing
Be aware that this service is new and not normally offered by outside
consultants like me. For a better understanding
of this service -- what it is, and an estimate of what it costs, click on
(FAQ) --Instructional Edit on the left side of your screen.
Consulting on Design and
Development of Technical Training Programs.
This could be as simple as providing guidance and advice from my office,
to coming on-site and designing and developing an entire technical training
program or "any point in between." Examples of "any point in between"
include such things as needs assessments, task analysis, writing self-study
material, designing computer-based-training, writing trainer and trainee
guides, and more.
In many cases, consulting services can be supplied via electronic mail and telephone. For more information on this (or any) service, click on "Email Us" on the left side of your screen and request the information you need.
Make me the "on-demand" member of your course development team.
End of Services Offered
What is an instructional edit or review?
An instructional edit, as the term is used here, means an examination of job-task training related materials to verify instructional-design integrity.
Who needs an "instructional edit?"
Businesses with sizable training departments usually have one or more experienced instructional design specialists who perform this work, on every project, in-house, thus inferring that every training development effort should undergo periodic instructional design edits or reviews.
For businesses low on instructional design experience, or for those who simply seek "another opinion," I provide instructional design review service at a reasonable rate.
Why should instructional edits be performed?
An Instructional edit should identify problems while they are still small and before they have the opportunity to become resource wasters. Developing and implementing training is expensive. If done well, and for the right reasons, training has a positive return on investment and adds to the overall "bottom line." Poorly done, or done for the wrong reason, training can quickly become a bottomless pit, sucking up resources like a sponge, yielding little or nothing in return.
When should an instructional edit be initiated?
Instructional edits, or reviews, are usually performed periodically throughout the training development process beginning with initial design efforts and continuing though the course material development stage. For organizations with pre-defined and established phases or mileposts for development of training material, a review should be done as a part of each phase, through the development or production phase. I can better determine optimal time(s) for review based on client processes and schedules and the nature of the project itself.
One fundamental rule to keep in mind is that the earlier weaknesses or problems are identified, the cheaper they are to correct! Seemingly small instructional design problems detected and fixed on the front end can save a fortune on the back end.
What kinds of material should undergo an instructional edit?
When performing an instructional edit I will check the following, as appropriate
and requested, from an instruction design perspective.
I will document problems and notes in a separate document and return those to the client via email, U. S. Mail, or FAX, or other means, as directed by the client.
Contact me with a description of your project and I can help you identify the specific items for your project that I recommend for review. (there is no charge for making the recommendation)
Do you edit material for such things as grammar, punctuation, and spelling?
No, but when one of these items jumps at me, I'll bring it to your attention. My edit is from an instructional design viewpoint to maximize continual congruence between worker performance goals and training efforts so that the technical training that clients develop will be effective and efficient.
If we decide to have you provide instructional editing service for our project, will we be operating with a contract?
Yes, that is the only way we will work on a project. First, the client must decide who in their organization will serve as business contact and work with me to establish exactly what I services I will provide. When we (client and myself) have agreed and documented what services I will provide, that documentation will become an integral part of a contract for services, subject to the laws of Florida, to be signed by Pete Blair and a bona fide representative of the client. (Normally this will be a purchasing agent.)
But I've got a question that's not answered here!
Great! Click on Email Us on the left side of your screen and ask. I'll get back to you with an answer as soon as possible. Pete Blair
End of Frequently Asked Questions -- Instructional Edit
2167 Acadia Greens Drive
Sun City Center, FL 335733
(813) 642-0389
pblair@prodigy.net
Following is a profile of my training-related work experience.
1991- Present: Independent Consultant
Clients include:
Services rendered include design and development of complex employee training curriculum, instructional editing, as well as design, development, and implementation of computer and internet based instructional materials and programs.
Since October 1999, I have served as Director of Customer Training, DazzlerMax Division, MaxIT Corporation. In this capacity, I developed training to support evaluation of DazzlerMax (a multimedia authoring system). In addition, I also designed and developed DazzlerMax Advanced Training to support purchasers of the product. DazzlerMax can be downloaded for evaluation from http://www.dazzler.net. For a brief demonstration of the kinds of things that can be done with DazzlerMax, click here. (Please be patient, it may take 15 to 30 seconds to download.)
I also provide technical support to DazzlerMax users through the MaxIT Support Center.
Note: All work between 1967 and 1991 was as an IBM employee.
1990-1991: As an Education Planner, my job was to identify labor and resource requirements, project by project, for an education design and development department. This involved doing a very quick, high-level, instructional design and making initial course delivery method and media selection decisions to determine project cost. It also included doing needs assessments to decide if training was the correct solution to the problem.
1988-1990: As a Senior Staff Developer, I was responsible for conducting staff development for personnel assigned to design, develop, and produce instructional materials including interactive and linear video, computer based training, and hard copy self study material. I was also responsible for educational review and approval of all training materials created within the department. This educational review is what I now call an "Instructional Edit."
1971-1988: As a Course Developer, I designed, developed, and produced instructional materials for lecture/lab, print-based self-study, and computer/video based courses. Design activity included needs and task analysis. Development included writing student and instructor printed material, computer based training courseware, and video scripts.
1967-1970: As an Instructor, I delivered classroom instruction, supervised laboratory activities, and evaluated learner performance at a career altering level.
1961-1967: As a Customer Engineer, I maintained electro-mechanical and electronic data processing equipment in the field.
End of Profile