Lessons learned/conclusions
Possibly the most important lessons learned had to do with developing scenarios. I have seen some scenarios done very well by third party vendors. Trying it as an internal developer, I discovered some key points.
First, using principles of fiction writing, writers should make scenarios compelling by using suspense and, if at all possible, real-life dilemmas that aren't trivial. In fiction, that is done through exaggeration and conflict. With real-world training you can't necessarily do that, but you can uncover the tough dilemmas that give people a great deal of trouble. You can also find out the situations for which the employees keep asking for clarification and yet don't quite get the detail they need. One example for us was a compliance and marketing no-no: cold calling. Although I can't take credit for bringing it about in this case (I checked and my name never came up in the discussions), we were pressing for clarification on some of the “gray area” situations people encountered when a very well-written policy came out of our Compliance Department that described exactly what an employee can and cannot do in those situations, with good examples to accompany the rules.
If you are writing management or interpersonal scenarios, you can include some of the real-world conflicts that have no clear answer, instead of stopping at a superficial level.
Second, we chose to use a series of still photographs to accompany guest narrators' talks. Even for me, as a serious photographer, this proved more challenging than I expected. It was difficult to get good pictures of each person and to make their expression coincide with what they were saying. It takes really good lighting. It takes good directing. I recently read an interesting book by Ron Schick, telling the lengths Norman Rockwell went to in directing his models to pose for the message he was trying to convey in his paintings. He would even spend considerable time getting them into the mindset of the situation so their face and body expressions were what he was after. Unfortunately I read that book after I had taken all the photos for these courses!
Third, we nearly always use internal talent because it's “free.” I usually prefer this to the obviously professional voices you get with paid actors, but at the same time it's harder to convey realistic emotion with inexperienced talent.
Our conclusion about writing compelling scenarios is that it's difficult to do if you want them to go beyond the superficial. It takes time to really know the target audience's pressures and dilemmas and to write situations that will grab people's interest while offering those “ah ha” moments of insight.
Finally, here are the “process” lessons learned.
- Courseware is software; it needs thorough testing
- Some learners experienced delays because we missed one navigation error that was duplicated when we reused similar scenarios.
- The act of developing training may show the need for clarified policies and procedures. The scenario approach exacerbated this:
- They can’t say that? Where’s the written guidance? How may we describe the line between what they can and cannot do?
- Project and sponsor management:
- Identify not only the designated approver but also who’s got veto power. Try hard to get their input early including key topics they want the training to address and buzzwords they want to include or avoid. When you’re using photography and audio this can save a lot of rework.
- Audio and photos:
- We’re a very personal and close-knit company, so employees enjoy seeing and hearing narrators that they know. We used all internal voice talent, usually the affected department’s management or staff to avoid taking front-line employees off the job.
- This makes it relevant and engaging even if the chosen talent doesn’t have the best radio voice
- Narrators downplayed it, but they enjoyed the star status and occasional ribbing from their constituents.
- Tool selection:
- The Articulate Presenter suite lets you focus on development without having to create all the interaction and basic animation yourself. I recommend it for its reliability, simplicity, and built-in interactive features, when you don’t need more complex customization.
- Audio: We used Audacity software and Plantronics headsets (with laptops). With this combination I have recorded in offices that had a lot of extraneous noise or that were near slamming doors or people talking in corridors, and none of that background noise was picked up.
References
Kirkpatrick, Donald L. 1994. Evaluating Training Programs: The Four Levels (1st edition). San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
Schick, Ron. 2009. Norman Rockwell: Behind the Camera. New York: Little, Brown and Company.
Poised and Positioned for Performance Conference, Nov. 6, 2009, San Antonio, featuring Dr. Donald Kirkpatrick, sponsored by local ASTD chapter.
