By Dan Johnson

The Heat is ON at CIASTD

Summer is usually a time for vacations, relaxation, and playing in the sun. At CIASTD, things are really heating up – and I mean this in a good way!

First, the Fall Education Conference is shaping up to be the best yet! Thiagi is our featured presenter, a variety of presentation formats will be available for participants, and FUN will also be a part of this year’s conference. Mark your calendars now for the Fall Education Conference on Thursday, November 13!

Second, we are exploring the feasibility of a “satellite” CIASTD chapter for the students at Indiana State University (ISU) in Terre Haute. We’ve been asked to establish a connection with ISU students who are interested in our field, want to learn more about training and development, and want to interact with professionals who are successful in training and performance improvement. This opens up exciting opportunities in outreach, education, and membership for our chapter. As classes resume at ISU in September, we’ll keep you informed of our progress on this exciting addition to our chapter history.

Third, our Special Interest Group (SIG) initiative is going strong. The technology-based training SIG continues to meet regularly with strong programming and a good turnout. A performance improvement SIG will be launched later this Fall.

Fourth, an exciting team of officers is being assembled to lead our chapter in 2004. Be on the look out for the slate of officers for 2004 to be presented at the August or September program meeting. The strong leadership team will ensure CIASTD’s well being and lead us to the next level in our continued evolution.
Thank you for your continued interest, support, and involvement in your CIASTD chapter. Stay tuned for more exciting developments yet this year!

Dan is the founder and president of Performance Mastery. He has been in the field of performance improvement for more than 16 years and has gained extensive experience in management and leadership development, executive and personal coaching, training, and career development.

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1. Explain how Six Sigma is different from TQC (Total Quality Management).
2. List the elements of Six Sigma.
   a. Business Process Management
   b. Process Improvement
   c. Process Design
3. Discuss the elements of training and change management required to support Six Sigma efforts.
4. Identify the roadmap and critical factors to successfully implement Six Sigma.
5. Recognize how Six Sigma applies to a specific business goal through the review of a storyboard application of an initiative from the transactional or service side of the business.

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Successful Marketing Techniques for Your Training Intervention
By David Llewellyn, Facilitator staff member

The anticipation has been building (exponentially) the last few weeks as the impending launch date looms for the most comprehensive training program that you’ve ever had the opportunity to manage and champion. Aside from a few technological glitches and the fact that your family and friends call you their favorite ghost, having only sensed your presence the past few weeks, your months of hard work are about to reap a mighty fine harvest.

Presenters. Check. Facilities. Check. Registration. Check …and on down the list. Not a detail has escaped your eye.

Hmmmm? It’s the morning of the big event and at twenty minutes before lift off, only two of the participants have arrived. You have gone back over the pre-registration list and while it is a little thin, you know to count on some last-minute surprise attendees. Tick, tick, tick . . . 11 minutes to go and a few more folks have come in . . . probably heavy traffic this morning or maybe an accident . . . three minutes to go and the room is half-empty. Your ability to muster a “half-full” perspective at this point is going the way of your (lack of) enthusiasm for your recently revised property taxes.

So, what went wrong?

The above scenario might represent only one possible derailment on the track to a successful training program or intervention. And, according to the presenters, Stacey Toole and Steve Haigh, of Thomson NETg, there are numerous reasons why success is elusive in the arena of e-learning. While the focus of the presentation, along with the information and numbers below, refer specifically to e-learning, the picture painted and the lessons learned extend beyond the boundaries of the cyber world.

- Two-thirds to three-quarters of all corporate projects or initiatives fail, with human behavior cited as the leading cause. (Jean Davidson, IMA)
- Expect a 32% rate of participation for voluntary programs with a 69% rate of participation for mandatory e-learning. (ASTD and the Masie Center. “E-Learning: If We Build It, Will They Come?”)
- 20% of a company will take to e-learning, 20% will resist, leaving some 60% as the true target market. Successfully persuading the majority will come only through administering frequent, compelling messages backed by broad corporate support, and, only if the e-learning process itself is accessible during traditional working hours.

How can the possibilities for success be maximized? Our presenters suggested the following progression: Begin with a thorough exploration and assessment of current marketing strategies, flesh out the requirements of a successful campaign, identify and strongly consider the consequences if you limit your efforts in one area or another (highly sensible in a world of finite resources), carefully prepare for the campaign, and, last but not least, develop tangible measures of success. Particular points seemed to ring true for the participants, among them the importance of corporate sponsorship at all levels of the organization, operating within budget and with great attention to company culture, and avoiding the trap of reliance upon one or two methods of communication.

Stacey and Steve skillfully balanced didactic presentation with group interaction to lead the mornings’ participants through a process, which if faithfully executed, could keep the e-learning demons of doom in the netherworld where they belong and reap heavenly rewards for your learners and your organization.

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Therapy and Flea Market – What a Combination

The next TBT SIG meeting will be held at the United Way offices in Indianapolis on Tuesday, August 19,
6 - 9 p.m. The agenda promises to be very valuable for everyone wanting to promote their company’s e-Learning program!

If you are responsible for deploying e-learning, then you know the challenges of increasing awareness and driving usage and results! Here's your opportunity to sharpen your knowledge and skills. This hands-on session, led by Stacey Toole and Steve Haigh from NETg, goes beyond the Marketing Your Training Program session Stacey and Steve presented at the ASTD meeting in July at Ivy Tech. Here you will have an opportunity take a deeper dive into e-learning marketing where we will brainstorm as a group, learn from each other, and create your own Marketing and Communication plan that you can use right away at your job.
A.J. Mason, from the United Way, will also share with us what United Way is doing with e-learning.

Bring your best marketing ideas and samples (Flea Market) and your worst problems (Therapy) to this interactive roundtable session on developing effective marketing and communications for e-learning!

Everyone is invited to attend the SIG meeting. The evening’s sponsor will provide Pizza (by the way, we don’t have a sponsor yet, if you are interested in buying the pizza and getting some free advertising for your company!). There is no registration fee. To get a map of directions, or if you are interested in being added to the distribution list for the group, send an e-mail to Jay McNaught, jmcnaught@cinergy.com.

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Beta Test vs. Piloting?
By Nicole Kobrowski – Facilitator staff member

The purpose of both a beta test and a pilot is to check the capability of your training and material before it is actually implemented. However, when possible, both of these techniques should be used.

Beta testing is used more for pieces of the course to see how well they hold together and whether they work as a whole. The tests are particularly useful in special circumstances such as laboratory simulations. The people involved in a beta test should be SMEs, and a few representatives of the actual training audience. Additionally, you may want to include managers and other stakeholders, if it is an extensive beta testing project. Expect the beta test to last at least twice as long as the training material calls for. You can either ask for feedback during the actual testing part or wait until the end. Additionally, you want to allow time to gather the opinions and write a good report about the testing.

Pilots are typically run after the beta testing. These are actual classes run on the trainees for whom the program was designed. Your materials and every aspect of the training should be exactly as they would be for a normal class. Also, the pilot should run slightly longer than the actual training, allowing for feedback and a debriefing session.

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Rapid Instructional Design: Learning ID Fast and Right
George M. Piskurich
Publisher: Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer
ISBN: 0787947210

Reviewed by Nicole Kobrowski – Facilitator staff member

For anyone called upon to do a bit of instructional design (ID), this book is a must. Never has there been a book that cuts through the theory and gets down to nuts and bolts as quickly as this book does-without the technical jargon and theory. This book is perfect for the expert, the novice and yes, for those somewhere in between.

Piskurich is brilliant in his setup, taking the reader from defining ID to evaluation and beyond. One of the best things about the book is the way the author uses icons. The author set up a system in which he placed an icon next to each section. These icons are coded for the occasional, situational instructional designer and for shortcuts. Once you know what they are, you can skip about at random picking your reading and absorbing only what you need to know.

Additionally, this book is filled with stunning examples of templates and loads of questions to ask (and to whom). These aids help you write down what you already have in your mind and they guide you to find the extra bits that you may have overlooked. By using these aids, your training and interventions are sure to meet the needs of your organization.

Also, Piskurich gives the reader additional information and he points to other resources throughout the book. These resources are great for people who need to know more, but also serve to filter the book and keep it true to its title and goal.

From the time I started reading, I could already see ways to improve my own ID. Additionally, being able to go back and refresh myself on sections without stumbling through the book is extremely helpful. This book is timely and relevant, and I actually enjoyed making a design plan that was more detailed than I had ever needed… and I was able to make it in a short time span.

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In each issue of The Facilitator, we will list members that have joined or rejoined CIASTD since the previous issue. Since the last issue of The Facilitator, we have signed 7 members:

If you are a member of CIASTD, and would like access to the complete membership list, it is available (password portected) on our Web site at www.ciastd.org.

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The bad news first… because of a crowded schedule and new commitments, Judy Hasselkus has stepped down as a staff member for The Facilitator. Judy always made great contributions and wrote for The Facilitator for several years. She will be greatly missed. We want to thank her for all of the work she has contributed to CIASTD while serving on the newsletter staff.

The good news… David Llewellyn volunteered to write an article to summarize last month’s meeting. He did a superb job. We’re hoping he will join the staff on a more permanent basis. If you know Dave… encourage him to join the staff!